Over the weekend, as Sarah covered, fired former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin did a rare interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade. Given Shokin's centrality to a major corruption allegation against Joe Biden -- which has been floating around since the Trump years, of course -- it's striking how no one in the US media apparently requested to talk to him about the circumstances surrounding his termination. But in an interview that aired on Saturday night, Shokin made a series of dramatic allegations and claims about the Bidens:
"You understood me correctly, this is how it was," he added after a follow-up question from Kilmeade about Biden's involvement. "There were no complaints whatsoever and no problems with how I was performing at my job. But because pressure was repeatedly put on [then-Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko, that is what ended up in him firing me."...He added that he had "no doubt" Burisma was engaged in illegal activities and stated it would take him "half a day" to explain them all. Among the allegations, he said Burisma illegally produced, sold and utilized natural gas supplies. "I have no doubt that there were illegal activities engaged in by Burisma," Shokin said. "As a matter of fact, the criminal case had been started before me." ...Shokin added in the interview Saturday that if he had been allowed to continue his investigation, he would have uncovered a scheme involving the Bidens and Archer. He also said he believed both Joe and Hunter Biden took bribes in the case..."I do not want to deal in unproven facts, but my firm personal conviction is that, yes, this was the case. They were being bribed," the former prosecutor general added. "And the fact that Joe Biden gave away $1 billion in U.S. money in exchange for my dismissal, my firing isn't that alone A case of corruption?"
Shokin may be lying or exaggerating, especially if he still harbors bitterness toward the man he understandably blames for his ouster. Indeed, Biden boasted publicly about having done so:
Joe Biden brags about how he threatened to pull $1 billion in loan guarantees from Ukraine if it didn’t immediately fire Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 20, 2019
The prosecutor, who was fired, was leading a corruption investigation into a company that employed Biden's son, Hunter pic.twitter.com/xZd3vIMbuL
Biden's defenders say Shokin wasn't doing his duty vis-a-vis prosecuting Burisma (the allegedly corrupt energy company paying Hunter Biden $1 million per year for his services, which company executives described in writing as effectively buying protection from Hunter's powerful father), so the dismissal was therefore justified. Shokin and Biden critics dispute this, arguing that the prosector was, in fact, pursuing Burisma -- and had taken several aggressive and "expanding" steps that had angered the company's leaders. It's clear that Burisma's brass wanted Shokin out of his post, and it doesn't make sense that they'd vehemently pursue that outcome if he wasn't causing them problems. Shokin concedes the direct bribery accusation against Joe and Hunter Biden remains 'unproven,' which is true. At least for now.
But it's important to recall that a confidential FBI informant has made specific allegations based on claimed inside knowledge that a $10 million bribe was paid on this matter. There is no open-and-shut smoking gun on that alleged transaction, but federal agents were able to corroborate some of the details shared by this human source. That evidence was sent to David Weiss' investigation and Delaware, where it was evidently buried. It's relevant that Shokin is now publicly endorsing the central accusation made by the FBI's informant. I realize that the Biden White House is stonewalling virtually all questions related to this growing scandal, and many in the press corps seem rather satisfied being stonewalled. But there are tangible elements to this controversy that just cannot be ignored -- such as longtime Biden business partner Devon Archer testifying that the lucrative business was "the brand," and that the brand was, largely, Joe Biden.
Add in Biden's lies and mischaracterizations about his knowledge of his family's international business dealings, and that's another major red flag. There's also the matter of bank records showing tens of millions in foreign payments (at least $21 million and counting) flowing into bank accounts associated with at least nine different Biden family members, including those who had absolutely no business whatsoever receiving such cash infusions from these sources. These payments were routed through shell corporations. On that score, I'll leave you with my recent interview with House Oversight Committee chairman, who outlined the expanding list of evidence his committee has already uncovered -- plus House Speaker Kevin McCarthy explaining why an impeachment inquiry is justified as a fact-finding enterprise:
Speaker Kevin McCarthy says bringing an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden is a natural step forward after seeing evidence brought forward by Committees pic.twitter.com/Jj44kaIl9x
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) August 27, 2023
Theoretically, now-Special Counsel David Weiss' probe could be counted on to get to the bottom of this whole scheme, but there are very strong reasons to suspect Weiss' team won't do so, perhaps because they haven't exhibited any meaningful desire to do any prosecuting or accountability-seeking for members of the Biden family.
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