It’s been a dismal week for Donald Trump.
From the start of public hearings to news that yet another court has ordered him to turn over his taxes, everywhere the president turns he sees ominous signs which suggest his presidency could be in grave danger. Even if he isn’t impeached and convicted in the Senate, the stench of impeachment will be hanging on Trump as he heads into the 2020 election with his poll numbers falling.
And now one of the men who assisted Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, in trying to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his family is cooperating with the impeachment inquiry. And as CNN is reporting, it sounds like that Giuliani associate, Lev Parnas, has information that could be incredibly damaging to Trump:
“According to what Parnas told his confidants, the topic turned to Ukraine that night. According to those two confidants, Parnas said that ‘the big guy,’ as he sometimes referred to the President in conversation, talked about tasking him and Fruman with what Parnas described as ‘a secret mission’ to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.”
On a second occasion a few days later, Parnas again suggested that he had been sent to Ukraine by Trump:
“Parnas insinuated to the two people he confided in that he clearly believed he’d been given a special assignment by the President; like some sort of “James Bond mission,” according to one of the people.
“To Parnas, the chain of command was clear: Giuliani would issue the President’s directives while Parnas, who speaks fluent Russian, would be an on-the-ground investigator alongside Fruman, who has numerous business contacts in Ukraine.”
An attorney for Parnas confirms that his client did indeed believe he was working directly for Trump:
“Joseph A. Bondy, a lawyer for Parnas, told CNN, ‘Mr. Parnas at all times believed that he was acting only on behalf of the President, as directed by his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and never on behalf of any Ukrainian officials.'”
Now imagine Parnas testifying in public, under oath, that he was taking orders directly from Trump. That would be the equivalent of Richard Nixon telling the Watergate burglars to go get dirt on the Democrats so he could rest assured he’d win reelection.
Everything is falling apart for Trump. And as soon as Lev Parnas tells the world what he knows, don’t be surprised if it winds up being a game changer.