Lev Parnas invited by House Oversight Democrats to testify in Biden impeachment hearings

A Democratic official on the House Oversight Committee tells CNN that an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, who was involved in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, has been selected as a witness for Wednesday’s committee hearing. did.

Ukrainian-American Lev Parnas worked with Giuliani on behalf of Trump in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election and unearthed damaging information about then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter in Ukraine. I tried. Parnas was sentenced to 20 months in prison for campaign finance, wire fraud and false statements.

House Republicans tolerated what Mr. Parnas was promoting, but Mr. Parnas later denounced it as nonsense.

“Lev Parnas debunks the false claims at the heart of the impeachment inquiry and, in the process, reveals how Republicans are making this poor case,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Branch. “It will explain why I found myself in such an embarrassing position.” panel.

Parnas is currently serving a federal prison sentence for his involvement in multiple fraud schemes with Tony Bobulinski, a former Biden family business associate who has raised significant but unproven allegations against the Biden family. He is scheduled to testify alongside Jason Galanis, who will appear in court remotely. Hunter Biden declined a request from Republicans to attend the hearing. Republicans had also invited Devon Archer, a business associate of the Biden family, to testify, but he also declined the committee’s invitation, according to a letter obtained by CNN.

Wednesday’s hearing was the second of its kind since Republicans launched an investigation into the Biden family, and comes as the impeachment-stricken investigation into Biden is less likely to stall. It was held in

President Trump uses conspiracy theories brought up by Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Parnas to fire top prosecutors investigating the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, saying that Joe Biden abused his power as vice president. falsely claimed it was a way to pressure Ukraine to protect Hunter. The company’s board of directors at the time.

The Biden-Burisma conspiracy theory was the basis of the Republican pushback against Trump’s impeachment in 2019 and is the basis of the ongoing Republican-led Biden impeachment inquiry.

Even before the former FBI informant was indicted on charges of lying about his involvement in the president’s and his son’s dealings with a Ukrainian energy company, Oversight Committee Democrats used Parnas’ previous testimony to use former FBI informant denied the provider’s claims.

Parnas sent a letter to House Oversight Chairman James Comer last year discrediting many theories promoted by Republicans and asking Comer to halt the investigation into the Biden family.

“With all due respect, Chairman Comer, the narrative you seek for this investigation has been proven false time and time again by a wide range of reliable sources,” Parnas wrote in July 2023. Ta. “There is absolutely no benefit to investigating this matter” further. ”

Before selecting Mr. Parnas, Democrats had considered Mr. Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen as a witness.

Explaining why Democrats ultimately chose Parnas, another source familiar with the Democratic Party’s decision told CNN. “Mr. Cohen could have spoken directly about how Mr. Trump used the White House to line his own pockets, but Mr. Parnas said that Mr. can speak directly about whether they fabricated dirt on Biden.”