I've been drawing mental parallels too.

I have a friend who often calls in for a cup of tea in the afternoons; we fire up the tablet and find Rachel on YouTube if we can. She commented yesterday that Parnas seemed very believable. I agree, but with reservations. The same traits that make him appear likeable could be the very same ones that enabled him to become trump's agent.

Last edited Fri Jan 17, 2020, 02:55 PM - Edit history (2)

He told Anderson Cooper that he had pictures of Trump in his house and the FBI called it a shrine. So he was no doubt happy to be the little bag man on the ground doing the dirty work for his idol. IIRC he also told Rachel that he didn't think he was doing anything wrong, which is a little hard to believe.

He's a conman. Yes he is like Cohen. A rat trapped.

I find the way he keeps portraying himself as an ignorant, indoctrinated cult member as a classic defense move.

Is this just me?

I doubt House Dems will trust much of what he says without corroboration. They are trained lawyers too.

He is also a US citizen and was working here in the US (and abroad) to commit federal crimes. He broke US law if he's telling the truth, the only question is if he has plausible deniability if he's telling the truth... which feels extremely convenient to me.

Also, he didn't actually deny it, he said he thought Hyde was fabricating it. A distinction with a big difference if he's involved in a bit of CYA here. Which I'm suspicious of being the reality.

I think we're watching someone whose crimes are possibly real, but they recognize that things here on a federal level aren't what they assumed and/or were assured they'd be, when they climbed into this "drug deal" they've found themselves caught up in now.

tl;dr: Trump threw him under the bus. He's panicking and trying to save his own ass while still attempting to distance himself from the worst of it. He has no deal for his information, because the DOJ isn't interested is his angle here. It's plausible, but needs extensive vetting.

thinking that if they tie themselves to these types of men they will profit from it. Now that they're the Idiot's throwaways they're in trouble with the law and are looking for a way out. Their lives are literally at stake. Hence the about face and tell-all. I do believe them given they now have nothing to lose.

Attracts men who need an authority figure to devote themselves to. These men don’t just look up to him or admire him. They devote their lives to him, slavishly doing his every bidding. They sacrifice their lives for him.

They have the small minded thuggish mentality that doesn’t serve them in being able to find decent jobs. They are drawn to his vaunted glamorous life and they want some of it to rub off on them. They actually find some reflected glamor in being seen with him, photographed with him. They go to his golf clubs to be seen with him. They can brag that they work for him knowing other men will be envious.

A mob family! Sorry Lev, no thoughts and prayers from me.

That work, both the book and movie, portrayed EXACTLY how mobsters live and die. In the end, they are killed by friends, caught by cops or simply eliminated if they do not produce enough cold hard cash for the boss.

In Trump world, the boss is Not Donnie...not even close. Putin is in charge. He is the Godfather, the Boss, Head of the Family ... Trump is not even a caporegime, he's a button man for Vladimir, and those sucked into the Trump orbit are nothing more than soldiers - dispensable, insignificant, eventually tossed aside.

All of them THINK they are more important than they actually are and all of the low level idiots - the Cohens, the Parnases, the Kushners - they are disposable trash to Donnie 2 Scoops, the Queens wannabe Don - who never made anything on his own steam.

Eventually, Don Vladimir will OK the hit that will poison Donnie 2 Scoops and end the whole sordid affair - but only after Vlad gets what he wants - sanctions ended and his money freed up globally.

When the movie is made of this impeachment process 10 or 15 years from now, when things are back to normal, the role of Lev Parnas must go to Jake Gyllenhall! C'mon, I'm not the only one who watched Rachel's interview and thought, "OMG that's Jake Gyllenhall in old man make-up!"

OK, OK... just having a laugh.

So 10 to 15 years from now, Jake will be older than Lev is now.

I can not figure it out. When guys like Cohen and Parnas spill the beans, it doesn’t matter. What this Trump thing is... I don’t know. It’s like Parnas said, it’s a cult. That’s it

and apparently he has been involved in the Drumpf Organization since he "was 16 years old" -

type.

The old Rolodex is worth Billions. Lev only seemed to do a tease in that interview.

For trump on her with the russian mafia or his people? Did they do this so trump could deny it like putin does it in russia and elsewhere?

Hyde referred to, is likely a Russian impersonating a Ukrainian.

in the 80s. I haven't seen if that was true. You can Google it and get links, but not sure how good the sources are. I put a link in. It says Parnas' son worked for trump campaign.

https://hillreporter.com/lev-parnas-worked-for-the-trump-organization-in-the-1980s-55935

He's a dude spinning a convenient tale to save his rear end, and we believe him because we really want what he says to be true.

Parnas is a criminal, under indictment, who had a company named "Fraud, Inc."

We're being set up for a fall by a con man, just like Avenatti who will cheapen and distract from the legitimate issues.

Don't get played by this BS.

I was thinking the same thing

to me last night. Great minds think alike, truly 🤗

But I also think both of them were young when they got caught up with this crowd of criminal clowns and are now probably wondering “What in the Hell was I thinking?”

Nothing like waking up when the 🐓’s have come to roost and the horse 🐴 is in the bed.

He was smart to get this out BEFORE his trial, and before Trump's. The earlier, the better. I admire his attorney, who let him speak freely but stayed attentive and protective.

Parnas has much to atone for, but his crimes don't even begin to approach those of Trump and Giuliani.

Being next to power is not real power.

You are a tool with illusive temporary power.

Cheney was real power.

Dubya was the tool.

--his appearance, that is.

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