Rudy Giuliani's associate Lev Parnas 'laughed' at the 'blatant corruption' when he funneled money to a Trump PAC and to try and set up a legal marijuana business in the US, federal prosecutors claim

• Parnas appeared at a federal court in Manhattan on the first day of his trial
• He was seen smiling and jovial when he arrived at the courthouse this morning
• Parnas and co-defendant Andrey Kukushkin are accused of lining Republican campaign coffers with $1 million from a Russian financier
• The financier was trying to gin up support for a US-based marijuana company
• An earlier indictment accused Parnas of working with Giuliani to oust former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch over her anti-corruption efforts
• Yovanovitch's ouster was one of the main themes of Trump's first impeachment 

Former Rudy Giuliani ally Lev Parnas 'laughed' as he illegally 'shoveled thousands and thousands of dollars' of foreign cash into US political races across the country, prosecutors said at the outset of the Ukrainian-American businessman's trial on Wednesday.

Much of that money went into Republican campaign coffers, including a $325,000 donation in 2018 to a super PAC supporting then-President Donald Trump.

'These men shoveled thousands and thousands of dollars of foreign money to US politicians, laughing about how they were breaking the law along the way,' Assistant US Attorney Aline Flodr said of Parnas and his co-defendant, Ukrainian-born investor Andrey Kukushkin.

Flodr told the jury at a Manhattan court their crimes were 'blatant.'

'That is what secret foreign money infiltrating an American election looks like,' she said. 'That it why we are here. That is what this trial is all about.' 

Kukushkin and Parnas are accused of arranging donations on behalf of a Russian financier, Andrey Muraviev, as part of an effort to expand his legal marijuana businesses in the United States. 

Parnas, 49, has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he conspired to make the illegal campaign contributions.  

Prosecutors opened the Giuliani associate's trial by blaming him for planning to use up to $1 million of Muraviev's money to infiltrate US elections to further his own business interests.  

They have said Parnas bragged about his associations with Giuliani and Trump to help him in his business dealings. 

Flodr, however, did not describe this during her opening statement as prosecutors have sought to streamline 'certain factual allegations' within the case.

Prosecutors allege Parnas was trying to win favor with influential Republicans through the hefty donations. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was given a $50,000 contribution from Parnas and his associate Igor Fruman, which he later returned. Previous reports also claim the Florida-based businessman met with DeSantis at least six times and hosted two fundraisers for him.

But the politicians and fundraisers involved with the Soviet-born businessmen didn't know they were handling foreign cash, prosecutors said. 

Flodr accused Parnas and his associates of knowingly obscuring the money's origin in some cases.

'The law requires that political contributions be made in the true donor's name,' she said. 'Here, the defendants hid where that money came from.'

Parnas and Fruman were arrested in 2019 while trying to board a plane with one-way tickets to Europe.

Fruman pled guilty to soliciting a contribution from a foreign national in September but doesn't have to cooperate with the government as part of his plea deal.  

Attorney Joseph Bondy, representing Parnas, began his opening statement by saying: 'Lev Parnas is not guilty. That´s what the evidence in this case will show you. He didn´t knowingly, willfully violate any federal election laws. The government will be unable to bear their burden of proving Mr. Parnas guilty.'

Bondy is a high-power New York attorney who advertises a specialization in 'cannabis business and advocacy.'

He presented Parnas as an enthusiastic Trump fan who promised of dollars to get a front row seat to the 2018 election cycle, according to Politico's courtroom reporting. 

Parnas' interests lay mainly in the cannabis industry, Bondy argued. 

'He brought the president a memorandum on marijuana - legalizing marijuana as a Republican midterm point,' he said. 'The courage you will see of a person going, talking to Donald Trump in a room full of older donors about legalizing cannabis.'

He added, 'It never occurred, of course.' 

Bondy argued that Parnas didn't have a legal background and so couldn't understand the intricacies of campaign finance law.

'He's doesn't have a graduate degree. He's not a lawyer. He hasn't worked at the [Federal Election Commission],' he said. 'He hasn't worked for a political campaign.'

But prosecutor Flodr doubted that claim, citing how fine-tuned he was to marijuana licensing laws.

'You will see this group paid careful attention to laws legalizing marijuana, but chose to break the simple law about foreigners not donating to American elections,' she said.

Parnas became known publicly for aiding Giuliani's effort to convince the government of Ukraine to investigate the son of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. 

That quest, though, is not expected to be part of a trial that is slated to last two weeks. Giuliani is not charged in the case and prosecutors haven´t alleged that he knew anything about illegal campaign contributions.

Prosecutors have said names of famous politicians and others, including Giuliani and Trump, will mainly arise as evidence is introduced to show how Parnas tried to parlay his associations with prominent individuals to boost his own interests.

Kukushkin's attorney, Gerald Lefcourt, has said his client, a San Francisco-based entrepreneur with longstanding ties to legal marijuana businesses in California, was 'duped' by Parnas and Fruman.

An initial 2019 indictment against Parnas and three others detailed their efforts to oust former Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch over her anti-corruption work.

The allegation was removed from a revised version of the indictment with little explanation in 2020. 

Yovanovitch's recall in May 2019 and her subsequent testimony before Congress were main themes in Trump's first impeachment trial. 

While Giuliani hasn't been charged in this case, he's still in legal hot water with Dominion Voting Systems and a narrowing federal probe into his dealings in Ukraine.  

The federal investigation led to a raid of Giuliani's home and office in April.