Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

This article is about the conspiracy theory that the firing of Viktor Shokin was an attempt by Joe Biden to protect Hunter Biden. For the controversy surrounding Hunter Biden's laptop, see Hunter Biden laptop controversy. For allegations of corruption by the Bidens, see United States House Oversight Committee investigation into the Biden family.

Viktor Shokin
Joe Biden
Hunter Biden
Some of the primary subjects of the conspiracy theory.

The Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory is a series of false allegations that Joe Biden, while he was vice president of the United States, improperly withheld a loan guarantee and took a bribe to pressure Ukraine into firing prosecutor general Viktor Shokin to prevent a corruption investigation of Ukrainian gas company Burisma and to protect his son, Hunter Biden, who was on the Burisma board.[1] As part of efforts by Donald Trump[2] and his campaign in the Trump–Ukraine scandal, which led to Trump's first impeachment, these falsehoods were spread in an attempt to damage Joe Biden's reputation and chances during the 2020 presidential campaign, and later in an effort to impeach him.[3]

Joe Biden followed State Department intentions when he withheld the loan guarantee to pressure Ukraine into removing the prosecutor[4][5] who was seen as corrupt and failing to clean up Ukrainian corruption,[6] in accordance with the official and bipartisan policy of the United States, the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.[7][8][9] A confidential informant told the FBI that Burisma's owner said he was coerced to pay bribes to both Bidens to ensure Shokin was fired, though the informant was indicted in 2024 on charges he had fabricated the account.

United States intelligence community analysis released in March 2021 found that proxies of Russian intelligence promoted and laundered misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about the Bidens "to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration."[10][11][12] The New York Times reported in May 2021 that a federal criminal investigation was examining a possible role by current and former Ukrainian officials, including whether they used former Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who was the subject of a separate but related federal investigation, to spread unsubstantiated claims.[13]

A joint investigation by two Republican Senate committees released in September 2020 found no evidence of wrongdoing by Joe Biden. A sweeping Republican House committee investigation of the Biden family has found no wrongdoing by December 2023.[14][15][16][17] House Speaker Kevin McCarthy directed three committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry in September 2023, and on December 2 his successor Mike Johnson said he believed Republicans had enough votes in the House to initiate impeachment proceedings.

Background

See also: Conspiracy theories related to the Trump–Ukraine scandal

Since the Independence of Ukraine following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has had a history of running direct and active measures to undermine the sovereignty of Ukraine.[18] This included placing operatives in the government, influencing elections, and encouraging corruption.[19][20][21]

After the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War, when Russia invaded Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, Russia began to take active measures to influence Presidential Elections in the United States.[22][23] Beginning in 2014, this included efforts to discredit Joe Biden.[24]

The series of false allegations about Joe Biden and Burisma[24] emerged at a convergence of interest between Russian efforts to help Trump's candidacy,[25] operatives and supporters of the Trump campaign,[26] and media in the United States.[27][28]

The thesis of the false conspiracy theory asserts that Joe Biden sought the dismissal of a Ukrainian prosecutor to protect his son,[25] and that he did it in a quid pro quo manner by trading loan guarantees for the personal favor. This is in contrast to the attempted quid pro quo by President Trump, who unsuccessfully tried to pressure Ukrainian President Zelensky in a quid pro quo manner to start a publicly announced investigation of Burisma and the Bidens in exchange for military aid and a visit to the White House. Trump's effort resulted in his first impeachment.[24]

In January 2018, a videotaping by the Council on Foreign Relations shows Biden taking credit for withholding the loan guarantees to have the prosecutor fired.[29] His actions were implementations of bipartisan US policy rather than done for any of the reasons alleged in the conspiracy theory.[30][31]

Bribery allegation

In June 2020, a confidential informant told the FBI that Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky had said he had been coerced into paying Hunter Biden a $5 million bribe, as well as a $5 million bribe to "another Biden," to ensure Shokin would be fired. The FBI memorialized the informant's claims in an FD-1023 form, which read in part:

