Trump impeachment and the Parnas papers: Three questions
The note is an ink scribble on letterhead from the Ritz-Carlton听hotel in Vienna. On the first page, at the top, there鈥檚 a highlight star, and then a summary of the enterprise鈥檚 main point: 鈥済et Zalensky to Announce that the Biden case will Be Investigated.鈥�
The writer? Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudolph Giuliani, President Donald Trump鈥檚 personal lawyer. The note is part of a batch of documents provided by Mr. Parnas and released by House Democrats on Tuesday that provide new details about who wanted what, and what they asked for in return, during President Trump鈥檚 pressure campaign on Ukraine. If nothing else, the material has roiled the impeachment process against the president on the eve of his Senate trial, increasing pressure for senators to hear new witnesses and view new documents during their proceedings.
The new documents also contain menacing messages regarding Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. envoy to Ukraine since听removed by President Trump. Whether the messages reflected a real surveillance and targeting campaign against former Ambassador Yovanovitch, directed by Robert Hyde, a Trump donor now running for U.S. Congress in Connecticut, remains unclear. But the material may help explain why she was removed suddenly from her post and told to immediately return to the United States as a matter of her own security. Here are three questions about the newly released documents.
Why We Wrote This
The American impeachment drama has taken a fresh turn with the release of new documents. Here鈥檚 a look at what they mean and what their importance might be.
Who was Rudy Giuliani working for in Ukraine?
One of President Trump鈥檚 main defenses throughout the impeachment process has been that whatever he did, he was trying to benefit the U.S. as a whole, not himself. This is meant to counter the charge that he was urging Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden鈥檚 role in the country, and son Hunter Biden鈥檚 job at the energy company Burisma, for his personal political benefit.
In his July 25 call with President Volodymyr听Zelenskiy of Ukraine, for instance, Mr. Trump said 鈥渄o us a favor.鈥� He has insisted that the 鈥渦s鈥� refers to the U.S. Some of the documents released Tuesday call this into question. The first note scribbled by Mr. Parnas, for instance, refers only to 鈥淎nnounce鈥� in regards to an investigation of the 鈥淏iden case.鈥� There鈥檚 no mention of actually carrying it out, or engaging in any larger fight against bribery and graft in a nation dogged by those problems in the past.
More to the point, the documents contain a letter听to President-elect Zelenskiy dated May 10, 2019, in which Mr. Giuliani requests a brief meeting 鈥� 鈥渘o more than a half-hour of your time.鈥� In the letter鈥檚 first paragraph, the former New York City mayor says not once, but twice, that he is President Trump鈥檚 鈥減rivate counsel,鈥� and will be representing President Trump as a private citizen, not the chief executive of the United States.
鈥淭his is quite common under American law because the duties and privileges of a President and a private citizen are not the same,鈥� Mr. Giuliani wrote. This makes it harder for the president to argue that in his contacts with Mr. Zelenskiy he was representing the United States in general, particularly as he urged other officials dealing with Ukraine to just work with Mr. Giuliani, as testimony from U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and others made clear during the House impeachment inquiry.
The May 19 letter also said explicitly that President Trump had 鈥渒nowledge and consent鈥� of Mr. Giuliani鈥檚 actions.
鈥淭here is no fobbing this off on others. The president was the architect of this scheme,鈥� said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Wednesday.
Was Ambassador听Yovanovitch really in danger?
Perhaps the most shocking revelation contained in the Parnas papers deals with听alleged threats against Ms. Yovanovitch鈥檚 personal safety.
Encrypted messages to Mr. Parnas from听Mr. Hyde,听a former Marine,听implied that the ambassador was under surveillance, with her听communications possibly tapped, and that Mr. Hyde and his associates were just waiting for a go-ahead to do her personal harm.
鈥淭hey will let me know when she鈥檚 on the move,鈥� said Mr. Hyde at one point,听referring to alleged compatriots in Ukraine.听鈥淭hey are willing to help if you/we would like a price,鈥� Mr. Hyde added.
Listed as head of a GOP consulting firm,听Mr. Hyde is a new face听in the impeachment story. His social media is full of pictures of him with President听Trump, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and other Republican Party听leaders.
A lawyer for Mr. Parnas, Joseph Bondy,听denied that his client was involved听in any听scheme to follow or harm the U.S. ambassador, and said that the emails reflected听Mr. Hyde鈥檚 鈥渄ubious mental state.鈥� Mr. Hyde himself deflected them on听Wednesday with expletive-filled posts indicating the emails were composed in jest.
However, if senior officials learned of the emails and took them seriously, it could听explain why Ms. Yovanovitch was removed abruptly from her post and told to听take the next plane out to the U.S. as a matter of her own safety.
The document cache also contains messages written in Russian from Yuri听Lutsenko, Ukraine鈥檚 top prosecutor at the time, to Mr. Parnas, in which he urges Mr.听Parnas to force out Ms. Yovanovitch if he wants cooperation on the Bidens.听Mr. Lutsenko was an ally and appointee of then-President Petro听Poroshenko, who lost to President Zelenskiy in an election in spring 2019. He听loathed Ms. Yovanovitch because she had been critical of him and supported an听independent anti-corruption bureau.
鈥淎nd here you can鈥檛 even remove one fool,鈥� Mr. Lutsenko wrote to Mr. Parnas at听one point, referring to Ms. Yovanovitch.听
鈥淪he鈥檚 not a simple fool ... but she鈥檚 not getting away,鈥� Mr. Parnas replied.
What happens next?
On their own the details of the communications between Mr. Parnas and his associates are very unlikely to change votes in the upcoming Senate trial or public opinion about impeachment proceedings. (If serious, the threats to Ambassador Yovanovitch could have important legal and political ramifications of their own.)
But House Republicans who have voted to exonerate President Trump, and Senate Republicans who plan to, have to be worried, at least a bit.
鈥淏ecause if new ugly details are still emerging, who鈥檚 to say that more won鈥檛 turn up later?鈥� Bernstein points out.
Since President Trump was impeached by the House on Dec. 18, 2019, The New York Times has , moving responsibility for the decision closer to the Oval Office. The legal site related to the aid decision, documenting alarm in the Pentagon at the action and concern that the White House was forcing the Department of Defense into collaboration on an aid block about which DoD officials had legal concerns.听
Now there are the Parnas papers. Mr. Parnas has only recently been legally cleared to hand over material to Congress, his lawyers note. House officials note that more will likely be made public soon.
