GOP probe: No evidence of wrongdoing by Biden

WASHINGTON — An electionyear investigation by Senate Republicans into corruption allegations against Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, involving Ukraine found no evidence of improper influence or wrongdoing by the former vice president, closing out an inquiry its leaders had hoped would tarnish the Democratic presidential nominee.

The investigation found that Hunter Biden had “cashed in” on his father’s name to close lucrative business deals. It also concluded that his work for a Ukrainian energy company had given the appearance of a conflict of interest and alarmed some State Department officials.

But an 87page report summing up the findings, released jointly on Wednesday by the Senate Homeland Security and Finance committees, contained no evidence that the elder Biden improperly manipulated U.S. policy toward Ukraine or committed any other misdeed. In fact, investigators heard witness testimony that rebutted those charges.

The homeland security panel’s Republican chairman, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, had made little secret of his political ambitions for his report, boasting for weeks that his findings would demonstrate Biden’s “unfitness for office.” Instead, the result appeared to be little more than a rehashing of unproven allegations echoing an active Russian disinformation campaign pushed by Trump.

The Trump campaign quickly promoted the “explosive new revelations,” zeroing in on financial records that showed Hunter Biden receiving sums of money from foreigners while his father was in office.

Democrats noted that all 10 witnesses testified that neither Biden nor anyone else altered U.S. policy because of his son.