Steve Scalise Says Law Required Trump To Ask Ukrainian President About Corruption

[kyzr]

Who else was mentioned that he wanted investigated?

Who offered over a billion bribe as an inducement to get the Ukraine not to look into the ongoing money laundering?

You have it backwards, Frank. The billion dollars in aid was withheld because the prosecutor was NOT INVESTIGATING BURISMA FOR MONEY LAUNDERING, and the Obama Administration wanted that prosecution to go forward.

You've just shot yourself in the foot on that one. Biden went to the Ukraine to as the Ukrainians to investigate the owner of the company his son was working for. Now it's possible that Hunter Biden was hired by this guy in the hopes that this would prevent his case from going forward, because he was already under investigation when Biden was hired. If anything, Biden's firing of the prosecutor in this case proves he wasn't acting corruptly.

Ex-Ukraine prosecutor said he was told to back off probe of Biden-linked firm, files show
Ex-Ukraine prosecutor said he was told to back off probe of Biden-linked firm, files show
“Mr. Shokin attempted to continue the investigations but on or around June or July of 2015, the U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt told him that the investigation has to be handled with white gloves, which according to Mr. Shokin, that implied do nothing,” the notes from the interview stated. The notes also claimed Shokin was told Biden had held up U.S. aid to Ukraine over the investigation.

...and who was the new prosecutor that was to replace Shokin who was investigating Burisma?
Ukrainian Investigators Probing Ex-Prosecutor Lutsenko For Abuse Of Power
"Ukrainian Investigators Probing Ex-Prosecutor Lutsenko For Abuse Of Power
The company's board included Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. The company and its owner, a wealthy Ukrainian businessman, had been the focus of several tax and criminal investigations in the past.

Trump and his allies allege that Biden, when he was vice president, sought to pressure Ukraine to fire Lutsenko's predecessor, Viktor Shokin, as a way to end an investigation of Burisma, and Hunter Biden. Shokin was later dismissed by parliament."

So the new prosecutor, according to the democrats, was to do a real investigation, but all he did was shutdown all the Burisma investigations. So the firing of Shokin was to protect Burisma and the Bidens, no matter what bullshit Biden says about the firing of Shokin.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Who else was mentioned that he wanted investigated?

Who offered over a billion bribe as an inducement to get the Ukraine not to look into the ongoing money laundering?

You have it backwards, Frank. The billion dollars in aid was withheld because the prosecutor was NOT INVESTIGATING BURISMA FOR MONEY LAUNDERING, and the Obama Administration wanted that prosecution to go forward.

You've just shot yourself in the foot on that one. Biden went to the Ukraine to as the Ukrainians to investigate the owner of the company his son was working for. Now it's possible that Hunter Biden was hired by this guy in the hopes that this would prevent his case from going forward, because he was already under investigation when Biden was hired. If anything, Biden's firing of the prosecutor in this case proves he wasn't acting corruptly.

Well Trump and his Trumpetteers don't care about the facts- not when they can just smear his political opponent.

Remember- Trump made a secret call to the Ukrainian President to ask for this investigation.
And then had his minion's insist on his behalf that the Ukrainian President himself make a public announcement of the investigation.

Trump was setting this all up for a public announcement of an investigation into Biden- that Trump would not be linked to.

Imagine if Obama had publicly announced the FBI investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign- and then offered in defense that he was obligated by law to tell voters about the investigation.

Imagine if Bush had the FBI go after "Born in Kenya" Obama like Obama went after Trump

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Townhall ^ | 11/3/2019

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La) told ABC's "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos that Trump had a legal requirement to ensure that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was rooting out corruption before Trump could legally send foreign aid to Ukraine.

What Trump's lickspittle failed to mention is that Trump did not ask about corruption in Ukraine. Instead, he asked about an imaginary DNC server and non-existent dirt on Joe Biden. Comrade Donald was asking for a favor for his own personal political gain. And THAT is the very definition of corruption.

All caught up now?

What a rube!

 

[Syriusly]

Who else was mentioned that he wanted investigated?

