TRUMP WAXES BIBLICAL DENYING LEV PARNAS THRICE
HIS EVANGELICALS HAVE HAD AN INFLUENCE ON HIM
Published on January 16, 2020 By David Edwards
President Donald Trump snapped at CNN’s White House correspondent on Thursday after he repeatedly asked questions about Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who has been implicated in the Ukraine scandal.
CNN’s Jim Acosta said that he asked the president about Parnas’ claim that Trump knew about his actions in Ukraine.
“Quiet,” Trump reportedly at one point.
Trump claims he doesn’t know who Lev Parnas is and says he takes lots of pictures with people and has never spoken to Parnas. Trump once claimed he didn’t have anything to do with the payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Pressed on the issue Trump demands the reporter be “quiet.” pic.twitter.com/PASdE2tEtg
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 16, 2020
Just asked Trump about Parnas claim that admin efforts in Ukraine were “all about 2020.” Trump insisted he’s only posed for photos with Parnas. Kept repeating that defense. Eventually told me to be “quiet.” Video coming… More to come…
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 16, 2020
Per WH pooler @debrajsaunders:
Questions
Parnas? “I don’t know him” except they had quick photo
“I meet thousands of people”
Told Acosta “quiet”
“I will probably be going to Davos”
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) January 16, 2020
Trump to reporters in Oval Office on Lev Parnas: “I don’t believe I’ve ever spoken to him.” Says Parnas is part of a “big hoax” and that he doesn’t know him “at all” other than taking pictures together, per @MichaelCBender.
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) January 16, 2020
Trump calls @RudyGiuliani one of the “great crimefighters” and a “very legitimate guy” but says he doesn’t know about his letter to Zelenskiy House Dems obtained from Lev Parnas.
— Ben Siegel (@benyc) January 16, 2020
Trump continues to insist that he has no idea who Lev Parnas is: “Well, I don’t know him. I don’t know Parnas other than I guess I had pictures taken… I don’t know him at all, don’t know what he’s about. Don’t know where he comes from.” pic.twitter.com/Srl3iSo5LW
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) January 16, 2020
“I don’t know him at all, don’t know what he’s about.\
Don’t know where he comes from.
Know nothing about him.
I can only tell you, this thing is a big hoax.”
– @realDonaldTrump denies knowing Lev Parnas, indicted Ukrainian associate of @RudyGiuliani. pic.twitter.com/aO4N7UGUxx
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 16, 2020
Trump again denied knowing Lev Parnas. So Parnas' lawyer posted more robust proof.
Despite a warning from Lev Parnas, President Trump claimed not to know him again Thursday. "I don't know Parnas, other than I guess I had pictures taken, which I do with thousands of people," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I don't know him at all, don't know what he's about, don't know where he comes from, know nothing about him. ... I don't believe I've ever spoken to him."
Jospeh Bondy, Parnas' lawyer, brought the receipts, posting a video taken at Mar-a-Lago in December 2016, where Trump is clearly talking with Parnas, who is standing next to him and also Roman Nasirov, a former Ukrainian official charged with embezzlement.
Here’s the “I don’t know him at all, don’t know what he’s about, don’t know where he comes from, know nothing about him” guy, w Lev Parnas & Roman Nasirov, former head of Ukrainian Fiscal Service, at Mar-a-Lago 12/16. @POTUS .@realDonaldTrump @Acosta #LevRemembers #LetLevSpeak pic.twitter.com/5B5QY2DJEg
— Joseph A. Bondy (@josephabondy) January 16, 2020
The Washington Post used that video in a jaunty roundup of Parnas posing, often on multiple occasions, next to Trump and other Republicans who claimed not to know him.
Calling Parnas a "Giuliani associate" is "way too limited — he is a full-fledged member of Trump Co," Chris Cuomo said on CNN Thursday night. As he ran through the details, he showed photo after photo of Parnas and Trump or members of his family and inner circle. "There are so many that I had to leave pictures out," Cuomo said.
Lev Parnas' ties to President Trump run deep
CNN's @ChrisCuomo says referring to Lev Parnas as an associate of Rudy Giuliani is "way too limited. He is a full-fledged member of Trump co." #ClosingArgument https://t.co/zIBpn9wgGd pic.twitter.com/KMUGKXEkNz
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) January 17, 2020
In fact, Parnas' connection to Trump stretches back to the 1980s, when he sold real estate for Trump's father, Fred Trump, The Washington Post reported in October. "When Parnas was 16, he worked at Kings Highway Realty, selling Trump Organization co-ops." Adam Entous elaborated at The New Yorker. Parnas told The New Yorker that job "was my first time knowing who Trump was, but, growing up in that area, you knew who Trump was, because his name was all over the place." After Parnas moved to Florida in 1995, Entous added, "on visits to New York, he stayed at Trump properties."
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