THREAD on the "issue" of the Bidens, Burisma, and Ukraine corruption as it is debated in the Senate during Trump's impeachment trial, among the media, voters, and candidates
1-I wrote a whole article discussing the Bidens & Burisma (linked to here), & several key points/facts have been grossly overlooked or even ignored, information credibly reported but then forgotten since that reflects favorably on Joe Biden & Hunter Biden realcontextnews.com/the-untold-sto…
2-As has been widely noted, Viktor Shokin, the corrupt prosecutor a unified international community supporting Ukraine wanted removed & that Biden was key in removing, was simply not prosecuting corruption overall, including issues with Burisma & its owner Mykola Zlochevsky
3-As has also been widely noted, Hunter Biden was on the board of Burisma while his father was trying to see a prosecutor put in place who'd tackle corruption. THIS MEANS THAT VP BIDEN'S ACTIONS PUT HUNTER'S POSITION AT RISK SINCE IT WOULD OPEN BURISMA TO SERIOUS INVESTIGATIONS
4-This is LITERALLY THE DEFINITION OF PUTTING ONE'S COUNTRY/DUTY OVER FAMILY/SELF. Any suggestions to contrary, based on self-serving statements from ousted Shokin, agents of Putin & Trump, or right-wing & Kremlin propaganda, are pure, discredited gaslighting of the highest level
5-As I noted in my earlier-cited piece, those smearing Biden w/ lies & disinformation here are often working DIRECTLY w/ allies of Putin & Russian mafia, trying to subvert democracy in Ukraine & help him dismember its territory, the reasons Congress approved $391m in military aid
6-Also, in this other piece, I note how the gaslighting Republicans and their allies are using against Biden is a CLASSIC Soviet/Russian propaganda/disinformation technique, one increasingly employed by Republicans and used to devastating effect in 2016 realcontextnews.com/ukrainegate-pr…
7-But perhaps the most overlooked info involves Hunter Biden's tenure on Burisma's board. NONE of the stuff being investigated involving Burisma happened during his tenure, ALL of the alleged/suspected crimes occurred before he came on board. So NONE of the inquiries involved him
8-ALL of the smears/lies against Hunter Biden on Burisma involve circumstantial ASSOCIATIONS. There is NOT even ANY circumstantial EVIDENCE incriminating Hunter AT ALL. But we DO have circumstantial EVIDENCE that reflects POSITIVELY on Hunter's tenure as a Burisma board member
9-During Hunter Biden's time on its board, Burisma made at least two (in 2016 & 2017) payments totaling at least $7 million in back taxes, settling outstanding cases/investigations w/ one of Shokin's replacements, in contrast to $0 in payments made to settle such cases w/ Shokin
10-These payments reflected a more aggressive overall attitude of this successor of Shokin's, including w/ Bruisma, confirming Joe Biden's positive role/effects in pushing Shokin out & using U.S. $ as leverage, A PROPER QUID PRO QUO appropriate & normal in foreign policy dealings
11-As a result of these payment, all investigations into Burisma were closed it was given a clean bill of legal health. This, in turn, allowed it begin a formal partnership w/ the Atlantic Council, a NATO-affiliated U.S. think tank pushing transparency, accountability, democracy
12-To be clear, while Hunter Biden was on Burisma's board, Burisma i-payed millions in back taxes under pressure from a new Ukrainian Prosecutor General who was only there AFTER Joe Biden helped remove Shokin & ii-joined with a reputable U.S. think tank working against corruption
13-Despite 100s of articles on Hunter Biden's negative circumstantial associations w/ Burisma, I've seen 0 (besides my own) that detail clear circumstantial evidence in his favor regarding Burisma in this context or noting its clear vindication of Joe's Shokin moves. #MediaFail
14-Maybe Burisma got off easy w/ those payments but that's speculation, & w/ 1000s of words dedicated to Hunter Biden's negative Burisma circumstantial ASSOCIATIONS & 0 in major outlets on the very real positive circumstantial EVIDENCE, that's GROSS journalistic malpractice here
15-No matter what else we learn, after BOTH Joe Biden's actions & while Hunter Biden was on its board, Burisma made significant strides in anti-corruption efforts, MORE than under Shokin & before Bidens were involved in Ukraine. This is OBJECTIVELY NEWSWORTHY; media missed it all
16-Despite CLEAR NEWSWORTHINESS--especially in contrast to ubiquitous negative coverage of the Bidens--dozens of media outlets rejected my piece/ignored it, despite citing Reuters, LA Times, & award-winning Kyiv Post for details; media failed miserably in fairness/due diligence!!
17-It's normal, if not fair, for kids of famous people to get cushy board jobs. Hunter isn't special here, but the main questions we must ask: do these kids use their family to give their employers improper blind eyes/other favoritism, or do they do work their ethically/honestly?
18-(& a ton of senators/congressman, media folks, & others expressing such vociferous anger @ Hunter Biden being on Burisma's board have their own kids receiving favors/jobs/opportunities/board spots & voted Bush, McCain, Romney, Trump who all had famous fathers/names that them!)
19-All we do know? ZERO evidence Joe Biden did any favors for Burisma or that Hunter lobbied his father to help Burisma; rather, Joe Biden risked Hunter's company's position in pushing for removal of Shokin & Burisma made anti-corruption improvements once Hunter joined its board
20-But there's more! Shokin, Lutsenko, Kulyuk worked w/ Giuliani, Parnas, Fruman, Nunes, diGenova, Toensing, Solomon, Hannity, Firtash, Artemenko, & Kislin to advance Kremlin talking points, personal interests of Trump, & Russia's interests at expense of Ukraine's/U.S. interests!
21-I detail how all this ties together into decades dealings between Team Trump and Team Putin in my new eBook, A Song of Gas and Politics, all about Ukraine's centrality to Trump-Russia & impeachment. I hope you'll check the out
@AmazonKindle version here amazon.com/dp/B081Y39SKR/
@AmazonKindle version here amazon.com/dp/B081Y39SKR/
@AmazonKindle 22-Here is the @nookBN version of A Song of Gas and Politics, all about Ukraine's centrality to Trump-Russia & impeachment, for you Barnes & Noble Nook folks: barnesandnoble.com/w/a-song-of-ga…
@AmazonKindle @nookBN 23-Also, you can see even more of a preview of A Song of Gas and Politics, all about Ukraine's centrality to Trump-Russia & impeachment, on Trump, Russia, Putin, Giuliani, Ukraine, Burisma, the Bidens, Firtash, Mogilevich, Parnas, & the Russian mob, here: realcontextnews.com/a-song-of-gas-…
@AmazonKindle @nookBN 24-You can also see my full Trump-Russia coverage going all the way back to July 2016 on my website here, including my @Newsweek Manafort piece, other external pieces, & links to full Mueller/impeachment/trial documents from @just_security & @BuzzFeedNews realcontextnews.com/articles/trump…
@AmazonKindle @nookBN @Newsweek @just_security @BuzzFeedNews 25-Also, a shameless self-plug as a struggling freelance writer: BUY MY BOOK, REVIEW it, & please consider sharing my work highlighted here & other pieces from my website on many other topics! Also, PLEASE consider donating below, EVERY little bit helps!!😁realcontextnews.com/#donate
26-Finally, reposting THE 1 article giving a fair/factual account of overall picture of Joe Biden's & Hunter Biden's actions in Ukraine, what the actual EVIDENCE—not smears, slanders, or disinformation from Kremlin & the right-wing media machine—tells us! realcontextnews.com/the-untold-sto…
27-Thread in my main @bfry1981 account now here
