MSNBC Films debuted From Russia with Lev, a documentary executive produced by Rachel Maddow, on Friday night. It let to strong ratings in its initial airing.
The film averaged 2.1 million viewers in the 9-11 PM ET timeslot Friday evening. It was the network’s most-watched documentary since 2020.
The television debut of the film came after it was screened at the MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024 event in New York earlier this year. Additionally, Maddow took the documentary on a cross-country tour as part of promotion for the film.
A promotional description for the film says it “reveals the outrageous scheme that led to former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. It follows the much, much larger-than-life journey of Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-born hustler and former small-time mafia operator whose random, almost accidental association with Trump and Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani took him around the world, and ultimately to prison. Lev reveals the ham-handed workings of the furtive campaign to dredge up false but damaging allegations against then-candidate Joe Biden.”
