The topic of the possible involvement of Joe Biden and his son Hunter in corruption in Ukraine will be one of the key issues in the campaign of Donald Trump. The head of the White House said this in a telephone interview with Fox News.
“This will be a serious part of my election agenda, and I will constantly raise this topic, because I see no other way. I do not know how democrats can get out of this situation and answer these questions. Maybe they have an answer. I would like to hope so. In fact, I would even prefer such an outcome. But I doubt that this is possible, because it was pure corruption, ”Trump emphasized.
According to the head of the White House, now Democratic rivals Biden deliberately avoid this topic, because "they were definitely told to bypass it."
“Even Biden’s opponents do not want to touch her - this is a forbidden territory,” Trump said, adding that some journalists even apologized during the Democratic Party’s debate for having to ask about the politician’s possible involvement in crimes in Ukraine.
- Donald trump
- © Carlos Barria / Reuters
Trump stressed that the situation with the silence of the Democrats on this topic is “wild”. According to him, in the Republican Party, this would be simply impossible.
Surprise for trump
On the eve of the United States held a key stage of voting at the intra-party primaries - "Super Tuesday." Elections were held in 14 states and one unincorporated unorganized territory of the United States - American Samoa. Campaign leaders were former US Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. Biden managed to gain an edge in ten states, and Bernie Sanders won in four. At the same time, the former mayor of New York, financier Michael Bloomberg was able to win in American Samoa.
According to preliminary calculations, Biden became the leader of the race following the “Super Tuesday”, who managed to enlist the support of a total of 670 delegates, Bernie Sanders with 589 votes came in second. Bloomberg took the third place, supported by 104 delegates.
After such results, Bloomberg on Twitter said he would not continue to fight for the right to become a presidential candidate in the United States and would support Biden’s candidacy.
- Primaries in the USA
- © Samuel Corum / Getty Images / AFP
The final winner of the primaries will be determined by a vote at the Congress of the Democratic Party, which will be held in July. To be eligible to represent the party in the presidential election, the candidate must score 1991 votes from 3979 party delegates.
In the event that none of the participants in the primaries can get the necessary advantage, the outcome of the race will be decided by the so-called superdelegates from among the party functionaries.
Commenting on the results of the “Super Tuesday”, the head of the White House, Donald Trump, called Joe Biden's championship “excellent” and “incredible” return. The politician also added that gaining the majority of votes in a number of states by Bernie Sanders was prevented from participating in the primaries Elizabeth Warren.
According to experts, the success of Joe Biden following the results of the “Super Tuesday” came as a surprise to Donald Trump. As political analyst Alexander Asafov noted in an interview with RT, the American leader over the past few months has been preparing to fight Bernie Sanders, not Biden.
“Trump was definitely preparing to fight Sanders, in absentia criticizing the senator’s pre-election argument. The fact that Biden was ahead of Sanders following the results of the “Super Tuesday” was a surprise for him. Therefore, now the head of the White House is updating criticism directed against Biden. First of all, the activities of Biden and his son in Ukraine during the presidency of Barack Obama will be targeted, ”the expert noted in a commentary on RT.
A similar point of view is shared by the director of the Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev. At the same time, he believes that Joe Biden is not dangerous for Trump as an opponent in the upcoming presidential election.
“Now Biden still needs to win the primary election to become a candidate from the Democratic Party. So far, Trump does not criticize him in full force, saving the arguments for the decisive period. But when needed, Trump will actively use Ukrainian themes. And Biden, talking and forgetting where he is, is more preferable to Trump than Bernie Sanders, who has many followers, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.
"The only tactic"
Recall that in April 2019 Joe Biden announced his decision to take part in the struggle for the presidency of the United States, noting that today America’s values and its position in the world are at stake.
“If we let Donald Trump stay in the White House for eight years, he will make fundamental and irreparable changes to the very essence of our country. I can’t stay away and watch how this happens, ”he wrote on Twitter.
Shortly before Biden announced his participation in the presidential race, The Hill newspaper published an investigation into his involvement in corruption schemes in Ukraine during his work as vice president. In 2014, Biden's son Hunter joined the board of directors of the energy company Burisma, operating in Ukraine. According to the publication, the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office, headed by Viktor Shokin at the time, suspected Biden Jr. of receiving a bribe from the company’s management.
Supposedly, Shokin even intended to summon Hunter Biden for interrogation as part of a corruption investigation in Burisma. However, he did not have time to give a move to this matter, since he was removed from office by the then president Petro Poroshenko. According to media reports, this decision was made under pressure from Joe Biden.
Biden himself openly declared his involvement in the dismissal of Shokin. According to him, in 2016 he delivered an ultimatum to the President and Prime Minister of Ukraine, demanding the dismissal of the Prosecutor General under the threat of canceling credit guarantees worth $ 1 billion. He noted that this was done because Shokin allegedly impeded the fight against corruption.
- U.S. Senate Impeachment Vote
- © US Senate TV / Handout via Reuters
An investigation into The Hill drew attention to the White House. Trump repeatedly referred to these materials, publicly accusing a possible election candidate of corruption and abuse. This topic was also raised by the American leader during a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky in the summer of 2019. Trump reminded him of the allegations made earlier against Biden, and expressed the hope that the Ukrainian authorities will initiate an investigation.
These words, along with the decision of the Trump administration to freeze military assistance to Ukraine in 2019, were interpreted by the Democrats as an attempt by the US president to use his official position for personal purposes. From the point of view of opponents, Trump wanted to put pressure on the Ukrainian leadership to discredit his potential rival in the election.
In September 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated the impeachment process for the president, but the Senate acquitted Trump.
- RIA News
Kiev preferred to distance itself from this scandal. The Ukrainian authorities did not then open an investigation against the Biden. As Vladimir Zelensky said earlier in an interview with The Times of Israel, Ukraine should not be involved in the American domestic political struggle.
However, at the end of February 2020, the Ukrainian News publication, citing a source in the State Bureau of Investigation (GBR), announced the opening of criminal proceedings on the fact of interference in the work of Viktor Shokin when he was the prosecutor general of Ukraine.
Although Biden’s name is not mentioned in the case, it’s about the former Vice President of the United States, said Viktor Shokin’s lawyer Alexander Teleshetsky.
The defender also called on the authorities to provide the ex-prosecutor with state protection, since Shokin’s life is allegedly in danger.
According to Alexander Asafov, the Ukrainian authorities still decided to open an investigation against Biden in order to strengthen ties with the current US administration.
“Although part of the Rada and the Zelensky administration are under the influence of the Democratic Party, still the issues of financial assistance to Ukraine are in the hands of the Trump team. And Kiev can establish relations with them only by surrendering Trump’s opponents, ”the expert said.
At the same time, the leadership of the Democratic Party will until the last deny the involvement of its candidate in illegal activities in Ukraine, even if the case gets development, Asafov said.
“We see that the only tactics of the Democrats in this situation are denial and silence, there are simply no other methods. It is difficult for democrats to do something else, because we are talking about long-known facts. For their part, the Republicans launched a major attack, most likely, they will seize now the words of Shokin’s lawyer about possible attempts on the life of his client. Trump will use this, ”Asafov concluded.