Monday evening open thread—And there shall be no honor among thieves

Earlier this evening, Reuters broke the story that Lev Parnas, the other half of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, er, Parnas and Igor Fruman, ditched his Trump-connected lawyer John Dowd and had agreed to provide documents and testimony to the House impeachment inquiry.

Of course, caution was the order of the day. Remember what happened with that other cooperating mobster, Paul Manafort.

However, just now, the New York Times confirms and goes further.

An associate of Rudolph W. Giuliani who was involved in a campaign to pressure Ukraine into aiding President Trump’s political prospects has broken ranks, opening a dialogue with congressional impeachment investigators and accusing the president of falsely denying their relationship.

The associate, Lev Parnas, had previously resisted speaking with investigators for the Democrat-led impeachment proceedings, which are examining the president’s pressure attempts in Ukraine. A former lawyer for Mr. Trump was then representing Mr. Parnas.

But since then, Mr. Parnas has hired new lawyers who contacted the congressional investigators last week to notify them to “direct any future correspondence or communication to us,” according to a copy of the letter.

Now, remember: Once a fucking crook, always a fucking crook. But the thing about crooks is that they don't like being taken for suckers or patsies. It seems that Parnas was right peeved at Donald Trump disavowing any relationship with him. Who knew that mobsters were such sensitive souls?

The problem with a criminal conspiracy is that it's only as rock-solid as its dumbest member. And with Trump and Rudy Giuliani as the chief instigators, this collusion never stood a chance. Trump brought his mob tactics to the White House, and career civil servants who swore an oath to the Constitution, not to Trumpian omerta, were not going to allow this state of affairs to continue.

Of course, what's laughable is that an entire political apparatus has bent itself to serve this conspiracy. Long gone are the days when GOP elders went to Richard Nixon and told him that his choices were resignation or impeachment and removal.This is no longer even about tax cuts and judges; like the Party in Nineteen Eighty-Four, power is its only reason for existence. It has no other purpose. And while that makes for an interesting philosophical point in a dystopian novel, it seems that it's not working out so well in the real world of a republic with a centuries'-long habit of democracy.

We'll see over the coming days and weeks if Parnas has the goods. But never piss off a co-conspirator. It'll bite you in the ass.