House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday notifying him of two flash drives containing additional evidence related to the impeachment inquiry, which was obtained from indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas.
Why it matters: As Axios' Alayna Treene reported earlier today, a public release of some or all of these materials could give Democrats new ammunition to argue that the White House must turn over more information and allow new testimony from witnesses.
The big picture: The Soviet-born Parnas helped connect Rudy Giuliani to Ukrainian officials while the pair were engaged in a campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate President Trump's political opponents.
- The records transmitted by Schiff include communications between Parnas and Giuliani, as well as text messages in Russian that show Parnas was in contact with key Ukrainian figures caught up in the Trump-Ukraine scandal, such as former prosecutors Viktor Shokin and Yuriy Lutsenko.
- Lutsenko and Shokin helped spread the unsubstantiated allegations that former Vice President Joe Biden attempted to interfere in a Ukrainian investigation into the gas company Burisma, where his son Hunter sat on the board of directors.