WASHINGTON – Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian businessman who was prominent in Rudy Giuliani’s effort to unearth Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election, said Tuesday that a GOP-led House committee should end to his investigation into the Biden family.
In a 10-page letter obtained by NBC News, Parnas told House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., that “there is no evidence” that the president or his son Hunter interfered in Ukrainian politics, “and there has never been.”
“With all due respect, Chairman Comer, the narrative you are seeking for this investigation has been proven false multiple times, by a wide range of respected sources,” Parnas wrote. “There is simply no point in further investigating this matter. ”
Parnas offered to testify under oath or provide any information the committee needs, noting information that came to light during former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2019, alleging that Giuliani and Trump orchestrated a campaign ahead of the election. presidential campaigns to “dig up Dirt on the Bidens.”
When asked for comment Tuesday, a Comer spokesperson said his office had not yet seen the letter. In a statement, Comer criticized Democrats and the media, saying they were “ignoring independent facts” about the Biden family, their financial dealings and “allegations by IRS agents about the Department’s politicization of the Biden investigation.” of Justice”.
“The bank records, the FBI Biden Bribery Registry, and the IRS whistleblowers have nothing to do with Rudy Giuliani. It is about time the Democrats and their allies stop covering up for the Bidens and instead follow the facts,” Comer said.
Parnas said that from November 2018 to October 2019 he was a “key participant” in meetings or phone calls between Giuliani and various Ukrainian officials, often acting as a translator in an effort to pressure them to launch an investigation into the Biden family.
“Never, during any of my communications with Ukrainian officials or Burisma connections, have any of them confirmed or provided hard facts linking the Bidens to illegal activities,” Parnas wrote.
“In fact,” he added, he was repeatedly asked by Ukrainian officials and people linked to Burisma, a company in Ukraine, “why our team was so concerned with this idea.”
Parnas further alleged that Giuliani and some of his associates knew that the allegations they were pursuing were false.
A Giuliani spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“There has never been any factual evidence, just conspiracy theories spread by people who knew exactly what they were doing,” Parnas wrote. Elected officials are back on the topic of uniting our great country to make it stronger and better than ever.”
Parnas cooperated with the first Trump impeachment inquiry. He was later found guilty of fraud and campaign finance offenses and sentenced to 20 months in prison.In his letter, he expressed remorse for his involvement in Giuliani’s efforts.
The Hunter Biden investigation has been in the works for months. In June, the president’s son agreed to plead guilty to a pair of federal misdemeanors in Delaware for failing to pay his taxes.
The White House has rejected investigations of the Biden family led by House Republicans.
“As we have said many times before, the president was not on business with his son,” Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel’s office, said in a statement last month. “As we have also said many times before, the Department of Justice makes decisions in its criminal investigations independently, and in this case.”
When asked about the timing of the letter, a lawyer for Parnas, Joseph Bondy, said his client had come forward out of a sense of duty, noting the panel hearing scheduled for Wednesday that is expected to include testimony from two alleged whistleblowers who worked on the Justice Department’s Hunter Biden investigation.
Rebecca Kaplan reported from Washington and Zoë Richards reported from New York.
diana paulsen contributed.
