The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Nunes aide communicated with Parnas about Ukraine campaign, messages show

January 17, 2020 at 9:02 p.m. EST
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, confers with colleagues during the House impeachment inquiry on Dec. 9. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Democrats released new documents Friday evening showing extensive contact between an associate of President Trump’s personal attorney and an aide to the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee regarding the effort to obtain material from Ukrainian prosecutors that would be damaging to former vice president Joe Biden.

The text messages between Lev Parnas, who functioned as Rudolph W. Giuliani’s emissary to Ukrainian officials, and Derek Harvey, an aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, indicate Nunes’s office was aware of the operation at the heart of impeachment proceedings against the president — and sought to use the information Parnas was gathering.