Who offered over a billion bribe as an inducement to get the Ukraine not to look into the ongoing money laundering?

You have it backwards, Frank. The billion dollars in aid was withheld because the prosecutor was NOT INVESTIGATING BURISMA FOR MONEY LAUNDERING, and the Obama Administration wanted that prosecution to go forward.

You've just shot yourself in the foot on that one. Biden went to the Ukraine to as the Ukrainians to investigate the owner of the company his son was working for. Now it's possible that Hunter Biden was hired by this guy in the hopes that this would prevent his case from going forward, because he was already under investigation when Biden was hired. If anything, Biden's firing of the prosecutor in this case proves he wasn't acting corruptly.

Ex-Ukraine prosecutor said he was told to back off probe of Biden-linked firm, files show
Ex-Ukraine prosecutor said he was told to back off probe of Biden-linked firm, files show
“Mr. Shokin attempted to continue the investigations but on or around June or July of 2015, the U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt told him that the investigation has to be handled with white gloves, which according to Mr. Shokin, that implied do nothing,” the notes from the interview stated. The notes also claimed Shokin was told Biden had held up U.S. aid to Ukraine over the investigation.

...and who was the new prosecutor that was to replace Shokin who was investigating Burisma?
Ukrainian Investigators Probing Ex-Prosecutor Lutsenko For Abuse Of Power
"Ukrainian Investigators Probing Ex-Prosecutor Lutsenko For Abuse Of Power
The company's board included Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. The company and its owner, a wealthy Ukrainian businessman, had been the focus of several tax and criminal investigations in the past.

Trump and his allies allege that Biden, when he was vice president, sought to pressure Ukraine to fire Lutsenko's predecessor, Viktor Shokin, as a way to end an investigation of Burisma, and Hunter Biden. Shokin was later dismissed by parliament."

So the new prosecutor, according to the democrats, was to do a real investigation, but all he did was shutdown all the Burisma investigations. So the firing of Shokin was to protect Burisma and the Bidens, no matter what bullshit Biden says about the firing of Shokin.

What really happened when Biden forced out Ukraine's top prosecutor

But sources ranging from former Obama administration officials to an anti-corruption advocate in Ukraine say the official, Viktor Shokin, was ousted for the opposite reason Trump and his allies claim.

It wasn't because Shokin was investigating a natural gas company tied to Biden's son; it was because Shokin wasn't pursuing corruption among the country's politicians, according to a Ukrainian official and four former American officials who specialized in Ukraine and Europe.

Shokin's inaction prompted international calls for his ouster and ultimately resulted in his removal by Ukraine's parliament.

Without pressure from Joe Biden, European diplomats, the International Monetary Fund and other international organizations, Shokin would not have been fired, said Daria Kaleniuk, co-founder and executive director of the Anti Corruption Action Centre in Kiev.

"Civil society organizations in Ukraine were pressing for his resignation," Kaleniuk said, "but no one would have cared if there had not been voices from outside this country calling on him to go."

Burisma Holdings was not under scrutiny at the time Joe Biden called for Shokin's ouster, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, an independent agency set up in 2014 that has worked closely with the FBI.

Shokin's office had investigated Burisma, but the probe focused on a period before Hunter Biden joined the company, according to the anti-corruption bureau.

The investigation dealt with the Ministry of Ecology, which allegedly granted special permits to Burisma between 2010 and 2012, the agency said. Hunter Biden did not join the company until 2014.

There is no evidence Hunter Biden did anything wrong, said Yuri Lutsenko, the prosecutor general who succeeded Shokin.

The Burisma investigation ended with a settlement and a fine paid by one of the firm's accountants, according to Sergii Leshchenko, a former Ukrainian lawmaker who spearheaded anti-corruption efforts under former President Petro Poroshenko.

In the wake of the 2014 ouster of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, European and U.S. officials stepped up their efforts to deal with corruption in Ukraine.

"A big part of our diplomacy was pushing the Ukrainian government to clean up the corruption, partly because it was that corruption that allowed Russia to manipulate the country politically and economically," said Charlie Kupchan, who served as a special assistant to President Barack Obama and a senior director for European Affairs on the National Security Council.

