Lev Parnas gave House Intelligence recordings of Trump and Giuliani: report

As Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives move closer to considering which articles of impeachment could be used against President Donald Trump, one GOP name that continues to come up in connection with the impeachment inquiry is Rudy Giuliani — Trump’s personal attorney, former mayor of New York City, and a strong proponent of the Ukrainian government investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. And the House Intelligence Committee, according to ABC News, is in possession of audio and video recordings as well as photos that include both Giuliani and Trump and could be relevant to the House’s impeachment inquiry.

The recordings and photos were obtained because of a House subpoena of Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, who was recently arrested — along with fellow Giuliani associate Igor Fruman — on campaign finance charges. Federal prosecutors allege that Parnas and Fruman illegally  funneled foreign donations to political candidates in the United States, and both of them have pled “not guilty.”

ABC News reported that it remains unknown what specifically is said in the recordings that include Giuliani and Trump. Although Parnas’ attorney, Joseph A. Bondy, would not comment on them, he referred ABC News to an official statement — which said, “Mr. Parnas has vociferously and publicly asserted his wish to comply with his previously issued subpoena and to provide the House Intelligence Committee with truthful and important information that is in furtherance of justice, not to obstruct it.”

The statement also said of Parnas, “His evidence and potential testimony is non-partisan and not intended to be part of a battle between the left and the right, but rather, an aid in the determination by our government of what is in the best interests of our nation.”

According to ABC News, federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have other material that House Democrats are seeking in connection with their impeachment inquiry.