Four Weeks Until Election Day
Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy.
“Mr. President Maduro,” Congressman Pete Sessions stated. “It is an honor to speak with you over the phone.” Hearing those words shocked me. In front of me were seven individuals, many of whom, at one point or another, had a direct line of communication with the President of the United States. The purpose of this call was to establish a back-channel communication with the embattled President of Venezuela in an attempt to provide him with a soft landing in the United States.
The primary goal of this communication was not to effectuate an America First foreign policy approach. Instead, those around the table had one goal: to promote the President’s “Trump First” agenda. What I did not know then, yet realize now, was that this phone call was just a microcosm within a larger shadow diplomacy scheme done for the sole purpose of benefitting President Donald J. Trump and his reelection pursuits.
You may wonder how I ended up in that room, listening to that phone call. Honestly, more than six years later, I too still wonder how I was in that room. At the time, I was in my final year of law school. My father, Lev Parnas, often had me come to the Trump Hotel to see him in Washington, D.C. Being that it was only a short bike ride away from my law school, and that I would often get a free meal out of it, I frequently made the trek over. Little did I know that on that night, in September 2019, that I would end up listening to a conversation between Venezuelan Dictator Nicholas Maduro and, at the time, a sitting Congressman.
For clarity, I did not say anything on the call, did not know the call was happening before I walked into the room, and was not purview to the conversations around the call or who was responsible for setting it up. All I knew was what was said on the call that night at the Trump D.C. hotel.
What I soon learned was that the Republican fears surrounding this so-called deep state were overdone and untrue. Instead, I learned of a greater threat to this country’s democracy: back channel communications and shadow diplomacy.
Now, more than 5 years later, we are at an inflection point in our nation’s history. As a young American, who was just 20 at the time, and is now 25, I cannot overstate the danger Donald Trump poses to our democracy. I witnessed it firsthand. Shortly thereafter, I published part of this story in a book in an effort to get the word out ahead of the 2020 election. With the 2024 election around the corner, I am once again sharing this story so that if you or a loved one reads this, they too know the danger Trump poses to our democracy.
As a young American, I see a brighter future with Vice President Kamala Harris. During the past four years, the Biden-Harris Administration has done more for young Americans like myself than any prior Administration. There were no shadow diplomacy deals. Competence was finally reinstalled back in government.
There is only one candidate who can keep that competence in government, and her name is Vice President Kamala Harris.
If you are reading this, we have four weeks until Election Day. Make sure to go out and vote. And, stay tuned for my next post soon.
Thank you for your support <3