In a video of his 2018 comments at a panel for the Council on Foreign Relations, Biden seemingly admitted to withholding military aid to Ukraine as a pressure tactic to force the firing of a prosecutor he did not like. Biden’s comments may see new scrutiny amid whistleblower allegations Trump improperly called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden…
In his panel comments, Biden appeared to suggest he withheld a $1 billion loan guarantee for Ukraine unless Ukrainian government officials agreed to fire a prosecutor investigating the Ukrainian gas company, Burisma Holdings.
Biden said he received a commitment prior to a Ukraine visit, but upon arrival, he learned the prosecutor was still in place. In his comments before the CFR panel, he said he would not release the funding measure unless Ukrainian government officials acted immediately on the matter.
“I said we’re not going to give you the billion dollars. They said ‘you can’t do that, you have no authority, you’re not the president,’” Biden remarked. “I said call [President Obama], I told you you’re not getting a billion dollars.”
Biden said he gave Ukrainian government officials a six-hour window before he would leave Ukraine and said, “If the prosecutor’s not fired, you’re not getting the money.”
“Well son of a bitch, he got fired,” Biden continued. “And they put in place someone who was solid.”
Adding to the controversy, Biden’s son Hunter joined Burisma Holdings’ board of directors in 2014, around the time Ukrainian government investigations first began…
The Democratic-controlled House Committees on Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, and Oversight and Reform, released a joint letter on Sept. 9, alleging Trump unlawfully called on Ukraine to investigate Hunter, which it suggested would be a “staggering abuse of power, a boon to Moscow and a betrayal of the public trust.”
The letter called for an investigation into Trump, including a transcript of his July call with the Ukrainian president. The same letter did not allege any wrongdoing in Biden’s comments or the actions he described.