SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Oct 18 - In the Lev Parnas and
Andrey Kukushkin jury trial,
the first witnesses testified
on the afternoon of October
13. Inner City Press live
tweeted it here
and here.
Vlog here.
On October
14, Parnas' lawyer Joseph Bondy accused the
US Attorney's Office of racism, and AUSA
Hagen Scotten of threatening him with or
about a sidearm. Inner City Press live
tweeted it here
podcast here
On
the morning of October
15, before the jury came in, the
defense successfully argued to
have the jury instructed that the
Times Square
"street fight / racist"
video shown the day
before is not
relevant and is excluded.
Inner City Press
live tweeted
it here,
podcast here.
On October 18
to 1 pm, there
was more cross
examiation of
Van Rensburg,
and the beginning on
Caroline
Booth.
Inner City Press
live tweeted here
(podcast here)
During the
afternoon of
October 18,
Bondy cross
examined Rep Pete Sessions' (now Liz
Cheney's)
staffer
Caroline
Boothe, mortgage
broker Ross
and lawyer /
notary
Preminger. The
question of
Parnas testifying
arose. Inner
City Press
live tweeted
it here:
US v.
Parnas &
Kukushkin
Monday
afternoon
opens with
discussion if
US will in
fact call
Ahearn of
America First
Action, with
immunity. AUSA
says Ahearn is
in New York,
up from
Virginia, but
has "personal"
reasons to
want to leave
New
York.
Judge Oetken:
You'll know
more at the
next break?
Let's get the
jury.
Bondy: So what
did you
understand
about oil in
Venezuela and
GEP?
AUSA:
Objection!
Beyond the
scope! Bondy:
OK, did you
believe that
GEP was a real
company?
Boothe: Yes.
Bondy: Mr.
Parnas met Rep
Sessions about
oil and gas?
On the screen
is CV-6, for
ID only
Bondy:
That's Rep.
Session's TV
monitor, no?
Boothe: Yes.
Bondy: And
that's Mr.
Parnas
pointing at a
map? Booth: I
wasn't in the
meeting.
Bondy: How did
they meet?
Boothe:
Through Roy
Bailey. Bondy:
Did Mr. Parnas
dress
appropriately?
Booth: He
dressed like
Lev. Bondy:
Gold chains?
Like,
Brooklyn?
Boothe: That's
it. Bondy:
Were there
varying views
on what could
and could not
be taken on a
credit card?
Booth: The
fundraiser
always has the
last say.
Bondy:
Nothing
illegal about
bundling per
se? Boothe: As
long as they
fill out the
forms.
Bondy: Rep.
Sessions lent
Mr. Parnas his
baseball
jersey did he
not?
Boothe
(laughs) Yes.
Bondy: What is
that? Boothe:
The jersey.
He's in the
Trump
hotel.
Bondy: And
does he have a
gold chain?
AUSA:
Objection.
Judge Oetken:
Overruled.
Bondy:
Why did the
Congressman
give Lev his
jersey?
Boothe:
Congressman
Session is a
very friendly
guy. Bondy:
What about his
ranch? AUSA:
Relevance?
Judge Oetken:
It's fine.
Bondy:
What's this
photo? Boothe:
Lev in Pete's
chair in the
Rules
Committee.
Bondy: Hammer
time, right?
And this
photo? Boothe:
Me and Lev.
Now Lefcourt,
for Kukushkin,
crossing
Boothe.
Lefcourt: If a
bank lends
money to pay
for the credit
card, it's all
the same to
you, as it
were from my
rich uncle?
Boothe: Yes,
it's the same.
Lefcourt:
Thank you.
AUSA Flodr
(redirect) Did
Lev Parnas ask
if he could
donate to
Congressmember
Sessions for a
foreign
national?
Boothe: No.
AUSA: No
further
questions.
Judge Oetken:
Mr Bondy
anything
further?
Bondy: You
said bundling
is fine,
right? Boothe:
Not one 1 card
Bondy:
But great
minds can
different.
Others told
you it could
be done,
right? Boothe:
Yes, I had our
fundraiser
Tandy handle
it. Bondy: And
Matt Garcia,
right? Boothe:
Yes. That was
his view
point. Bondy:
Nothing
further. Judge
Oetken: You
may step down.
