The story of Hunter Biden’s foray into Ukraine

[Mountain Man]

Here's one of Giuliani's interviews:

Little George never knew what hit him. He kept trying to get Giuliani off track by interrupting the flow of his argument with irrelevant asides and "gotcha" questions, but Giuliani shut him down. Joe is running scared. Why else would he demand that the media stop talking to Giuliani?

[Mountain Man]

During the interview, George Staphylococcus floated the "But Shokin is corrupt!" narrative, but Giuliani immediately shot back, "Where's the proof that he's corrupt?" and George didn't have an answer!

[rogue06]

Here's one of Giuliani's interviews:

Little George never knew what hit him. He kept trying to get Giuliani off track by interrupting the flow of his argument with irrelevant asides and "gotcha" questions, but Giuliani shut him down. Joe is running scared. Why else would he demand that the media stop talking to Giuliani?

SOP when the MSM interviews a conservative. They interrupt to challenge them pretty much after every sentence (although they might get two in if they talk fast and they're short). Compare that to how a liberal gets interviewed. Aside from usually getting nothing but softballs they are given time to pontificate as much as they want and only get interrupted due to time constraints.

[Mountain Man]

SOP when the MSM interviews a conservative. They interrupt to challenge them pretty much after every sentence (although they might get two in if they talk fast and they're short). Compare that to how a liberal gets interviewed. Aside from usually getting nothing but softballs they are given time to pontificate as much as they want and only get interrupted due to time constraints.

That's why that particular clip is so much fun to watch. Giuliani steamrolled over the host, and little George couldn't figure out how to take back control of his own show!

[Juvenal]

During the interview, George Staphylococcus floated the "But Shokin is corrupt!" narrative, but Giuliani immediately shot back, "Where's the proof that he's corrupt?" and George didn't have an answer!

Your video: 6:01.

[Juvenal]

After extensive searching, I can't find anyone who has anything good to say about Shokin. And with respect to Burisma and Zlochevsky, everyone says he was hindering the probe.

Trump called this ex-Ukrainian prosecutor ‘very good.’ But he resigned in disgrace.
By David L. Stern
September 25

Western officials hoped Shokin would aggressively prosecute the extensive corruption — reportedly totaling in the tens of billions of dollars — that authorities uncovered among Yanukovych and his associates.

Public opinion swiftly turned against Shokin, however. He was seen as insufficiently pursuing, and in some instances hindering, cases against the Yanukovych-era officials.

Among these was an investigation into Zlochevsky, Yanukovych’s minister for ecology and natural resources.

Why Was Ukraine's Top Prosecutor Fired? The Issue At The Heart Of The Dispute Gripping Washington
By Christopher Miller
September 24, 2019 13:31 GMT

Trump and his allies, including his personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, accuse Biden of using his position as vice president and point man on relations with Kyiv in 2016 to help Burisma -- a Ukrainian energy company that was paying Biden's son Hunter, who was on its board of directors -- avoid damage from a criminal investigation.

They assert that Shokin was overseeing an active criminal investigation into Burisma and that Biden at the time told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that the United States would withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees unless Shokin was fired.

But Ukrainian prosecutors and anti-corruption activists with knowledge of the matter argue that the timeline of developments in the Burisma case and Shokin's stint as chief prosecutor simply does not fit the narrative being put forward by Trump and his allies.

Moreover, they say that Shokin himself was the biggest obstacle standing in the way of the investigation.

Ukraine’s prosecutor hailed by Trump achieved little
By NATALIYA VASILYEVA
September 25, 2019

Despite the assertions of Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, Shokin never had an active investigation into Hunter Biden’s work. What’s more, he was accused of closing the probe into Mykola Zlochevsky, a former government minister who indirectly controlled Burisma through offshore companies in Cyprus.

The U.S. publicly condemned Shokin for failing to investigate Zlochevsky. The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine at the time, Geoffrey Pyatt, lamented at a conference in September 2015 that Shokin was undermining the work on “legitimate corruption cases,” including the probe into Zlochevsky’s activities.

Daria Kaleniuk, a prominent Ukrainian activist and executive director of the Kyiv-based Anti-Corruption Action Center, and her associates held several protests at the time to demand that Shokin be fired.

“Shokin was not investigating Biden,” Kaleniuk told The Associated Press. “There were several cases into Burisma and Zlochevsky, but Shokin was blocking those investigations.”

A Ukraine gas company tied to Joe Biden's son is at the center of the Trump-whistleblower scandal
John Haltiwanger
Sep 26, 2019, 4:44 PM

• But by March 2016, Shokin was ousted. Hundreds of Ukrainians had demonstrated in front of the president's office calling for Shokin to be booted and the Ukrainian parliament voted to accept his resignation.