Biden used U.S. aid as "a stick to move Ukraine forward," Kupchan said. "He was acting alongside our European allies. Everybody was of a single mind that this prosecutor was not the right guy for the job."

The international effort to remove Shokin, who became prosecutor general in February 2015, began months before Biden stepped into the spotlight, said Mike Carpenter, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Biden and a deputy assistant secretary of defense, with a focus on Ukraine, Russia, Eurasia, the Balkans, and conventional arms control.

As European and U.S. officials pressed Ukraine to clean up Ukraine's corruption, they focused on Shokin's leadership of the Prosecutor General's Office.

"Shokin played the role of protecting the vested interest in the Ukrainian system," said Carpenter, who traveled with Biden to Ukraine in 2015. "He never went after any corrupt individuals at all, never prosecuted any high-profile cases of corruption."

That demonstrated that Poroshenko's administration was not sincere about tackling corruption and building strong, independent law enforcement agencies, said Heather Conley, director of the Europe program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based foreign policy think tank.

In July 2015, Shokin's office became mired in scandal after authorities raided homes belonging to two high-ranking prosecutors. Police seized millions of dollars worth of diamonds and cash, suggesting the pair had been taking bribes.

It became known as the "diamond prosecutors" case. Deputy General Prosecutor Vitaliy Kasko, who said he tried to investigate it, resigned months later, calling the prosecutor's office a "hotbed of corruption" and an "instrument of political pressure."

Shokin's office also stepped in to help Zlochevsky, the head of Burisma.

British authorities had frozen $23 million in a money-laundering probe, but Shokin's office failed to send documents British authorities needed to prosecute Zlochevsky. The case eventually unraveled and the assets were unfrozen.

In October 2015, Ukrainians staged a protest outside Poroshenko's home calling for Shokin's removal.

 

[Syriusly]

Who else was mentioned that he wanted investigated?

Who offered over a billion bribe as an inducement to get the Ukraine not to look into the ongoing money laundering?

You have it backwards, Frank. The billion dollars in aid was withheld because the prosecutor was NOT INVESTIGATING BURISMA FOR MONEY LAUNDERING, and the Obama Administration wanted that prosecution to go forward.

You've just shot yourself in the foot on that one. Biden went to the Ukraine to as the Ukrainians to investigate the owner of the company his son was working for. Now it's possible that Hunter Biden was hired by this guy in the hopes that this would prevent his case from going forward, because he was already under investigation when Biden was hired. If anything, Biden's firing of the prosecutor in this case proves he wasn't acting corruptly.

Well Trump and his Trumpetteers don't care about the facts- not when they can just smear his political opponent.

Remember- Trump made a secret call to the Ukrainian President to ask for this investigation.
And then had his minion's insist on his behalf that the Ukrainian President himself make a public announcement of the investigation.

Trump was setting this all up for a public announcement of an investigation into Biden- that Trump would not be linked to.

Imagine if Obama had publicly announced the FBI investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign- and then offered in defense that he was obligated by law to tell voters about the investigation.

Imagine if Bush had the FBI go after "Born in Kenya" Obama like Obama went after Trump

Imagine if Bush had?

Certainly your Orange Messiah would have been pushing that narrative, before he found Jesus and blamed Hillary Clinton for his gullibility.

 

[progressive hunter]

That bullet must have knocked something loose in Scalise's brain. Unless he's always been so drastically stupid.

how so???

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Who else was mentioned that he wanted investigated?

Who offered over a billion bribe as an inducement to get the Ukraine not to look into the ongoing money laundering?

You have it backwards, Frank. The billion dollars in aid was withheld because the prosecutor was NOT INVESTIGATING BURISMA FOR MONEY LAUNDERING, and the Obama Administration wanted that prosecution to go forward.

