What's going on with Trump and Biden and Ukraine?

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Like many things in the Trump presidency, it all starts with Hillary Clinton. Here is what we know:

Rudy Giuliani, the president's attorney and political attack dog, told CNN late Thursday that his sustained efforts to prosecute Clinton were leading him to Ukraine. First, he asserted, without any evidence, that she and the Democrats were behind the attempt to discredit Paul Manafort, currently in prison for, among other things, whitewashing money as a political consultant in Ukraine. Then things turned away from Clinton.

"During the investigation, I discovered this incredible story about Joe Biden, that he allegedly bribed the Ukrainian president to dismiss a prosecutor who was investigating his son," said Giuliani, accusing media coverage. "It's a staggering scandal of considerable magnitude that you have all concealed for five or six months."

Rudy Giuliani denies having asked Ukraine to open an investigation on Biden - before admitting

From there, the interview of CNN's Chris Cuomo completely derailed and Giuliani finally acknowledged that he had asked the current Ukrainian government to inquire about Biden.

"Of course I did it!" he said.

But the president's lawyer who is trying to get an action from Ukraine is one thing. It would be something completely different if the administration used an official means of pressure for a foreign country to investigate a US political rival, especially just months after special advocate Robert Mueller. detailed the multiple interactions between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia, but nothing came up at the level of coordination. between the partners and campaign leaders and representatives of the Russian government.

Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25, and this phone call could be part of what led to the complaint against Trump.

Asked on Friday about the July 25 appeal and whether he had mentioned Biden to the Ukrainian president, Trump tried to return to Biden. "It does not matter what I discuss," he said. "But I'll say this: Someone should consider Joe Biden's statement, because it was shameful, where he talked about billions of dollars that he does not pay to a particular country unless that a prosecutor be removed from the case. " Friday afternoon, the Wall Street Journal reported that during this phone call, Trump had lobbied the new president "about eight times" for him to work with Giuliani on Biden, citing people close to the case.
Trump lobbied the Ukrainian president for he's investigating Biden's son

Vice President Mike Pence recently met with Zelensky. He was asked questions about Giuliani's efforts and about whether the administration had blocked aid to Ukraine.

Journalist: Specifically, did you discuss Joe Biden at the meeting with the Ukrainian President yesterday? And secondly, can you assure Ukraine that blocking this money has absolutely nothing to do with efforts, including those of Rudy Giuliani, to unearth the Biden family?

VICE-PRESIDENT PENCE: On the first question, the answer is no. But we – we discussed yesterday with President Zelensky – we discussed US support for Ukraine and the upcoming decision that the President will take in great detail on the latest tranche of financial support.

Ukraine uses this aid in its efforts against Russian separatists, in the context of a long-term conflict with Russia.

Biden's efforts in Ukraine

Despite Giuliani's allegation, the media did not conceal the charges against Biden. The New York Times wrote about Biden's son and his activities in May and made it clear that Trump's allies were pushing him. The President tweeted about it at the time. Since then, Trump, Giuliani and others have returned to history many times.

Asked about Trump's statement on Friday, Biden said: "Not one credible outlet has credited his claim."

"Not one, so I have no comment except that the president should start being (the) president," Biden said.

According to Giuliani, the crucial point is that Joe Biden tried to overthrow the supreme prosecutor of Ukraine in 2016 as a result of an investigation into Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company. At the time, Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma.

But the reality is much more nuanced.

It is quite true that in parallel with the Burisma investigation, Western governments, including the Obama administration, wanted the prosecutor to be dismissed because of concerns about corruption in his own office. Biden also opposed the prosecutor in Ukraine, Viktor Shokin, and threatened to withhold $ 1 billion loan guarantees from Ukraine. In fact, it is in vant. Recalling his trip to Kiev in 2016, he said that this showed that the United States was able to convince Ukraine to take corruption more seriously.

"I looked at them and said, I'm leaving in six hours," Biden said at an event at the Foreign Relations Council in 2018. "If the prosecutor is not fired, You do not get money. "Well, my son of a bitch, he was fired, and they set up someone who was solid at the time."

None of this is particularly good for the Bidens, but there is no evidence or suggestion of wrongdoing.

Timeline of launchers: contacts of the Trump team and Ukraine

At least one former prosecutor said that the Burisma investigation had already been filed by the time Joe Biden threatened to suspend financial aid if Ukraine did not replace his senior prosecutor. It is also unclear whether Hunter Biden was at the center of this investigation as it unfolded.

In a May 14 interview published on Facebook by his assistant, Ukrainian Attorney General Yury Lutsenko said Burisma was paying an entity linked to Hunter Biden "in millions", but added: "From my point of view, a member of advice can be paid whatever the company decides … they have not violated any Ukrainian law ".

He added that US law should be examined, not Ukrainian investigators.

In May, Lutsenko said that he was looking to "revive" an investigation into Burisma, the former employer of Hunter Biden – but this apparently never happened. Lutsenko left office in August after the entry into office of the new Zelenski administration.

Giuliani himself went to meet a representative of Zelensky after the president's visit with Trump in July.

According to Democratic senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Ukrainian officials understand that there is a connection between what Giuliani was asking Ukrainians to do and to get US military aid.

Murphy met the Ukrainian president a few weeks ago and described the scene on Twitter.

"Zelensky did not explicitly relate the two in our meeting, but he was VERY concerned about cutting off the help and VERY aware of the conversations that Rudy Giuliani had with his team.I told him that "It was better to ignore Trump's demands." He agreed, "Murphy explained in a series of tweets.

Trump's Playbook

Promoting conspiracy theories about his rival was a strategy that worked for Trump in 2016, as he used decades of conservative conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton to call her "twisted" and suggest that she be put in jail rather than "jealousy". to the White House.

Hillary Clinton: Trump has asked a foreign power to help him win elections. Once again & # 39;

Biden, however, is not following the same political stain as the Clintons and the efforts by Trump and his allies may have led a whistleblower to ring the alarm under A law designed to protect intelligence services for uncovering irregular activities.

The details of the whistleblower's complaint remain a mystery and could remain so if Trump's new acting director of national intelligence refuses to share information about the complaint with Congress. The Inspector General of the Intelligence Community is concerned by publicly stating that he is prevented from doing his job.

Father and son

Hunter Biden's personal life and addiction problems have already caused concern among the former vice president.

Joe Biden criticizes Trump's comments on his relations with Ukraine

The overlapping political and commercial interests of father and son fueled the GOP's attacks on the fact that Biden is little more than a selfish politician. That the facts fully corroborate this case seems to be an afterthought for its detractors.

GOP researchers have explored the story of Hunter Biden's career, as well as the points that bring him closer to that of his father, especially in Ukraine and China, another topic evoked by Giuliani in his interview with Cuomo.

Sara Murray and Nathan Hodge of CNN contributed to this report.

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