[ May 1, 2024 ]
It was Biden, the Democrats who actually pressured Ukraine. The impeachment was a cover-up for Democrat crimes and corruption in Ukraine. And the enemedia’s lack of transparency and obscene coverage of events and is worse than Pravda in its heyday.
Above photo: Then-President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine and then-Vice President Joe Biden of the U.S. after their meeting in Kyiv on Jan. 16, 2017.
Ukraine court forces probe into Biden role in firing of prosecutor Viktor Shokin
By: David L. Stern, Robyn Dixon, MSN, February 28, 2020:
Story continues below advertisementKYIV —A court ruling in Ukraine has forced state investigators to open a probe into alleged pressure by then-vice president Joe Biden that led to the 2016 dismissal of Viktor Shokin as the country’s prosecutor general, officials said Thursday.
President Trump last year pressed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky for an investigation of this kind, leading to Trump’s impeachment by the House and his eventual acquittal in a Senate trial.
Shokin’s firing, however, was not a unilateral action directed by Biden. It was prompted by a push for anti-corruption reforms developed at the State Department and coordinated with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Shokin’s lawyer, Oleksandr Teleshetsky, said the probe was launched in response to a court order, after an appeal for action by Shokin. The State Bureau of Investigations confirmed a case was opened.
Trump and his allies have put intense pressure on Zelensky’s administration to open investigations into Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden who sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
From late 2018 Shokin met with Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, as Giuliani sought political dirt on the Bidens. Shokin has long been angered by what he sees as an unfair dismissal following foreign pressure.
Shokin has claimed he was pushed out by Biden because he tried to launch a probe into Hunter Biden’s role at Burisma. In fact, Ukrainian investigations into Burisma related to the period before Hunter Biden joined the board.
“They need to investigate this. They have no other alternative. They are required to do this by the decision of the court. If they don’t, then they violate a whole string of procedural norms,” Teleshetsky said in an interview.
Shokin’s January appeal to the court mentioned Joe Biden by name, but the case opened by the SBI mentions only a U.S. citizen, Teleshetsky said.
Daria Kaleniuk, director of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center, said that under Ukrainian law, anyone could go to court and demand that the SBI open a case. If a court approved it, the SBI was required by law to do so, even if officials did not believe there was enough evidence.
“The fact that it was opened after a decision of the court indicates that first the SBI didn’t open this case, but the attorneys of Shokin made the SBI open this case,” she said.
“Let’s say I can write a claim to the SBI that I think aliens stole my car,” she continued. “And the SBI obviously will not open [a case] as there is not evidence of a crime. But then I can go to court and make the SBI open it, through a court decision. So this case looks to me like that.”
She said it was possible for the case to lie dormant in the system for years.
“If I was a SBI investigator, I would close that case immediately,” she said.
When he was vice president, Biden urged Ukraine authorities to sack Shokin, citing his failure to act against corruption, concerns shared by other Western nations. In 2015 Biden warned Ukrainian authorities that the country could lose around $1 billion in loan guarantees unless Shokin was removed.
Biden is one of a narrowing field of Democrats contending to be the party’s presidential candidate, although Independent Bernie Sanders has emerged as the front-runner.
Shokin was dismissed in March 2016 after just over a year in office by the then Ukraine president, Petro Poroshenko, who was close to the prosecutor and acted reluctantly.
Shokin would become a key figure in efforts by Trump and his allies to press Ukraine to carry out investigations into Biden.
When Trump spoke to Zelensky in a July 25 phone call, he appeared to praise Shokin and call his removal unfair.
“I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that’s really unfair,” Trump told Zelensky, according to a rough transcript.
At the heart of Trump’s impeachment trial was his move to freeze military aid to Ukraine shortly after the July conversation. At the same time, Ukrainian officials were seeking a prized White House meeting between Zelensky and Trump. Zelensky has repeatedly stated he felt no pressure from Trump to establish investigations into Biden.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Zelensky in January in Kyiv and denied that the Trump administration ever demanded the investigation as a condition for a White House meeting between Trump and Zelensky.
But Pompeo did not offer a date for an Oval Office meeting, saying simply, “We’ll find the right time.”
Since that meeting, Zelensky has appointed a new chief of staff Andriy Yermak, who has closer ties with Trump allies such as Giuliani.
Ukrainian prosecutor general Ruslan Ryaboshapka said in October that prosecutors would audit the all previous cases related to Burisma. At the time, Ryaboshapka said he saw no evidence of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden who joined the board in 2014.
“We are now reviewing all proceedings that were closed, fragmented or investigated earlier, in order to make a decision in cases where illegal procedural decisions were made and to review them,” Ryaboshapka, adding that these cases focused on the time before Hunter Biden was on the board.
