Washington: US President Donald Trump knew exactly what was going on with an alleged campaign to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate political rival Joe Biden, an indicted member in his inner circle told US media. Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, told MSNBC on Wednesday that “President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn’t do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the President.”

On Tuesday, Democrats released newly acquired files that showed Giuliani working with Parnas early last year to pressure Kyiv to investigate Biden. They also showed the two, working with Ukrainian officials, trying to force out the US ambassador to the country, Marie Yovanovitch, who was eventually removed by Trump. Parnas, a Soviet-born American, was arrested on charges of campaign finance violations in October as he attempted to flee the country, and was ordered to turn over key documents to House investigators.