Lev Parnas, an associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was arrested last week on campaign finance violations for his numerous illegal donations to Trump and other Republican legislative candidates.
Soon after, on the White House lawn, Trump told reporters that he never knew Parnas, but probably had a picture with him. He then threw Giuliani under the bus, saying they were probably clients of his. Parnas was instrumental in helping Giuliani set up meetings with officials in Ukraine to potentially open up an investigation into the President's political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
At the time of Parnas's arrest, there was one photo of Parnas with the President and one photo of him with Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr.
Now, Shelby Holliday at The Wall Street Journal gained access to Parnas's private Instagram account, which revealed pictures of Parnas with Trump, as well as others in the Trump web: Giuliani, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the President's ex-wife Ivana Trump.
It turns out there's also a note signed by the President and First Lady Melania Trump, thanking Parnas.
@emmatscott @LaurizzleK @WSJVideo Then, his account jumps from 2015 to 2018. In Aug '18, Parnas posted a pic of a p… https://t.co/Vra5OLO6uI— Shelby Holliday (@Shelby Holliday) 1571653355.0
The note reads:
"To: Lev ParnasThank you for your friendship and dedication to our cause. Leaders like you in Florida are the key to fulfilling our bold agenda to Make America Great Again!"
There was also a wealth of photos and videos.
@emmatscott @LaurizzleK @WSJVideo Leading up to the midterms, Parnas posted dozens of photos from GOP events across… https://t.co/KLwXAHVWjS— Shelby Holliday (@Shelby Holliday) 1571653427.0
@emmatscott @LaurizzleK @WSJVideo Parnas also posted a slideshow of himself with members of the Trump family, inclu… https://t.co/sizIu8mLFG— Shelby Holliday (@Shelby Holliday) 1571653504.0
@emmatscott @LaurizzleK @WSJVideo Parnas also posted a number of photos related to events and fundraisers for Gov.… https://t.co/ho5oSPRjZ8— Shelby Holliday (@Shelby Holliday) 1571653621.0
@emmatscott @LaurizzleK @WSJVideo After the midterms, Parnas posted more and more photos with Giuliani: at Yankee S… https://t.co/9I9ZNP3wSz— Shelby Holliday (@Shelby Holliday) 1571653729.0
Parnas's own lawyer admits that Parnas was helping represent Trump while the Mueller Investigation was still ongoing. Parnas posted a celebratory picture with Trump's legal team the day Attorney General William Barr released his summary of the report.
@emmatscott @LaurizzleK @WSJVideo On March 25, the day after Barr released a summary of the Mueller report, Parnas… https://t.co/5hdE11Tkzx— Shelby Holliday (@Shelby Holliday) 1571653823.0
@emmatscott @LaurizzleK @WSJVideo More photos, videos and captions in our story: https://t.co/oXcW96zdhb— Shelby Holliday (@Shelby Holliday) 1571654314.0
Trump ran on a platform of draining the swamp, but it's repeatedly been proven that Trump and his allies are only exacerbating it.
@shelbyholliday @emmatscott @LaurizzleK @WSJVideo Biggest difference between Mob families and the #TrumpCrimeFamily… https://t.co/c6yjKzC2Ix— Chief Chris (@Chief Chris) 1571666531.0
Trump knew Parnas. Well. https://t.co/rzu1ErT0ev— Dennis Herring (@Dennis Herring) 1571630110.0
@shelbyholliday @emmatscott @LaurizzleK @WSJVideo All these photos of 45 with this dude come out after he said he h… https://t.co/SwrhI7m2fM— icaniwillwatchme (@icaniwillwatchme) 1571665883.0
@SethAbramson @sooze555 @thedailybeast https://t.co/O6dGwaiqJb— Alexander Alai (@Alexander Alai) 1571679530.0
Trump continues to claim that he's done nothing unconstitutional, but considering he called the Emoluments Clause "phony" today, it's likely he's not the best person to defer to on constitutionality.