Biden’s relationship with Ukraine was no secret
Donald Trump and his Republicans supporters have employed the gamut of logical fallacies to oppose impeachment — lying, hypocrisy, goal post moving, false equivalencies, ad hominem attacks, appeals to ignorance and straw man tactics.
How would they respond to the following set of facts? As we know, in 2016, Vice President Joe Biden, in plain sight, threatened to withhold financial aid to Ukraine unless its leaders dismissed Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin (“Alternative Fact of the Week: Kellyanne Conway, still the champion prevaricator,” Nov. 7). His son, Hunter Biden, was on the board of Burisma since 2014. The Biden defense to allegations of corrupt intent are well known. He was acting in concert with Ukrainian domestic and international pressure to oust Mr. Shokin, known to be corrupt. Mr. Shokin’s replacement would more likely reopen a dormant investigation into Burisma, putting the gas company and its directors at greater risk.
Here is a different take. We know that Hunter Biden’s seat on the Burisma board was not a secret. In fact, President Barack Obama’s spokesperson, Josh Earnest, in response to a question about the Mr. Biden’s potential conflict of interest given his son’s seat on Burisma, referred the reporter to the vice president’s office. The NewYork Times wrote a story about the potential conflict of interest.
Meanwhile, the Republicans, who had control of the House and Senate, were not shy to launching dubious investigations against alleged Obama administration wrongdoing. The Republicans investigated Benghazi (eight times), IRS targeting, Solyndra and Fast and Furious. If the Republicans of today are so certain that Mr. Biden acted corruptly in 2016, why did they not feel that way then and launch an investigation three years ago. Why didn’t Rand Paul and others in office then speak out about the so-called travesty of Mr. Biden’s actions?
We know the answer. The Republicans of 2016, many of whom are in office today, knew that Mr. Biden’s actions were not inappropriate. Hearings would have quickly revealed that Mr. Biden’s actions were not only appropriate, but highly successful and lauded.
Andy Frank, Baltimore