(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) In a groundbreaking interview with Fox News on Saturday, Viktor Shokin, the former Ukrainian Prosecutor General, revealed new insights regarding his dismissal from office, which is currently the subject of an alleged bribery scandal involving President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Shokin, who had largely remained quiet amidst the scandals surrounding the Biden White House, conceded that President Biden led his abrupt firing due to his investigation into Burisma Holdings, the notorious gas company employing the younger Biden.
As reported by Fox News on Saturday, Shokin asserted, “I have said repeatedly in my previous interviews that Poroshenko fired me at the insistence of the then Vice President Biden because I was investigating Burisma,” Shokin said. He emphasized the absence of performance-related concerns precipitating his termination, attributing it instead to political pressure from Biden.
“There were no complaints whatsoever and no problems with how I was performing at my job,” Shokin added. “But because pressure was repeatedly put on [then-Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko, that is what ended up in him firing me.”
The controversy traces back to 2018 when Biden publicly touted his role in Shokin’s removal. During a Council on Foreign Relations panel, Biden recounted, “I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here,'” Biden alleded. “I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.’ Well, son of a bitch, he got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.”
In 2018 Joe Biden bragged about his threats to withhold aid money to Ukraine if former President Poroshenko didn't fire Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. The prosecutor was investigating Burisma Holdings, the energy company from whom his son Hunter was collecting a paycheck. pic.twitter.com/hins3hAz9q
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 8, 2022
Biden’s statement has sparked concerns about potential political interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs, allegedly at the request of his son and a Burisma executive. According to a infamous FBI informant file, a Burisma executive allegedly paid both Biden and Hunter a total of $10 million, a transaction described by several Republicans as bribery.
In another segment of the interview, Shokin voiced his belief that both Bidens were influenced by Burisma but warned he doesn’t have the concrete evidence to substantiate the alleged bribery bombshell.
In response to Shokin’s assertions, White House spokesperson Ian Sams dismissed them as false claims. He added, “Fox is giving a platform for these lies to a former Ukrainian prosecutor general whose office his own deputy called ‘a hotbed of corruption,’ drawing demands for reform not only from then-Vice President Biden but also from U.S. diplomats, international partners, and Republican senators like Ron Johnson.”
The White House’s stance directly contradicts Shokin’s revelations in the explosive new interview, where he disclosed that his interest in Burisma stemmed from its attention-catching nature.
“The reason that I was handling it was because it deserved a special mention,” Shokin elaborated before acknowledging the suspicious nature of Hunter Biden’s association with Burisma.
“It was on a list of cases to merit special attention because Hunter Biden was involved with Burisma and of course, his father, the vice president, Biden at the time oversaw Ukraine affairs for the White House. This is why,” the former prosecutor added.
House Republicans have launched several probe into the allegations and are demanding documents from the White House. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., issued a dire threat to the Biden administration, saying that if Biden refuses to comply with the documents requests, he could face impeachment proceedings.
