Former top Ukraine prosecutor comes out swinging against Joe and Hunter Biden
Viktor Shokin, a former Ukrainian prosecutor general, gave an exclusive interview to Fox News in which he detailed his belief that Vice President Biden was involved in the firing of Shokin and the business dealings of Hunter Biden.
In an interview with Fox News Brian Kilmeade in 2016, Shokin claimed that he had been fired because he investigated Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas firm where Hunter Biden was a board member. Shokin claimed that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden had accepted bribes as part of the investigation, and that this ultimately led to the demise of America’s image and the invasion by Russia.
Shokin said in an interview aired on Fox News Saturday night that he had repeatedly stated in previous interviews that Poroshenko dismissed me because I was investigating Burisma. This was at the behest of then Vice President Biden.
After a question from Kilmeade regarding Biden’s participation, he said: “You got me right. This is what happened.” “There was no complaint and no problem with my performance at work. “But because [then Ukrainian President Petro] Petroshenko was constantly under pressure, this is what led to him firing me.”
|
Shokin didn’t provide any additional evidence to support his claim that Bidens took bribes, or elaborate on this allegation.
After being pressured by the U.S., Poroshenko removed Shokin from his position, which he had appointed a year before. The U.S. government, and Vice President Biden, who headed U.S. policy in Ukraine, were leading the international community’s pressure on Poroshenko to remove Shokin.
Biden visited Kyiv in December 2015. He demanded that Poroshenko eliminate corruption and fire Shokin. Biden threatened to withhold an important U.S. assistance package. Biden warned that the Office of the General Prosecutor was in dire need of reform during a speech he delivered to the leaders of the country.
Biden urges Ukrainian President to fire Shokin
Biden recounted, a year after leaving the White House and his 2015 trip, the closed-door discussions he had with Poroshenko. He described how he had told Ukrainian officials that the U.S. could withhold up $1 billion of aid money for their country, if Shokin continued in his role.
“I said ‘Nah’, I won’t – We’re not giving you the billion dollar.’ They replied, ‘You don’t have any authority. You are not the president. Biden recalled the incident during an event held by the Council on Foreign Relations in January 2018. “I told you that you wouldn’t get the $1 billion.”
I said to him, “You won’t get the billion.” Biden went on to say, “I’m leaving here.” I looked at them, and told them that I was leaving in six hour. You won’t get the money if the prosecutor doesn’t quit. Well, son, of a bitch he was fired. They put someone in place who was solid and reliable at the time.”
Shokin and Republican lawmakers have cited Shokin’s investigation into Burisma, and its owner Mykola Zochevsky, at the time of Shokin’s ouster. The Kyiv Post reported that in February 2016, a month before Shokin’s firing, his office had filed a legal request to seize Zlochevsky’s property. This included four homes, two properties and a Rolls-Royce Sports Car.
Hunter Biden was a member of Burisma’s board at the time. Hunter Biden joined the company in 2014, and left in 2019, after his board term expired.
The White House said in a Fox News statement that Shokin had been fired for being too lenient on corruption.
“These false claims have been debunked for years and they will continue to be false, no matter how much time Fox devotes to them,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams said on Fox News. “Fox gives a platform to these lies for a former Ukrainian prosecutor-general whose office, according to his deputy, was a hotbed for corruption. This led Vice President Biden, as well as U.S. diplomatics, international partners and Republican Senators such Ron Johnson, to demand reform.
The White House stated that Shokin’s office did not investigate Burisma at the time of Shokin’s ouster, in March 2016. It also cited three reports in 2019, published in close succession by The Washington Post and Associated Press that Shokin’s office didn’t investigate Burisma.
Shokin: Burisma merited ‘special attention’
“I was prosecutor general at the time I handled the Burisma Case. Burisma was a normal case. Shokin, Fox News, said that there was nothing particularly unusual about the case.
Shokin added, “I was assigned to it because I thought it was a case that deserved special attention.” It was included on a list that deserved special attention, because Hunter Biden had been involved with Burisma, and his father was the vice president at the White House, who was in charge of Ukraine affairs. Here’s why.”
He said he was “no doubts” that Burisma engaged in illegal activity and claimed it would take “half a-day” for him to explain all of them. He said that Burisma had illegally produced and sold natural gas.
Shokin stated, “I am certain that Burisma engaged in illegal activities.” “In fact, a criminal case was started before I arrived.”
He said, “It expanded and Zlochevsky who was at the time the minister, founder, and CEO of Burisma began bringing in people to provide him protection.” Hunter Biden was one of them, and as a consequence the corruption network grew. To answer your question: “Yes, I had no doubt that Burisma engaged in illegal activity.”
Hunter Biden is referred to as D.C.
Devon Archer (Hunter’s former business associate) who was also on the board of Burisma confirmed, in an interview conducted in July, that company leaders sought Hunter Biden’s help in response to pressure from Shokin and other entities.
Archer claimed that Hunter “called D.C.” in order to get Shokin fired.
Archer testified in court that Burisma executives had asked Hunter to “call D.C.” after a Burisma Board meeting in Dubai, according to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer.