Zlochevsky said he had a total of "17 recordings" involving the Bidens; two of the recordings included Joe Biden, and the remaining 15 recordings only included Hunter Biden. [The informant] reiterated that, per Zlochevsky, these recordings evidence Zlochevsky was somehow coerced into paying the Bidens to ensure Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was fired.[4][32]

The informant also told the FBI that Zlochevsky said Burisma had hired Hunter Biden to "protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems."[33]

The FD-1023 came to the attention of the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee investigation of the Biden family in 2023, leading to allegations of bribery that contributed to the Republican-controlled House voting to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Biden in December 2023. Republican committee member Nancy Mace asserted in a September 2023 public hearing, "We already know the president took bribes from Burisma."[34]

In February 2024, the informant, Alexander Smirnov, was arrested by the FBI upon arriving in Las Vegas on a flight from an overseas location. He was indicted on charges that he had fabricated his account of conversations with Zlochevsky. The indictment asserted Smirnov appeared to have a political bias against Joe Biden, telling FBI handlers during the 2020 presidential campaign that he had evidence that would put Biden in jail.[33][35] Days after the indictment, prosecutors said Smirnov had admitted Russian intelligence officials had passed a false story about Hunter Biden to him and Smirnov had been "actively peddling new lies that could impact US elections" since meeting with Russian agents in late 2023. Prosecutors also said Smirnov is a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen who should be detained pending trial; the presiding magistrate judge ordered him released provided he surrender his passports and wear a GPS monitor.[36][37]

Conspirators

The falsehoods about Hunter Biden were spread by possible Russian operatives in the Ukrainian parliament,[38] right-wing media supportive of Trump,[24] and members of the Trump campaign,[39] especially Rudy Giuliani.

Russian involvement

Russian involvement was coordinated by Russian GRU lieutenant general Vladimir Alekseyevin, his deputy Oleksiy Savin, and Ihor Kolesnikov.[40] They coordinated a network spreading the false allegations through Ukrainian lawmakers Oleksandr Dubinsky and Andrii Derkach, Prosecutor Kostiantyn Kulyk and businessmen Dmytro Firtash and Konstantin Kilimnik.[24] The three were given ten million dollars[41] and used corrupt access to the Ukrainian Parliament and connections to media and politicians in the United States to spread the falsehoods.[42] Dubinsky, Derkach and Kulyk were sanctioned by the U.S. government in the closing days of the Trump administration, and in November 2023 Ukrainian authorities indicted them on treason charges.[43]

Ihor Kolesnikov

Ihor Kolesnikov, a Soviet-era GRU officer, coordinated the election subversion network from Kyiv.[44] Kolesnikov would organize Press Conferences for Oleksander Dubinsky and Andri Derkach. He was sentenced to fifteen years for treason in May 2022.[44]

Oleksander Dubinksy

Oleksandr Dubinsky, is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament who four years ago helped Rudy Giuliani in his attempts to find information in support of the false Biden-Ukraine conspiracy. Dubinsky is accused of treason for allegedly working to help Russia in its war against Ukraine.[41]

Dubinsky held Press Conference with Andrii Derkach to sprad the false rumors.[43] He also met with Rudy Giuliani in 2019 for the production of a falsified film about the conspiracy.[45]

In May 2021 Dubinsky was sanctioned by the US Government, his assets frozen, and his YouTube channel shutdown. In November 2023 Oleksander Dubinksy was charged for carrying out subversive informational activities by publishing "fakes about the alleged interference of Ukrainian high-ranking officials" in the U.S. 2020 presidential elections.[44]

Andrii Derkach

Andrii Derkach is a former Ukrainian politician, now stripped of citizenship,[46] who is believed to have been an agent or asset of Russia.[47] He played a central role in spreading falsehoods about Biden and Ukraine.[24]

