We The People USA

Citizens Dedicated To Preserving Our Constitutional Republic

The impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump backfired on congressional Democrats Wednesday, when a star witness inadvertently made the case that Hunter Biden’s wheeling and dealing in Ukraine should be investigated.

Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on the opening day of the inquiry, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent admitted that U.S. officials had been urging the Ukrainian government for some time to explain why an investigation into Burisma Holdings, the eastern European oil and gas company that employed Hunter Biden on its board of directors, was shut down.

“We’ve continued to press Ukrainian officials to answer for why allege corrupt prosecutors had closed [the] case,” Kent said. “We have until now got an unsatisfactory answer.”

Kent, who has claimed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani engineered the firing of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine through a “campaign of slander,” is considered a key witness for congressional Democrats as they seek to prove the president’s conduct rises to the level of impeachment.

On Wednesday, however, Kent inadvertently strengthened the argument that Republicans and the president, himself, have made that Hunter Biden’s conduct in Ukraine should be probed given his father’s role overseeing policy in the region and the allegations of corruption lodged against Burisma and its founder, Mykola Zlochevsky.



It was on the latter front that Kent’s testimony proved particularly revealing. The state department official admitted he and his colleagues believed Zlochevsky “had stolen money” and the Ukrainian prosecutor charged with investigating him shut down the case after taking a bribe. When asked if he was in favor of the Ukrainian government reopening the probe into Bruisma and Zlochevsky, Kent asserted he would “love” to see such an action so it could become clear who was bribed and to what extent.

Kent also asserted that Burisma had a “mixed business reputation” and Hunter Biden’s decision to join its board of directors had led him to raise concerns with former Vice President Joe Biden’s office in 2015.

“In a briefing call with…the office of the Vice President…I raised my concern that Hunter Biden’s status as a [Burisma] board member could create the perception of a conflict of interest,” Kent testified.

At the center of controversy is how and why Hunter Biden secured the appointment, which at times paid more than $83,000 a month. As Peter Schweizer, senior contributor at Breitbart News, detailed in his bookSecret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends, Hunter Biden had no prior experience with either the energy industry or Ukraine before joining Burisma in April 2014.

Adding to concerns is the fact that at the time Hunter Biden joined Burisma, the company was seen as actively courting western leaders to prevent further scrutiny of its business practices. The same month Hunter Biden was tapped for the group’s board, the government of Great Britain froze accounts belonging to Zlochevsky under suspicion of money laundering.

Zlochevsky, a former Ukrainian minister of natural resources, would later be accused of corruption for using his office to approve oil and gas licenses to companies under his control. A Ukrainian official with strong ties to Zlochevsky admitted in October the only reason that Hunter Biden secured the appointment was to “protect” the company from foreign scrutiny.

Views: 5

Comment

You need to be a member of We The People USA to add comments!

Join We The People USA

Badge

Loading…

Online Magazines

Accuracy In Media
American Spectator
American Thinker
American Conservative
Amer Conservative Daily
The American Prospect
Atlanta Const Journal
The Atlantic Monthly
Boston Review
Blacklisted News
The Bulletin
Canada Free Press
Capitalism Magazine
Chronicles Magazine
City Journal
CNS News
CNIN Truth
Conservative Economist
Consortium News
Commentary Magazine
The Conservative Edge
Conservative Outpost
Corruption Chronicals (JW)
The Corzine Times
CounterPunch
The Daily Caller
Daily Mail UK
Deep Journal
Digital Journal
Dissent Magazine
The Economist
Examiner
Florida Pundit
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Policy
The Freemen Institute
The Gouverneur Times NY
The Guardian UK
The Foundry (Heritage)
Free Market News
FrontPage Magazine
Gateway Pundit
The Guardian UK
The Globalist
Harper's Magazine
Harvard Inter Review
The Hill
Human Events
In These Times
The Land of the Free
Liberty Unbound
Mission America
Mother Jones
Monthly Review
The Nation
National Interest
National Ledger
National Review
New Internationalist
The New American
The New Ledger
New Left Review
New Media Journal
News Hounds
Newstin
The New Republic
News Busters
News Fifty
NewsMax
Newsweek
News Daily
News With Views
Online Journal
Oohja.com
The Palestine Chronicle
Planet Daily
Policy Review
Poligazette
Politics Daily
The Post Chronicle
Pravda
The Progressive
Reality Check
The Real News Network
Reason
Real Clear Markets
Real Clear Politics
Red Pepper
Roll Call
Russia Today
Salon
Slate
Spectator Magazine
Spiked
Telegraph UK
Time
Toward Freedom
Townhall
U.S. News & World Report
Utne Reader
Wall Street Journal Magazine
Washington Examiner
The Washington Independent
Washington Monthly
The Weekly Standard
World Net Daily
World Magazine
World Press Review
World Reports
World Tribune
Vanity Fair

© 2024   Created by WTPUSA.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service