Donald Trump Is ‘Like A Cult Leader,’ Says Lev Parnas, Adding ‘He Became That Powerful When He Got Barr’
Indicted Ukraine scandal figure Lev Parnas said only four months ago in an interview with The New Yorker that Donald Trump was “one of the greatest, if not the greatest, presidents ever.” But in an interview aired on MSNBC Thursday night, he backtracked, saying that the U.S. president is “like a cult leader.”
“It was like being in a cult,” Parnas said of his earlier devotion to Trump. “I don’t think Trump is like organized crime. I think he’s like a cult leader.”
Parnas, according to reports as well as documentary evidence that he has provided to Congress, carried out much of the pressure campaign against Ukraine on behalf of Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. According to his New Yorker interview, given shortly before his arrest in October, Parnas said that he was “looking to do business” with the former New York City mayor.
When Giuliani became Trump’s lawyer during the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, Parnas volunteered to help, “because of my Ukrainian background and my contacts.” He was born in Ukraine — which was then part of the Soviet Union — in 1972, later emigrating to the United States with his family at the age of 3.
Parnas told The New Yorker that he became Giuliani’s “assistant” and “investigator.”
Though Trump has denied knowing him, Parnas says that the president is “lying.” He added though the two are not close friends, Trump “knew exactly” who he was.
In fact, numerous photos and a video have surfaced — or been released by Parnas and his lawyer, Joseph Bondy — showing the controversial figure together with the president and several of his family members.
Lev Parnas tells Rachel Maddow that Trump is "like a cult leader" and that what makes Trump more powerful now than in '16 and '17 is that "he became that powerful when he got William Barr."
"Am I scared, yes, and because I think I’m more scared of our own Justice Department…" pic.twitter.com/mZg5Z93Oza
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) January 17, 2020
In the interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow that aired on Thursday, Parnas said that he had chosen to speak publicly about his activities on Trump’s behalf. He explained this is because he is now scared of the United States Justice Department, under Attorney General William Barr.
“He became that powerful when he got Barr,” he said in the interview, referring to his claim that the president is “like a cult leader.”
Parnas added that he is now “scared of our own Justice Department,” as quoted via Twitter by Mother Jones Washington Bureau Chief David Corn.
According to evidence in the Congressional impeachment inquiry, the president used various forms of leverage — including the refusal to send military aid — against Ukraine in order to get its government to announce an investigation into Democrat Joe Biden. This investigation is believed to likely damage Biden and help Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
.@RudyGiuliani associate Lev Parnas tells @Maddow that he did believe @JoeBiden did something illegal in Ukraine, but says he doesn't feel that way now.
He blames an almost "cult-like" atmosphere around @realDonaldTrump and evidence given to them at that time. pic.twitter.com/snLGAjVERr
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 17, 2020
As seen in the video above, Parnas now believes that there was no basis for investigating Biden, as the former vice president “did nothing wrong.”
