Trump accusations at center of Biden impeachment inquiry

In 2019, Congress voted to impeach Donald Trump for pressuring Ukraine in a failed attempt to obtain damaging information about his then-presidential election rival, Joe Biden.

Four years later, Republicans are moving to impeach current President Biden, citing information they claim to have sought, similar to what Trump was pursuing. As Vice President, Biden's son Hunter engaged in business dealings, which are now under scrutiny.

On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced that he would order an investigation with the aim of impeaching the Democratic President—a move that Trump and his right-wing supporters in Congress have been demanding for months.

While Trump's actions supporting his impeachment were well-documented, Democrats and even some Republicans insist that House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (one of the leading Republicans spearheading the investigation) lacks evidence of wrongdoing by Biden so far.

Comer accuses the "Biden family," without explicitly naming the President, and its "associates" of receiving over $20 million from foreign entities.

While Hunter Biden established business relationships in China, Kazakhstan, Romania, and other countries, McCarthy's announcement linked to the investigation focused on his dealings with the Ukrainian energy company "Burisma."

Hunter took on the role of a board member for "Burisma" in early 2014 when his father was the Vice President during the Obama administration and overseeing US policy towards Kiev.

The owner of "Burisma" was Mykola Zlochevsky, an oligarch with corruption allegations both inside and outside Ukraine.

Although Hunter Biden was a law school graduate with some business and financial experience, it was not clear what he could bring to "Burisma" in exchange for an annual salary of one million dollars.

In 2014, Ukrainians took to the streets and ousted the Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych.

That same year, Ukraine faced a deep economic crisis and was on the brink of defaulting on its debts, seeking international assistance.

However, the International Monetary Fund refused to provide new financing, while Washington froze a billion-dollar loan guarantee until the newly elected President, Petro Poroshenko, took action against corruption.

In meetings with Poroshenko in December 2015 and January 2016, Biden stated that progress on financial support would not occur until Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, suspected of protecting corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs, including Zlochevsky, was dismissed.


AFP