October 3, 2019
By John Haltiwanger
President Donald Trump (click here) stood on the White House lawn on Thursday and called for both Ukraine and China to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
"China should start an investigation into the Bidens because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine," Trump said. "So, I would say that President Zelensky, if it were me, I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Bidens."
There's no evidence of wrongdoing or illegal activity on the part of either Biden in Ukraine or China, despite the president's allegations....
Footnote 4 notes an article in "Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
By Aubrey Belford and Veronika Melkozerova
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Two Soviet-born Florida businessmen (click here) — one linked to a Ukrainian tycoon with reputed mafia ties — are key hidden actors behind a plan by U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s personal attorney to investigate the president’s rivals.
Trump’s attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said in May that he planned to visit then-incoming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to win support for probes into potentially damaging claims raised by senior Ukrainian officials.
Among them was the misleading contention that Trump’s main 2020 Democratic rival, Joe Biden, improperly pressured Ukraine’s government to fire a top prosecutor; that American diplomats in Ukraine had exhibited pro-Democrat bias; and that local officials conspired to undermine Trump’s presidential campaign and help Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Giuliani set off a firestorm in the conservative media by promoting the allegations....
...The effort has involved meetings in at least five countries, stretching from Washington, D.C. to the Israeli office of a Ukrainian oligarch accused of a multi-billion dollar fraud, and to the halls of the French Senate.
Parnas and Fruman’s work with Giuliani has been just one facet of their political activity....
...Months before their earliest known work with Giuliani, Parnas and Fruman also lobbied at least one congressman — former U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican — to call for the dismissal of the United States’ ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. She stepped down a year later after allegations in the conservative media that she had been disloyal to Trump....
...The men make for unlikely back-channel diplomats. Parnas, 47, is a former stockbroker with a history of unpaid debts, including half a million dollars owed to a Hollywood movie investor. Fruman, 53, has spent much of his career in Ukraine, and has ties to a powerful local businessman reputed to be in the inner circle of one of the country’s most infamous mafia groups.....
...Parnas and Fruman were “playing with fire” by lobbying in the United States and Ukraine without registering as foreign agents....
...In late 2018, Parnas and Fruman organized a Skype call between Giuliani and Viktor Shokin, who served as Ukraine’s prosecutor general until he was dismissed by parliament in 2016 amid allegations he was blocking anti-corruption efforts....
Guiliani's instigation started this entire mess. He should be ashamed of involving the Ukraine government in a political scheme. The Democrats, Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Campaign as well as Hunter and Joe Biden have grounds to sue him for false reporting and character assassination.
Guiliani isn't registered as a foreign agent, he is acting as a private citizen and allowing those he had influenced believe he was more than a private citizen because his client was now president. He is probably eligible for a few criminal charges as well.
All the hub-bub about Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and Hillary Clinton has got absolutely nothing to do with Ukraine and wrong doing. NOT A THING and yet he insisted there was suspicions to follow.
Guiliani and his buddies drummed this entire mess up and there is a USA Ambassador that was fired as well.
...Shortly after their February meeting in Poland, both Lutsenko and Giuliani began airing a series of allegations in the U.S. media....
Let me guess, Fox News. The only thing that was dug up was the payments to Paul Manafort as noted in the Special Counsel report and this is the disaster Guiliani pretended to exist.
...In March and April, the online publication The Hill published a series of opinion pieces largely based on an interview with Lutsenko. The articles relayed the allegations about the Bidens, and went further....
Those that found the "black ledger" did the right thing. They let the USA know there was something nefarious with Paul Manafort. This was during the campaign and not afterward and before the Special Counsel was formed. The person(s) that provided information about the "black ledger" did the right thing.
The reason the Ukrainians see it differently is because they view it as helping Hillary Clinton. What is disturbing is that the information regarding Manafort didn't go to the best resource, namely the USA FBI. If the information was sent to the FBI there would be no backlash in Ukraine regarding these facts. But, for whatever reason, the public venue was utilized. But, that doesn't mean Ukraine did the wrong thing, they didn't, they simply should have gone to the FBI rather than the American public. I am sure the same resignation of Manafort would have occurred.
The rest of the article duplicates that which was in The Hill articles. It could be said that Joe and Hunter Biden and Burisma were then a top of discussion among the anti-corruption establishment in Ukraine because Joe Biden was successful in having Shokin fired.
It could be said Hunter Biden's employment, given it's generous salary, is an ethical issue, HOWEVER, there was no quid pro quo. Hunter Biden secured his employment and is stated to have improved the company's transparency practices.
Parnas and Fruman are simply unfortunate bystanders given a chance by Guiliani to have a chip in the big game. It is Guiliani that is the one person that should have known better.
Continued in the following entry after a cup of tea.
