Just as House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) hoped to land a knockout punch on 73-year-old President Donald Trump with explosive testimony by 62-year-old European Union Amb. Gordon Sondland, Ukraine announced a new investigation into Burisma Holdings. Democrats blame Trump for trying to bribe 40-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky in his July 25 phone call, serving as the basis for today’s impeachment hearings. Democrats contend that Trump tried to get Zelensky to dig up dirt on Democrat former VP Joe Biden and his 50-year-old son, Hunter. Insisting that Trump engaged Zelensky in a quid pro quo, $400 million in military aid in exchange for dirt on the Bidens, Democrats hoped to seal their impeachment case against Trump. Sondland was asked many times about the connection between Burisma Holdings and the Bidens.
What’s known for sure is that Hunter Biden made millions as a Burisma Holdings board member from 2014 to 2019. It’s also known that his father, Joe, a 2020 Democrat presidential candidate, got Hunter on Burisma’s board while he was former President Barack Obama’s Vice President. Joe was supposed to run an anti-corruption task force for Obama when he landed Hunter his $150,000 a month job. House Democrats impeaching Trump insist that Trump abused his office to gain dirt on a political opponent in the 2020 election. House Democrats’ Atty. Daniel Goldman insisted to Sondland that he knew that any mention of Burisma meant the Bidens. When Sondland said he didn’t make the connection, Goldman sounded incredulous, insisting that he must have known. Announcing today that it’s looking into Burisma holdings, Ukraine undermines the Dem’s case against Trump.
Trump insisted all along that the reason any military funds were held from Ukraine had to do with investigating corruption, not dredging up dirt on the Bidens. Yet Democrats can’t have it both ways: Hammering Trump for seeking information on the Bidens while denying the Biden’s engage in corruption. Chief Ukrainian prosecutor Kostantyn Kulyk announced that he’d look into corruption at Burisma Holdings, the same board Hunter took his lucrative job. Chief Ukrainian prosecutor Ruslan Ryaboshapka launched a new investigation into Burisma Holdings, accusing it founder Mykola Zlochevsky to stealing money from Ukraine’s Central Bank. It was Joe Biden who boasted to the Council on Foreign Relations Sept. 27, 2019 that he got Ukrainian Prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired for daring to investigate Burisma where his son, Hunter, worked on the board.
Democrats can’t have it both ways: Insisting Hunter Biden did nothing wrong, while, at the same time, going after Trump for looking into corruption. Democrats built their impeachment case against Trump insisting he asked a foreign government to investigate a U.S. presidential candidate. Trump said all along he was concerned about Ukrainian corruption, especially given that Joe Biden boasted about getting the former Ukrainian prosecutor fired. Ryaboshapka is now looking into Zlochvesky’s tax evasion, money laundering and illegal licenses. Democrats prosecuting the impeachment case against Trump have completely ignored the very real possibility that Joe and Hunter were involved in Ukrainian corruption. Ukraine’s prior prosecutor Kulyk, the one after Shokin, suspected that Zlochevsky embezzled $33 million [600 million hryvnias] from Ukraine’s Central Bank.
Listening to the impeachment hearings, you’d think that Ukraine had no problem with corruption, only Trump’sj obsession to dig up dirt on the Bidens. Whether Democrats admit it or not, it’s reasonable to ask Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky about past corruption, especially when it involves Hunter Biden. Paying him millions to sit on Burisma’s board, when the company was under scrutiny, shows the exten to Zlochevsky corruption. “Theft of government funds on an especially large scale,” Ryaboshapka said. House Democrats can point fingers at Trump all they want but eventually they’ll have to turn attention to the Bidens. Ukrainian authorities confirmed the investigation of Burisma’s on hold because Zlochevsky as flown-the-coop. Kulyk told Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani that Joe Biden, while Vice President, tried to get his predecessor Shokin fired for looking into Burisma.
House Democrats currently prosecuting an impeachment case against Trump based on his July 25 conversation with Zelensky completely ignore the extent of Ukrainian corruption. Trump wanted to find out more about any U.S. role in Ukranian corruption, something Democrats contend was done for selfish political purposes. But if you look at Ryaboshapka’s corruption probe, it shows that Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky was involved in embezzling state funds. Whatever cash Hunter Biden got paid, he may have not been illegal but certainly raises ethical questions. How did a former U.S. Vice President persuade a Cyrus-based Ukrainian natural gas company to hire his 50-year-old son Hunter for $150,000 a month? Whether it’s possible to get to the bottom of Ukrainian corruption or not, House Democrats can’t ignore completely any role played by Joe and Hunter.
