Claiming his work in the Ukraine was on behalf of the president and the United States, indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas said "it was never about corruption," and President Donald Trump "knew exactly what was going on."
"President Trump knew exactly what was going on," Parnas told MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" in an exclusive interview Wednesday night. "He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president."
Trump denied knowing Parnas after he and another Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, were charged with campaign finance violations in October, although there are photographs of the three men together.
"He lied," Parnas told Maddow, adding, "I interacted with him at a lot of events. We had one-on-one conversations at roundtables."
Parnas said Trump speaks loudly on the phone, a claim made to connect firsthand evidence in the House impeachment inquiry.
"I want to get the truth out," Parnas told Maddow. "I think it's important for the country. I think it's important for me. I think it's important for the world to know exactly what transpired, because there's a lot of things that are being said that are not accurate. I just want to make sure that they are accurate. Things happened that need to get out, and I think the world needs to know."
Parnas worked with Giuliani to dig up political dirt in Ukraine on Joe Biden and his son Hunter. His lawyer got permission to give documents related to Ukraine to a House committee this week.
Some of that material prompted House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel to demand information from the State Department regarding possible security risks to U.S. embassy personnel in Kyiv, including former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
Parnas and Robert F. Hyde, a GOP congressional candidate, in March 2019 were "exchanging apparently highly sensitive information regarding the whereabouts of and security protocols" for Yovanovitch when she was ambassador, Engel wrote.
The House released additional documents from Parnas on its website Wednesday, including text messages and phone messages.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.