You've just shot yourself in the foot on that one. Biden went to the Ukraine to as the Ukrainians to investigate the owner of the company his son was working for. Now it's possible that Hunter Biden was hired by this guy in the hopes that this would prevent his case from going forward, because he was already under investigation when Biden was hired. If anything, Biden's firing of the prosecutor in this case proves he wasn't acting corruptly.

Well Trump and his Trumpetteers don't care about the facts- not when they can just smear his political opponent.

Remember- Trump made a secret call to the Ukrainian President to ask for this investigation.
And then had his minion's insist on his behalf that the Ukrainian President himself make a public announcement of the investigation.

Trump was setting this all up for a public announcement of an investigation into Biden- that Trump would not be linked to.

Imagine if Obama had publicly announced the FBI investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign- and then offered in defense that he was obligated by law to tell voters about the investigation.

Imagine if Bush had the FBI go after "Born in Kenya" Obama like Obama went after Trump

Imagine if Bush had?

Certainly your Orange Messiah would have been pushing that narrative, before he found Jesus and blamed Hillary Clinton for his gullibility.

Bush has the FBI swear our FISA warrants on Born in Kenya and his ENTIRE cabinet. Charges a few with "lying to the FBI"

Fucking awesone!!

 

[CrusaderFrank]

That bullet must have knocked something loose in Scalise's brain. Unless he's always been so drastically stupid.

Mods Please perma ban this fuckwit

 

[okfine]

That bullet must have knocked something loose in Scalise's brain. Unless he's always been so drastically stupid.

how so???

I believe Scalise lost his balls. Now he's just a frustrated racist.

 

[busybee01]

Who else was mentioned that he wanted investigated?

Who offered over a billion bribe as an inducement to get the Ukraine not to look into the ongoing money laundering?

You have it backwards, Frank. The billion dollars in aid was withheld because the prosecutor was NOT INVESTIGATING BURISMA FOR MONEY LAUNDERING, and the Obama Administration wanted that prosecution to go forward.

You've just shot yourself in the foot on that one. Biden went to the Ukraine to as the Ukrainians to investigate the owner of the company his son was working for. Now it's possible that Hunter Biden was hired by this guy in the hopes that this would prevent his case from going forward, because he was already under investigation when Biden was hired. If anything, Biden's firing of the prosecutor in this case proves he wasn't acting corruptly.

Ex-Ukraine prosecutor said he was told to back off probe of Biden-linked firm, files show
Ex-Ukraine prosecutor said he was told to back off probe of Biden-linked firm, files show
“Mr. Shokin attempted to continue the investigations but on or around June or July of 2015, the U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt told him that the investigation has to be handled with white gloves, which according to Mr. Shokin, that implied do nothing,” the notes from the interview stated. The notes also claimed Shokin was told Biden had held up U.S. aid to Ukraine over the investigation.

...and who was the new prosecutor that was to replace Shokin who was investigating Burisma?
Ukrainian Investigators Probing Ex-Prosecutor Lutsenko For Abuse Of Power
"Ukrainian Investigators Probing Ex-Prosecutor Lutsenko For Abuse Of Power
The company's board included Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. The company and its owner, a wealthy Ukrainian businessman, had been the focus of several tax and criminal investigations in the past.

Trump and his allies allege that Biden, when he was vice president, sought to pressure Ukraine to fire Lutsenko's predecessor, Viktor Shokin, as a way to end an investigation of Burisma, and Hunter Biden. Shokin was later dismissed by parliament."

So the new prosecutor, according to the democrats, was to do a real investigation, but all he did was shutdown all the Burisma investigations. So the firing of Shokin was to protect Burisma and the Bidens, no matter what bullshit Biden says about the firing of Shokin.

That is a lie. Shokin was the one who was corrupt. He closed the investigation into Burisma a year before Biden made his threat.

This is from a Ukrainian.
Daria Kaleniuk‏ @dkaleniuk
Replying to @OliverBullough
Thank you @OliverBullough - indeed it’s insane to use UKRAINE as a ball at the AMERICAN national political field. Prosecutor Shokin did not open the case on Zlochevskyi & Burisma. He dumped it. And he was fired for being corrupt and failing prosecution reform @kenvogel