• For months before that, the US and other countries had pressured for Shokin to be ousted because he didn't make a concerted effort to fight corruption. Biden, who was spearheading the Obama administration's Ukraine work, was at the center of these efforts, and threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees from Ukraine if Shokin wasn't fired.

• So, it's true that Biden was among those who pushed for Shokin to be fired as Ukraine's top prosecutor, but by the time this happened the probe into Burisma was dormant, according to Bloomberg.

• According to the Times, Ukrainian and American officials have also debated whether Shokin was using the threat of prosecution against Burisma in order to solicit a bribe.

• Daria Kaleniuk, co-founder of the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Action Center told The Washington Post, "Shokin was not investigating. He didn't want to investigate Burisma. Shokin was fired not because he wanted to do that investigation, but quite to the contrary, because he failed that investigation."

A Timeline of the Trump-Ukraine Scandal
By Gordon Ahl, Mikhaila Fogel, Jacob Schulz, Masha Simonova
Tuesday, September 24, 2019, 5:46 PM

Following cries from observers about Shokin’s own ineptitude and corruption and pressure from Vice President Biden, among others, Shokin was fired in 2016. Shokin’s firing drew praise from Western observers, including from the European Union’s envoy to Ukraine, who noted that the firing of Shokin “creates an opportunity to make a fresh start in the prosecutor general’s office” and expressed “hope that the new prosecutor general will ensure that [his] office ... becomes independent from political influence and pressure and enjoys public trust.”

Shokin’s Revenge: Ukraine’s Odious Prosecutor General Fires Honest Deputy Before Parliament Sacks Him
UkraineAlert by Anders Ĺslund
TUE, MAR 29, 2016

On March 29, the Ukrainian Rada finally approved the resignation of Ukraine’s disreputable Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. He was voted out with an overwhelming majority of 289 votes, including 114 of the 134 deputies of the Poroshenko Bloc. On February 16, Shokin was forced to submit his letter of resignation in connection with the failed vote of no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

The amazing thing is not that he was sacked but that it has taken so long. President Petro Poroshenko appointed Shokin to the role in February 2015. From the outset, he stood out by causing great damage even to Ukraine’s substandard legal system. Most strikingly, Shokin failed to prosecute any single prominent member of the Yanukovych regime. Nor did he prosecute anyone in the current government.

Here’s What We Know About Joe and Hunter Biden in Ukraine
By Zachary Mider
September 25, 2019, 4:53 PM EDT

The Ukrainians’ own inquiries into Zlochevsky expanded to include tax evasion and the awarding of gas licenses during his time as minister. Viktor Shokin, who served first as a deputy prosecutor and then as prosecutor general, handled at least some aspects of the investigation. But the cases languished under Shokin, according to Vitaliy Kasko, a former deputy prosecutor who worked with Shokin and who spoke with Bloomberg News this year. Kasko added that there was no U.S. pressure to end the inquiries.

U.S. officials continued to accuse the prosecutor general’s office of failing to fight corruption. In a September 2015 speech, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine faulted the office for “subverting” the U.K. probe.

The story behind Biden’s son, Ukraine and Trump’s claims
By STEPHEN BRAUN and LYNN BERRY
September 23, 2019

The matter, however, has continued to be questioned by Trump and his allies. They’ve pointed in particular to Biden’s move in March 2016 to pressure the Ukrainian government to fire its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who had previously led an investigation into Burisma’s owner.

Biden was representing the official position of the U.S. government, a position that was also supported by other Western governments and many in Ukraine, who accused Shokin of being soft on corruption.

Trump’s Ukraine call, a whistleblower and the Bidens: What we know, what we don’t
By Louis Jacobson, John Kruzel on Monday, September 23rd, 2019 at 5:14 p.m.

Was the Ukrainian oil company Hunter Biden worked for under investigation?

At times, Burisma has attracted attention from investigators. Despite the Trump camp’s suggestions, however, it’s not clear that Burisma was actively under investigation during the period when Biden was involved with the company. Key figures have said opposing things on that point.

In an interview with the Ukrainian website Strana.ua, Shokin said the cases were indeed active.

But Vitaliy Kasko, who had been Shokin’s deputy overseeing international cooperation, produced documents to Bloomberg that under Shokin, the investigation into Burisma had been dormant. Kasko resigned in February 2016 citing corruption in the office.

[Mountain Man]

Your video: 6:01.

Yeah, Georgie stammered out something about "He was forced to resign because he was corrupt!" which, if you'll notice, is a begged question, so not an answer, and Giuliani immediately set the record straight: "He resigned because President Obama forced him to."

