Thread by @kurteichenwald

1. Goddamn. Given how rapidly much of the press have allowed the Ukraine scandal to be "well, what about Biden," here is a quick and dirty presentation of the facts in hopefully ending this. It is appalling that a easily disproved conspiracy theory is taking equal place to...

2...the fact that the Trump Administration is illegally withholding a whistleblower report from Congress, purportedly involving a promise made by Trump to persuade the Ukranian's to investigate Biden's son. I mean, JESUS! Which is the story here?

So, one time, quick and dirty...

3...the simple timeline on why the entire "scandal" is BS. For a fuller explanation, read my long thread from yesterday.

The timeline is this:

About 2013: The UK launches a money laundering investigation of Mykola Zlochevsky, owner of Burisma Holdings in Ukraine....

3....

February 2014: UK requests that Ukrainian prosecutors deliver documents to assist in its investigation of Zlochevsky. In response, Ukraine opens its own investigation of focused on potential money laundering by Zlochevsky and the embezzlement of public funds....

5...

April 2014: 2 months AFTER the investigation begins, Hunter Biden joins the board (As does Cofer Black, former head of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center under GW Bush).

----NOTE: Again, The investigation was of Zlochevsky. The allegations involved actions years earlier...

6...

Late 2014-early 2015: Ukrainian case pertaining to Zlochevsky is shelved.

September 2015: Joining IMF, EU and others, including in private letter from US, US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt condemns corruption of Ukraine's Prosecutor General. His words are attached...

7...

2/2016: Deputy Prosecutor General Kasko resigns, stating in public statement that the Prosecutor General Shokin's office is awash in corruption.

4/2016: 100s of Ukrainians demonstrate outside President Poroshenko’s office demanding Shokin’s resignation....

8...

4/2016: Biden - adding his voice to that of the IMF, the EU, foreign investors, the American Ambassador, the State Department et al., threatens to withhold money from Ukraine if it does not crack down on corruption.

So, if you can't follow this, even simpler:

9...the UK, Ukraine criminal investigation of the guy who owned Burisma involved events from pre-2013. They were opened MONTHS before Hunter Biden had any affiliation with Burisma, involving actions from YEARS before that - and were about potential crimes by the OWNER....

10...making it all the worse...

After Giuliani began his piggish push on Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden (for allegations of crimes investigated involving the owner of a company whose board he joined long after), the prosecutors said "Come get out files if you want them"...

11...this was, essentially, telling Trump and Giuliani in May, 2019 "leave us alone."

The current Prosecutor General, Yuriy Lutsenko, said in May that this "scandal" using Burisma case to attack US citizens "is being used for political purposes."

He then added....

12..."The message for Ukraine is quite easy to understand: from the perspective of Ukrainian legislation, we are now seeing no violation of Ukrainian laws by American citizens in the Burisma case."

2 months later, Trump purportedly started making promises to Ukraine to induce...

13...them to open an investigation into Hunter Biden, even though they were told in no uncertain terms that there was nothing there, even though the timeline makes no sense. And NOW? Reporters who can't be bothered to do research are doing "Well, yes, the president may have...

14...committed a crime to force an investigation of Biden's son, but hey! What about Biden's son?"

It is frustrating as hell to have all these facts in my head and then read and watch news as people who don't even know the basics opine on them.

Press: Do better.