U.S. President Donald Trump Lev Parnassus has been asked by the court to allow him to attend the impeachment trial in the Senate, the court documents say. The court allowed the visit, but Parnassus is still unlikely to attend because of Senate rules.
Parnassus is a friend of Trump Rudy Giuliani’s personal lawyer. Together with Giuliani’s other acquaintance Ihor Fruman, he may have allegedly influenced the political processes in Ukraine. The democrats have impeached Trump in the House of Representatives and the case is being heard in the Senate. Parnassus has been put on trial for alleged violations of campaign finance laws and faces years of imprisonment. Parnassus said that with Trump’s knowledge, he helped remove US ambassador to Ukraine Mari Yovanovych from office. As evidence, he made public the audio recording of his conversation with Trump in 2018.
Parnassus’ lawyers submitted a request to the court that Parnassus visit Washington on Wednesday and watch the senate sitting from the gallery.
The judge signed an order authorizing Parnassus to go to Washington, but forbade him to take off his GPS bracelet.
However, according to the defense documents, the Democrats in the Senate even though they gave Parnassus an invitation, they did not make an exception for him to wear electronics. Any electronic devices at the impeachment hearing are prohibited.
U.S. citizens Lev Parnassus, Igor Fruman, Andrei Kukushkin and David Corriya (the first three are from the USSR, natives of Ukraine and Belarus) are accused of making illegal donations to American politicians on behalf of unnamed Ukrainian officials and Russian businessman. According to a number of mass media outlets, the recipient of the money could also be the headquarters of President Donald Trump. In addition, it is alleged that Parnassus and Fruman helped Giuliani conduct his own investigation into the activities of former Vice President Joe Biden and his family in Ukraine.