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Sunday, January 19, 2020 10:51:40 PM
Lev Parnas Paid His Way Into Donald Trump’s Orbit
"How Giuliani’s outreach to Ukrainian gas tycoon wanted in U.S. shows lengths he took in his hunt for material to bolster Trump"
Ukrainian-American with reputation for quick access to financing made inroads at White House, won GOP allies while his business ventures soured
Lev Parnas and his wife, Svetlana Parnas, arrived at a New York City courthouse on Dec. 2, 2019. Photo: Scott Heins/Getty Images
By Rebecca Ballhaus, Aruna Viswanatha and Alex Leary
Jan. 19, 2020 4:24 pm ET
After Donald Trump’s election, Lev Parnas saw a chance to cash in on his connections.
[...]
Others recall him as a charming if questionable operator who reminded them of a Joe Pesci character. “Anything that you talked to them about, they had some kind of angle on it,” said Joe Cartolano, an attorney who worked briefly with a firm involved with Mr. Parnas, referring to Mr. Parnas and another business associate.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
How, if at all, do you think Lev Parnas’s statements and documents might influence President Trump’s impeachment trial? Join the conversation below.
A $50,000 donation to the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee shortly before the November 2016 election first brought Mr. Parnas into the Trump orbit. At a fundraiser in Florida, Mr. Parnas introduced himself to Messrs. Trump and Giuliani.
After the fundraiser, Mr. Parnas pressed the host, construction magnate Robert Pereira, to invest in a new venture, Fraud Guarantee, which offered insurance for investments. Mr. Pereira told The Wall Street Journal last year that he “didn’t trust this guy” and cut off contact with Mr. Parnas.
[...]
His 2016 donation had taught him he needed to spend money to earn money. Bigger donations vaulted Mr. Parnas further into Trump circles and brought success in recruiting investors.
In May 2018, Mr. Parnas and a fellow Soviet-born businessman, Igor Fruman —both U.S. citizens—made a $325,000 donation to America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC. Prosecutors said the donation came through a limited liability company to conceal their identities. Mr. Fruman has pleaded not guilty to campaign finance violations. Unlike Mr. Parnas, he has declined to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry and hasn’t spoken publicly.
After the donation, the pair attended a small dinner at the Trump Hotel in Washington with the president, his son Donald Trump Jr. and other top donors to America First Action.
[...]
Those connections bred new ones. At the Trump hotel in June, Dallas investor and Trump donor Roy Bailey introduced them to Harry Sargeant III, a Florida-based businessman and Trump donor who would later help foot the bill for the pair’s travel to Ukraine. Mr. Bailey told Mr. Sargeant the pair had written a big check to the super PAC, according to a person familiar with the matter.
When Mr. Giuliani in 2018 demanded a $500,000 fee for his consulting services for Fraud Guarantee, Messrs. Parnas and Fruman didn’t have the money. So they turned to another Trump donor, personal-injury lawyer Charles Gucciardo, who paid Mr. Giuliani that fall in exchange for a stake in the company, according to Mr. Gucciardo’s lawyer.
With Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Parnas flew higher still.
[...]
Their push for investigations in Ukraine gave Mr. Parnas fodder to bond with high-level Trump associates, according to documents released by the House committees. He traded texts with Tommy Hicks Jr., who in early 2019 was named co-chairman of the Republican National Committee. Mr. Hicks, a close friend of Mr. Trump Jr., didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In March, an official at America First Policies, AFA’s nonprofit arm, solicited Mr. Parnas’s suggestions on what Mr. Trump Jr. should tweet about issues in Ukraine, according to texts released by the House. Mr. Parnas sent the official an article about calls to remove the ambassador to Ukraine, which Mr. Trump Jr. tweeted. His spokesman declined to comment.
Mr. Giuliani has denied knowing about the two highest-level Ukrainian meetings Messrs. Parnas and Fruman attended: one in February with then-President Petro Poroshenko, and one the following May with a top aide to the incoming president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr. Parnas said he relayed to both men that favorable U.S. treatment was at risk if they didn’t announce the sought-after investigations.
Messrs. Giuliani and Parnas were in close contact in the days surrounding both meetings: The two men called or tried to call each other nearly 40 times the week of the February meeting, a person familiar with the matter said. On the day of the May meeting, Mr. Giuliani called Mr. Parnas twice, and Mr. Parnas called him three times the next day, the person said, adding that they exchanged hundreds of calls over the course of that week.
Still, funding the travel for the Ukraine project began to wear on Mr. Sargeant, the Trump donor. In April, he texted Mr. Parnas: “Just become expensive flying u guys everywhere LEV.” Mr. Parnas promised to pay him back.
An attorney for Mr. Sargeant said he lent Mr. Parnas money because he “claimed, perhaps falsely, he was broke and promised to pay the funds back.”
When Messrs. Parnas and Fruman were arrested in October, the owner of a charter company that Mr. Parnas had hired at Mr. Sargeant’s recommendation took notice. Mr. Parnas owed the company more than $30,000 for a flight for Mr. Giuliani and his girlfriend, according to a person familiar with the matter.
After their arrest, the person said, the owner ran a credit card belonging to Mr. Parnas’s wife to pay himself back.
