Ukraine-Biden Timeline
Donald Trump and his Republican supporters are attempting to push a conspiracy theory claiming former Vice President Joe Biden was involved in using the power of his office to punish his enemies.
The crackpot theory goes something like this:
- Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden got a job at Ukraine company Burisma with zero qualifications.
- A Ukrainian prosecutor by the name of Viktor Shokin was assigned to investigate his company.
- Joe Biden went out publicly to brag that he alone withheld aid to pressure the firing of the Viktor Shokin and the investigation stopped.
- Therefore scandal!!!
WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG.
The reality is the entire Western world, including England, the E.U., the I.M.F., the E.B.R.D., the Ukrainian parliament, and the United States including Joe Biden as its messenger were pressuring Ukraine to oust Viktor Shokin for not cracking down on corruption, including refusing investigating Burisma, the company where Hunter Biden was employed.
Trump and Republicans are lying to you by mixing up the timeline and refusing to include key information that easily debunks their entire smear. Most importantly:
- The Ukrainian investigation into Burisma only pertained to events that happened before Hunter Biden joined the company.
- The pressure to oust Viktor Shokin wasn’t Joe Biden alone, but an international that effort we joined later.
- Viktor Shokin was criticized by Joe Biden, the United States, and our Western democratic allies for not investigating Burisma, as well as being super-corrupt, such as firing effective deputy prosecutors who were disloyal to the old Russian-backed president.
The Timeline
Hunter Biden joins Ukrainian firm Burisma.
The United Kingdom investigates Burisma.
Ukraine opens an investigation into Burisma’s owner for transactions in November 2013, months before Hunter Biden joined Burisma.
Ukraine shelves investigation into Burisma.
England sues Burisma over corruption.
Viktor Shokin becomes Ukraine’s top prosecutor, lets Burisma investigation to remain dormant.
The European Union calls for Viktor Shokin’s resignation for not prosecuting corruption, including not investigating Burisma.
Vice President Joe Biden threatens the President of Ukraine to fire Viktor Shokin for not investigating corruption, including not investigating Burisma.
Ukraine Deputy General Prosecutor Vitaliy Kasko resigned in protest of corruption within Viktor Shokin’s office.
The International Monetary Fund calls for the resignation of Viktor Shokin and other officials refusing to fight corruption.
Ukraine Economic minister Aivaras Abromavičius and his entire team quit in protest of Viktor Shokin and lack of corruption prosecution, a key turning point.
The Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee found Viktor Shokin refused to prosecute corruption.
The entire Western world, including England, the E.U., the I.M.F., the E.B.R.D., the Ukrainian parliament, and the United States including Joe Biden were pressuring Ukraine to oust Viktor Shokin for not cracking down on corruption, including refusing investigating Burisma, the company employing Hunter Biden.
Viktor Shokin resigns under enormous international pressure, not Joe Biden alone.
To be clear, our Western democratic allies such as the European Union were on record as supporting Viktor Shokin’s ouster.
Non-partisan think tanks were on record at the time supporting Viktor Shokin’s ouster.
And most importantly, the Republican party was on record at the time supporting Viktor Shokin’s ouster.
You can watch the video of the Republican committee here, then weirdly staying quiet about this information during the impeachment hearings.
Reality
This crazy conspiracy theory of an abuse of power by Joe Biden, which we have shown easily falls apart, was in direct response to a well-documented history of Donald Trump abusing his power, including extorting the president of Ukraine to meddle in our 2020 elections and investigate his political rival.