Lev Parnas, an associate of U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, left, walks with his attorney Joseph Bondy, right, to the Hart Senate Building in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

A Manhattan federal judge on Monday set an Oct. 5 trial date in the case of Lev Parnas and another former associate of Rudy Giuliani charged with trying to illegally funnel foreign money into U.S. elections.

U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken of the Southern District of New York blocked out three weeks for trial in the criminal campaign-finance case, which has loomed over the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

Parnas and Igor Fruman, two foreign-born businessmen with ties to Giuliani, are accused along with two other men in a scheme prop up candidates for state and federal office in order to buy political influence in the U.S. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty and are currently free on bond.

Giuliani, a personal attorney to the president, is reported to be under investigation in the Southern District, though he has not been charged with any crimes.

Unlike his co-defendants, Parnas has mounted a public campaign to discuss his role in an alleged effort by members of the Trump administration to withhold aid to Ukraine in exchange for an announcement on investigations into Trump's political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who sat on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma.

Parnas' attorney, Joseph Bondy, told the New York Law Journal last month that his client had hoped to be called as a witness in the Senate impeachment trial, partly, to mitigate any sentence he may receive in the Southern District. Last week, Bondy and Parnas traveled to Washington, D.C., to help bolster their case for testimony, but the Senate Republicans on Friday voted against calling witnesses ahead of an expected acquittal vote later this week.

Bondy alluded to the latest impeachment developments while addressing reporters and said he and his client would be ready to try the case in the fall.

"If we were to have a trial with no evidence and no witnesses and a jury of our friends, it would go a lot faster, but we're going to have a fair trial," Bondy said. "We're very much looking forward to having our days in court."

Prosecutors, meanwhile, updated Oetken on what they have described as "voluminous" discovery, which included more than 197,000 stamped documents, as well as approximately three terabytes worth of materials extracted from the defendants' phones, tablets and computers.

Assistant U.S. attorney Nicolas Roos also said the FBI is still trying to "crack" about 20 devices for which the defense has not provided passwords. The "vast majority" of discovery would be completed by mid-March, he said.

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office has left open the possibility of a superseding indictment in the case, but attorneys Monday declined to provide an update on their thinking. Roos said the office was still evaluating any decision and had discussed applicable deadlines with defense counsel.

"The government's aware of when it's appropriate to bring a superseder, based on those dates," he said.

Parnas has said that prosecutors have so far rebuffed his attempts to cooperate in the criminal case, and it wasn't immediately clear how the planned acquittal vote would impact his strategy moving forward.

Bondy did not immediately return a call requesting comment.

Asked Monday whether he would assist the government's investigation, Parnas said it was a "good question."

"I'm here to tell the truth," said Parnas, donning an American flag pin outside of the Lower Manhattan courthouse.

"We've been, the last month, as strong as possible, been able to help Senate and Congress and the world recognize the truth and what happened, and what is happening is and what's going on," he said. "I want to thank all the well wishers out there, all the supporters out there, it really keeps me going, and gives me strength to keep fighting against this powerful enemy but I think we will prevail."

 

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