A #SundayMorning thread deep dive with Kaz Weida
Rudy Giuliani isn’t my fav person, but it’s worth peeking into his associates and figuring out who these folks are and why they matter. Come with me while we roll through the cast of characters implicated in Rudy’s various nefarious schemes.
If you want to do the bizarre person that is Rudy Giuliani justice, the background in Colbert’s piece on Rudy’s history is a good place to start. Rudy is a strange, strange dude and like Trump, he’s a raving narcissist who LOVES the limelight.
But it’s important to understand that while Rudy may seem like a cartoonish, farcical character, his actions have serious consequences. Especially since he’s the personal lawyer for the President of the US, whispering conspiracies in his ear.
It’s also very curious that Giuliani is working for Trump for free. I mean, come on. Rudy doesn’t strike me as an altruistic type. Somebody has to be fronting the bills for Rudy’s hijinks, so it’s natural to wonder who he’s REALLY working for.
Rudy’s connections to Russia have always been murky and they definitely lean towards carrying water for Putin’s interests. And it’s not unreasonable to assume Russia might use Rudy as a channel to communicate with Trump.
The latest revelations of Rudy’s connections to corruption in the Ukraine and Turkey bring up a lot of questions about who Rudy is working for and whether he should be registering as a foreign agent. Which is alarming given his position in the WH.
First, let’s look at the two most high-profile corruption charges. Lev Parnas & Igor Fruman are two Soviet-born businessmen who have been trying to get control of a Ukranian gas company. Their plan was to replace both the US ambassador & the head of the Ukranian gas company.
There’s not a lot of information about Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, but they did establish a shell company to make more than a few political donations. Including to then GOP Texas Congressman Pete Sessions, former chairman of the House Rules Committee.
Parnas & Fruman have a curious relationship with a Ukranian gas tycoon, Dmytro Firtash, who Chicago prosecutors have been building a bribery case against. When Fruman and Parnas got arrested, pieces of a bigger picture of corruption fell into place.
Daria Kaleniuk, director of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center, sums it up best:
“And the United States for many years was our key ally and key partner covering our backs. But now we are at the situation when the Ukrainian oligarchs and kleptocrats and some corrupt officials are getting support from the senior-level officials in the United States.”
From The U.S. To Ukraine, 2 Giuliani Associates’ Ties To Impeachment Inquiry , NPR, October 22, 2019
And we should definitely be asking ourselves why.
Originally posted on Twitter. Re-posted with permission.
