Lev Parnas tells his story, seeks redemption in new Maddow documentary, 'From Russia with Lev' MSNBC Sep 20, 2024 #LevParnas #DonaldTrump #documentary
On this special edition of The 11th Hour, Rachel Maddow joins host Ali Velshi to discuss her first documentary film, "From Russia with Lev," an examination of Lev Parnas' convoluted journey from small-time hustler to the center of Donald Trump's inner circle.
Transcript
BUT FIRST I WANT TO GET RIGHT INTO IT WITH THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF "FROM RUSSIA WITH LEV", MY COLLEAGUE, RACHEL MADDOW, WHO GETS TO ADD A NEW AND IMPORTANT MONIKER TO YOUR RESUME. YOU ARE THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF THIS AMAZING DOCUMENTARY WE JUST WATCHED. CONGRATULATIONS, FIRST OF ALL, MY FRIEND. >> THANK YOU, IT FEELS SO GREAT TO HAVE IT OUT IN THE WORLD. HAVE TO ASK YOU, DID YOU LIKE IT? >> NOT ONLY DID I LIKE IT, I WAS SET UP NOT TO LIKE IT. I DON'T MEAN THAT FOR ANY OTHER REASON THAN LEV IS A COMPLICATED CHARACTER AND IT IS AN HONEST DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE COMPLEXITY OF LEV. HIS WIFE TALKS ABOUT THE COMPLEXITY OF LEV. YOU HAD THE FIRST INTERVIEW WITH HIM ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. SO I WAS NOT SURE WHAT I WANTED TO KNOW THAT I DID NOT ALREADY KNOW AND YOU STITCHED THE WHOLE THING TOGETHER IN A WAY THAT MAKES ME WISH I KNEW ALL OF THIS BACK THEN. >> YOU KNOW, IT DOES MATTER THAT HE IS A VERY COMPELLING PERSON. AND YOU CAN TELL THIS STORY AND LOTS OF DIFFERENT WAYS. YOU CAN TELL THIS STORY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE AMBASSADOR THAT WAS UNJUSTLY FORCED OUT. FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ZELENSKYY ON THE WAY HE WAS EXTORTED BY TRUMP IN THE CRIME AGAINST UKRAINE THAT WAS AT THE HEART OF THE IMPEACHMENT, THE SORT OF CULMINATING THING. YOU CAN TELL IT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF RUDY GIULIANI. FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF TRUMP. TO TELL IT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF LEV, YOU GET THIS GUY WHO IS A VERY FLAWED PERSON. HE IS OPEN ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE DOES HAVE A BACKGROUND WHERE HE WAS A HUSTLER, INVOLVED IN ORGANIZED CRIME. HE CAME UP IN THAT ENVIRONMENT. THE WHOLE REASON THAT CHARACTERS WERE GOING AFTER HIM FOR YEARS IS BECAUSE HE HAD THESE LEGAL JUDGMENTS AND DEBTS PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO COLLECT FROM HIM. DEFINITELY, YOU KNOW, NOT A BOY SCOUT, BUT THAT IS ALSO PART OF THE STORY. THAT IS PART OF WHAT IS SO AMAZING THAT HE ENDED UP IN THE WHITE HOUSE. THAT HE ENDED UP TASKED TO DO SOMETHING BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND WHEN YOU LAYER ON TOP OF THAT WHAT I BELIEVE IS HIS GENUINE REPENTANCE AND THE FACT THAT HIS PHONE HAS TERABYTES OF EVIDENCE ABOUT WHAT ALL THESE PEOPLE DID, IT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER STORY THAT I KNOW OF FROM THE TRUMP ERA OR MY TIME AND COVERING POLITICS. >> THE THING THAT MAKES THIS SO GREAT FROM THE BEGINNING IS THE DEGREE TO WHICH LEV LEANS INTO THE FACT THAT HE IS A MOB LIKE CHARACTER AND MOB LIKE CHARACTERS AND IN SOME CASES ACTUAL MOBSTERS WERE EMBEDDED IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, WHICH MAKES YOU WONDER, THE CONCLUSION I COME TO AFTER WATCHING THIS IS, WHO WAS REALLY CALLING THE SHOTS DURING THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DURING THIS TIME THAT YOU COVER? >> THAT IS PART OF THE WORRYING THING, RIGHT? IT IS NOT JUST A CHARACTER FLAW, IT IS A NATIONAL SECURITY PROBLEM WHEN YOU'VE GOT CRIMINALS INVOLVED IN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. WHEN THE CROOKS TAKE OVER THE WHITE HOUSE, THAT IS NOT JUST BAD FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, BUT IT IS REALLY GOOD FOR THE CROOKS BECAUSE IT MEANS ANYBODY INVOLVED WITH PEOPLE THEY SHOULD NOT BE INVOLVED WITH, ANYONE INVOLVED IN CRIMES, ALSO BECOME SUSCEPTIBLE TO BLACKMAIL, TO EXTORTION, TO DOING ALL SORTS OF THINGS THAT COULD PERVERT THEIR WORK IN WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE PUBLIC SERVICE. SO IT IS REALLY BAD TO HAVE CROOKS IN CHARGE AND IN THIS CASE IN UKRAINE, THE PERMEABILITY OF THE WHITE HOUSE. THE FACT THAT THE GUY WHO RAN THE NIGHTCLUB CALLED MAFIA RAVE IN UKRAINE HAD ACCESS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WAS SEEN AS BEING A FANTASTIC PIECE OF NEWS FOR THE KINDS OF GUYS WHO WOULD KNOW A GUY WHO RAN THE MAFIA RAVE CLUB IN KYIV. THOSE SORTS OF CHARACTERS SHOULD NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT, TO GETTING AN AMBASSADOR FIRED WHO THEY WANTED OUT OF THE WAY BECAUSE SHE WAS ANTICORRUPTION. THOSE SORTS OF PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO IT, BUT THAT IS HOW THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RAN. >> THAT WAS A MOMENT IN THE DOCUMENTARY WHEN LEV WAS RELATING THE WAY IN WHICH HE TALKED TO DONALD TRUMP ABOUT MARIE YOVANOVITCH BEING THE PROBLEM, THE U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE BEING THE PROBLEM AND NEEDING TO GET RID OF HER AND LITERALLY DONALD TRUMP LOOKS OVER HIS SHOULDER AND SAYS GET RID OF HER, SHE IS DONE AND YOU REALIZE IN THAT MOMENT, THE POWER THAT PEOPLE LIKE LEV PARNAS HAD IN THE DONALD TRUMP CIRCLE. THIS IS A REAL STORY ABOUT A FAKE STORY, ESSENTIALLY AND LEV PARNAS WAS INVOLVED IN CREATING THE FAKE STORY. THERE IS A POINT WHERE HE IS SITTING IN THE CONTROL ROOM, OVERSEEING THE INTERVIEW WITH THE FORMER UKRAINIAN MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS AND HE DESCRIBES IT VERY WELL AS OLD SOVIET STYLE STATE TV PROPAGANDA. YOU HAVE SPENT SO MUCH TIME TALKING ABOUT THE FUNNEL OF MISINFORMATION IN AMERICA AND YOU HAVE BASICALLY DONE A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE FUNNEL OF MISINFORMATION. >> I MEAN WHEN LEV SAYS AT ONE POINT IN THE FILM, YOU KNOW, I EVENTUALLY REALIZED THAT THERE WAS NOT ANYBODY WHO FED US ANY PIECE OF THE STORY WHO WASN'T EITHER WORKING FOR THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT DIRECTLY OR WORKING FOR RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE. SO THIS WAS A FOREIGN INFLUENCE OPERATION TO TARGET THE UNITED STATES, RIGHT? THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE HAS JUST SAID THAT RUSSIA IS TARGETING OUR ELECTIONS AGAIN IN 2024 TO TRY TO GET TRUMP BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE AS PART OF THE OVERALL EFFORT TO HARM AND WEAKEN THE UNITED STATES. YOU