The Company You Keep: Rudy Colludey Edition

There's an in-depth, fascinating look at one of Trump consigliere and freelance conspiracy spinner Rudy "Rudy Colludey" Giuliani's seamy hitmen, Lev Parnas's background in Politico. It paints a picture of a man who has been engaged in scams and questionable business dealings for many years. Most chillingly, he's resorted to threats of violence, reminiscent of a mob loan shark:

"On Oct. 25, 2008, the owner of a property in Florida in which Lev Parnas had been living told Parnas to leave. When the men began to argue and the owner told Parnas he would call the police, Parnas told the man, "If you call the cops, they are not going to find you ever," according to a petition for a restraining order filed by the landlord in Miami-Dade county court and obtained by POLITICO.

Three days later, the men met to discuss the matter again. According to the petition, Parnas held a gun to the man’s head and said, "This is my last warning to you," then got into his car, a dark blue Porsche Cayenne, and drove off. Three days after that, on Halloween, the police seized from Parnas a .38 revolver, a 9mm pistol, an automatic pistol, and a .40-caliber Glock pistol, according to a court motion filed later by Parnas seeking return of the firearms." (our emphasis)

The article goes on to point out that Parnas was then living in a condo in Trump Palace in Sunny Isles Beach, FL.

There are numerous scams covered in the article, including stiffing an investor on a $350,000 bridge loan for a film, to bilking a Russian-mob linked "investor" in a failing technology company out of $20,000 (normally a fatal move).

We know that Giuliani's scurrilous efforts to manufacture dirt on former VP Biden and his son was financed in part through Parnas' appropriately named entity Fraud Guarantee, which payed Giuliani $500,000 for "legal advice." Parnas and his crime partner Igor Fruman were on their way to meet pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash in Vienna when they were arrested by the FBI about to board a plane with a one-way ticket. There's so much more here to be uncovered.

With this corrupt crew, it's all about the company you keep.

(photo: Rudy Colludey and his enforcer)