Lev Parnas: Ukraine scheme was always about the Bidens, 'never about corruption'

Lev Parnas.
(Image credit: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Wednesday, Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, contradicted President Trump's claims that he decided to withhold millions in military aid to Ukraine last summer because he was concerned about corruption in the country.

"It was never about corruption," Parnas said. "It was strictly about Burisma, which included Hunter Biden and Joe Biden." During a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump asked him to investigate Joe Biden, a political rival, and his son Hunter, who recently served on the board for Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company. This conversation was central to Trump's impeachment charges.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.