Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas requests release of 'voluminous' electronic records to House impeachment inquiry

[h=1]Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas requests release of 'voluminous' electronic records to House impeachment inquiry[/h]






Clark Mindock


,The Independent•December 2, 2019

GettyAn attorney representing Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas has asked a federal court to release electronic devices containing “voluminous” materials to House committees leading the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, during a court appearance ahead of his client’s trial.
Joseph Bondy, who is representing Mr Parnas, asked a federal court in Manhattan on Monday for an update on discovery in his client’s case, specifically whether devices seized during his October arrest at Dulles International Airport in Washington might be handed over to those House committees.

At least 29 electronic devices were reportedly seized from Mr Parnas and three of his co-defendants, including another associate of Mr Giuliani, Igor Fruman.
During the hearing on Monday, assistant US attorney Douglas Zolkind said that further charges could be brought against Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman, though he did not explain what charges might still be brought.

“We think a superseding indictment is likely,” Mr Zolkind said.

The charges stem from a federal investigation into Mr Giuliani’s business dealings in Ukraine, where Mr Fruman and Mr Parnas are known to have connections. The two associates, meanwhile, have been charged with campaign finance violation charges stemming from an alleged effort to influence American elections.
The push for the release of documents comes after reports that the House Intelligence Committee is already in possession of audio recordings, video, and pictures provided by Mr Parnas. It is not clear what that content might depict, and the House committees reportedly only began sifting through them last week.

But some materials being sought by House investigators may already be in the hands of the Southern District of New York, and would therefore be held against being turned over.
So far, Mr Parnas is the only defendant reported to be cooperating with the Congressional investigation.
At the time of his arrest, Mr Parnas was carrying six phones, tablets and computers. Eight more devices were taken from his home.

Mr Zolkind indicated that Mr Parnas could help speed up the extraction process, by providing passwords. The judge has indicated it is likely that he would grant the request to hand over documents, which also includes paper records.

...and, in a probably related development:

[h=1]Republicans Do Their Best to Distance Trump From Giuliani in Impeachment Report[/h]

The Daily Beast•December 2, 2019

Angela Weiss/AFP/GettyIn a lengthy report released late Monday, House Republicans threw out a range of defenses designed to poke holes in the Democrats’ case to impeach President Trump.
One defense that pops up repeatedly in the 123-page document: Rudy Giuliani went rogue.
Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, is at the center of Trump’s apparent push to compel Ukraine to secure him political favors. Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelensky, to speak with Giuliani about the matter during their July 25 phone call. His instruction to U.S. diplomats working on Ukraine was similar: “Talk to Rudy” was the president’s order, testified Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.
The House GOP report, reflecting a key strategy of distancing Trump from some of the nitty-gritty of the Ukraine push, says Giuliani was not acting at the president’s behest and did not speak on his behalf.
Here’s How Republicans Are Trying to Distance Trump From Rudy
“To the extent Mayor Giuliani was involved, he was in communication with these officials and the Ukrainians did not see him as speaking on behalf of the President,” the report says. That concluding phrase is repeated several times in the report. Instead, the GOP posits, the Ukrainians saw Giuliani as someone who had the president’s ear and was worth influencing—not someone trying to relay Trump’s demands.
“The Ukrainian government asked Ambassador [Kurt] Volker to connect them with Mayor Giuliani to help change Mayor Giuliani’s skeptical view of President Zelensky and ‘clear up’ information flowing to the President,” the report says. Out of that contact, testified several diplomats, came pressure from Giuliani for Kyiv to make a public commitment to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Indeed, the Republicans suggest that Giuliani might have been responsible for bolstering the president’s “negative” attitudes about Ukraine. “Evidence suggests that Mayor Giuliani’s negative assessment of President Zelensky may have reinforced President Trump’s existing skepticism about Ukraine and its history of corruption,” the report says.
At another point, the Republican report notes that the White House took steps to rein in Giuliani and “actively worked to stop potential impropriety.” The report uses as an example the administration’s denial of Giuliani when he attempted to secure a U.S. visa for Viktor Shokin, a former Ukrainian prosecutor who had helped lead the campaign to push out Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

...And, in ANOTHER related story, lol:


PoliticsNew charges likely in case against Rudy Giuliani associates, prosecutors say

