前朱利安尼同事列夫-帕爾納斯（Lev Parnas）作證說，針對拜登斯的指控是虛假的，是 "克裏姆林宮散布的"。

來源: 於 2024-03-20 16:51:40 [舊帖] [給我悄悄話] 本文已被閱讀：次

Lev Parnas, ex-Giuliani associate, testified allegations against Bidens are false and 'spread by the Kremlin'

Sarah Fitzpatrick and Summer Concepcion and Rebecca Kaplan and Ryan Nobles and Fiona Glisson and Gary Grumbach
·5 min read
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Ex-Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas slammed former President Donald Trump and his associates for pushing what he said were false allegations against the Biden family during the House Oversight Committee's hearing Wednesday in the GOP impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Parnas, a Ukrainian-American businessman who worked closely with former Trump attorney Giuliani in 2018 and 2019 to try to find damaging information on Joe Biden, appeared as a witness at the invitation of committee Democrats alongside Hunter Biden’s former business partners Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis.

“The American people have been lied to, by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and various cohorts of individuals in government and media positions,” Parnas said in his opening statement. “They created falsehoods to serve their own interests knowing it would undermine the strength of our nation."

Parnas called out Trump allies in Congress such as former Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., as well as some prominent right-wing media figures for spreading misinformation about the Bidens.

“Congressman Pete Sessions, then-Congressman Devin Nunes, Senator Ron Johnson and many others understood they were pushing a false narrative,” he said. “The same goes for John Solomon, Sean Hannity and media personnel, particularly with Fox News, who use this narrative to manipulate the public ahead of the 2020 elections. Sadly, they are still doing this today as we approach the 2024 elections.”

Lev Parnas at U.S. Federal Court in New York City (J Lamparski / Sipa USA via AP file)
 
Lev Parnas at U.S. Federal Court in New York City (J Lamparski / Sipa USA via AP file)

Parnas maintained during the hearing that there was no evidence of Biden family corruption involving Ukraine and that the baseless accusations against the president came from the Russian government.

"The only information ever pushed on the Bidens and Ukraine has come from one source and one source only: Russia and Russian agents," he said, adding that impeachment proceedings against Biden were "predicated on a bunch of false information that is being spread by the Kremlin."

Ted Goodman, a representative for Rudy Giuliani, told NBC News that Parnas is “desperate” and “not to be trusted.” Goodman did not respond to specific questions from NBC News about Parnas’ testimony that Giuliani knew at the time that the sources of information originated from Russian agents or the Kremlin.

Parnas noted the recent indictment of former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov for allegedly providing false intelligence about the president and his son during the 2020 presidential campaign. Prosecutors said the information Smirnov shared about the Bidens came from “officials associated with Russian intelligence” and that he was peddling “new lies that impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November.” Smirnov has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Parnas also referred to an arrest for alleged treason of a Ukrainian lawmaker in November who aided Giuliani in his unsuccessful efforts to find information on the Bidens and has claimed he is innocent of the recent charges.

“I believe that what we are facing now is the culmination of a much larger plan for Russia to crush Ukraine by infiltrating the United States,” Parnas said.

Parnas claimed that he has tried to convey information to federal prosecutors since late 2019, including the former special prosecutor who investigated claims against the Bidens, Scott Brady, but was “ignored” by the Justice Department.