Speaking during the second week of open impeachment inquiry hearings Tuesday morning from Capitol Hill, House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes focused in on Hunter Biden and his potentially corrupt practices in Ukraine. He also went after former Vice President Joe Biden.
"Why did Burisma hire Hunter Biden? What did he do for them? And did his position affect any U.S. government actions under the Obama Administration? We have now heard testimony from the Democrats' own witnesses that duplicates were concerned about a conflict of interest involving Hunter Biden. That's because he had secured a well paid position, despite having no qualifications, on the board of a corrupt Ukrainian company while his father was Vice President charged with overseeing Ukrainian issues," Nunes said during his opening statement. "But if the Democrats and the media are so suddenly so deeply concerned about bribery, you would think they would take some interest in Burisma paying Hunter Biden $83,000 a month. And you think they would be interested in Joe Biden threatening to withhold U.S. loan guarantees unless the Ukraininans fired a prosecutor who was investigating Burisma. That would be a text book example of bribery."
As a reminder, this is the moment Nunes is referring to.
Like previous witnesses, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman admitted during testimony Tuesday morning that Burisma was corrupt and has engaged in shady business dealings.
"In certain ways Burisma was notorious as a corrupt entity, and the oligarch responsible also,” Vindman said. “I am aware that Burisma does have questionable business dealings. That’s part of its track record, yes.”
Democrats have been circling the wagons around the Bidens for months as serious questions about corruption and unethical behavior surrounding Ukraine continue.