Next US
witness is
Neil Ross, a
51 year old
mortgage
broker and
entrepreneur.
AUSA: How did
you meet Mr.
Parnas? Ross:
About a bridge
financing
loan, known as
hard money...
I dealt mostly
with Dave
Correia, then
Lev, then
Steve Fruman.
AUSA: Not
Igor? Ross:
Steve.
AUSA: Do you
see where Mr.
Parnas says,
Really need
that wire
today? Ross:
Yes. They
wanted to get
the proceeds
of the loan.
AUSA: Who was
the borrower
on the loan?
Ross: The
corporation in
which the
condo vested.
Now
cross
examination of
Ross by
Parnas' Bondy.
Bondy: Just a
few questions
for you.
Borrowers
frequently
don't tell you
what their
loans are for,
do they? Ross:
They often
give an
explanation.
Bondy: Do you
speak Russian?
Ross: No.
Judge
Oetken
declares
another jury
break.
Now before
jury comes
back, AUSA
says Ahearn
will need to
be subpoenaed
in order to
appear
tomorrow.
Bondy: I'd
need to know
what the US
would be able
to cross
examination
Mr. Parnas on
if he were to
testify. Judge
Oetken We have
Preminger, a
short witness
--
Bondy: Not
that short
Judge Oetken:
5'6"? 5'7"?
(laughter, not
uproarious)
Friedman for
Kukushkin: and
the exhibits?
Judge Oetken:
Today after we
let the jury
go. Bring them
in.
AUSA:
Mr. Preminger,
where did you
work?
Preminger:
Greenberg
Traurig. As an
associate on
government
relations and
campaign
finance
issues. AUSA:
Were you also
a notary?
Preminger:
Yes.
AUSA:
Were you
present when
this document
was signed?
Preminger:
Yes. And Lev
Parnas was, I
saw his
driver's
license. Now
cross: Bondy:
Did he have a
translator?
Preminger: No.
Bondy:
There are
redacted boxes
--
AUSA:
Objection! US
has 30 to 35
minutes more
with Espinoza,
then two more
witnesses.
Judge Oetken:
A1, government
objects to
lines 1 and
6... This is
Galub's text
messages with
Kukushkin.
Something for
being on the
guest list for
a wine
tasting.
AUSA:
This exhibit
has no
relevance.
Friedman: It
shows there
was not
agreement.
Judge Oetken:
I don't see
how it's
relevant. It's
excluded.
Next, Correia
refers to an
Armenian
group, "they
are already
aware via Lev
privately." I
have no idea
what that's
about.
AUSA: We
need a rule on
tomorrow's
testimony
about the
search of Mr.
Parnas' home
Bondy: His
mother.
Judge Oetken:
How is it
relevant?
Bondy:
It's part of
the landscape.
There was a
minor there
who was
terrified.
AUSA: Mr.
Bondy is
refusing to
proffer
relevance.
AUSA: There
was a lot of
money sloshing
around it.
Judge Oetken:
It is
irrelevant to
trial. It
might be
relevant to
the CJA
application
[for publicly
funded travel
& hotel]
Bondy: It was
long ago.
Friedman: The
US is raising
this 90% of
the way
through the
trial.
Judge
Oetken: Email
it to me and
I'll sign it.
Have a good
evening.
On October 11
Kukushkin asked to exclude a
slew of Government Exhibits,
full 8-page letter on Patreon
here.
On October 5
Judge Oetken held the final
pre-trial conference in
advance of October 12 jury
selection. Inner City Press
live tweeted it here
and below (podcast here)
Late on October 7
the US Attorney's Office has
written to Judge Oetken
seeking rulings in advance to
admit exhibits including "The
Inaugural Committee Articles,
the FEC Complaint Article, the
Time cover, and the Russian
Roots Emails." Full letter on
Patreon here.
And now, song here.
On September 10, Igor "The
Glue" Fruman pleaded guilty.
Inner City Press live tweeted
it here
(with vlog;
podcast here)
The
case is US
v. Parnas, et
al.,
19-cr-00725
(Oetken).
***
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