Yang seems weird because a lot of his base seems like people that won't even vote in the Dem primary anyway. Tech Bros and libertarian style liberals. Even some alt right leaning dudes. However he has already said he is committed to helping the Dems win in 2020 and will help the eventual nominee anyway he can.
I'm having a look at the newly released Lev Parnas text messages that he provided to the House. Below are image excerpts along with a brief summary.
First I'll note this excerpt from Parnas' indictment:
http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/10/10/u.s..v..lev.parnas.et.al.indictment.pdf
"Parnas' efforts to remove [Yovanovitch] were conducted, at least in part, at the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials."
That Ukrainian government official is Lutsenko. He has since admitted that he fabricated the allegation that Yovanovitch gave him a "do not prosecute" list.
Lutsenko is also currently under investigation in Ukraine for alleged abuses of power, after an August court ruling ordered the probe.
The "at the request of one or more Ukrainian officials" is key because recent subpoenas in the SDNY case confirm they're investigating possible FARA crimes. Illegal foreign lobbying in other words. The subpoenas sent to people around Giuliani, including requests for records on Giulaini's company, clearly suggest Rudy is being treated as a target rather than a witness. Giuliani was deeply involved in the effort to remove Yovanovitch as well.
Here you see that Lutsenko is clearly asking Parnas to get rid of Yovanovitch. State Dept officials testified in the impeachment inquiry that the Dept knew the allegations against Yovanovitch were entirely false, that Pompeo took no action to defend her and that it was Trump who personally ordered her removal.
Now comes the key part. Lutsenko tells Parnas that Yovanovitch needed to be removed, based on the claim of a "do not prosecute list" Lutsenko later admitted he fabricated, or else it would bring into question his information about Biden. In other words, you remove this Ambassador for me or you don't get my Biden dirt.
Here we see Parnas' henchman Robert F Hyde, who is also running for Congress by the way, discussing surveillance of Ambassador Yovanovitch.
He appears to be have been monitoring her devices and location. He tells Parnas at this time that Yovanovitch talked to 3 people, that her phone was now off, that her computer was off. He also adds that she's next to the embassy at that time, not inside.
Parnas responds "interesting", Hyde replies that he will continue to monitor her movements.
Hyde then appears to express concern about the possibility of the apparent surveillance getting discovered.
He then tells Parnas a group of unspecified individuals is willing to help them "for a price."
Hyde adds that "guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money..."
Parnas responds with "lol" to the last message.
Hyde then gives Parnas a detailed update on Yovanovitch's movements inside the embassy.
Hyde later suggests they have a mole in the embassy to monitor Yovanovitch.
In the effort to get a visa approved for Viktor Shokin, Giuliani tells Parnas to contact Trump's attorney Jay Sekulow and gives him Sekulow's number.
Trump insisted he doesn't know Parnas, but it was also Jay Sekulow who relayed Trump's message that he personally signed off on Parnas' hiring of John Dowd.
Most concerning is the part about her electronic devices. Monitoring her movements is one thing but that text clearly suggested something more along the lines of electronic surveillance. They had a means of knowing when her phone and laptop were on or off. That text also included the number of calls Yovanovitch made that day but that could have been observed, not necessarily monitored electronically.
There's no way Trump wins 2020 is the new there's no way Trump wins 2016are the "none of these candidates can beat Trump" takes the "Trump can't beat Hillary takes" from 2016?
Most concerning is the part about her electronic devices. Monitoring her movements is one thing but that text clearly suggested something more along the lines of electronic surveillance. They had a means of knowing when her phone and laptop were on or off. That text also included the number of calls Yovanovitch made that day but that could have been observed, not necessarily monitored electronically.
IMHO
