Whistle-Blower’s Complaint Is Said to Involve Multiple Acts by Trump

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/10/04/ukraine-official-review-probe-tied-joe-bidens-son-hunter/3862796002/

Quote:Probe tied to Biden’s son among investigations to be reviewed by Ukraine prosecutor


KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s top legal official said Friday that his office would review at least 15 high-profile past investigations including a probe into the owner of a natural-gas company linked to former Vice President Joe Biden’s son.


Ruslan Ryaboshapka, Ukraine’s general prosecutor, said during a press conference, that the review is part of a wider audit of cases that were closed or dismissed by his predecessors.


He said the decision to review the cases was not specifically related to the time Hunter Biden spent on the board of Burisma, Ukraine’s largest private natural-gas firm, or allegations from the Trump administration that Joe Biden improperly applied pressure on Ukraine to have an investigation into Burisma halted.


The allegations from President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudolph Giuliani have played a key role in the impeachment inquiry into Trump by Democratic lawmakers.

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Ukraine’s previous general prosecutor, Yuriy Lutsenko, closed a money-laundering and tax-irregularity probe into Burisma’s owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, in 2016. The case did not focus on Hunter Biden. There is also no evidence that Joe Biden acted improperly in applying pressure on Ukraine to dismiss Lutsenko’s predecessor, Viktor Shokin. Shokin was widely and publicly viewed by international organizations such as the European Union and International Monetary Fund, and anti-corruption investigators in Ukraine, as an impediment to reforming the country’s culture of graft.

Ryaboshapka said the audit has been planned since he took office one month ago. Friday’s press conference was his first public one since taking up the role.


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Vitali Kasko, Ryaboshapha’s deputy, told USA TODAY after the news conference that an affidavit by Shokin highlighted in recent days by Giuliani’s office that claims he was fired in 2016 because he was leading a “wide-ranging corruption investigation” into Burisma had no merit.


“Shokin is not a reliable figure,” he said.