Washington — House Democrats released a trove of documents from an indicted businessman who helped Rudy Giuliani in his campaign to pressure Ukraine, including previously undisclosed handwritten notes and a letter Giuliani addressed to the Ukrainian president-elect requesting a meeting shortly before his inauguration.
Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-born U.S. citizen, was indicted on campaign finance charges in October at the height of the House impeachment inquiry. His legal team provided the records to the House Intelligence Committee this week.
Chairman Adam Schiff sent the material to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler on two flash drives, writing in a letter that the Intelligence Committee “continues to receive and review potentially relevant evidence” in its investigation into President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
The three committees that led the initial phases of the probe released select material from what they called a “voluminous record of data” gleaned primarily from Parnas’ cell phones.
The excerpts show Parnas acting as a conduit between Giuliani and current and former Ukrainian officials, including several close aides of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They include references to several conversations about Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine who was ousted after a smear campaign orchestrated by Giuliani and his Ukrainian allies.
One handwritten note reads: “get Zalensky to announce that the Biden case will be investigated.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
