New Lev Parnas Photos Show Him Wiping Rudy Giuliani’s Mouth, Also Show Donald Trump Laywer Attending Bullfight
Lev Parnas, the now-indicted former associate of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, released on Friday a new trove of photographs that appear to document their close relationship. Donald Trump‘s lawyer has publicly admitted that he pressured the government of Ukraine to stage an investigation of former United States Vice President Joe Biden — the exact charge that was at the heart of the impeachment proceedings against the president, which wrapped up with his acquittal on Wednesday.
The aforementioned friendship — as documented in the photos obtained by CNN from Parnas lawyer Joseph Bondy — appears to be intimate. The pair are shown in Spain, attending a bullfight, and in one image, Parnas is seen apparently wiping Giuliani’s mouth with a napkin or tissue.
“Lev Parnas is a prolific collector of photos and videos,” Bondy told CNN. “Contrary to what one might expect, Mr. Parnas has not destroyed any. Rather, he has preserved them.”
Bondy added that the “universe” of subjects in the photographs and video recordings preserved by Parnas has not yet been fully revealed, but he said that they cover topics “well beyond” the alleged Ukraine pressure campaign scandal that ignited the impeachment inquiry against Trump.
I'm having a really hard time understanding what is happening here w @RudyGiuliani
More pics from Lev Parnas pic.twitter.com/mJs2FPXF8b— Olga Lautman ?? (@OlgaNYC1211) February 8, 2020
Why Parnas is seen wiping Giuliani’s mouth is not clear from the photograph released by Bondy, who also offered no explanation of the situation depicted in the image.
But in December, New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi authored a detailed account of an interview she conducted with Giuliani, in which she depicts the Trump attorney unconsciously drooling.
“When his mouth closed, saliva leaked from the corner and crawled down his face through the valley of a wrinkle,” Nuzzi wrote, continuing to say that the drool dripped on Giuliani’s sweater, without the 75-year-old former mayor so much as noticing.
In other photos, Giuliani reportedly posed with two Spanish bullfighters, as well as with a female Flamenco dancer who twirled her skirt for him. In yet another photo, the presidential lawyer was with his current romantic partner, Dr. Maria Ryan, sitting on his lap as he smoked a cigar at the site of El Castillo del Alamín, a 14th-century Spanish castle.
The photo cache is the latest release from Parnas through his lawyer, apparently showing images and recordings that appear to verify not only his relationship with Giuliani but with the president as well.
One recording released about two weeks ago revealed Trump and Parnas together, along with the latter’s business partner, Igor Fruman, at an exclusive dinner for high-dollar Super PAC donors for the president. Like Parnas, Fruman has also worked closely with Giuliani.
In that recording, Parnas and Fruman are heard attempting to flatter Trump by informing him that in the numerology of Jewish mysticism, his name is that same as the Jewish messiah. But the president appears uninterested by their explanation.
