Texts tie DeSantis closely to Trump insider Lev Parnas in 2018 race

[Nevilledog]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texts-tie-desantis-closely-trump-insider-lev-parnas-2018-race-2023-05-22/

BOCA RATON, Florida, May 22 (Reuters) - Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas and his business partner were arrested in 2019, accused by the U.S. government of funneling a Russian oligarch’s money into American political campaigns. One recipient of Parnas’ donations -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis -- has said he was barely an acquaintance.

“The governor does not have a relationship with these individuals,” DeSantis’ spokesperson at the time, Helen Aguirre Ferré, said in a statement on Oct. 10, 2019. Six days later, DeSantis told reporters that Parnas "was just like any other donor, nothing more than that.”

But DeSantis and Parnas worked more closely together than the Republican governor has disclosed, according to a detailed account of their relationship Parnas provided to Reuters and 63 previously unreported text messages from DeSantis to Parnas between May and October 2018, as DeSantis campaigned for governor. A jury later found Parnas guilty of campaign finance crimes and other charges.

As DeSantis prepares to take a widely anticipated leap into the 2024 presidential campaign this week, the disclosures from Parnas cast new light on the Florida governor’s relationship with the businessman and the role Parnas played in helping DeSantis gain entree to the circle of former President Donald Trump.

*snip*

[Hortensis]

1. Oh, good! Our DIL and I named a pair of oversized, evil-looking

Russian nutcracker statues Lev and Igor. Look forward to what cartoonists and comedians make of this. DeSantis should be wearing his white boots.

Mere news of corruption and Russian involvement is of course no particular surprise, only technically news.