—Brett Forrest contributed to this article.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/lev-parnas-paid-his-way-into-donald-trumps-orbit-11579469071
"How Giuliani’s outreach to Ukrainian gas tycoon wanted in U.S. shows lengths he took in his hunt for material to bolster Trump"
Ukrainian-American with reputation for quick access to financing made inroads at White House, won GOP allies while his business ventures soured
Lev Parnas and his wife, Svetlana Parnas, arrived at a New York City courthouse on Dec. 2, 2019. Photo: Scott Heins/Getty Images
By Rebecca Ballhaus, Aruna Viswanatha and Alex Leary
Jan. 19, 2020 4:24 pm ET
After Donald Trump’s election, Lev Parnas saw a chance to cash in on his connections.
[...]
Others recall him as a charming if questionable operator who reminded them of a Joe Pesci character. “Anything that you talked to them about, they had some kind of angle on it,” said Joe Cartolano, an attorney who worked briefly with a firm involved with Mr. Parnas, referring to Mr. Parnas and another business associate.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
How, if at all, do you think Lev Parnas’s statements and documents might influence President Trump’s impeachment trial? Join the conversation below.
A $50,000 donation to the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee shortly before the November 2016 election first brought Mr. Parnas into the Trump orbit. At a fundraiser in Florida, Mr. Parnas introduced himself to Messrs. Trump and Giuliani.
After the fundraiser, Mr. Parnas pressed the host, construction magnate Robert Pereira, to invest in a new venture, Fraud Guarantee, which offered insurance for investments. Mr. Pereira told The Wall Street Journal last year that he “didn’t trust this guy” and cut off contact with Mr. Parnas.
[...]
His 2016 donation had taught him he needed to spend money to earn money. Bigger donations vaulted Mr. Parnas further into Trump circles and brought success in recruiting investors.
In May 2018, Mr. Parnas and a fellow Soviet-born businessman, Igor Fruman —both U.S. citizens—made a $325,000 donation to America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC. Prosecutors said the donation came through a limited liability company to conceal their identities. Mr. Fruman has pleaded not guilty to campaign finance violations. Unlike Mr. Parnas, he has declined to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry and hasn’t spoken publicly.
After the donation, the pair attended a small dinner at the Trump Hotel in Washington with the president, his son Donald Trump Jr. and other top donors to America First Action.
[...]
Those connections bred new ones. At the Trump hotel in June, Dallas investor and Trump donor Roy Bailey introduced them to Harry Sargeant III, a Florida-based businessman and Trump donor who would later help foot the bill for the pair’s travel to Ukraine. Mr. Bailey told Mr. Sargeant the pair had written a big check to the super PAC, according to a person familiar with the matter.
When Mr. Giuliani in 2018 demanded a $500,000 fee for his consulting services for Fraud Guarantee, Messrs. Parnas and Fruman didn’t have the money. So they turned to another Trump donor, personal-injury lawyer Charles Gucciardo, who paid Mr. Giuliani that fall in exchange for a stake in the company, according to Mr. Gucciardo’s lawyer.
With Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Parnas flew higher still.
[...]
Their push for investigations in Ukraine gave Mr. Parnas fodder to bond with high-level Trump associates, according to documents released by the House committees. He traded texts with Tommy Hicks Jr., who in early 2019 was named co-chairman of the Republican National Committee. Mr. Hicks, a close friend of Mr. Trump Jr., didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In March, an official at America First Policies, AFA’s nonprofit arm, solicited Mr. Parnas’s suggestions on what Mr. Trump Jr. should tweet about issues in Ukraine, according to texts released by the House. Mr. Parnas sent the official an article about calls to remove the ambassador to Ukraine, which Mr. Trump Jr. tweeted. His spokesman declined to comment.
Mr. Giuliani has denied knowing about the two highest-level Ukrainian meetings Messrs. Parnas and Fruman attended: one in February with then-President Petro Poroshenko, and one the following May with a top aide to the incoming president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr. Parnas said he relayed to both men that favorable U.S. treatment was at risk if they didn’t announce the sought-after investigations.
Messrs. Giuliani and Parnas were in close contact in the days surrounding both meetings: The two men called or tried to call each other nearly 40 times the week of the February meeting, a person familiar with the matter said. On the day of the May meeting, Mr. Giuliani called Mr. Parnas twice, and Mr. Parnas called him three times the next day, the person said, adding that they exchanged hundreds of calls over the course of that week.
Still, funding the travel for the Ukraine project began to wear on Mr. Sargeant, the Trump donor. In April, he texted Mr. Parnas: “Just become expensive flying u guys everywhere LEV.” Mr. Parnas promised to pay him back.
An attorney for Mr. Sargeant said he lent Mr. Parnas money because he “claimed, perhaps falsely, he was broke and promised to pay the funds back.”
When Messrs. Parnas and Fruman were arrested in October, the owner of a charter company that Mr. Parnas had hired at Mr. Sargeant’s recommendation took notice. Mr. Parnas owed the company more than $30,000 for a flight for Mr. Giuliani and his girlfriend, according to a person familiar with the matter.
After their arrest, the person said, the owner ran a credit card belonging to Mr. Parnas’s wife to pay himself back.
—Brett Forrest contributed to this article.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/lev-parnas-paid-his-way-into-donald-trumps-orbit-11579469071
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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