Lev Parnas says that he is talking to the media about his role in the Ukraine scandal because he wants to protect himself and his family from Attorney General William Barr.
On Thursday, Parnas told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” that Trump was made more powerful “when he’s got, William Barr.”
Parnas, who just turned over a treasure trove of evidence to House Democrats has stated that officials at the Justice Department are trying to scare him out of talking any more than he already has.
“They’re trying to scare me into not talking,” Parnas said. “My wife is scared. My kids are nervous.”
“People are scared,” he added. “Am I scared, yes.”
“I don’t think Trump is like organized crime,” Parnas added, “I think he’s a cult leader.”
Parnas, who has been indicted on campaign finance charges, is currently free on bond. He recently described a meeting that he had with his former attorney John Dowd. Parnas stated that Dowd and Kevin Downing visited him in jail and tried to talk him out of cooperating with the House impeachment inquiry. He described the meeting as “tense.”
“Were they telling you to sacrifice yourself to protect the president?” Maddow asked.
“That’s the way I felt,” Parnas said. “If you don’t get out of here right now, something bad is going to happen.”
Parnas says that he fired both attorneys after the meeting.
Nancy Pelosi also criticized William Barr on Thursday.
“Does anyone think that the rogue AG is going to appoint a special prosecutor?” Pelosi said. “No, because he’s implicated in all of this. This is an example of all of the president’s henchmen. And I hope that the senators do not become part of the president’s henchmen.”
Despite mounting evidence, which includes photographs, Trump continues to deny that he knows Parnas.
“I know nothing about him but I can tell you this, I don’t know him, I don’t believe I’ve ever spoken to him,” Trump stated on Thursday in response to Parnas’ appearance on MSNBC.
Parnas has handed over images of himself with Trump as well as other members of his family. He also handed over emails that indicate that Trump signed off on Dowd taking on Parnas as a client.
Parnas told Maddow that he now believes that the investigation into Joe Biden was “not warranted.”
“After analyzing all the evidence and sitting back and, what’s it called, really understanding what’s going on, I don’t think Vice President Biden did anything wrong,” Parnas said. “I think he was protecting our country and getting rid of probably a crooked attorney general.”
