Vladimir Rodzianko
Ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee was the latest victim of a prank phone call by Russian comedians Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, who offered to give Congressman Adam Schiff ‘compromising’ dirt on US President Donald Trump – including nude photos of the president.
An audio recording of the call was recently leaked, where the congressman can be heard discussing the committee’s Russia investigation and increasingly bizarre allegations about Trump with a man who claimed to be Andriy Parubiy, the chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament.
The congressman, with already dubious connections to a Soros-tied Ukrainian arms dealer, has already found himself in hot water, as reported by The Duran.
The call was made almost a year ago in April 2017, just as the Russiagate scandal was entering its pinnacle in Washington – which leads one to wonder whether the information disclosed in this phone call, along with the falsified ‘Trump dossier’, was used by Schiff and passed along to those in the House Intel Committee to add fuel to fake Russia-collusion hysteria.
According to the Daily Mail who helped break the story, Schiff and his staff continued to engaged in correspondence with what they thought was a Ukrainian politician to try to obtain the ‘classified’ material promised on the call.
Two Russian comedians nicknamed ‘Vovan’ and ‘Lexus’ who have become notorious for their phony calls to high-ranking American officials and celebrities, including Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, US Senator John McCain, and most notably reported by The Duran, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Schiff’s office said the congressman suspected the call was ‘bogus’ from the beginning and reported it to authorities afterward. But in a recording of the eight minute conversation, Schiff appeared to take the call seriously, taking notes for reference – and emails from the Democrat’s staff to the fake politician afterwards said he had found it ‘productive’.
The prankers claimed that Trump had an affair with Russian glamour model Olga Buzova (left) after a Miss Universe pageant in 2013 – and that naked pictures of him were passed to Vladimir Putin by now presidential-candidate Ksenia Sobchak (right).
Below are the leaked email exchanges between the prankers and the Democratic congressman’s staff courtesy of the Daily Mail – which shows his office was very, very excited about the materials:
Via the Daily Mail:
Schiff and Trump have publicly feuded over the past week in the wake of a classified memo released by House Intelligence Committee Republicans, which alleged that the FBI used abusive tactics to obtain a surveillance warrant against a Trump campaign aide.
Schiff has been one of the most high profile Democrats in congress investigating allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials during the election.
Trump slammed Schiff on Twitter on Monday, calling the congressman ‘Little Adam Schiff’ and claiming he leaked classified information from closed hearings of the House Intelligence Committee.
‘Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there with Comey, Warner, Brennan and Clapper!’ said Trump on Twitter. ‘Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!’
The congressman from California shot back that the president was spreading ‘false smears.’
‘[T]he American people would appreciate it if you turned off the TV and helped solve the funding crisis, protected Dreamers or…really anything else,’ said Schiff on Twitter.
The comedians Vovan and Lexus – whose real names are Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov – drew international attention last year for their prank calls to Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Sen. John McCain.
The phone conversation with Schiff took place early last April as the House Intelligence Committee ramped up its investigation into alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election.
Vovan and Lexus told DailyMail.com that it took them just 30 minutes to get the congressman on the phone after calling his office pretending to be Parubiy.
‘[Schiff] was pretty serious. He wrote all what we said on the paper. Remembered all the details,’ said Lexus.
Lexus said the congressman’s aide also followed up with them by email after the call and asked them to send the materials to the Ukrainian embassy so that one of Schiff’s staffers could pick up the documents.
The comedians claimed they would transfer the documents to Schiff through the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly.
Lexus and Vovan provided emails to the DailyMail.com which appear to show Schiff’s staff discussing the documents after the call.
‘I understand Mr. Schiff had a productive call with Mr. Parubiy, and that Mr. Parubiy would like to make some material available to Mr. Schiff through your embassy,’ wrote Schiff aide Rheanne Wirkkala to the pranksters, according to the April 4, 2017 email.
‘Please let me know how best to arrange pick-up of those materials from your Embassy in Washington, D.C.,’ the email continued.
In another email on April 5, 2017, Schiff’s aide asked: ‘do you know when we might be able to meet your colleagues at the Ukrainian embassy here in Washington, DC to pick up materials?’
Schiff’s office did not respond to a request to confirm the emails.
During the call, the pranksters concocted an elaborate story about Trump having a tryst with a Russian glamour model named Olga Buzova after a Miss Universe pageant in 2013, which led to Vladimir Putin obtaining nude photos of the president.
Other individuals they claimed were involved in the scheme included a former Playboy model and Russian journalist named Ksenia Sobchak and Russian pop star Arkadiy Ukupnik.
Buzova ‘got compromising materials on Trump after their short relations,’ one of the pranksters told Schiff.
‘And what’s the nature of the Kompromat?’ asked Schiff.
‘Well, there were pictures of naked Trump,’ said the caller.
The pranksters told Schiff that Sobchak was a Russian secret agent and Putin’s goddaughter, and claimed she gave the Russian leader the compromising pictures of Trump to use as blackmail.
Here’s the entire transcript of the phone conversation between Schiff and the Russian comedians:
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Duran.