KNOW, USING THEIR BEST WEAPON AGAINST THE UNITED STATES, WHICH THEY THINK IS DONALD TRUMP IN POWER. THEY ARE DOING AND NOW, WHICH IS WHY WE HAVE SEEN THESE INDICTMENTS FROM THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IN RECENT DAYS. FAMOUSLY WE REMEMBER WHAT THEY DID IN 2016 TO TRY TO GET TRUMP IN POWER WITH TROLL FARMS AND WIKI LINKS AND THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN AND ALL THAT STUFF. THAT IS 2016. IN BETWEEN IN 2020 WHAT THEY DID WAS LEV. WHAT THEY DID WAS THIS PROJECT TO CREATE A STORY THAT WOULD HOPEFULLY KNOCKED JOE BIDEN OUT OF THE RUNNING FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION IN 2020, BECAUSE DONALD TRUMP KNEW THAT BIDEN HAD THE BEST CHANCE OF BEATING HIM, SO HE WANTED HIM OUT. SO THE RUSSIANS RAN AND INFLUENCE OPERATION TO TRY TO ESSENTIALLY SPOIL JOE BIDEN'S CHANCES AT WINNING THE NOMINATION AND THEY WENT AT 10 BY WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS HIS ACHILLES HEEL, WHICH IS HIS LOVE FOR HIS SON, HUNTER. HIS TROUBLED SON, HUNTER. USING A FATHER'S LOVE FOR HIS SON AGAINST HIM I THINK IS MORALLY REPUGNANT. I THINK IT IS EVIL, BUT IT ALSO WAS REALLY CONSEQUENTIAL IN HUNTER'S LIFE AND ULTIMATELY IN THE BIDEN FAMILY'S LIFE AND IT LED TO THE FIRST TRUMP IMPEACHMENT. IT LED TO THE CHANGE IN LEV'S LIFE AND HIM GOING TO PRISON AND ALL OF THIS, BUT THAT WAS THE ORIGIN. >> IN A FEW MINUTES I WILL TALK TO LEV AND HIS WIFE, CENTRAL CHARACTERS IN THE SHOW. THESE DOCUNTARIES DON'T WORK WITHOUT CENTRAL CHARACTERS. AS YOU MENTIONED YOU CAN TELL IT FROM SEPARATE PERSPECTIVES, BUT FROM TOO MANY PERSPECTIVES AND YOU LOSE THE EFFECT OF THE STORY. HE FRAMES HIMSELF AS THE CON MAN WHO GOT POND. AT THE SAME TIME, AS WE DISCUSSED, HE REALLY DID HELP ORCHESTRATE THIS WHOLE OPERATION. >> YES. >> I KNOW WHERE I STAND ON THIS HAVING WATCHED THIS, BUT FOR THE VIEWER, WHY SHOULD THEY BELIEVE LEV PARNAS NOW? >> IT IS A VERY GOOD QUESTION, TOTALLY FAIR QUESTION AND ONE WE HAD TO CONFRONT AND HAVE LONG CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER OF THE FILM. WE TALKED ABOUT THIS A LOT BECAUSE THAT IS CORE TO THE JOURNALISTIC IMPORT OF THE FILM. CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT HE IS SAYING? THERE ARE TWO THINGS I THINK ARE POWERFUL. MAYBE THREE THINGS, BUT TWO MAIN THINGS THAT POWERFULLY COME DOWN ON THE SIDE OF BELIEVING WHAT LEV IS SAYING. ONE OF THEM IS THE FIRST INTERVIEW HE DID WITH ME IN JANUARY, 2020, WHICH SET THIS WHOLE PROCESS IN MOTION. YOU KNOW HOW THIS WORKS. WHEN SOMEBODY GETS ARRESTED, SOMEBODY GETS INDICTED, THE ONE THING YOU CAN BE SURE THEY ARE NOT GOING TO DO NEXT IS APPEAR ON TELEVISION DOING AN INTERVIEW WITH A REAL JOURNALIST, RIGHT? AND YET AFTER LEV WAS ARRESTED AND INDICTED, HE CAME AND DID THAT INTERVIEW WITH ME AT GREAT LEGAL PERIL TO HIMSELF. THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ACTUALLY TRIED TO REMAND HIM TO CUSTODY BECAUSE HE DID THAT INTERVIEW WITH ME. ALL OF HIS SORT OF COME TO JESUS, HERE'S WHAT I KNOW, LET ME TESTIFY, LET ME TELL YOU WHAT I KNOW, LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT'S ON MY PHONE, ALL OF THAT WAS NOT ONLY NOT IN HIS OWN INTEREST, IT WAS AGAINST HIS INTEREST DIRECTLY AND MAY HAVE LED TO A LOT OF THE LEGAL PERIL THAT HE FOUND HIMSELF IN. IT WAS NOT SELF-INTERESTED AND I FOUND THAT IMPORTANT. THE INCENTIVES WENT THE OTHER WAY. THE OTHER PART IS THAT HE REALLY DOES HAVE A RECORD OF ALL THE THINGS HE'S TALKING ABOUT. HE'S GOT THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF TEXT MESSAGES, THOUSANDS OF DOCUMENTS IN HIS ICLOUD. THOUSANDS OF PHOTOS AND HE GAVE US FULL ACCESS TO ALL OF THAT TO MAKE THIS FILM, WHICH WAS THE MOST AMAZING FACT CHECKING PROCESS I HAVE EVER SORT OF BEEN THROUGH FOR SUCH AN INCREDIBLE STORY TO TELL ABOUT IMPORTANT PEOPLE. >> WE WATCHED TOGETHER A POWERFUL MOMENT AT THE END OF THE FILM AND NOW IT IS OUT THERE, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE END OF THE FILM, WHERE LEV PARNAS FINALLY MEETS HUNTER BIDEN. HOW DID THAT COME TOGETHER? >> SO WE HAD A TOTALLY DIFFERENT ENDING PLANNED FOR THE FILM AND IN HIS FINAL INTERVIEW, IT WAS THE SERIES OF INTERVIEWS WITH LEV THAT MADE THE SORT OF CORE OF THE FILM AND IN HIS FINAL INTERVIEW HE SAID TO THE DIRECTOR, YOU KNOW, I AM GOING TO GO TO MY PROBATION OFFICER AND ASK FOR PERMISSION TO LEAVE THE STATE OF FLORIDA, BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO GO TO CALIFORNIA AND APOLOGIZED HUNTER BIDEN FACE-TO-FACE. BILLY WAS LIKE OKAY, SURE, I WANT A PONY. I KNOW THAT YOU WANT THAT, IT DOESN'T MEAN IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN, BUT LEV MADE IT HAPPEN. HE FIGURED OUT HOW TO CONTACT HUNTER BIDEN. HE'S THAT I'M DOING THIS DOCUMENTARY AND I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE TO YOU FACE-TO- FACE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YES, BUT WOULD YOU CONSIDER IT AND IF SO COULD I BRING A CAMERA? I DID NOT EVEN BOTHER PUTTING IT ON MY CALENDAR. I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD HAPPEN AND THEN IT JUST DID AND WE DIDN'T KNOW WHEN LEV WALKED IN THE ROOM WHETHER HUNTER WOOD, YOU KNOW, PUNCH HIM OUT OR TALK TO HIM
From Russia with Lev MSNBC Films presents Executive Producer: Rachel Maddow A Picture by Billy Corben A Rakontur/Surprise Inside/Universal Television Alternative Studio Production 9/22/24
Part 1
[Music] [Hollywood February 28, 2010] I was a nursing student and going to Cal [inaudible], and you know, hanging out and doing what most 20-21 year olds do. And I was dragged to this club. And there was Lev Parnas, gold chain, and his Cartier glasses, and his Christian d'Or Gold foiled hoodie. He said he was in LA to produce a movie. The evening went by. We were talking; we were relating. Me and Lev are both immigrants from Ukraine, with similar background, similar upbringing. The foundation, it's still the Soviet Union. The next day he shows up in a stretch limo in front of my house to pick me up for lunch. That's just a certain way that they produce people out of Russia and Ukraine that's different than anywhere else. He proposed 4 days later, and we were married within 6 months. All of our friends and family thought we were completely off our rockers. [For us], it was like nobody matters; nothing you say can stop us; it's like Beyonce and Jay-Z, Bonnie and Clyde. Like let's do this; we're going to conquer the world. I don't think you could have convinced me with anything that this is where we would be in 2024.