The Truth Must be Told
Your contribution supports independent journalism
Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.
Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.
Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.
Please contribute here.
or
Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.
Quick note: We cannot do this without your support. Fact. Our work is made possible by you and only you. We receive no grants, government handouts, or major funding.Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here.
Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s essential NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America's survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.
Follow Pamela Geller on Gettr. I am there. click here.
Follow Pamela Geller on Trump's social media platform, Truth Social. It's open and free.
Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.
Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spammy or unhelpful, click the - symbol under the comment to let us know. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
If you would like to join the conversation, but don't have an account, you can sign up for one right here.
If you are having problems leaving a comment, it's likely because you are using an ad blocker, something that break ads, of course, but also breaks the comments section of our site. If you are using an ad blocker, and would like to share your thoughts, please disable your ad blocker. We look forward to seeing your comments below.
26 Comments
4 years ago
The current Ukranine President ran on a campaign of cleaning up the corruption. Kerry’s son, Biden’s son and Mitt are involved with the Ukraine corruption.
Will our delicate A.G. Barr EVER get to uncovering that? If anything tweets from his boss, Trump, should motivate him to expose this rather than Barr behaving like a delicate prima donna. I am tired of OUR CORRUPT people.
4 years ago
Reply to
felix1999
No AG investigation into corrupt and treasonous practices, of the Left Regressives, will ever be opened much less bring about charges. No sense losing sleep over it. Life’s too short.
4 years ago
Let’s see biden deny that he forced the firing of the investigator.
4 years ago
MY…MY ….how the tables have turned.
4 years ago
MY…MY ….how the tables have turned.
4 years ago
4 years ago
Reply to
Anthony Silvio
More like an episode of ‘The Untouchables”. This smoke and mirrors act will go nowhere, and I say that because even Blind Freddy can see that no one has the will, audacity, balls, moral courage or honesty to go after these criminals. Dem’s and their witnesses have lied and lied and Impeached through the hail storm of lies and nothing is done and doesn’t even look like being put on the table. More noise and guffawing from the 2nd rate actors portraying themselves to be the upright pillars and guardians of honesty doesn’t fool anyone and the people are getting sick of the same old rhetoric. I will believe these people are serious when someone is indicted and charged and jailed, and that seems to very far away the way things are going. So pull your FU##ING fingers out or just hand the reigns over to the likes of Sander or even worse Biden and be done with it.
4 years ago
4 years ago
firing squad ready for duty
4 years ago
Why isn’t our worthless DOJ looking into the Biden corruption???
4 years ago
All roads lead to the master criminal anti-American, St. Obuma.
4 years ago
What investi-“GATE” should we call this Biden-Ukraine investigation because UkraineGate has already been used and debunked: BidenGate, Son-Of-a-B!tc#-Gate, NaziGate, SorrosGate, HuntersGate, Like-Father-Like-Son-Gate?
4 years ago
S – O – S !!!
SOROS – OBAMA – SAUDI ARABIA
4 years ago
We have all either seen the video or have heard the audio of tough guy Joe Biden bragging to the National Press Club that he got the prosecutor fired. Of course, it wasn’t just him, but it did make him sound big and powerful. Now, let’s see the LSM report the story. I will not be holding my breath.
4 years ago
“In 2015 Biden warned Ukrainian authorities that the country could lose around $1 billion in loan guarantees unless Shokin was removed.” ? ? ? Partisan hack reporter I suspect !
Even QuidPro Joe didn’t describe the incident like that at the CFR when he bragged about shakin down the Ukraine PM to fire the Prosecutor Shokin . . . or you don’t get the Billion. We now know that the prosecutor was investigating Burisma, it’s owner, and Both Bidens.
4 years ago
“In 2015 Biden warned Ukrainian authorities that the country could lose around $1 billion in loan guarantees unless Shokin was removed.” ? ? ? Partisan hack reporter I suspect !
Even QuidPro Joe didn’t describe the incident like that at the CFR when he bragged about shakin down the Ukraine PM to fire the Prosecutor Shokin . . . or you don’t get the Billion. We now know that the prosecutor was investigating Burisma, it’s owner, and Both Bidens.
4 years ago
I really don’t think we even need an Attorney General. The FBI and DOJ appear to have committed or covered up more crimes than they’ve solved while the Attorney General and the FBI director are making “reforms”.
4 years ago
This brings up the question of whether or not there is an Extradition Treaty between the USA and the Ukraine.
If Biden should be subject to an Extradition Attempt, either as a witness or as a charged suspect the Demoncrats [est. 2012] will be going Nuclear.
Plus, if extradition is successful, how much will Biden spill in an effort to save his own sorry ass or that of his son?
Veritas Vincit
