Democrats on the House Oversight Committee invited Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, to be their witness at a hearing on Wednesday as part of Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
A House aide confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Parnas, a Ukrainian American, will serve as the Democrats’ witness on Wednesday’s panel. Parnas was sentenced to 20 months in prison after being convicted on charges of campaign finance, wire fraud, and false statements.
He worked with Giuliani to dig up dirt on President Joe Biden and his family’s connection to Ukraine ahead of the 2020 election, and has previously warned Republicans that their investigation into the Biden family’s “alleged criminal scheme” has “simply no merit.”
“Parnas will be able to share firsthand evidence about Donald Trump and Republicans’ efforts to dig up dirt on Joe Biden and their willingness to promote any source no matter the credibility, from corrupt former Ukrainian officials to crooks and Russian agents,” a source with Oversight Committee Democrats said to the Washington Examiner. “The lies may change but the playbook remains the same. Republicans will exploit any lie from any source to attack Joe Biden and help Trump, even a Russian or Chinese agent, a discredited business partner, or a serial fraudster.”
A Republican spokesperson for House Oversight said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that it’s “telling the Democrats didn’t call any of Hunter Biden’s business associates who claim his father’s innocence because they know their testimony won’t withstand public scrutiny.”
“Instead, they are relying on a convicted liar who claims Joe Biden never met with a Burisma official when in fact he dined with one,” the spokesperson added.
The hearing is titled “Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office.” It is part of a larger investigation into alleged business dealings between Biden, his family, and foreign entities. The inquiry has produced little to no evidence that could evolve into charges of high crimes and misdemeanors.
“This hopeless impeachment investigation originated with a bunch of lies told by an indicted liar in close proximity to Russian agents,” Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “So who better than Lev Parnas himself—Rudy Giuliani’s right-hand man on the original mission to smear Joe Biden—to tell the story of how this campaign of lies and slander works?”
“Lev Parnas can debunk the bogus claims at the heart of the impeachment probe and, in the process, explain how the GOP ended up in this degraded and embarrassing place,” Raskin added.
Parnas will sit alongside Tony Bobulinski, a former Biden family business associate who has raised serious but so far unproven allegations against the president, and Jason Galanis, a former associate of first son Hunter Biden who will appear remotely as he is in federal prison for his role in multiple fraudulent schemes.
Another associate of Hunter Biden’s, Devon Archer, was invited to the testimony, but it is not likely he will appear at Wednesday’s hearing, a spokeswoman for the House Oversight Committee confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The Oversight Committee sent the invitation to one of Devon Archer’s attorneys on March 6 and he confirmed receipt,” the spokeswoman said. “It’s unfortunate Devon Archer appears to be planning not to testify at the hearing.”
Hunter Biden declined to appear at the hearing in a letter sent to Chairman James Comer (R-KY) last week. The first son’s lawyer blamed the president’s son’s absence, in part, on a court hearing in California — but also on Republicans’ “planned-for-media” event.