[Various News outlets] Lev Parnas; Lev Parnas; Lev Parnas; Lev Parnas; Lev Parnas; Lev Parnas; the Shady and indicted Ukrainian businessman left Paris --
... that he would be involved in one of the biggest scandals. President Trump pressured the head of Ukraine to pursue an investigation into Joe Biden.
[Donald Trump] My call was perfect having to do with our birth country Ukraine having to deal with presidents of Ukraine and of the United States Paris is a recently indicted goon who worked with Giuliani to help Trump blackmail Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden the impeachment of President Donald Trump is here Lev parnis he is now talking and he has documents to back up his words parnis implicated several top Trump Administration officials including the president himself were you relying on L par get rid of your Ambassador I mean who who does that what happened what happened left happened Democrats are really scraping the bottom of the barrel if they think that Lev Paris is their star witness Lev parnis he is a creepy sleazy self-serving super snitch he will do and say anything he can think I'm crazy but I really thought I'm going to get the Medal of Honor boy was I wrong I was born in Odessa Ukraine February 6th 1972 my father used to own underground factories during communism you weren't allowed to have your own business people that were caught running these type of factories would get the death sentence we immigrated to the United States in 1976 when I was 4 years old we had friends and family that were all immigrating to a little town right by Coney Island it was Brighton Beach and we called it l Odessa it was kind of like one big family we all came from the same persecution and we all wanted the same thing which was the American dream certain individuals started leading and taking control of the neighborhood people like my father uh that were businessmen in the Soviet Union what you now call Russian organized crime when my father passed away and I was 11 years old I had to get more involved into that world while other kids were going to school I was on the streets hustling and the girl I was dating her on happened to be one of the leaders in that organized crime group and I ended up working for him as a runner collecting money so one day I'm South New Jersey and I'm collecting I've had somewhere around $2 and half $3 million in cash and checks sitting in the back of my Lincoln Town Car and an 18-wheeler hits me and drives over the back of my car so I remember calling my uncle and telling him I'm stuck in the cops are on their way what do I do they're like whatever you do don't open the trunk we're on our way at the end of the night it was a bunch of fun and laughs at Atlantic City casino discussing how I almost got arrested with 2 and a half million in cash then around uh 1989 there was a big boom in the Russian Community the Cold War might be over and there might be a lot of opportunity so now fast forward I made some really good money over the next several years in Russia import export I probably had every most powerful Russian Ukrainian ex Soviet Union businessman mobster there to do business but at some point it became too crazy people were dying left and right and I saw it was my time to exit one day I decided to give my cousin ol a call come on by let's grab some sushi I wanted to impress him so here o is pulling up in this red Ferrari gets out in a pinstriped suit looking like you know a million bucks and I look at him I said who did you kill he goes no it's called Wall Street if anybody seen the movie The Wolf for Wall Street that didn't do it justice my first day in the office I see guys doing lines on the table you got guys smoking weed in the corner just a bunch of young guys running around with headphones and screaming crazy numbers that was my initiation into Wall Street these were largely boiler rooms they were lowlevel brokerage houses not very well known and love was on the hustle three of the brokerage houses that he worked for had been expelled for violation ations of fraud all of a sudden everybody started getting arrested and the News started coming up with the mob on Wall Street my friends were going to prison and I decided you know it's time to exit my cousin olig was opening another office in bokeron Florida and he was looking for people to work there Boer atone Florida here we come the palm trees the ocean the warm sunny weather it was a paradise but it was also an opportunity for every fraud stir in the world because you had a lot of retirees I ended up working for the same mopped up penny stock Mobsters doing the same [ __ ] we were doing in New York in Boer atone he had multiple cases of non-payment of deaths and uh being evicted from various places where he lived he had been the target of at least nine court cases 2008 the Great Recession hits and my life goes upside down I lose my wife I lose my cars I lose my business and I kind of started looking for a new path in life I got approached by one of my friends and said would you be willing to open up some poker rooms in Beverly Hills next thing you know here I am running illeagal poker games on top of Rodeo Drive our clientele was the who's who if you ever seen Molly's game movie stars directors and business Titans they were going all in all the time thank you Molly this is for you that's it and that was us at the same time I was introduced to this Hollywood producer Rudy Durant he discovered Brook Shields he was Jack Nicholson's good friend and he had the script that he was dying to do the main characters were supposed to be Jack Nicholson and Mark wook now here I am running at night poker games and during the day running around with some of the most powerful people in Hollywood trying to put together a movie called memory of an assassin I had no idea about the movie business but I was a Salesman and I ended up going out there and finding investors he's always been someone that is doing a lot at the same time serial entrepreneur yeah for sure serial father too L is a super likable guy you know I mean him he makes a joke and I'm like oh L you you you so crazy love is kind of a lovable character he is charismatic he's full of energy full of piss and vinegar you can't forget love I've never met anyone that has not recalled meeting love while living the life of Adam I met a very special person little that I know that this person would end up being the love of my life excuse meic 4 days later I dropped to one at 4:00 in the morning and I proposed her with a jar of pickles and and she said yes I was going to be wife number three but baby mama number four and it was like okay enough you have kids all of the kids are in Florida so for me it was immediately I have to move I became an instant mom I was a young woman but then once you have three kids instantly you get really old really quickly the movie deal fell apart back then in 2010 it would eventually be made later on without me with Willam niss called memory we all have to die it's important is what you do before you go I got retained December of 2017 to go after a character named left parnis about a judgment Tony Andre Tony Andre is a Miami lawyer great guy but uh he was the root of all my problems and he was retained by gentleman called Michael Pew he was an investor in the movie deal that I was doing with Rudy Durant Mr Pew L money from the trust that took care of his elderly mother 7 years later he still out his 350 Grand which is now $500,000 if you count post-judgment interest he was like a real Pitbull once he got subpoena power through the Judgment my life turned into a living hell on paper Lev looked like a terrible collection all the earmarks of a a bum case I think to call him a typical Miami Hustler would would do the game of disservice now to the race for the White House and after Decades of very publicly flirting with the idea billionaire Donald Trump says he really is running for president this time around watching him come out going down those golden escalator they bringing drugs they're bringing crime they're rapists I mean I never voted had nothing to do with politics I was never registered but he wasn't a politician he was a New York Hustler and we could relate [Music] I'm working with a big real estate company we're out in a restaurant Robert Pereira I met for the first time that evening he was a very very wealthy businessman and also a powerful person of the Republican party and that had ties close to Trump at first I was extremely excited to meet this guy because of my real estate project so that night we come up with this crazy ideas we're going to hold a huge fundraiser at Robert's house this is the LA palas I mean it's a $140 million house with golden chandeliers golden doors so while Robert is uh basically figuring out how we're going to raise this money for Donald Trump I'm more excited about how I'm going to have 20 Robert pereiras in the same room where I could pitch my real estate deal to until all of a sudden it's breaking news Trump tap bombshell Donald Trump caught on a hot mic months after marrying Melania making vulgar comments about groping women saying when you're a star they let you do it that's a [ __ ] show people are cancelling left or right we were able to salvage leg and that was my very first donation $50,000 to the Donald Trump campaign but something happened that night we were like two seats away from Trump and Les piped in and said something and instantly it was like no one else was in the room and the two of them were just talking the moment that really got me is when I asked him I said why are you doing this and he looked out out to the ocean and then stared back at us and said you know what I don't need to be doing this I'm doing this for the regular folk for the common people I'm trying to stop them from destroying our country and at that moment it was something that hit me at that moment I was mesmerized colonized hypnotized I was trumped missing out on the things you love because of asthma get back to better breathing with fenra an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma that is taken once every 8 weeks fenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions allergic reactions may occur don't stop 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paradon the gum experts I had 20 years of experience as an HR professional and I had reached a ceiling so I enrolled in umgc I would not be the person that I am today had it not been for the partnership with umgc hold it hold it hard time holding it well always discreet absorbs up to a cup full with up to zero wet feeling odor so I'm not just dry and jump squats level dry we've got you always always discreet I was seeing this bra all over my Instagram feed I'm sure you're seeing it too this is the most comfortable bra I've ever put on in my life I love it because one it's not underwire I hate underwire it Smooths out your back it doesn't give you back fat or back rolls you can wear this under a T-shirt and it wouldn't leave any marks or bulges so not not only is it super supportive lifting and smoothing but you have all that without an underwire and without a ton of padding if you're looking at this and it's available promise you won't regret it try risk-free free returns on all orders here's your coffee oh best intern ever oh nice you use Fiverr working on anything big a marketing campaign product launch new towel design for the Summers swag are we sure we're making the best use of our talent can I get some oat milk sometimes great talent is right under your nose what's your name again I want to say Barb for the month leading up to the 2016 election we were Trump family it was a whirlwind we were flying around all over the place following Donald Trump it was a small group a tough time for any Republican right now to be standing up alongside their party's standard Bearer nobody believed he could win even we didn't believe he could win there was rallies and dinners and then finally the debate in Vegas Putin from everything I see has no respect for this person well that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president of United States it's pretty clear puppet after that Trump said I want you guys with me on Election night at the Hilton in New York it was such a roller coaster of a night all like sitting there nervous trying to prey our way to having Trump win for Hillary Clinton one of the most stunning defeats in American political history Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States was like our guy made it finally we're going to get back on track back to that you know make America great again and the crazy part I didn't vote but we still [Music] won I love this country shortly after that we found out that we were invited to the inauguration it didn't take long for word to spread Le was just like the Trump guy during this wild ride I started documenting taking pictures of everything and posting him on social media all of a sudden I started getting phone calls from everybody I knew or didn't know in the Russian Ukrainian Community wanting to be my friend everybody wanted to go to the inauguration to do a great job for the people of this country so it was hilarious to see all these characters from my previous life mafia kingpins oligarchs hugging sitting VIP and interacting with all these Republican congressmen and Senators it was very interesting for me always not only watching the way L was interacting but the way everyone kind of accepted love you wouldn't really come up to Trump and say hey my brother how you doing L did in a year and a half I went from not knowing anything about what politics is to now being in the Inner Circle of the president Lev was just in State of Shock that he was at this level this is a guy who's an immigrant and who is living large larger than he ever dreamed I Donald John Trump do solemnly [Applause] swear there are also plenty of congratulations being extended to the president elect including those of Vladimir Putin Putin said today he's ready to open a new chapter with the US I would have a very very good relationship with Putin and with Russia Washington Post is reporting that President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and Ambassador during a meeting in the Oval Office last week the White House blindsided tonight as the Department of Justice reveals that they will appoint a special counsel to now oversee the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in any possible collusion and then they launched the Robert meller investigation the man now leading the investigation former fbon director Robert Mueller they're weaponizing the doj to go after Donald Trump because they can't stand that he won US officials believe Russia not only tried to influence the election but also worked to help Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton over a month before the election us intelligence agencies accused the Russian government of hacking emails from the Democrat atic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign my people they said they think it's Russia President Putin he just said it's not Russia I don't see any reason why it would be president Trump and those working with him had scores of contacts with Russians and Wikileaks including attempts at setting up back Channels with the Kremlin I have nothing to do with Russia folks okay the Russia Cloud over the Trump White House seems to be darkening Paul maniff for and a deputy campaign official Rick Gates will turn themselves into face charges 12 towns conspiracy against the United States unregistered agent of a foreign Principal Paul mafro was working for free as Trump's Camp pay manager but in reality he used to get paid by Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs Paul manior he was doing work in Ukraine that was very definitely pro-russian the entire thing has been a Witch Hunt this investigation is nothing more than a Witch Hunt five defendants have pleaded guilty it's only a Witch Hunt if you don't find any witches there's a great effort and a part of the Trump Administration to turn the tide on collusion they have nothing they have nothing it's somebody's version of the truth not the truth truth isn't truth Giuliani takes this narrative and turns it into Ukraine it wasn't Trump and the Russians that meddled in the 2016 election it was actually Hillary and the ukrainians it's Ukrainian collusion which was large significant and proven with Hillary Clinton with the Democratic National Committee the real collusion Scandal as we've said several times before has everything to do with the Clinton campaign so that's where I think the Muller team should be investigating which is the real crime which is the Clinton collusion all of a sudden my old friend somebody I haven't seen for a while eigor fruman comes back into my life Eagle fruman was a Ukrainian American citizen that had lots of businesses overseas primarily in Ukraine he had restaurants he had nightclubs one of them was called the mafia Rave Club in Ukraine eigor knew everybody from the lowlevel street Hustlers to the high level mobsters and politicians they all came to his clubs he made their dreams come true I didn't think he was the right person for Lev to be as close as they became but you know they were they were friends eigor was a little bit more mysterious than love known particularly for Connections in organized crime and he came to America with a significant amount of money eigor didn't fit into Trump World until he started paying for their bills Eiger became everybody's best friend with that American Express black card so when IG comes back in my life at first I didn't understand but then I realized that eigor has been looking through my social media like everybody else and that's when he made his proposal there was a company in Ukraine and Energy company that was up for sale but they wanted to be bought out by an American company all of the people that really controlled oil and gas industry were Republican Mega donors so we started a company called Global energy producers they had not spent a lot of time in that energy sector so I don't think they knew a lot about it but look they were salesmen between the connections he had in Ukraine and the Republican party it's silly not to put these two together instead of going getting fancy offices and investing money into advertising we were going to be Mega donors to be able to have VIP access to everything that goes on in the Republican Party he was donating money left and right and I'm like what are you doing we were donating to everybody who would take our money we donated $100,000 to Kevin McCarthy and vice president Mike Pence for protect the house we've donated thousands of dollars to Pete Sessions we donated to Rick Scott senator campaign we've donated $50,000 to the Ronda sentus campaign for Florida Governor I know I got him the governorship that was a Matchmaker between Governor D santis and [Music] Trump I mean it was like filler on the Roof Matchmaker Matchmaker make me a [Music] match the night he won the first person he gave a hug to was me and then we made our commitment for a million dollars to the prot trump super pack America First action pack and we wired $325,000 for our first installment it was eagor money and the money's going to various shell companies that they formed llc's it's going to other business partners and then it's coming back to them again this was a real exercise in following the [Music] money so we're invited to our first intimate dinner with Donald Trump to the America first Super Pac and it was being held at the Trump International hot tell I was sitting face to face with Donald [Applause] Trump when Trump saw us he greeted us like he always greeted Us by saying my guys to me and eigor eigor secretly recorded the whole thing all of a sudden the topic changes to Ukraine me being me I got into the conversation how Ukraine do I don't ask they they love you though I realize that Trump has no idea about you Ukraine how long would Ukraine last in a fight with Russia I don't think very long without us not very long he has no idea they have oil Ukraine has oil a lot l number one in Europe yeah we could Ukraine yes so prior to us coming to the event I heard all these stories about what was going on with the Ukrainian Ambassador and that how she was you know a Soros plant and how she was part of the Clinton regime the first thing that came out of my mouth is I said the biggest problem there I think is we got to get rid of the Ambassador is she's still left over from the Clinton Administration where the Ambassador where Ukraine I'm repeating gossip I have no idea I have no facts no vetting she's basically walking around telling everybody wait he's going to get impeached he got angry all of a sudden turned around to one of his AIDS and said get rid of her okay get her out take her out okay it was silence the table looked at each other nobody knew what to do do it so we all start clapping [Applause] love shared a piece of silly gossip probably from somebody that was corrupt and because of that she should be immediately fired she was like why was punitive it was terrible it was Trump I get some voicemail you know from a reporter saying left Paris uh through this enity name Global energy producers there was this you know LLC that was started in April and in may they gave 325,000 to America's First action and I was like that doesn't make any sense this guy doesn't have two nickels scrub together you know he's in the room with Trump Tony Andre comes in as a civil lawyer but through the subpoena power is able to get a lot of the transfers and how the money bounced around to the various Banks which gets in big trouble later it was like a freight train going off the tracks and I could see that it's going off the tracks and I was trying to explain to him he's going off the tracks but he was like if I go off the tracks then I go off the tracks whatever you know
MSNBC my world changed I started associating myself and hanging out with hardcore right-wing Mega Republicans Trump International Hotel it was like home away from home everybody knew my name everybody know my association with the Trump family and it was kind of like feeling like I was at my own hotel the managers the hotel employees everybody knew to report back to Donald Trump he knew who the high rollers world if you wanted any favor from Donald Trump you better stay at his hotel at least $7.8 million he received from 20 foreign governments it's about Trump Tower and Trump hotels almost entirely that's where this money went waking up at the Trump Hotel would be like waking up in the war zone of congressmen Senators conspiracy theories Fox TV all over the place you're basically hot boxing right-wing Fox News Russian propaganda all day long everybody believed in the same [ __ ] everybody wanted to please Donald Trump but what nobody could stand at the time was how close Rudy Giuliani really was with Donald Trump their relationship goes way back you know you're really beautiful oh you dirty boy you oh Donald I thought you were a gentleman you can't say I didn't try when I met juliani he was going through a divorce he was having financial difficulties I can certainly tell you the person that you see now is not the man that I married giuliani's last harah was when he ran for president during that debate when Joe Biden basically embarrassed Rudy in front of the World by saying there's only three things he mentioned in a sentence a noun and a verb in 9/11 I mean there's nothing else Rudy could never forget that yes he was still Rudy Giuliani America's mayor but he wasn't in the Limelight and that's what he really missed Rudy was hustling being The Unofficial lobbyist The Unofficial Ambassador people started giving him Jets and private airplanes and paying for dinners people starting finding out that he was the key to Trump's here Rudy was basically working with anybody that was willing to give him a dollar that's where I came in we sat down to discuss Rudy being my partner in my company called FR guarantee C for him to do for us what he did to Life Lock identity Z steal from everyone you have to protect yourself I protect myself with my fck who named fraud gue I take full credit it was me who better to start a company like that that La parness looking back you could see where the irony is that now you know especially I get convicted of fraud for fraud guarantee so yeah fraud guarantee becomes a guaranteed fraud Rudy was supposed to use his contacts to promote the company and instead he took half a million dollars and accomplished nothing but in the beginning I really looked up to him and I really cared for Rudy Giuliani I'm here with my friends Lev and eigor it was like a romance made in heaven at some point almost overnight Rudy became L's I don't know work wife or something because they spent so much time together and they had such an intimate relationship they were almost like Father and Son four to five days out of the week four five six times a day with phone calls and text messages and he was The Godfather to my son Nathan there's a picture of him wiping his mouth I don't think has ever offered me that service not maybe not even all of our kids after that I was like yep we're not getting him back people like this is an ABC News special report the death of President George Herbert Walker [Music] Bush it was the hottest ticket in Washington dignitaries billionaires from our all over the world were trying to get a ticket Rudy says you guys want to go with me I was like hell yeah we're going to go but Rudy wasn't just taking me and eigor Rudy was also taking uh a date but not only the date but her mother also at the time Rudy was drinking nonstop right after he'd be going right on TV and representing the president of the United States if I did one tenth of what Hillary Clinton did I'd be in jail she paid people to create violence at his rallies she sold 20% of our uranium to Russia poor little Hillary we got to be nice there there's something off about Rudy Giuliani how many of the former president's terrible ideas came from an inebriated Rudy Giuliani but the funniest part is having to hear the conversations through the speaker phone of trump ripping Rudy after going on TV drunk Rudy always want to be Secretary of State but Trump didn't give him the opportunity because he thought he was low energy because he fell asleep in a meeting and then on a plane ride so at a certain point in time you had the official Secretary of State who was secretary Pompeo and then you had the shadowed Secretary of State who was Rudy Giuliani this wasn't a normal presidency it was turning American foreign policy basically into an episode of The Apprentice you fire [Music] the Mueller investigation it's winding down Giuliani is no longer looking back at the 2016 campaign Joe Biden former vice president for eight years now emerging as the number one potential candidate now to run against Trump you are the democrat's top choice to run against President Trump in 2020 so early president Trump says that you're his dream candidate would be his dream to run against you he was the point man for the Obama Administration in Ukraine his son Hunter takes a job with barisma a large Energy company in Ukraine Trump's biggest nightmare was Joe Biden and he did not want him to run and be his opponent let's go after Joe let's go after Hunter and let's find that way through Ukraine Rudy was amazed to see how eigor and I were aware about these intricacies that were going on in Ukraine between all of these corrupt politicians and oligarchs and criminals so Rudi says he has an idea you guys are going to go Ukraine and when we said yes he called Trump up the plan was hatched we were to go on our first reconnaissant mission on behalf of Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani it was almost like leanor landed in Trump's lap they were Ukrainian they were citizens they were businessmen and they were willing to do it on Trump's and giuliani's terms 120% Rudy says that this has to be all secretive this is very confidential who looked at eigor said you have a $20 bill Rudy took it and said I'm officially your lawyer now Rudy's tool of choice was the lawyer client privilege that would enable him Trump and ourselves to communicate they get people that can work in the shadows not a Henry Kissinger not a Phil khabib not any of those folks lav and eigor no guard rails no oversight nothing and that is how I was recruited to start the secret mission to dig up dirt on Joe and Hunter Biden this is where really the back Channel campaign begins and could that get them in trouble with various laws in place that wared against that of course but they didn't worry about that they had protection they had the president they had Rudy Giuliani for the life of me I can't understand why they got recruited to do anything sensitive with Rudy Giuliani it made makes no sense to me unless maybe you're looking for a Fall Guy I don't think Hillary Clinton or any other sane person would be entrusting Levan eigor with top secret government kind of information and then having them run around Ukraine he's not qualified I mean it's just it's ridiculous with trump it was never about competency it was never about the Constitution it was always about loyalty it was always about protecting him it was always about doing things for him like Fear and Loathing in Washington DC as your attorney advis you to rent a very fast car with no top there's this President talking to this crazy cat his lawyer who's got these two people that should not even be in the room that are now participating in a really high level but comedic as it was it was also Gravely serious wait we can't stop here this is Bat Country this was the beginning of the BLT team we would meet at The BLT Steakhouse restaurant at the Trump International Hotel they had a private room there that I would was told by Don Jr I was swept once a week to make sure that there was no listening devices there The BLT team was compiled of Rudy Giuliani who's the head and it was me and eigor and then you had John Solomon who was the hill reporter at the time then you had Joe de Geneva and Victoria tuning who was two right-wing lawyers that used to work for Trump they were a key part in getting Bill bar to become Attorney General Victoria told them don't worry about it Bill bar is going to wipe away the mullet report and that was it Bill bar one of the most recent respected jurist in the country highly respected lawyer a terrific man a terrific person he will be nominated for the United States Attorney General so the BLT we had this big round table with Windows people couldn't see in the way you were sitting down and Rudy was like Don Coro Rudolph Giuliani the US attorney for the southern district of New York New York City is affected by organized crime more so probably than any other city in the United States I'd be right by his side as his old he's part of a criminal family it's you know he's the uh Tom Hagen I have a special practice I handle one client he is fascinated by the mob and constantly talk about the Godfather sounds like a poor imitation of The Godfather almost like you know the Godfather this is business you could see his love for that mob lifestyle everybody knew that I was so close to the president of Rudy Giuliani that I was a gatekeeper to be able to walk into room and have all of these powerful people Congressman Senators bow down to you run up to you kiss your ass it was amazing the power the rush December 2018 we were invited to the White House Hanukkah [Music] party Trump comes straight up to me shakes my hand looks me in the eye and says Rudy tells me great things thank you for what you do and then his keep up the good work the president pres of the United States is sending me on the mission to be able to save our democracy a week later we were in Ukraine I knew he was out of his league right from the beginning I told him listen you entered a good old boys club you don't belong there you do not have membership to this club at all you think you might but all you have is AIS and axis is going to get denied the second they are done with you when he started traveling to Ukraine and being on this sub Mission I knew almost everything he was doing was a bad idea I'd get home and tell her you can't believe what just happened you can't believe who I was with she'd be like what are you doing every chance I had to tell him that he's out of his mind and instead of a medal he's going to get handcuffs because he's going to be the Fall Guy this was a mission impossible a mission stupid I don't know which one but maybe both see you in Ukraine soon yeah we're in Ukraine there was a convoy of cars with a bunch of people in there with guns we were driven first to one house where we switched cars I mean this is right out of a spy Thriller it was in the middle of nowhere like a law cabin there was Victor shoken he was a elderly gentleman but this guy is not your typical grandfather this guy is Hardcore Victor shulin was a very disreputable former prosecutor there are various allegations of corruption for this country to get the kind of help and Aid that it needed various funding agencies bled them out then Vice President Biden went over there to get rid of this guy I I'm leaving in 6 hours if the prosecutor's not fired you're not getting the money that happened shoken was let go oh son of a [ __ ] got fired Ukraine's embattled prosecutor General Victor Shin is no longer in office Victor Shin's departure comes after the country's president penko publicly urged the general prosecutor to resign by the time Lev parnis gets to shoken he has a vendetta shoken told us Joe Biden was involved in the firing to protect his son Hunter B who was a board member of barisma the corrupt the Ukrainian Energy company it's a huge bombshell it would cause by in denomination we fly down to New York we meet up with Rudy in Park Avenue he was very excited because Victor shoken is willing to play ball so Victor shoken now needs to get a Visa he then goes to the US Embassy then he gets rejected Rudy looks at me and says don't worry about that I'll take care of that calls me on later that evening says he just met with Pompeo everything is good Shen goes back and they take away his passport Shen is obviously I ra screaming to the media and everything that the US ambassador Maria Ivanovich blocked his Visa I said Rudy it's Maria Ivanovich again she's back at it Rudy loses it she's going to get involved in my investigation I'll show her if he texts me I'm calling number one that was Donald Trump calls me back and tells me in two days everything's going to be all right is Shen gets called in into the embassy where he gets a strict letter saying that he is put on a do not fly list now so the more pressure we were putting on together the Visa the more they were destroying Shen over there and he was flipping losing it the president of the United States can't even get a visa for somebody it was like the Bad News Bears of politics one thing about Marie yanovich she's not going to do the back room you know diplomacy she was a very disciplined and respected civil servant they needed to get her out and we can't get a visa for a Shen so we arranged a Skype call it was Rudy myself and eigor we're joined by a x FBI agent that Rudy had there to take notes and on the other side was Victor Shen how long had he been conducting that investigation that involved Biden's son Rudy said was there anything illegal that Hunter Biden or Joe Biden did do they get a kick back do they get a bribe and there's a two second pause and then you hear was B no but if I would be able to investigate and I'm convinced that we would have found something there choken had previously investigated bisma there was no credible evidence at that time to charge bisma or Hunter Biden so for shoking to then bring it up again just seemed [Music] ludicrous tonight we have more evidence of Ukraine gas company barisma leveraging Hunter Biden for political access and more lies from Joe Biden as he tries to cover up this story the [ __ ] pipeline worked like this between 5 and 7: in the evenings Rudy would text what we have anything for the President John Solomon I'd get some information from Ukraine I'd send it over to John Solomon and literally within an hour or two it'd be all over Fox News Joel remember you heard it here first credible evidence about your son pedaling your influence as vice president in exchange for millions in one case and billions in another case if some Ukrainian called me up with some crazy Theory like the sky is yellow Solomon would turn around and say yep uh my sources confirmed the sky is yellow and DM Hannity I can confirm to you tonight that the US government had open- Source intelligence and was aware as early as February of 2019 that the Ukrainian government was planning to reopen the Bree investigation part of my job was to make sure that the information we were getting was coming from credible sources people that were in in office and had Authority but there was lots of other characters like oligarchs Street guys businessmen that were all trying to get into the mix most of those were actually Gru and Russian agents they were just babbling all this Russian disinformation nobody would listen to it until Rudy Giuliani I mean Rudy did not care as long as it fit his narrative and the narrative was Joe Biden is bad having his son who had just been tossed out of the military for drug problems put on the board of the most corrupt company in Ukraine they needed to help Feed the Beast get it out there on the hill get it out there in Fox News well Joe Biden has spent weeks deflecting the flood of questions about his son's Shady business deals in Ukraine and China and then all of a sudden Hunter Biden resigns from the board Lev and eigor they got a victory they're riding high it was good but we needed more we didn't have the Smoking Gun 2 Days Later here comes a call and it's current General prosecutor Yuri lenko come on down you're the next contestant Yuri lucenko didn't have a great reputation like a lot of prosecutors these are largely political hacks they feed a certain faction that's in power he came in with a pile of paperwork that had to do with barisma but he's not showing any heart Corp facts he never left any records nor was very specific as to okay where did the money come in how was it delivered how did Vice President Biden benefit julii said we need you to announce an investigation into the bidens lieuten was willing to get this investigation announced but he needed something in return yvanovich had to go and that wasn't a problem because Rudy wanted Ivanovich gun the problem is Trump already fired her remember when we at our dinner he said get rid of her and she's still there but he couldn't understand that he would just scream she's fired and expect that's it she's gone Trump told Pompeo to fire her popeo refused he even screamed so loud at his secretary meline to Fire and she told him Mr President I don't have the authority to do it a man that's known for firing people on TV and here he can't fire his own Ambassador I mean it was hilarious I don't know if I'm more offended as a Ukrainian or as an American to see the extents and lengths that President Trump was willing to go it didn't make sense to me and I think the only person it made sense to was trump it was just astonishing to see such high levels of governments acting like [Music] children one of the things that I was fascinated to find was that when Global energy producers did get bank accounts I see charges of levs in Ukraine you know he's living it up in Kiev while Lev is being chased by creditors all through South Florida he is now orchestrating a stream of money with eigor that goes through a foreign Bank to the US the money is flowing and he is spending it with eigor with Reckless abandon they flew first class they stayed at top level Hotel they ate $1,000 dinners or talking $600 at tootsies a strip club in Kev they were not only moving around Ukraine they were jet setting around the globe Paris Warsaw London they were Globe trotting diplomats if you will and I use that term loosely here I am a kid out of Brooklyn going to meet the president of Ukraine the country that I was born in relaying a message from the most powerful man in the world it's time game time I was scared every time he went to Ukraine that he wouldn't come back P penko battling to hold on to his presidency against ziny elections were going on in Ukraine I tell venko if he would give lenko the go- ahead to open an investigation into the Biden and if penko himself would come out and discuss the involvement and the meddling of US ambassador Marie Ivanovich into Ukrainian politics in return Donald Trump would then not only have penko visit him at the white house but he would also come visit him in Ukraine and support him in his elections I made the very very first quit Pro quote to the president poroshenko of Ukraine from president Donald Trump but after I'm done talking poroshenko sits back starts laughing and said hold on a second he goes we're not going to do this again thank you very much it's a great honor to be with President penko he got screwed by Trump on some shady Cal deal and now he can't even get a phone call back so at this point he didn't trust that Trump would hold up his end of the deal John Solomon Rudy everybody starts going crazy and it becomes an allout war between Yuri lenko and Rudy juliani finally after Rudy getting on the phone and literally screaming at lenko and cursing lenko he's going to do the interview and he's going to give us a bombshell that we're not even ready for this isn't a normal political exercise this is subterfuge on an entirely another level you just don't see that nowhere in American history you got understand I mean I was at the studios I was at the control room overseeing this interview old Soviet style you know propaganda State tv type of [ __ ] today we launched a criminal investigation about this fact and we'll give a legal assessment of um this uh information lot senko tells the hill we're doing an investigation and boom that was another victory for the team how real was the investigation no more real than a lot of the investigations that happened there so let's be perfectly clear Trump really never cared if there was an actual investigation Trump even himself said it several times to announce it and leave the rest to me how do you uh gauge the relationship between uh Ukraine and specifically our US ambassador Miss that's when lenko hits us with the bomb unfortunately from the first meeting with the US ambassador in Miss Ambassador gave me a list of people whom we should not uh prosecute and all hell broke loose there is no proof of that and the state department flatly denied that and said it was a fabrication but you know at the end of the day the damage was done we were on Cloud9 high fives and having dinner and drinks and thinking we did it we got it mission accomplished breaking news in the Russia investigation a summary of the Muller report has been delivered to Congress Attorney General William bar reported that the special Council found no evidence that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election this was all [ __ ] worries among Muller's investigators the bar may have shaped the entire narrative about the Russia investigation but it was party time at the Trump International music was going congressmen senators were all over the place finally this Russian collusion is going to bed we knew and Bill bar was going to take care of it after Mueller you would think at that point the administration would be breathing a collective sigh of relief no there wasn't any effort to kind of okay let's play this straight let's do it right no they're right back in the hunt now let's target an ambassador it's been a dramatic day president Trump fire US ambassador Marie yvanovich that morning I wake up from a phone call to from lenko and he's like congratulations finally you guys did something right yanovich said she was never told why she was removed I text Victoria tuning and she said the wicked witch is gone like you know from The Wizard of Oz the wicked old witch at last is dead she is the anti-corruption fighter and we were celebrating that we got her out what they were doing was this a dangerous form of diplomacy they had the wherewithal and the means to get recalled an American ambassador they did that and there was no turning back so as the Ukrainian presidential election start heating up in April all of a sudden Here Comes Vladimir zalinski out of nowhere here was a guy that was a comedian that had no chance whatsoever every day it got bigger and bigger until eventually he just took over and won in the landslide having played the role of president in a TV show Vladimir zilinski is now on course to make that role a reality zilinski and his team can celebrate this election Victory but defeating corruption and ending the war with Russia is going to prove far harder all of a sudden it's a whole new cast of characters and our mission changes we need to open up a back door Channel between zilinski and Giuliani on behalf of trump the inauguration date of president-elect Vladimir zilinski is being discussed the inauguration is going to be big and it's going to be this huge event to show a strength for Russia it was very important for Trump to be there and Trump said I don't think I could make it but I will send the next best thing I'll send Pence so they were all set Rudy realized that the inauguration was going to be their pressure point then he will use it to our advantage we had runaway diplomats operating in another country under nobody's watch nobody's ages nothing if we lose sight of that we have problems if we lose sight of what happened we're in serious trouble as a country reminds me of the Titanic scene just there's a boat check that's pretty much where we were during the 4 years of the presidency of [Music] trump I'd never know when he was coming or going he could buy a ticket in the morning and then cancel it by night and then be somewhere else by the next morning when he was home he was unbearable it was Trump Trump trump magga magga magga Ukraine Scandal Joe Biden there was nothing else to talk to love about it was Hardcore control over my family are you kidding me you're going to watch MSNBC you don't know that that's full of lies and they hate Trump that was part of the mega cult movement once they got you in and they told you what you could watch who you could speak to what you could believe now I have to eat and pretend like it's not a big deal that Trump is making fun of disabled people I don't know what I said ah I don't remember being derogatory towards women she's shocked that I picked her I'm not thinking that's okay I know you're not thinking you never do I'm sorry my husband is now turning in to the same orange person on TV than God he didn't go spray tanning eventually that might have gone there you know I mean eventually him and Rudy would have be going together to get spray tan they were in this sort of like Republican political industrial complex they were in it he's seemed like he thought he was inable my client had gotten a phone call hey you know our guy Lev has connections straight to the top why are you busting our chops about this 500 Grand it was a thinly Veiled Threat my client is a real tough-minded guy he wasn't going to be deterred by any threat thinly veiled or otherwise that inspired me to be just as tenacious the mission was now to schedule a meeting between Rudy Giuliani and President Vladimir zalinski Trump wanted the new president to announce an investigation into Joe Biden and Hunter B the announcement would legitimize the story that we've been pushing in the media he wanted Rudy to close the deal we're in Ukraine we're pounding the pavement we're meeting with every kind of character from your foreign ministers your oligarchs your criminal anybody in there from rabbis to popes my dear brother we are here in Ukraine we're here with the rabbi Mo God bless you Mr jul there was an AA that we didn't overturn I mean from bartenders to waitresses we went everywhere it was like a ground Hall day we would get promises everybody would tell us yeah great absolutely we'll set it up and then 2 hours later they disappear it started getting really creepy because some forces out there are stopping this from happening we didn't know at the time the US Embassy was following everything we were doing after every meeting somebody from the embassy he would come right in afterwards and tell him don't me with Rudy this is illegitimate there's proper channels this needs to stop it was us forsus the Deep State and the embassy and we represent Donald Trump kiss our ass so after several people ghosting us they finally set up a meeting with Minister vov he said well I need an