Published Mon, Dec 2 20193:53 PM ESTUpdated Mon, Dec 2 20195:18 PM EST

Dan Mangan@_DanMangan



Kevin Breuninger@KevinWilliamB





Key Points

• Federal prosecutors on Monday said they are “likely” to file new criminal charges in a pending case involving associates of Rudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer of President Donald Trump.
• “We think a superseding indictment is likely,” said a prosecutor during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan in the case of Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman and two other men, who are accused of violating federal campaign finance laws.
• Parnas and Fruman were helping Giuliani in an effort to get the government of Ukraine to launch investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and into a conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Lev Parnas and wife Svetlana Parnas arrive at federal court on December 2, 2019 in New York City.
Stephanie Keith | Getty Images



Federal prosecutors on Monday said they are “likely” to file new criminal charges in a pending case involving associates of Rudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer of President Donald Trump.
“We think a superseding indictment is likely,” said prosecutor Douglas Zolkind during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan in the case of Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, and two other men, Andrey Kukushkin and David Correia.
However, the prosecutor said no firm decision has been made on whether to file additional charges against the men, who are charged with violating campaign finance laws.
“We are continuing to evaluate,” Zolkind told Judge J. Paul Oetken.
Parnas and Fruman were helping Giuliani in an effort to get the government of Ukraine to launch investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and into a conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
That effort, and Trump’s participation in it, are the subject of ongoing impeachment proceedings against Trump in the House of Representatives.

Parnas was the only one of the defendants present for Monday’s hearing. The other men had their presences excused.
Giuliani has not been charged in connection with the case. But The Wall Street Journal reported last month that a federal grand jury in Manhattan has issued subpoenas seeking information about Giuliani’s consulting firm.
The subpoenas, which went out to people with ties to Giuliani, “suggest that prosecutors are looking closely at the work of Mr. Giuliani himself, according to people familiar with the matter,” the Journal reported.
The newspaper also reported the subpoenas seek materials related to two pro-Trump groups, America First Action and America First Policies.
Zolkind at Monday’s hearing gave a rough tally of the amount of material seized in connection with the case since the four men were charged in October.
That material includes records from phones, banks and the Internet obtained from witnesses and companies related to the charges.
Prosecutors have collected thousands of files currently totaling around nine gigabytes of data, Zolkind said.
Much of the information was obtained through subpoenas, and search warrants were issued for access to email and iCloud accounts and physical premises, he said.
“There’s additional stuff that’s coming,” Zolkind said.
He noted that the process of extracting data from seized electronic devices is time-consuming, and that none of the defendants’ lawyers have volunteered password information to expedite the process.
In response, Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Fruman, said he had never been asked to provide that information.
Defense lawyers also complained about the large amount of potential evidence they would have to sift through without clarity from the prosecutors about what could be used in a trial.
But Zolkind objected to the request from Kukushkin’s lawyer, Gerald Lefcourt, to provide an exhibit list far in advance of the trial.
“We’re not playing hide the ball,” Zolkind said.
But he argued that a draft exhibit list would be “premature.”
Parnas’ lawyer Joseph Bondy requested that the court loosen Parnas’ tight bail conditions.
Parnas is currently under house arrest and wearing a GPS monitoring device.
Bondy requested he be allowed outside a few hours each day for a few days a week to exercise, spend time with his children and get fresh air.
Prosecutors strongly objected to that proposal.
Zolkind said that Parnas, who was arrested at an airport just outside of Washington, D.C., with a one-way ticket out of the U.S., “presents a significant risk of flight.”
Zolkind also cited Parnas’ extensive foreign ties — including to at least one wealthy oligarch with a private jet — and the deceitful behavior he is alleged to have engaged in.
And “he is under investigation for additional crimes,” Zolkind added.
The judge instructed Bondy to make a request about the condition of Parnas’ release to the office that supervises defendants released on bail.
The defendants are scheduled to next appear in court on Feb. 2.

still swinging away, yet to be right about anything, but he still does get all excited when his handlers tell him to




That's what happens when daddy fucks a seal

You two chimps have an actual EXPLANATION of why Parnas is ratting out Looney Rudy, or do you just shoot a white boiling load every time you post a stupid, irrelevant picture?Loser!@#0^^:madasshol:trx-smly0:bigfinger:tongue2::Countdown:fckmad: