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

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Mon May 22, 2023, 06:16 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Reuters

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.

DeSantis spokesman Dave Abrams did not respond to specific questions on the existence of the texts and Parnas’ account of their relationship. “This is another recycled narrative that has been proven wrong many times over," he said. DeSantis gave back the contribution after Parnas ran into legal trouble. The text messages reviewed by Reuters show that DeSantis frequently – in more than 20 texts – appealed to fellow Floridian Parnas for introductions, advice and other fundraising help during his hotly contested campaign for governor. Two sources close to DeSantis during his 2018 campaign confirmed the texter’s number belonged to DeSantis at that time.

The texts also reveal that Parnas served as an intermediary between DeSantis and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who at the time was the personal attorney of then-President Trump. In one case, 10 days before the 2018 election, DeSantis sent Parnas a text with suggested wording for a Giuliani tweet in support of his candidacy, the messages show. Giuliani did not respond to questions sent through his attorney and his spokesman. Ferré, DeSantis’ former spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comment.

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

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Article updated.

Original article -

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. DeSantis spokesman Dave Abrams did not respond to specific questions on the existence of the texts and Parnas’ account of their relationship. “This is another recycled narrative that has been proven wrong many times over," he said. DeSantis gave back the contribution after Parnas ran into legal trouble.

The text messages reviewed by Reuters show that DeSantis frequently – in more than 20 texts – appealed to fellow Floridian Parnas for introductions, advice and other fundraising help during his hotly contested campaign for governor. Two sources close to DeSantis during his 2018 campaign confirmed the texter’s number belonged to DeSantis at that time. The texts also reveal that Parnas served as an intermediary between DeSantis and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who at the time was the personal attorney of then-President Trump. In one case, 10 days before the 2018 election, DeSantis sent Parnas a text with suggested wording for a Giuliani tweet in support of his candidacy, the messages show.

[EYESORE 9001]

1. Popcorn time indeed

If pootie wants to find Ukrainian nazis, look no further than Lev Parnas.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Lev was hob-nobbing with a lot of people

I remember when Rachel had an exclusive 2-part interview with him.

[Captain Zero]

4. He and Rudy flew into Indy for Mike Braun in 2018

And in '24 Braun is running for Governor of Indiana.


If they aren't in jail maybe Lev and Rudy will show up with Russian Party money again.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Parnas is in a federal pen somewhere, although he would supposedly be out just in time for 2024

Giuliani associate Lev Parnas is sentenced to 20 months in prison
June 29, 2022 2:15 PM ET

By The Associated Press



NEW YORK — Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in President Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes. Parnas, who had helped Giuliani connect with Ukrainian figures as part of a campaign to dig up dirt on President Joe Biden's son, had sought leniency on the grounds that he'd helped the Congressional probe.

But prosecutors said the Soviet-born businessman's aid was in response to a subpoena and deserved little credit. Instead, they asked the judge to focus on a jury's finding that Parnas used the riches of a wealthy Russian to make illegal donations to politicians who might aid the launch of a legal recreational-marijuana business.

Prosecutors had asked that Parnas be sentenced to more than six years. An October conviction also supported a finding that he made illegal donations in 2018 to jump-start a new energy company.

Parnas pleaded guilty to conspiring to give investors false information

In March, Parnas pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud, admitting that between 2012 and 2019 he conspired with another person to give investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud Guarantee.

(snip)

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/29/1108635408/lev-parnas-sentenced-20-months

ETA - assuming he served the entire term, Parnas buddy Igor Fruman would have been released last month -

Igor Fruman, Giuliani’s associate, sentenced to a year in prison in foreign donor case

Nation Jan 21, 2022 4:16 PM EDT



NEW YORK (AP) — A Florida man who helped Rudy Giuliani seek damaging information against Joe Biden in Ukraine was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and fined $10,000 Friday in an unrelated campaign finance case.

Igor Fruman was told to report to prison March 14. He pleaded guilty in September to a single charge of solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national.

As part of the plea, he admitted soliciting a million dollars from a Russian entrepreneur, Andrey Muraviev, to donate to Republicans in Nevada, Florida and other states as part of an effort to launch a recreational marijuana business.

Federal prosecutors in New York had urged Judge J. Paul Oetken to sentence Fruman to between three and four years in prison. Defense lawyers had argued he should face no incarceration because he has otherwise led a law-abiding life. Oetken said the crime of soliciting foreign money for U.S. political campaigns was serious and deserved incarceration.

(snip)

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/igor-fruman-giulianis-associate-sentenced-to-a-year-in-prison-in-foreign-donor-case

[Quakerfriend]

8. I believe he's out of the pen & now

on home confinement.

If you listen to M. Cohen’s podcast, Mea Culpa, there’s an excellent interview with him.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. That is most likely as they often let them out early (and recently due to "COVID" )

for good behavior.

[Mopar151]

3. Yes, Lev is a shady bastid.

I got the impression that he was appalled by the "quality" of Roody and the henchmen he took on. "I don't even know why he was there, but he was ALWAYS drunk!"

[dembotoz]

6. evil bastid or hapless stooge

some folks just always in the wrong place.

not a nice man obviously....but don't see a skill set that makes him a danger

[Mopar151]

16. Paid intermediary and glad hander

Why I used the term "shady". An oligarch paid " Shrek" and his partner around a million for "work" - he's the real villain!

[RestoreAmerica2020]

7. Fuck! DeSatan is only 42 & seemingly one corrupt politician! What else has the fascist

..been up to? What will we find out next? That he has some rich donor buddy like billionaire Crow with Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas? A donor that pays for his ( desantis ) children's pvt school tuition, home, vacations--God knows what else. Time will tell. DeSatan has sold his soul to Mephistopheles, the cunning demon in play by Christopher Marlowe, The History of Doctor Faustus (1604.)

What I see, as I observe Desantis is a man desperate for power at any cost, yet in the end that maybe his downfall. As I near 70 by advise to younger people is... be careful what you wish for it may come back to kick you in the nalgas ( butt) nothing is free in this life, that is, unless you're Clarence Thomas who has a billionaire (crow) as a friend si, pero at what cost-- yrs but at what cost, what does Thomas owe Crow? Anyway on Faust's demon--here's a few excerpts, interesting tidbits...

"The legend warns us to be wary of the cult of the ego, the seductions of fame and the celebration of power. These are hollow triumphs, and short-lived; indeed, “what good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”Sep 26, 2017
https://www.bbc.com › article › 201...
What the myth of Faust can teach us - BBC Culture

You might try summoning a demon — although this remedy is fabled to come with some nasty side effects. Such goes the legend of Johann Georg Faust (aka John Faustus), an alchemist, astrologer, and magician of the German Renaissance who would posthumously inspire numerous works of theater and literature. Most notable of these is Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, more commonly and concisely known as Doctor Faustus.

In this tragedy (interspersed with comic interludes), a bored Renaissance intellectual strikes a bargain with Lucifer — infinite knowledge and worldly pleasures for a limited time in exchange for his soul. Appointed to make all that magic happen is the infernal agent Mephistopheles. Deeply rooted in Christianity, the play examines themes of temptation, sin, and redemption, along with the oft-repeated trope of "making a deal with the devil" and the associated costs.

[Historic NY]

9. Meatball Ron with a side of Russian Dressing.

interesting

[Kid Berwyn]

10. Money

[BumRushDaShow]

12. And Lev is right up there in the front

[Kid Berwyn]

13. Who could imagine that Putin would help DerSatan NAZIfy Florida?

From back in the day...

Indicted Giuliani associate joined DeSantis on last-minute campaign swing

By GARY FINEOUT
Politico, 10/21/2019 04:30 PM EDT
Updated: 10/21/2019 06:21 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE — Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian American businessman accused of funneling foreign money into U.S. elections, attended a string of events with Ron DeSantis in the closing moments of the Republican candidate’s 2018 campaign for governor in Florida.

In a photograph taken Nov. 4, two days before the election that propelled DeSantis to victory, Parnas is next to the smiling candidate at a campaign rally in South Daytona. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is standing nearby in the shot, which was published by Getty Images.

Continues…

https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2019/10/21/indicted-giuliani-associate-joined-desantis-on-last-minute-campaign-swing-1225738

[BumRushDaShow]

14. It's certainly his M.O.

[Midnight Writer]

15. Trump said DeSantis was flailing in Florida until he sent him help.

I wonder if the "help" came from putting in a good word with Putin?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

17. K & R