official letter I said no problem gave Rudy a call within a couple of minutes there was an official letter emailed over to me V's eyes changed he understood that this was real now we had agreement on May 10th Rudy was supposed to fly in and there was supposed to be a meeting between zalinsky and Rudy so it's 5:00 in the morning I hear my phone going crazy it's Rudy I thought maybe he was drunk or something pick up the phone and he's screaming they're all against us this was all a setup the ukrainians were going to come out after Giuliani and am with zalinski and claimed that Giuliani was trying to shake them down and Giuliani said that's it get out of there we're not going back to Ukraine [ __ ] them they're all liars you know we're done about an hour later my phone starts blowing up again now it's the ukrainians all the Ukrainian officials and oligarchs calling me up saying what the [ __ ] is going on Rudy went on Fox and basically went on a rampage I'm not going to go because I think I'm walking into a group of people that are enemies of the president calling out names a gentleman by the name of lenko told the whole world that Ukraine is corrupt and [ __ ] you so no trip on Sunday no trips to Ukraine no trips my ass is L any one of these guys out there that I was dealing with could have just said he's not leaving and I'm not leaving it was a terrible morning all of us and Ukrainian relations are now on the line so I set up a meeting with Lenco and I started going strong and saying this could all be resolved president zalinski needs to announce a [ __ ] investigation this will stop lenko said give me an hour and within an hour I got a call from schaer Sergey was the interm chief of staff to president Le zalinski he was his partner in his entertainment business so I called Rudy I'll never forget that conversation he was very loud so I had to hold the phone off over here and he was very I mean he was like you make sure you tell them like we're not messing around make him understand that if zalinsky does not prnounce an investigation into the bidens by Monday there will be no relationship there will be no military aid there will be no Medical Aid and vice president Pence will not show up at your inauguration I was like holy [ __ ] Pence cancelling was a message to Vladimir Putin that we are no longer supporting Ukraine like how am I going to say this so I start practicing with Igor I see Igor's turning pale white he's like you're not going to say this you do understand this is the president of Ukraine we have to think about our safety we have to get out of here we get downstairs there's a whole Entourage of bodyguards and cars eager kept trying to explain to me yeah uh they're protecting us but if tomorrow they decide not to protect us we're off to see Sergey schaer the meeting was at a restaurant called Prague the whole restaurant was closed probably 4050 bodyguards between mine and Sergey schaer and then there was the three of us and the little table outside this is literally like a scen i of a spy movie I mean James Bond has nothing on us Bond James Bond eigor sitting next to me taking shots because he was nervous as hell I H sha from heart I saying this meeting might not be pleasant but it's very serious this is what needs to happen we've been trying to get a meeting with President Le zinsky for some reason we're having difficulties we need your help to be able to arrange this meeting looking back at it it was just incredible how I was explaining to him that we were trying to root out corruption while at that moment corrupting him to the fullest extreme it was a simple meeting there was not that much to discuss and that was it that night they ghosted me I remember saying well now they're going to see the wrath of trump next morning the ukrainians got a phone call from the United States telling him that Mike Pence is not going to be coming to the inauguration boy was that a problem like this is the way he's going to go out running around for Trump is this really worth his life calm Ukrainian officials wanted vice president Pence to attend the inauguration for the new president zalinsky in in Kiev what are you learning about that trip it was cancelled right Pence canel was almost like a death sentence for us oligarch eigor Ki owned television broadcast network where zalinski made his bones zalinski and kyi were essentially friends and supporters of one another this guy's as bad as they come I mean this guy has an army of 10,000 people of his own so this is not an regular oligarch Le baras the first statement he makes on television as he gets back is basically threatening our lives I'm pretty sure I probably broke down after that and I was just like what if he doesn't come [Music] back Giuliani started tweeting hitting all media basically telling Vladimir zalinski that if he does not arrest eigor kotski immediately and if something happens to either me or EIG while we're in Ukraine that he will be to blame for it now we're getting a call from the interior Minister saying you're out of here now within moments we were fitted with bulletproof vests thrown on into a convoy of cars and wh off into a plane no immigration no passport control next thing you know we were gone we were out of Ukraine and off to Paris and that was the last time I ever was in Ukraine that's when Trump has to enter the fry a troubling private conversation between President Trump and a foreign leader has rung such an alarm Bell that the intelligence communties internal Watchdog calls it an urgent concern this was a July 25th call between the president and Ukrainian president zinski and what's jumping off the page to me is that the president of Ukraine says where are the javelins where is the defense support you're giving us and the very next sentence by the president is I would like you to do us a favor during the call Mr Trump pressured the Ukrainian president eight times to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter it was a very easy connected dots to what Lev had started to do and what president Trump had eventually tried to do himself that the president was saying I need this favor and by the way I've got your money this conversation was about a trade it clearly was a quid pro quo there was no quid pro quo no quid pro quo there was no quid pro qu this is a very dangerous situation for our country right now and it is amazing that we continue to let this man be in charge of nuclear weapons question sir was what did you want president zalinsky to do about Vice President Biden and his son Hunter are you talking to me
Part 2 of 2
I gave him a lot of ammunition addiction is never an excuse but it's an explanation it's an explanation why I ended up in some of the rooms that I ended up in doing things that I'm ashamed of today the best thing that could have ever happened to me was getting arrested as crazy as that sounds it really takes a big person to not only admit that they're wrong but to do so in public and to do it on the stage you did love Paris was the centerpiece of a bomb throwing Congressional hearing on the Biden impeachment inquiry this week today I admit my own wrongdoings I have been a convicted federal election campaign and fraud crimes and served my sentence despite rigorous attempts by those in power to silence me I will be silenced no longer to go in front of a hostile Committee in Congress that you know has no compunction to break every rule to embarrass you and to put yourself in that position just so you could tell the truth the American people have been lied to by Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani and various carts of individuals in government and media positions they created falsehoods to serve their own interests knowing it would undermine the strength of our nation one of the hardest things to do in life is to make amends and it's one of the principles of like the program I follow in terms of my own addiction but to do it the way that you've done it on TV in public while you're getting the goddamn hell beat out of you sounds like everyone here today the only one working for a Russian oligarch was you they didn't listen to the truth because if they listen to the question Mr Gates had is for hear the truth you can't handle Mt Gates what I saw was somebody with just an enormous reserve of character when it really count today I ask you to consider the following in nearly a year traveling the world and interviewing officials in different count countries I found precisely zero evidence of the Biden's corruption in Ukraine the only information ever pushed on the bidens in Ukraine has come from one source and one source only Russia and Russian agents and so bottom of my heart I promise you you're a hero to me that was you know I was really really really proud I was proud of you everything was for the ultimate benefit of Donald Trump and thereby Vladimir Putin who use this narrative to manipulate the public ahead of the 2020 elections sadly they are still doing this today as we approach the 2024 elections Hunter I want you to know I wrote this book to tell the truth about what happened during the Trump Administration he used your battle with addiction for his own agenda to hurt you and your family and your father you were a casualty in all of this I regret very truly my decision to work with those that try to bring you and your family down I will do everything in my power to clear your name going forward thank you my friend you know I'll treasure this and one thing I've learned is that truth and love always Prevail may take a little while but the fact of the matter is we get up every day and we do the next right thing we win and I'm sorry for that yeah Saints was promise listen listen we get a second chance yeah both of us you do that's right both of us both of us yeah