Including several items from the weekend here.
- Lev Parnas, the indicted Giulani associate who worked on his shadow foreign policy, says that Devin Nunes met with disgraced Ukrainian prosecutor Victor Shokin in order to dig up dirt on Joe Biden. Nunes threatened to sue the media for reporting this but did not deny the meeting. During the impeachment hearings, Nunes pushed a baseless conspiracy theory that’s been supported by Russian intelligence in order to frame Ukraine for the 2016 election interference.
- Parnas also said this weekend Nunes scheduled meetings with other Ukrainians, but canceled them after realizing they would be reported to Adam Schiff.
- I want to stress the prior two stories are sourced from Parnas and may not be reliable. This item, however, does not rely on his word. Parnas has given a large number of documents to the House, including audio and video concerning Giuliani’s activities in Ukraine.
- The Secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, resigned this weekend over issue related to Trump’s pardon of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy Seal who was targeting civilians in Iraq. The Navy has taken actions to remove Gallagher from the Seals, in opposition to the president. There are competing narratives over Spencer’s resignation. Mark Esper, the Secretary of Defense, says Spencer offered to rig the outcome of the Gallagher investigation. Spencer denies this and claims he was fired for standing up to the president.
- Walter Shaub, former head of the Office of Government Ethics, posted an extensive list of wrongdoing by the president. I dare not summarize it. You can read it here. (If you aren’t comfortable with Twitter, use this link.)
- Dimitry Firtash, a Ukrainian businessman with ties to the Russian mafia, was offered help by Parnas with Department of Justice issues if he hired lawyers Victoria Toensing and Joseph diGenova. Toensing and diGenova have informally advised the president.
- The Manhattan DA who was investigating Trump’s hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, was told to stand down by federal prosecutors who said they were handling the case. The federal prosecutors concluded their case after a year with no communication to the DA. They may have been acting to delay the prosecution as to run out the statute of limitations. The DA has since resumed the investigation. The investigation is focusing in part on Allen Wiesselberg, accountant to the Trump Organization.
- Subpoenas have been issued for Giuliani’s businesses indicated a wide range of possible charges including:
- Obstruction of justice
- Money laundering
- Conspiracy to defraud the US
- Making false statements to federal investigators
- Failure to register as a foreign agent
- Mail fraud
- Straw campaign donations
- A judge has ordered documents released pertaining to the delay in sending aid to Ukraine. This is the second set of documents requested by the House, withheld by the executive branch, then ordered released by a judge.
- Trump has stated that he wants the three war criminals he recently pardoned to join him on the campaign trail. Two of the men murdered civilians and the third ordered his subordinates to murder civilians.