Giuliani associate willing to inform Congress of meeting between Nunes and former Ukrainian official: report

An indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, is willing to inform Congress about a meeting between the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee and a former Ukrainian prosecutor.

Joseph A. Bondy, the attorney for Lev Parnas, told CNN that the Ukrainian official told his client about the meeting with Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, in which the GOP lawmaker sought to find dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. 

“Mr. Parnas learned from former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin that Nunes had met with Shokin in Vienna last December,” Bondy said.

Shokin was dismissed from his post in 2016 after a pressure campaign from Western leaders, including Biden, over concerns that he was taking insufficient action to tackle corruption.

Nunes is one of the White House’s chief allies on Capitol Hill and emerged as one of the most vocal defenders of President Trump during the impeachment hearing, which he dubbed a “circus.” 

Nunes’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Bondy told CNN that Parnas put Nunes in touch with Ukrainians to help Nunes get damaging information on Biden, one of the president’s chief political rivals. 

Giuliani has previously discussed his conversations with Shokin and Parnas as part of his work on behalf of the president. However, Bondy’s discussions with CNN mark the first time Nunes has been implicated in the effort to dig up dirt on Biden. 

Parnas and his business partner, Igor Fruman, have been thrust to the heart of the House’s impeachment investigation into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.

The two were allegedly involved in a shadow campaign to help oust former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, whom they viewed as an obstacle they needed to remove in order to pave the way for Giuliani’s push for politically beneficial investigations by Kyiv.

Parnas and Fruman were indicted in connection with an alleged campaign finance fraud scheme in which they planned to use a shell company to donate money to a pro-Trump election committee. Parnas has indicated that he will cooperate with the House’s impeachment investigation.