Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, who is facing federal campaign finance charges, has been outspoken about the Ukraine scandal this week — granting interviews to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and CNN’s Anderson Cooper and discussing Giuliani’s efforts to get the Ukrainian government to officially announce an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Parnas has not only discussed President Donald Trump and Giuliani’s roles in the Ukraine scandal, but also, Attorney General William Barr’s. And according to former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi, Barr would do well to consult a defense attorney.
On Twitter, Rossi posted, “Based on the allegation of Lev Parnas, our esteemed Attorney General should probably retain a criminal defense attorney. What a conspiracy to bribe mess. Is our country’s AG the second coming of disgraced former AG John Mitchell? Crazy times.”
The late John N. Mitchell served as U.S. Attorney General under President Richard Nixon. In 1974 — the year after Nixon resigned as president — Mitchell was found guilty of obstruction of justice, conspiracy and perjury for his role in the Watergate scandal. Mitchell served 19 months in federal prison.
Parnas told Maddow that Barr “had to have known everything” about Giuliani’s efforts to get the Ukrainian government to announce an investigation of the Bidens. But Kerri Kupec, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), said that Barr is flatly denying Parnas’ allegations.
Kupec stated, “The president has not spoken with the attorney general about having Ukraine investigate anything relating to former Vice President Biden or his son. The president has not asked the attorney general to contact Ukraine on this or any other matter.”
Parnas, talking to Maddow, also discussed Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, who is facing bribery charges. Firtash has been represented by attorneys Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova, and according to Parnas, Barr was — along with Giuliani, Toensing and diGenova — “basically part of the team” of people who wanted to see an investigation in Ukraine.