Once rumors started that Ukrainian goombah Lev Parnas was willing to cooperate with federal law enforcement and House impeachment efforts, three questions arose.
First, what did he really have? It turns out, he has some very interesting written evidence, including texts that put Giuliani and Trump at the center of everything, and much earlier than we knew. In particular, Parnas's evidence reveals that Giuliani's cabal had open communication with Zelenskyy's predecessor's lead prosecutor. This guy was notoriously corrupt, and Giuliani and Parnas were trying to leverage US aid and a Trump visit to get "dirt" on Biden.
Second, can he be trusted? Well...that's still an open question. Parnas is a conman, a grifter and a criminal. In no reasonable circumstances would I call Lev Parnas trustworthy. However, I haven't heard that line of defense offered much by conservative defenders of Trump. Having documentation - documentation that lines up with known facts of the case - certainly enhances Parnas as a witness. Still, Parnas's reliability as a witness is very much an open question.
Third, will it make a difference in the Senate trial? My gut tells me, no. Senate Republicans are in a very tight bind. Step out of line with Trump and the Deplorables (aka the Republican base) will hammer them. Stay in line with Trump and how many more Lev Parnases are out there? How much more evidence will emerge. Sure, there's a decent - if cynical - argument that evidence doesn't really matter. We have tons of evidence that Trump is guilty and large numbers of Americans are OK with that, because they hate Democrats.
Still, some of them presumably have some small idea that history is watching. They know, fundamentally, that Trump is unworthy and unfit to be president. How closely do they want to lash themselves to this rotten ship?
Back in 2016, a fresh-faced young fella named Lindsay Graham said that if the GOP nominated Trump they would get killed and they would deserve to get killed. Today, that bold truth teller has his lips so firmly attached to Trump's posterior, the gap can't be measured by modern science. However, he has to suspect that maybe he was not wrong. Maybe the GOP will get killed for nominating Trump. It would just take 4 years for the bullet to hit.
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