Ukrainian prosecutor offered Giuliani associate a quid pro quo: Biden dirt for firing U.S. ambassador

Rudy Giuliani and associates
(Image credit: Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images)

It appears there's another documented quid pro quo tied to President Trump's efforts to procure from Ukraine some sort of damaging information about potential 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden — or at least make it appear such evidence might exist. In a cache of documents released late Tuesday by House impeachment investigators, Ukraine's top prosecutor offered to hand Biden-linked information over to Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani if Trump pushed out U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

The documents are from Lev Parnas, a Russian-speaking Giuliani associate who helped Giuliani's Biden dirt-digging efforts in Ukraine. In handwritten notes on Ritz Carlton Vienna stationary, Parnas mentioned getting Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky "to annouce [sic] that the Biden case will be investigated," and it appears Yuri Lutsenko, the prosecutor general at the time, was ready to play ball.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.