Rudy's friend tapes Trump trying to fire Ukraine ambassador

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A recently indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani taped President Donald Trump calling for the firing of Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, according to the lawyer for a second Giuliani associate. Joseph Bondy, a lawyer for Florida businessman Lev Parnas, told The Daily Beast that the recording was made by former partner Igor Fruman. Both men were arrested in October and charged with campaign-finance violations.

ABC News reported Friday morning that it reviewed audio of a dinner attended by Trump, Parnas, Fruman, and others. A voice that appears to be the president’s tells the group that he wanted to “get rid of” Yovanovitch, per ABC, an apparent contradiction to Trump’s claim that he does not know Parnas.

“Last year, before he was arrested, Mr. Parnas personally heard a recording of his April 30, 2018 dinner with the president and others, made by Mr. Fruman, at which the subject of Ambassador Yovanovitch was discussed,” Bondy said. “We have hoped that, to the extent this recording still existed, it would be released to Congress for use in the impeachment trial.” A lawyer for Fruman was not at liberty to discuss the matter. ABC News review matches the description Bondy gave The Daily Beast. Unnamed sources told the network that Fruman made the recording, which The Daily Beast has not reviewed.

Parnas has previously described a dinner at Trump Hotel with supporters of the president in April 2018 that he and Fruman attended. He said that he raised concerns about Yovanovitch to Trump, and that the president then turned to an aide and told him she should be fired. At the time, Yovanovitch was the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Giuliani, Fruman, and Parnas were trying to have her fired.

Trump eventually recalled Yovanovitch in May 2019. Months later, he pressured Ukraine’s president to announce investigations of a company linked to the family of former Vice President Joe Biden. At the same time, Trump withheld military aid that Congress had appropriated for Ukraine. And his team refused to arrange a White House visit for Ukraine’s president, even though they had formally invited him. That pressure campaign is the focus of Democrats’ efforts to have Trump removed from the White House. His trial is currently underway in the Senate.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/regime-cr ... ref=scroll

If Democrats hadn't rush impeachment, they could have included Parnas' and Froman's evidence in the impeachment charges. Kenneth Starr took years to dig up dirt on Clinton.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Rudy's friend tapes Trump trying to fire Ukraine ambassador

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highdesert wrote: Fri Jan 24, 2020 3:58 pm
If Democrats hadn't rush impeachment, they could have included Parnas' and Froman's evidence in the impeachment charges. Kenneth Starr took years to dig up dirt on Clinton.
I think Pelosi made the correct call. She was between a rock and a hard place. Going to court to get all the evidence would have pushed this into the 2nd trump term and even then there would be no guarantee of removal. This way the democrats can use all this new evidence as campaign fodder.

Re: Rudy's friend tapes Trump trying to fire Ukraine ambassador

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I agree that Pelosi made the right call. The Senate was never going to convict, so why let it sit around while courts (full of Trumpians) block things and slow down the flow of what information we commoners are allowed to hear?

Besides, that new recording is from Fruman, not Parnas. It looks like Rudy's friends are both cooperating with SDNY (the ones investigating Rudy). I guess Rudy thought he had "insurance" but maybe Trump gets the last laugh? I hope the whole house of cards from Trumps to Kushners to Pence comes crashing down in a pile of trials and sentences.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: Rudy's friend tapes Trump trying to fire Ukraine ambassador

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K9s wrote: Fri Jan 24, 2020 4:14 pm I agree that Pelosi made the right call. The Senate was never going to convict, so why let it sit around while courts (full of Trumpians) block things and slow down the flow of what information we commoners are allowed to hear?

Besides, that new recording is from Fruman, not Parnas. It looks like Rudy's friends are both cooperating with SDNY (the ones investigating Rudy). I guess Rudy thought he had "insurance" but maybe Trump gets the last laugh? I hope the whole house of cards from Trumps to Kushners to Pence comes crashing down in a pile of trials and sentences.
I agree the senate won't convict Trump, but if they waited a little longer they could have used this evidence in the impeachment trial. The Parnas papers were ordered released by a judge back in December and now this tape is out. It's all evidence that bolsters Democrats case on the first article of impeachment. The SDNY investigation is against Rudy though Trump could be an unindicted co-conspirator if Rudy is ever charged like Trump was in the case against Cohen.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Rudy's friend tapes Trump trying to fire Ukraine ambassador

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lurker wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2020 9:55 am november is our last, best chance. the reps are not going to break ranks in sufficient numbers.
Honestly, the Senate has to flip and our red/purple states need to surge enough to stop the bleeding (if we are allowed to vote). Trump knows he has to win Florida to say in office, but Pence & McConnell are focused on the Senate. The focus should be on state legislatures and governors and Senate seats. If states elect progressive candidates, the POTUS vote will take care of itself.

Some day, Trump won't be in office and his voters are not so excited about anyone but Trumps. The Pelosi DNC won't last forever, either. The progressive left has no better time than the 2020s to reshape the old Dem party.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

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