House Democrats plan to include material from Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as part of the official impeachment record accompanying the brief they will file before President Donald Trump’s trial starts Tuesday.
The brief will argue for admitting evidence not presented during the House investigation -- such as the material from Parnas -- as well as for calling witnesses not heard during the House probe, Democrats said in a briefing.
Documents released earlier this week by House Democrats contained messages to Parnas from GOP congressional candidate Robert Hyde suggesting that someone had then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch under surveillance near Kyiv in March 2019.
Additional Parnas material that will be part of the record was released by House Democrats Friday night, including a transcript of a Jan. 16 interview of Parnas on CNN, in which he says he’s willing to testify at the trial.
Democrats said they will argue that blocking witnesses goes against the history of impeachment trials, and that even Senate Majorty Leader Mitch McConnell spoke in favor of a request for three witnesses during President Bill Clinton’s 1999 trial.
The seven House managers plan to work through the weekend to prepare for the trial, and will do a walk-through of the Senate chamber Monday, the eve of the trial. Their individual roles haven’t been fully determined.