Giuliani associate: Trump knew about Ukraine pressure

WASHINGTON — A close associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is claiming Trump was directly involved in the effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Lev Parnas says he delivered an ultimatum in May, at Giuliani's behest, to the incoming president of Ukraine that no senior U.S. officials would attend his inauguration and vital American security aid would be withheld if an investigation into Biden wasn't announced.

He said Trump was aware of Giuliani's efforts to secure an investigation and the president was briefed regularly.

If true, Parnas' account undercuts a key Republican defense of Trump during the impeachment investigation — that Trump's withholding of vital military aid to Ukraine last summer wasn't a quid pro quo for Biden investigations.

“President Trump knew exactly what was going on,” said Parnas, a Soviet- born

Florida businessman facing a raft of criminal charges related to campaign finance violations. “He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani, or the president.”

For his part, Trump on Thursday repeated denials that he is acquainted with Parnas, despite numerous photos that have emerged of the two men together , including a May 2018 dinner at the White House.

“I meet thousands and thousands of people as president. I take thousands of pictures,” Trump said, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. “I don't know him, I never had a conversation that I remember with him.”

Parnas made several potentially explosive claims in a televised interview Wednesday night with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. The day after Parnas said he delivered the message, the State Department announced that Vice President Mike Pence would no longer be attending the inauguration of Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy.