'Nobody believes this': Internet disagrees as ex-Giuliani associate accuses Trump of working with Russia

WASHINGTON, DC: Former associate of Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas, accused ex-president Donald Trump of "blatantly" working with Russia, Newsweek reported.

The remarks were made during a conversation on ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's 'Mea Culpa' podcast interview on Saturday, March 30.

Cohen, a witness in the hush money case against the GOP presumptive nominee, asked Parnas, "Would you say Trump either has worked or is currently working with the Russians to sow more misinformation, disinformation, malinformation?"

The ex-Giuliani ally replied that "it's blatant."

Parnas, who is a Ukrainian-American businessman, was sentenced to 20 months of prison time after he was convicted in 2021 over fraud and campaign finance crimes.

Lev Parnas attempts to substantiate his claims

Speaking to Cohen, Parnas added, "They are still pushing the same Russian information...you still have Trump's inner circle pushing that, not only that, but you now have Paul Manafort coming into the mix. For people who don't know who Paul Manafort is, that is a direct link into the Kremlin...Just because he spent a year in prison doesn't mean that those relationships are dead."

Manafort was Trump's 2016 campaign chairman.

In 2019, it was found that Manafort was responsible for financial fraud, according to convictions obtained by special counsel Robert Mueller during the investigation of the former Trump campaign chairman's alleged collaboration with the Russian government in 2016.

The 448-page special counsel report released in 2019 after a two-year investigation had findings regarding whether Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with the Russian government.

In addition, it also looked into Manafort's involvement with Ukrainian and Russian oligarchs while working as the ex-president's campaign chairman. However, the investigation failed to uncover any conspiracy between Russia and Trump's campaign.

The former real estate mogul has denied all allegations of his ties to Russia and even labeled Muller's investigation as a "Russian hoax."

Trump pardoned Manafort in 2020, and as per CNN, he is currently in contact with the latter, likely seeking help with the upcoming Republican National Convention in July, where he will be formally announced as the GOP nominee for president.

Internet reactions differ from Lev Parnas' claims

Weighing in on Parnas' allegations of Trump working for Russia, social media users on X and Facebook disputed the assertions.

One user wrote, "Nobody believes this," and another person outrightly labeled the statement "Lies."

"Dems are still beating that horse," a third user added.

A fourth response read, "Are you serious? This is such a tired old lie. We are not falling for it. Trump will be our next President."

Someone else called the ex-Giuliani's ally's remarks as "Russia collusion delusion: Round 2."

"Considering the source, I doubt Bloodbath Bloodbath Bloodbath," an individual chimed in.

Another user wrote on Facebook, "There's no proof anywhere except hearsay that Trump ever worked with Putin. Putin would rather have Joe Biden as President. It allowed him to invade Ukraine. Even though Mueller investigated it and said there was no connection, people are still buying this nonsense."

"This nonsense again," another person commented.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.