- Mar 14, 2007
- 17,911
- 14,804
- 113
Giuliani friend Lev Parnas (indicted for foreign influence in U.S. elections) worked with John Soloman to distribute the Ukraine Conspiracy propaganda.
Last March, a veteran Washington reporter taped an interview with a Ukrainian prosecutor that founded a disinformation campaign alleging Joe Biden pressured Ukrainians into removing a prosecutor investigating a company because of its ties to the former vice president’s son. The interview and subsequent columns, conducted and written by a writer for The Hill newspaper, John Solomon, were the foundation that eventually set off the impeachment inquiry into the president.
Parnas and his partner Igor Fruman worked with the Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to promote a story that it was Democrats and not Republicans who colluded with a foreign power in the 2016 election. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicted Parnas and Fruman this month for illegally funneling foreign money into U.S. political campaigns.
Parnas worked closely with Solomon to create his reporting, including helping with translation and interviews. Solomon also shared files he obtained related to the Biden allegations with Parnas, according to a person familiar with the exchange. And the two men shared yet another only recently revealed connection: Solomon’s personal lawyers connected the journalist to Parnas and later hired the Florida businessman as a translator in their representation of a Ukrainian oligarch.
Solomon’s untrue interview and columns were widely distributed by Rudy Giuliani, who praised them, and President Donald Trump, who said he deserved a Pulitzer Prize. Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Lou Dobbs repeated the untruths. They later become a key point in the CIA whistleblower complaint that set the impeachment inquiry in motion.
The Hill had serious concerns about Solomon’s credibility and conflicts of interest. Hill staffers raised alarms, including the paper’s publisher at the time, who warned in an internal memo that Solomon was engaged in “reputation killing stuff” by mixing business with journalism. He is now a contributor to Fox News.
Solomon “pops by the advertising bullpen almost daily to discuss big deals he’s about to close,” Derlega wrote, adding, “If a media reporter gets ahold of this story, it could destroy us.”
Solomon recalls first encountering Parnas through Pete Sessions, the once-powerful Texas Republican member of Congress who is now in the middle of the Trump impeachment inquiry. Sessions accepted campaign donations from Parnas and Fruman, and had met with the two men as they sought to oust an American diplomat in Ukraine. Later, Sessions wrote a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging him to replace the envoy Marie Yovanovitch, who had been the subject of extensive criticism in the conservative media. She was later fired and is a key witness for House Democrats trying to impeach the president.
As Solomon’s relationship with Parnas developed, he learned that the businessman “was working for many people in Ukraine,” including Giuliani and Solomon’s lawyers. Politico first reported Solomon’s lawyers also represented the Ukrainian oligarch.
Lutsenko, the former Ukrainian prosecutor, told a Ukrainian-language publication that he was the one who asked the U.S. ambassador for a list of supposedly untouchable figures. The U.S. State Department said there was never any list, calling it an “outright fabrication.” And Lutsenko told the Los Angeles Times last month that he saw no evidence of wrongdoing that would justify an investigation into Biden’s son’s business dealings in his country.
Last March, a veteran Washington reporter taped an interview with a Ukrainian prosecutor that founded a disinformation campaign alleging Joe Biden pressured Ukrainians into removing a prosecutor investigating a company because of its ties to the former vice president’s son. The interview and subsequent columns, conducted and written by a writer for The Hill newspaper, John Solomon, were the foundation that eventually set off the impeachment inquiry into the president.
Parnas and his partner Igor Fruman worked with the Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to promote a story that it was Democrats and not Republicans who colluded with a foreign power in the 2016 election. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicted Parnas and Fruman this month for illegally funneling foreign money into U.S. political campaigns.
Parnas worked closely with Solomon to create his reporting, including helping with translation and interviews. Solomon also shared files he obtained related to the Biden allegations with Parnas, according to a person familiar with the exchange. And the two men shared yet another only recently revealed connection: Solomon’s personal lawyers connected the journalist to Parnas and later hired the Florida businessman as a translator in their representation of a Ukrainian oligarch.
Solomon’s untrue interview and columns were widely distributed by Rudy Giuliani, who praised them, and President Donald Trump, who said he deserved a Pulitzer Prize. Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Lou Dobbs repeated the untruths. They later become a key point in the CIA whistleblower complaint that set the impeachment inquiry in motion.
The Hill had serious concerns about Solomon’s credibility and conflicts of interest. Hill staffers raised alarms, including the paper’s publisher at the time, who warned in an internal memo that Solomon was engaged in “reputation killing stuff” by mixing business with journalism. He is now a contributor to Fox News.
Solomon “pops by the advertising bullpen almost daily to discuss big deals he’s about to close,” Derlega wrote, adding, “If a media reporter gets ahold of this story, it could destroy us.”
Solomon recalls first encountering Parnas through Pete Sessions, the once-powerful Texas Republican member of Congress who is now in the middle of the Trump impeachment inquiry. Sessions accepted campaign donations from Parnas and Fruman, and had met with the two men as they sought to oust an American diplomat in Ukraine. Later, Sessions wrote a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging him to replace the envoy Marie Yovanovitch, who had been the subject of extensive criticism in the conservative media. She was later fired and is a key witness for House Democrats trying to impeach the president.
As Solomon’s relationship with Parnas developed, he learned that the businessman “was working for many people in Ukraine,” including Giuliani and Solomon’s lawyers. Politico first reported Solomon’s lawyers also represented the Ukrainian oligarch.
Lutsenko, the former Ukrainian prosecutor, told a Ukrainian-language publication that he was the one who asked the U.S. ambassador for a list of supposedly untouchable figures. The U.S. State Department said there was never any list, calling it an “outright fabrication.” And Lutsenko told the Los Angeles Times last month that he saw no evidence of wrongdoing that would justify an investigation into Biden’s son’s business dealings in his country.
