One of Rudy Giuliani’s henchman was carrying items when he was arrested that raise questions about what he was planning as he fled the country.
Lev Parnas, who was arrested with associate Igor Fruman last month on campaign finance violations, was carrying the business card of a Ukrainian prosecutor who had previously met with Giuliani to discuss the conspiracy theories that set in motion the actions now under investigation in the impeachment inquiry, reported The Daily Beast.
Parnas and Fruman were arrested by plainclothes officers last month as they were boarding a jet to Frankfurt on one-way tickets, just hours after having lunch with Giuliani at the Trump International Hotel.
The pair, who investigators say were eventually headed to Vienna, had been enjoying free drinks and food in an airport lounge before their arrest.
Federal agents searched their belongings, and The Daily Beast learned that Parnas was carrying the business card of anti-corruption prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytsky, among 66 items catalogued by FBI agents after the arrest.
It’s not clear how Parnas obtained the card for Kholodnytsky, who had met months earlier with Giuliani in Paris to discuss Joe Biden and his son Hunter and dubious 2016 election interference claims involving Ukraine.
Parnas was also reportedly carrying Trump straws sold on the president’s campaign website, along with large amounts of cash.
Kholodnytsky was caught on a recording earlier this year trying to influence false testimony and tipping off targets to impending raids, although he claims the evidence was taken out of context.
Marie Yovanovitch — who was forced out as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine following a smear campaign by Giuliani, Parnas and Fruman — called for Kholodnytsky’s removal.
Yovanovitch, who has told lawmakers she felt threatened by President Donald Trump and his associates, will testify Friday in the second public impeachment hearing.