As the partisan furor over President Donald Trump’s July phone call to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky hits fever-pitch, the head of Ukraine’s Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s office confirmed that former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden are not currently under investigation.
Along with asking Zelensky to assist in investigating questions related to the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, Trump had also asked that Ukraine look into the Bidens’ questionable dealings in the country during the Obama administration.
No investigation took place
Nazar Kholodnitskiy’s comments came during an interview with NV radio, the Associated Press reported.
“As of now, there is nothing,” he said. “If it comes up, measures will be taken to check the information.”
This confirms what others in Ukraine have been saying, which is that Ukraine has not led an investigation into the Bidens, even with President Trump’s request.
The whistleblower complaint
We know that President Trump asked Ukraine’s president to conduct an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden’s activities in Ukraine because of the “whistleblower” complaint about a July 25th phone call between the two leaders. Both the phone call transcript and the complaint were released to the public this week, following media reports.
The whistleblower, reportedly a member of the CIA, alleged in the complaint that Trump made such a request in the phone call that took place just after Zelensky won his country’s election, based on second- and third-hand hearsay. Although not much more than this is known, Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, officially announced an impeachment inquiry into President Trump on Tuesday — notably, before the transcript of the phone call or the complaint had been released.
As this story continues to dominate the news, the Bidens seem to be getting a pass. President Trump, after all, asked Zelensky to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden because of the latter’s involvement with Burisma, a Ukranian energy company that came under investigation for corruption.
Hunter, despite no real credentials, took an extremely lucrative position there starting in 2014. His father, Joe Biden, was vice president at the time and threatened to withhold significant funds from Ukraine until the prosecutor in the Burisma case, who was also thought to be corrupt, was removed.
Double standards
If what Biden did sounds familiar, it is because it is exactly what the Democrats accuse Trump of doing — withholding funds from Ukraine until it carries out a request.
As usual, the major difference is that Biden has gotten a pass while Trump has not.
Ukraine officials also appeared to indicate, however, that they are more than willing to investigate Biden. So, perhaps, his day will come.
No comments: