House Democrats on the Oversight Committee have selected an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, who played a role in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, to be their witness at the panel’s hearing on Wednesday, a source with Oversight Committee Democrats told CNN.
Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-American, worked with Giuliani in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election on behalf of Trump to try and unearth damaging information about then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in Ukraine. Parnas was sentenced to 20 months in prison in connection with convictions on campaign finance, wire fraud and false statements.
House Republicans had embraced the dirt Parnas was peddling but he has since called it out as nonsense.
“Lev Parnas can debunk the bogus claims at the heart of the impeachment probe and, in the process, explain how the GOP ended up in this degraded and embarrassing place,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight panel.
Parnas will be testifying alongside Tony Bobulinski, a former Biden family business associate who has levied critical but unproven allegations against the Bidens, and Jason Galanis, who is currently in federal prison for his role in multiple fraudulent schemes and will be appearing remotely. Hunter Biden declined the invitation from Republicans to appear at this hearing. Republicans had also invited Biden family business associate Devon Archer to testify, but he also did not accept the committee’s invitation, according to a letter obtained by CNN.
Wednesday’s hearing is only the second of its kind since Republicans launched their investigation into the Biden family and comes as the flailing inquiry into Biden stalls with impeachment becomes less likely.
Trump used…
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