House investigators given contents of Giuliani associate's cellphones: Lawyer
Lev Parnas, one of Rudy Giuliani's Soviet-born associates embroiled in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, has submitted the contents of his cellphones to the House Intelligence Committee, according to his lawyer.
Parnas' attorney Joseph A. Bondy wrote in a tweet Monday morning that the records his legal team turned over to Congress include "WhatsApp messages, text messages & images" that detail "interactions with a number of individuals relevant to the impeachment inquiry."
The transfer comes after a series of rulings from the judge in Parnas' criminal case in the Southern District of New York since last week and Monday, granting him permission to share records obtained by the government with House impeachment investigators to comply with a subpoena, including documents seized from Parnas’s home and the complete extraction of Parnas’s iPhone 11 and Samsung phone, seized from him upon his arrest in October.
Bondy tweeted on Sunday night that the materials were brought to House investigators "despite every stumbling block placed in our path" since his arrest. On Monday, the judge granted Parnas permission to share contents of additional electronic devices with House committees, and Bondy in response wrote in a tweet that his client's legal team will be working to "provide the other materials as soon as possible."
Earlier this fall, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee requested records from Parnas and his business associate Igor Fruman, who have both been thrust into the House impeachment inquiry against the president in connection with their reported key roles in assisting Giuliani in his efforts to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and Ukraine. Separately, both men were also indicted by federal prosecutors in New York on allegations of campaign finance violations. Both have pleaded not guilty.
As ABC News has previously reported, the House Intelligence Committee is already in possession of some audio and video recordings and photographs provided by Parnas, who, unlike Fruman, has been cooperating with House impeachment investigators since November.
Beyond what Bondy wrote in the tweets and in his letter to the judge last week, the content in the additional records remain unknown. But a letter sent to Parnas by the committee as part of its subpoena asked him to produce "all documents and communications" relating to Giuliani and President Trump, among many others.
According to the indictment, Parnas sought then-Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch’s ouster earlier this year along with his efforts to get Ukrainian officials to investigate the president’s political rival, matters that have repeatedly emerged in the House impeachment inquiry.
Giuliani’s relationship with Parnas and Fruman is the subject of a criminal investigation in the Southern District of New York, according to sources.
