It was an investigation that could have happened in 2015, when Joe Biden was an outgoing Vice President who had refused to enter the presidential race after the death of his son, Beau Biden. The investigation could have happened then because Republicans knew exactly what the Obama-Biden policy on Ukraine was, they knew that Biden went to the Ukraine to press for the ouster of a corrupt prosecutor, and they knew exactly who Biden’s younger son, Hunter, worked for.
But that investigation didn’t happen in 2015. It’s happening now, in 2020, and 40 subpoenas in that investigation were just approved by a Republican-led Homeland Security Committee. Also happening in 2020 is a presidential race between Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump, who is losing badly according to every reputable poll.
On Wednesday, Senate Republicans on the committee voted to approve 40 new subpoenas in the investigation into Biden’s son, Hunter’s, work with Burisma Energy in Ukraine. Specifically, they plan to look at how that work affected the U.S. in terms of its foreign policy on Ukraine. However, recent statements made by a top member of the committee, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), that “we’re going to learn about Vice President Biden’s unfitness for office” through this investigation, indicate that the investigation is politically motivated. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) alluded to those statements during his response.
‘[It’s an investigation] that, from the outset, had the earmarks of a political exercise, and I’m fearful that comments made in the media recently have only confirmed that perspective.’
@SenRonJohnson going after Joe Biden, indicating his Homeland Security will release a report within a week on Hunter Biden's ties to Ukraine: "We're going to learn about Vice President Biden's unfitness for office."
— BillGlauber (@BillGlauber) September 14, 2020
The first subpoena was voted on in May and the investigation was expected to close after that subpoena was fulfilled since nothing seemed to have come from it. Waiting until just 48 days before the U.S. presidential election, Republicans decided to issue 40 more subpoenas in order to revive the investigation in the final weeks of campaigning.
According to The Washington Post:
‘Johnson and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), whose investigators have been working in tandem, are expected to argue that Hunter Biden’s ties to the firm, Burisma, posed a conflict of interest for the Obama administration, as the younger Biden’s company was lobbying the State Department while his father directed the government’s Ukraine policy.
‘Democrats, while acknowledging the poor optics posed by Hunter Biden’s position, are expected to reject the assertion it had any effect on U.S.-Ukraine policies during the former vice president’s tenure, while pointing out that Johnson supported the policies at the time. They are also expected use their report to take aim at the origins of Johnson’s probe, which they argue is rooted in Kremlin-backed disinformation.’
Sen. Ron Johnson in a Senate Homeland Security Committee business meeting today says he intends to release interview transcripts along with any report. He seems to be referring to the Biden-Burisma investigation.
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) September 16, 2020
The subpoenas include a number of well-known names that Republicans have been disparaging for a host of different “offenses” for some time. Several of them are related more to the Russia investigation than Burisma, and the inclusion of the origins of the Russia investigation in the Biden/Burisma investigation seems well-timed, indeed.
POLITICO reports that:
‘Wednesday’s vote represents a significant escalation of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s probes targeting President Donald Trump’s political foes — less than 50 days before Election Day.
‘In a party-line, Republican members of the committee gave its chairman, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the power to compel testimony from several current and former officials, including former FBI Director James Comey and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who involved in the transition process in 2016 and 2017 as well as the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.’
https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1306242572889792513
