Lev Parnas testified at Biden’s impeachment hearing that Rudy Giuliani knew he was pushing Russian disinformation.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) asked Parnas: “At what point did Mr. Giuliani begin working directly with Russian agents and Russian assets, individuals who would later be sanctioned by Donald Trump’s Treasury Department for spreading propaganda and disinformation against Joe Biden? ?”
Parnas responded, “It was probably around May or June of 2019.”
Raskin asked: “Were you aware, was Mr. Giuliani aware that these people were simply carrying out Vladimir Putin’s orders?”
For more stories like this, sign up for our The Daily newsletter.
Parnas said: “Absolutely.”
Raskin continued: “So you had no hesitation in spreading lies concocted by Russian agents?”
Parnas replied, “As long as it fits the narrative, absolutely not.”
Raskin asked Parnas how Giuliani brought Russian disinformation into the media: “How could you and Giuliani take these false allegations spread by corrupt officials and Russian agents and promote and amplify them here in the United States in our political system? Wasn’t the media skeptical of your claims?”
Parnas explained: “Most of the media groups, I would probably say all except Fox and some other right-wing media groups, didn’t want to take any of the information, and that irritated Rudy Giuliani, John Solomon and other players. And the main group that was pushed forward was Fox News, Sean Hannity and some other media personalities. But then there were also other people who were bidding for the Russian people in Congress, like Senator Ron Johnson, like Congressman Pete Sessions, who sits here right now, who has been with me since the beginning of this journey to looking for dirt to dig on Joe Biden.
Video:
You’ll probably never see this on Hannity because it’s incredibly harmful pic.twitter.com/0v4cHScfAw
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 20, 2024
The most crucial information to emerge from this impeachment hearing was the confirmation that Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, Fox News personalities like Sean Hannity, and Republican members of Congress are all knowingly promoting Russian disinformation.
Lev Parnas is an eyewitness who worked as Rudy Giuliani’s right-hand man in the plan to expose or spoof Joe Biden.
Parnas’ testimony on its own is unlikely to reach the highest levels of the corporate media, but it is to be expected that the Biden campaign will seize on this information and make it part of the president’s argument for protecting democracy. The Republican Party will gladly use Republican disinformation if it thinks it will help it win elections.
A special message from PoliticusUSA
If you are in a position to donate exclusively to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here.
We are honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we respond only to our readers and will not compromise on that core, core value of PoliticusUSA.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Professional rewards and subscriptions
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association