The middleman: How Lev Parnas joined Team Trump and became Rudy Giuliani's fixer in Ukraine

Lev Parnas was once so close to Rudy Giuliani, he named Giuliani his son's godfather. Now Parnas is cooperating with the Trump impeachment inquiry.

The state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush in 2018 featured a who's who of U.S. political heavyweights.

The nation's four living former presidents and their wives were in the first row of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Alongside were President Donald Trump and his wife. Bush's eldest son, former president George W. Bush, sat nearby with his wife and extended family.

Among the mourners was the man once known to millions as America's Mayor and now Trump's personal lawyer: Rudy Giuliani. He was accompanied by — who?

The chubby man in the dark suit was Lev Parnas, a Soviet-born businessman known to few at the time. Now, the 47-year-old Florida resident is famed as Giuliani's associate in pressing for an investigation that could discredit former Vice President Joe Biden, a Trump rival in the 2020 presidential race, by digging up dirt in Parnas' native Ukraine.

Parnas' relationship with Giuliani wasn't all business. He'd honored Giuliani by naming him godfather of his young son. Just a few weeks before the final farewell for the nation's 41st president, Giuliani invited Parnas to join him at Shelly's Back Room, a clubby Washington retreat for cigar and whiskey aficionados.

"Sounds good I'll meet you there," Parnas answered via text. He said he'd bring Rep. Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican and longtime Giuliani ally who had just lost his seat in the midterm elections.

Parnas' uninvited attendance at the funeral illustrated the meteoric rise and curious position of a man who played Sancho Panza to Giuliani's Don Quixote, a status enabled in part by large contributions to Republican politicians and Trump-related campaign committees.