Over the weekend, Lindsey Graham (R-SC) noted that he believed Lev Parnas was "crooked as a snake." Many, if not most Republicans out front defending Trump said pretty much the same thing to undercut the interviews Parnas has given. Not to mention the documents and texts he has presented, something a bit more difficult to position as "Crooked," though seemingly easy to ignore, even when staring you in the face. Further, they have been very pointed in making clear that everyone remember that Parnas is under federal indictment.
There are, unfortunately for Republicans, about all this, even if the first part was true (and it may be), and especially because the second part is. The problem with the charge that Lev Parnas is "crooked as a snake" is that the only reason we're even talking about Parnas is because he was working with with TRUMP's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in Ukraine. Either paid by Giuliani, or himself employing Giuliani with Russian funds, which one isn't clear. Either are damning. This isn't a case of Lev Parnas being some partisan Democrat or lone wolf coming up with these random charges against the Trump administration. No, this is someone working with Trump's lawyer, something even Giuliani openly acknowledges. One can deny what he's saying about Ukraine extortion if that's what a person wishes, since some of his charges are unproven based only on his word (which is indeed open to question) but one can't deny who he was working for. Which is specifically why we are talking about him. Mind you, if one does choose to deny all his charges, which is fair enough given his history, but the problem with that means also denying all the physical evidence he's presented to the FBI. We can certainly debate the interpretation of what that evidence means -- or at least, we can debate what some of the evidence means, since a great deal of it is too irrefutable -- but we cannot debate that it exists. It exists, much as Republicans do seem to want to ignore that. Which brings up the problem with the second part of Trump defenders slams against Lev Parnas, that he is under federal indictment. Forget for a moment that he's innocent until proven guilty, so just being under indictment is not damning unto itself. But let's even accept for the sake of argument that Parnas is indeed guilty. It's a fair assumption to make, given that problematic history noted above, though not inherently true. But let's just say it is indeed true. That Lev Parnas is guilty of what he is indicted for. Okay. So -- what is Lev Parnas indicted for? While I'm certain many people know, I'm equally sure that most people don't have a clue. Lev Parnas is under federal indictment -- something Republican defenders of Trump are pointing to as evidence they want to be sure you know of what a truly Bad Guy he is -- because of the charge that he was giving illegal campaign money from Russia to Republicans!! Really. Seriously, now, if you were a elected Republican official, isn't that like the very last thing you'd want to highlight in making sure everyone know how disreputable Lev Parnas is??? That he has been illegally giving Russian money to the party that's trying to convince the American public Trump is not guilty. Y'know -- "Trump," the All Roads Lead to Putin guy. So, then, just to be transparent, let's put the dismissals by Lindsey Graham and Trump supporters about Lev Parnas in a fully open, more accurate perspective. What they all want you to know (they actually want you to know this!) is that the man working in Ukraine intimately with Trump's own personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani -- who is working for Trump on Ukraine which we absolutely know for a fact because Trump himself said so in his "perfect" call -- is "crooked as a snake" and shouldn't be trusted at all because he is under federal indictment for using Russian money for making illegal campaign donations to Republicans. Fair enough. I'm happy to accept all that. I'm also happy to think that that might be why there are so many photos of Lev Parnas with Republican officials because -- whether or not they all got money -- they all know he's a good someone for a Republican to know. Even if he's "crooked as a snake." And under federal indictment. Fun fact: as the Washington Post and New Yorker reported a few months back, 30 years ago Lev Parnas sold real estate for the Trump Organization. One can only wonder if he was "crooked as a snake" then, too. We do know that the Trump Organization was under indictment, though that's a separate matter. "I know the best people." -- Trump
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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