A federal judge allowed Giuliani associate Lev Parnas to hand over the contents of an iPhone and other documents to the House Intelligence Committee in a Friday morning order.
(I donāt understand why Parnas needed the go ahead from a judge. His attorney has put info out to the public already, so what was keeping him from cooperating with the impeachment inquiry. Anyone know?)
I mean - suppose thereās a recording of Trump saying āWe hold the funds till I get what I NEED TO WIN the election!ā - What does the house DO with this? (Or some other less āsmockingā armament)
Reconvene to add another impeachment charge? How is this information tacked on at this point?
Whatās the real world affect of any bombshells?
Or will it all be lost in the current round of dog-wagging?
Iām not a lawyer, but I thought the only possible problem would have been if the prosecution had objected, for example, if they thought releasing the information could have a deleterious effect on their case. After all, human sieve Devin Nunes is still there. But since they didnāt, it became an easy call for the Judge.
Russian oligarchs, headed by Vladimir Putin, attacked the US in 2016. Trump, Parnas, and Fruman are part of that conspiracy.
Do not expect Parnas to throw Trump under the bus. In fact, do not assume Parnasās information is accurate or complete. And even if it is, assume all of this information is being delivered at the express instruction of Putin or one of his kleptocratic lieutenants.
Hardened criminals do not fear prison. They have power there.
Two Appeals Court hearings on the McGahn and Mueller materials
Schumer and McConnell give dueling speeches. Much more time spent on impeachment than Iran. Schumer has the more aggressive and authoritative comments. McConnell is defensive and essentially bows to Pelosi on the timetable for a trial.
Biden sticks it hard to Trump on the Soleimani assassination, not showing any fear of Trump. Bernie Sanders, though speaking more abstractly, also demonstrates no fear of Trump or making a case against reckless actions to the broader electorate.
In short, today tells us that Trump canāt escape his scandals no matter how many distractions he throws up there.
P.S. Thereās also the matter of Scott Steadmanās scoop (yet to be confirmed by major publications) that a whistleblower stated that Trumpās Deutsche Bank loans were underwritten (i.e., financially guaranteed) by Russiaās state owned bank, VTB. Scott is a good reporter, but we really need a WAPO level publication to confirm (I have little doubt itās true btw). That means Putin guaranteed the supply of capital that Trump desperately needed for his key properties (many of which themselves are used to launder Russian money into the US).