Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), a member in this Congress of the House Oversight Committee, also served — before joining Congress — as a lawyer assisting with the first impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump when the latter was still in office as president. This week, Goldman has spoken out several times about dubious claims from Republicans as the party’s members in the House pursue an ostensible impeachment inquiry targeting President Joe Biden.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the chairman in this Congress of the House Judiciary Committee, is clearly among those convinced of the appearance of corruption that involves the president, whose imagined connections — or at least potential connections — to ostensibly corrupt business activities involving his son, Hunter Biden, have been subjects for relentless GOP speculation. In reality, there is no conclusive evidence showing a substantial tie to Joe. But Jordan was nonetheless persistent.
“Remember: Burisma executives requested Hunter Biden get “help from D.C.” to address “government pressure,”” Jordan claimed. “Joe Biden then threatened to withhold aide from Ukraine unless Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was fired, Who just happened to be investigating Burisma!”
Goldman’s direct reply on X (formerly called Twitter) was succinct. “Blatant lie,” the Congressman said. For one, it’s not clear that the targeted Ukrainian prosecutor actually was actively investigating Burisma (a Ukrainian energy company) at the time he was pushed from office. “While there had been an investigation of the company, Shokin’s former deputy, Vitaliy Kasko, has said that it was dormant at the time of Joe Biden’s intervention,” a CNN fact-check has stated.
Additionally, it has long been established that the departure of Shokin from that prosecutorial role was an aim shared by a slew of outside governmental interests — not something unique to then-Vice President Biden supposedly representing his son’s business concerns. An email message cited by the Republican side at one point as supposedly indicative of the then-VP notifying his son of impending action was sent… after Shokin was already out of power.
Blatant lie. https://t.co/wTW4xLqC0L
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) September 15, 2023
