Lev Parnas: [Trump and Giuliani] Act Like They Don't Me!

Lev Parnas talks.

Rachel Maddow gets an interview with Lev Parnas.

Parnas was interviewed by the progressive agitator on Wednesday. The indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani spilled tea. He also mentioned Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Attorney General William Barr, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), John "Deep State" Solomon and Sean "Softball" Hannity involvement.

MSNBC got word that Parnas was granted permission by the court to tell his side of the story. He also cooperated with the U.S. House of Representatives in the investigation of President Donald J. Trump's misconduct while in office.

The interview came as House Democrats released new records detailing Parnas' role in the effort to have Ukraine investigate Trump's political rivals. Parnas and another Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, face campaign finance charges in the Southern District of New York.

The Trump administration swiftly pushed back on Parnas' claims. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Parnas' claims "are being made by a man who is currently out on bail for federal crimes and is desperate to reduce his exposure to prison." Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, said Parnas "will say anything to anybody who will listen in hopes of staying out of prison." Kerri Kupec, a Justice Department spokesman, said Parnas' comments were "100 percent false."

Parnas told Maddow that Trump "knew exactly what was going on" in Ukraine.

"He was aware of all my movements," Parnas said, adding, "I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president."

Trump and Pence acts like they don't know him.

Trump has denied knowing Parnas and Fruman, though there are multiple photos showing the president with one or both of the men. Trump has said that "it’s possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody.

"He lied," Parnas said of Trump. "I mean, we’re not friends. ... But he knows exactly who we were. He know exactly who I was especially because I interacted with him at a lot of events."

Pence, Barr and national security adviser John Bolton were all keyed in on what was going on, Parnas said, echoing U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland's testimony before impeachment investigators.

"I’m going to use a famous quote by Mr. Sondland, everybody was in the loop," Parnas said.

Parnas said Trump ordered Pence not to attend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's inauguration in May because the investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden and Democrats Trump wanted were not announced.

"I know [Pence] went to Poland also to discuss this on Trump's behalf, so he couldn't have not known," Parnas said, citing Pence's September discussion with Zelenskiy. That conversation has come under scrutiny in the impeachment process.

Sondland testified last year that he discussed the investigation into Burisma — the Ukrainian gas company Hunter Biden sat on the board of during his father's vice presidency — with Pence before the vice president met with Zelenskiy in Poland on Sept. 1. Sondland said he told Pence "before the meetings with the Ukrainians that I had concerns that the delay in aid had become tied to the issue of investigations."

At the time, Short pushed back, saying such a conversation "never" took place.

Meanwhile, Trump had originally been scheduled to make that trip to Poland, but canceled, citing a need to stay in the U.S. and monitor Hurricane Dorian. Parnas said that was merely an "excuse."

"It was because he was angry that Zelensky still didn't make any attempt or effort to make any announcement before he was going to meet him," Parnas said, adding Giuliani made that clear.

Maddow was granted the first interview with indicted Ukrainian business associate Lev Parnas.

Parnas pointed to Bolton, who was in Poland as part of the delegation, saying he believes the ousted national security adviser "has a lot to say."

Bolton said he would testify in the impeachment trial if subpoenaed. Trump indicated he would block Bolton's testimony.

"I’m not going to talk on this ... but I think he's a key witness to his conversation with Zelenskiy, and when he came back and why he left, or got fired, or however you want to look at that," Parnas said.

On Barr, Parnas said Giuliani "absolutely" interacted with the attorney general regarding the announcement of Ukrainian investigations, saying Barr "had to have known everything."

"Attorney General Barr was basically on the team," Parnas said.

Parnas addressed one of the most eye-opening revelations from his recently released records — claims that Yovanovitch was being closely monitored by a Republican congressional candidate from Connecticut, Robert Hyde.

Democrats called for an investigation into Hyde while Ukraine announced it will probe the alleged surveillance.

But Parnas, like Hyde earlier this week, said he strongly doubted any such surveillance took place.

Parnas, who texted with Hyde about Yovanovitch, called Hyde "a weird character" he met at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

"Well, I don't believe it's true," he said of Hyde's claims of surveilling Yovanovitch. "I think he was either drunk or he was trying to make himself bigger than he was, so I didn't take it seriously."

Hyde told reporters that he was just playing around with Parnas and was drinking when he sent the messages.

"He was drunk the whole time," Parnas said. "He wakes up and he’s drunk — he starts at 6:00 — I mean, I’ve never seen him not drunk."

Giuliani said in interviews last month that Yovanovitch was an obstacle to getting Ukraine to announce the investigations he said Trump desired. He later walked it back, tweeting that she "needed to be removed for many reasons."

But Parnas apologized to Yovanovitch for believing that she had bad-mouthed Trump, an allegation she denied to impeachment investigators. He said the Burisma probe was the sole reason for her ouster.

"That was the only motivation," he said.