Trump Impeachment: New Evidence From Parnas Prove 'Trump Knew What Was Going On'

Lev Parnas has admitted on national TV president Donald Trump knew exactly what he was doing while he was in Ukraine and said Trump's orders directed his actions.

“President Trump knew exactly what was going on," said the indicted Parnas in breaking his silence during an exclusive interview on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. "He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani, or the President. I have no intent, I have no reason to speak to any of these officials.”

He went on to say these people "have no reason to speak to me. Why would President Zelenskiy’s inner circle, or Minister Avakov, or all these people, or President Poroshenko meet with me? Who am I? They were told to meet with me. And that's the secret that they're trying to keep. I was on the ground doing their work."

Parnas and his associate, Igor Fruman, were both arrested in October 2019 at Dulles International Airport. They were later charged with planning to direct funds from a foreign government "to U.S. politicians while trying to influence U.S.-Ukraine relations" and indicted on campaign finance charges. Parnas and Fruman were both working at the time for Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer.

Parnas' admission on national TV is the most damning public testimony yet directly implicating Trump in the Ukraine scandal that led to his impeachment by the House on Dec. 18, 2019. It comes five days before Trump's impeachment trial at the Senate begins on January 21.

At the upcoming Senate trial, Democrats will again argue Trump abused the power of his office by coercing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to conduct an investigation into bogus allegations Biden and his son, Hunter, were engaged in massive corruption in Ukraine. As an "incentive" for Zelensky to play ball with him, Trump conditioned the release of $400 million in U.S. military aid on Zelensky publicly announcing Ukraine's investigation into the Bidens. The whistleblower complaint revealed Trump's plans, however, and triggered the historic events that eventually led to Trump's impeachment in the House.

Parnas' on-air confession comes even as the House Intelligence Committee released another batch of his messages that he and his lawyer turned over to the House a few days ago. The evidence released by the committee included voicemails, photos, and text messages between Parnas and high-level figures in Trump’s circle.

The disclosure came on the same day House impeachment managers formally told the Senate the House will transmit the two impeachment articles -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress -- against Trump.

Parnas and Fruman were sent by Giuliani to Ukraine in late 2018 to dig-up damning information on the Bidens. "Their mission was to find people and information that could be used to undermine the Special Counsel's investigation, and also to damage former Vice President Joseph R. Biden," according to The New York Times. It was Giuliani that pushed the Ukraine conspiracy theory on Trump.

Both men were also key players in the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in April 2019. They also pushed the debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine, and not Russia, interfered in the 2016 presidential election won by Trump.