Lev Parnas was honored when then-president Trump asked him to help fight corruption in Ukraine. Instead, he found himself embroiled in a scheme to extort statesmen for dirt on Joe Biden, which prompted Congress to Trump's first impeachment and ultimately also landed Parnas in prison. Filled with remorse, Parnas emerged from the experience with a burning desire to tell his story and expose the seldom-reported syndicate of foreign agents and oligarchs conspiring with western politicians to advance authoritarianism.
Lev Parnas is a Ukranian-born American citizen whose career as a quintessential businessman began as wheeler-dealer from the streets of Brooklyn, New York and later led him into the world of high finance around the world from Moscow to Wall Street to Hollywood and to Miami where he finally settled with his family.
His life took a turn when he became embroiled with then-Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani in a scheme he was misled to believe was a noble mission to expose corruption on behalf of then President Donald Trump. Eventually, he realized he had been used as a fall-guy, carrying out a sinister plot to drum up dirt on Joe Biden. That madcap misadventure, which became the subject of Donald Trump’s first impeachment, ultimately landed him in prison, full of remorse.
“As Mr. Parnas… calls on this committee to end this wild goose chase and offers to come and testify. Let’s bring him in as a witness, and let’s heart about that crusade that they were on to smear President Biden, providing then same baseless conspiracy theories that this committee serves up as moldy leftovers every day.” ~ Congressman Jamie Raskin
His legal troubles and subsequent incarceration were a rude awakening, which sparked a burning desire to expose the seldom-reported syndicate of nefarious foreign agents who exploit the vulnerabilities of ambitious political figures to entice their unwitting support of imperialist schemes to undermine global democracies, including their own. His persistent efforts to warn congress went largely ignored until long after Trump’s impeachment was acquitted.
In his first major TV interview after he was released on home confinement, Parnas spilled the beans to Rachel Maddow. The interview, which took place on then eve of Trump’s second impeachment hearing, drew one of the largest audiences in the 15-year history of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Parnas has since worked tirelessly to raise awareness, making numerous appearances on radio shows, mainstream TV networks, popular podcasts, “Spaces” on X, and a new Podcast called #LevRemembers with Grant Stern.
His eye-opening book, Shadow Diplomacy, offers an insider’s view into the dark underworld of spies and oligarchs who use their limitless wealth, power and resources keep the world running exactly the way our most formidable enemies want it to. He is also the subject of Rachel Maddow’s upcoming documentary debuting in September.
In an ironic, long overdue twist of fate, Parnas was recently called to testify in Congressional hearings pertaining to the Biden impeachment. It was his testimony about the criminal bribes and corrupt influence peddling by the former president that forced Congress to drop the bogus charges against President Biden.