[Bill the Cat]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/joe...14-photo-shows

A photo obtained by Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" shows former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter golfing in the Hamptons with Devon Archer, who served on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings with Hunter.

Earlier this month, Joe Biden told Fox News in Iowa that he never discussed his son’s foreign business dealings with him.

“I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,” Biden said, pointing the finger at President Trump. “I know Trump deserves to be investigated. He is violating every basic norm of a president. You should be asking him why is he on the phone with a foreign leader, trying to intimidate a foreign leader. You should be looking at Trump.”

Capture.jpg

[rogue06]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/joe...14-photo-shows

A photo obtained by Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" shows former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter golfing in the Hamptons with Devon Archer, who served on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings with Hunter.

Earlier this month, Joe Biden told Fox News in Iowa that he never discussed his son’s foreign business dealings with him.

“I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,” Biden said, pointing the finger at President Trump. “I know Trump deserves to be investigated. He is violating every basic norm of a president. You should be asking him why is he on the phone with a foreign leader, trying to intimidate a foreign leader. You should be looking at Trump.”

[ATTACH=CONFIG]40043[/ATTACH]

IIRC, Hunter himself has said that he did discuss "his overseas business dealings" with his dad.

This is like when Hillary proclaimed that many of her 33,000 deleted emails were simple exchanges with her husband Bill and then Bill said he doesn't know how to email.

[Cow Poke]

IIRC, Hunter himself has said that he did discuss "his overseas business dealings" with his dad.

This is like when Hillary proclaimed that many of her 33,000 deleted emails were simple exchanges with her husband Bill and then Bill said he doesn't know how to email.

I really honestly miss Bill.


There, I said it.

[rogue06]

I really honestly miss Bill.


There, I said it.

Even though he was unquestionably a skunk, the man was charming and seems like someone you'd likely enjoy drinking a beer (or other beverage) with.

[Mountain Man]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/joe...14-photo-shows

A photo obtained by Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" shows former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter golfing in the Hamptons with Devon Archer, who served on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings with Hunter.

Earlier this month, Joe Biden told Fox News in Iowa that he never discussed his son’s foreign business dealings with him.

“I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,” Biden said, pointing the finger at President Trump. “I know Trump deserves to be investigated. He is violating every basic norm of a president. You should be asking him why is he on the phone with a foreign leader, trying to intimidate a foreign leader. You should be looking at Trump.”

[ATTACH=CONFIG]40043[/ATTACH]

"Joe Biden told Fox News in Iowa that he never discussed his son’s foreign business dealings with him."

Yeah, but come one, who discusses business during a round of golf? They probably just talked about their grand children. And golf.

[Cow Poke]

Even though he was unquestionably a skunk, the man was charming and seems like someone you'd likely enjoy drinking a beer (or other beverage) with.

I still look back to the days when I was driving with my family through the Ozarks, and heard him as Governor of Arkansas on a talk radio show.... Had never heard of him before, but I would have sworn he was a conservative's conservative. He sounded incredibly informed, positive, pro-family, pro-Christian, pro-Second Amendment...


This was back when Bill and Hill were FOR traditional family and AGAINST abortion and homosexuality, before they were switched sides.

[Mountain Man]

Even though he was unquestionably a skunk, the man was charming and seems like someone you'd likely enjoy drinking a beer (or other beverage) with.

I've mentioned it before, but in my former life as a television news photographer, I had the opportunity to cover one of Clinton's inaugural balls that kicked off his second term as president. When Bill and Hillary showed up sometime after midnight and said a few words to the crowd, the reporter I was working with, another staunch conservative, turned to me and said, "He's so darn likeable, isn't he?"

[rogue06]

IIRC, Hunter himself has said that he did discuss "his overseas business dealings" with his dad.

This is like when Hillary proclaimed that many of her 33,000 deleted emails were simple exchanges with her husband Bill and then Bill said he doesn't know how to email.

From the New Yorker magazine a little over two months ago:

Source: Will Hunter Biden Jeopardize His Father’s Campaign?

...

In December, 2015, as Joe Biden prepared to return to Ukraine, his aides braced for renewed scrutiny of Hunter’s relationship with Burisma. Amos Hochstein, the Obama Administration’s special envoy for energy policy, raised the matter with Biden, but did not go so far as to recommend that Hunter leave the board. As Hunter recalled, his father discussed Burisma with him just once: “Dad said, ‘I hope you know what you are doing,’ and I said, ‘I do.’ ”


Source

© Copyright Original Source

As the Daily Mail's political editor David Martosko pointed out:

00000000000000ab000-00aaf.jpg