The Democrat-directed impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump has cast a harsher light on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s dealings in Ukraine, prompting Senate Republicans to request detailed records from the federal government.
As the House Intelligence Committee wrapped up the public impeachment hearings on Nov. 21, Senate Republicans sent another set of records requests to acquire information into the Obama administration’s meetings and decisions related to Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company that paid Hunter Biden tens of thousands of dollars a month to serve on its board.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Nov. 21, sent a letter to the National Archives requesting records of January 2016 White House meetings with senior Ukrainian officials. The senators cite events detailed in an April 25 article by investigative reporter John Solomon, who quoted firsthand witnesses, including Ukrainian officials, who attended the White House meeting and were encouraged to reopen an investigation into the Trump campaign and halt an investigation into Burisma.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), also requested records from the State Department regarding all contact in 2016 between Biden, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and their relevant office staff, including all communications and documents.
Graham also requested information about March 2, 2016, meeting between former Secretary of State John Kerry and Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s business partner. The meeting took place weeks after Ukrainian authorities seized the assets of Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of Burisma. Archer and Hunter Biden were on the board of directors of Burisma at the time of the seizure.
James Morrow Contributor to Sky News spoke with Host Peta Credlin on Nov. 21 and commented that during the inquiry he saw how many of the U.S. mainstream media outlets jumped the gun while presenting the inquiry resulting in misinformation being spread around the world.
“A lot of the press in the United States—certainly I would say it’s no secret—is really gunning for the President, that they want to see this impeachment push succeed,” said Marrow. “So what was fascinating, looking at it and watching it all play out, was [that] at one point CNN had been running a strap that said Sondland had said there was a quid pro quo, while he was actually saying there was not a quid pro quo over the aid to Ukraine.”
“They were so desperate to get him, and in fact later on after all of those first headlines made headlines around the world, then, later on, he was questioned by a Republican from Ohio—I am not sure if we have clip—but he said ‘Did anybody ever tell you that you had to do this for that to happen’ and he said ‘No.’ So there’s a whole thing that was talked up [that] didn’t turn out to be like so many things the Democrats have on Trump here—the big thing that they wanted.”
As the public portion of the impeachment inquiry that Morrow described was in full swing, Grassley and Johnson sent a request for a comprehensive list of documents and information related to the Bidens and Burisma to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. On Nov. 15, they asked for Suspicious Activity Reports from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on a list of key players in the Burisma matter, including Hunter Biden, Archer, and their firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners. The Nov. 15 letter specifically referred to the Burisma inquiry as an active investigation.
Morrow also commented that the unintended result of the impeachment inquiry could be the take-down of 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden.
“And the danger for the Democrats, Peta, is that the more they push this, the more they are going to wind up talking about the Bidens and, you know, in Ukraine overnight, there was also a story, they released a bunch of indictments around this company, Burisma, which Hunter Biden, who had absolutely no experience in oil, gas, or the Ukraine, wound up working as a board member for fifty thousand U.S. dollars a month and has done a lot of other work in China and for other countries simply on the strength of the fact that his father was the vice president at the time.”
“So, the further they go with this, they’re taking a big risk that in getting Donald Trump there are also going to form a circular firing squad and wind up hitting Biden.”
Ivan Pentchoukov Contributed to this report