Derkach released snippets of a supposed conversation between Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Poroshenko, in which Biden linked loan guarantees to the ouster of Viktor Shokin, the country's corrupt and ineffective prosecutor general.[5] The recordings, which were not verified as authentic and appeared to be heavily edited,[48] did not provide evidence to support the ongoing conspiracy theory that Biden wanted the prosecutor fired to protect his son.[49] In June 2020, Poroshenko denied that Joe Biden ever approached him about Burisma and characterized the recordings as fake.[50][51] In September 2020, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Derkach, stating he "has been an active Russian agent for over a decade, maintaining close connections with the Russian Intelligence Services". The Treasury Department added that Derkach "waged a covert influence campaign centered on cultivating false and unsubstantiated narratives concerning U.S. officials in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election," including by the release of "edited audio tapes and other unsupported information with the intent to discredit U.S. officials".[52][53]

Kostiantyn Kulyk

In 2019, as deputy prosecutor general. Mr Kulyk wrote a 2019 memo calling for an investigation into Hunter Biden's role on Burisma's board.[43] Later that year he had plans to meet Mr Giuliani to discuss the allegations in order to spread the false conspiracy.[54]

Kulyk has been indicted on multiple corruption charges.[55] Mr Kulyk though fled Ukraine after Russia's invasion in 2022[43] and is also sanctioned by the United States for his roll in the subversive activities.[56]

Dmytro Firtash

Dmytro Firtash was a middleman for Gazprom and connected to the Ukrainian governnment.[57] He has acknowledged that he was installed as a middleman by Russian mob boss Semion Mogilevich.[58]

Since 2014 Firtash has faced bribery charges and fought extradition to the United States while he has been released on bail in Austria. He wired one million dollars to the wife of Lev Parnas, a former associate of Giuliani. He provided a now-discredited affidavit from Kulyk accusing Biden of wrongdoing. Trump and Giuliani associates Joe DiGenova and Victoria Toensing attempted to persuade Attorney General William Barr to drop charges against Firtash but failed.[58]

Konstantin Kilimnik

Konstantin Kilimnik oversaw a network of people working on behalf of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to influence the 2020 elections.[59] Kilimnik had the single strongest ties, authorized by President Putin,[60] to the Trump administration in both 2016 and 2020 elections.[61] He organized Russia's media outreach campaigns to spread lies about Biden and corruption in Ukraine as part of Russia's efforts to help Trump.[62][63]

American media involvement

American media organizations with ties to the Trump campaign were involved in the spread of the false allegations.[24] Specifically Peter Schweizer,[64] John Solomon,[24] Fox News,[65] and One America News Network[66] were essential in creating and disseminating the lies that built the background for this conspiracy theory.

Peter Schweizer

Peter Schweizer, editor-at-large at Breitbart News and president of the conservative Government Accountability Institute, was the first person to spread the falsehoods about Joe Biden and Burisma in his book "Secret Empires".[24] The plagiarized book[67] included a false story that on January 12, 2017, Joe Biden, who was then the vice-president, sought to end an investigation into Burisma to protect Hunter Biden, who had a profitable post on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company run by a shady oligarch.[24]

Schweizer launched a media blitz in 2019 to help the conspiracy spread and appeared and wrote editorials repeating his lie in multiple news outlets.[68] This, in turn, helped to lead Trump allies in Ukraine[69] and Congress to promote the lie.[70]

John Solomon

Washington Post attributes John Solomon, formerly of The Hill, the most responsibility[71] for the spread of the untrue claims in U.S. media.[24]

Beginning in the spring of 2019, Solomon published a series of editorials which The Hill notes are now part of Congressional inquiries due to their connection to the spreading of lies. Solomon relied heavily on Schweizer's book.[24] The story being pushed by Solomon had significant flaws,[71] including relying on a corrupt source who would not substantiate the claims.[72] In testimony before Congress, Alexander Vindman said Solomon's claims were "entirely made up in full cloth".[73]

Media Matters reported in September 2023 that the previous month Solomon published a State Department briefing memo prepared for Joe Biden's December 2015 trip to Ukraine. The memo read, in part:

There is wide agreement that anti-corruption must be at the top of this list, and that reforms must include an overhaul of the Prosecutor General's Office including removal of Prosecutor General Shokin, who is widely regarded as an obstacle to fighting corruption, if not a source of the problem.[74]

Fox News

Fox News was also involved in the spread of the falsehoods.[65] Fox ran at least twelve broadcasts about John Solomon's report about the Burisma probe. The false conspiracy theory was mentioned on Sean Hannity's program, with him claiming Solomon had caught Joe Biden in an "international corruption scandal".[75][76]

One America News Network

One America News Network (OANN) is a far-right, pro-Trump news outlet with reporters who also work for Russian news agencies,[66] and the network was essential to spreading lies about Biden and Burisma.[77]

OANN produced a "documentary series intended to debunk the impeachment case", and an OANN crew traveled with Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to gather information.[54] OANN later aired a misleading documentary about Biden and Burisma called "The Ukraine Hoax: Impeachment, Biden Cash, and Mass Murder"[78] produced by Michael Caputo,[77] a member of the Trump campaign, and Sergey Petrushin, a Russian living in Florida. The documentary used fake documents provided to Giuliani by Parnas on behalf of Andrii Derkach and Konstantin Kilimnik.[65] Following Caputo's work in spreading the falsehoods through OANN, Donald Trump made Caputo the assistant secretary of public affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump campaign involvement

The Trump campaign's actions in spreading the conspiracy, especially the active engagement of Rudy Giuliani with possible Russian agents,[79] were highlighted during Donald Trump's first impeachment.[80]

Trump's first impeachment

Trump's first impeachment charge of abuse of power was triggered by a July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which then-President Trump unsuccessfully tried to pressure Zelenskyy in a quid pro quo manner to start a publicly announced investigation of Burisma and the Bidens in exchange for the release of congressionally mandated financial and military aid to Ukraine and the promise of a Trump–Zelenskyy meeting at the White House.[81] During the hearings and impeachment trial of President Trump in 2019–20, he and his allies repeatedly alleged that Joe Biden and his son had engaged in corrupt activities in Ukraine.[80][82] Trump said he planned to make it a major issue during the 2020 United States presidential election,[83] while a Republican-controlled Senate committee carried out an investigation into the allegations in spring 2020.[84] The investigation by the Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Finance Committees concluded in September 2020 that Hunter Biden "'cashed in' on his father's name to close lucrative business deals around the world", but that there was no evidence of improper influence or wrongdoing by Joe Biden.[85]

Rudy Giuliani

Working together with Andrii Derkach (an active Russian agent),[52] Dmytro Firtash, and other individuals linked to Russian intelligence and organized crime,[86][50] Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and his associates spearheaded an effort to gather information in Ukraine to advance the allegations, and Attorney General William Barr confirmed that the Justice Department had created an "intake process" to review Giuliani's findings.[87]

In late 2019, it was revealed that the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which Giuliani had once led, was investigating him for multiple felonies relating to his activities in Ukraine.[88][89] Intelligence officials warned Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Senate committee investigating the Bidens, that he risked spreading Russian disinformation.[90] The Washington Post reported in October 2020 that American intelligence agencies warned the White House in 2019 that Giuliani was the target of a Russian influence operation, and National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien warned President Trump about accepting what Giuliani told him. While monitoring Russian assets, U.S. intelligence recorded Giuliani communicating with them.[91] According to officials interviewed by The Daily Beast, then-National Security Advisor John Bolton told his staff not to meet with Giuliani, as did his successor Robert C. O'Brien, because Bolton had been informed that Giuliani was spreading conspiracy theories that aligned with Russian interests in disrupting the 2020 election. These officials were also concerned that Giuliani would be used as a conduit for disinformation, including "leaks" of emails that would mix genuine with forged material to implicate Hunter Biden in corrupt dealings.[92] Interviewed by The Daily Beast, Giuliani would later declare that Derkach's being sanctioned was the result of a conspiracy led by George Soros and that "the chance that Derkach is a Russian spy is no better than 50/50".[93]

In October 2020, during the last weeks of the presidential campaign, the New York Post published an article, with the involvement of Donald Trump's personal attorney Giuliani and former chief strategist Steve Bannon, about a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden. The laptop contained an email, the authenticity of which was later verified by The Washington Post in 2022,[94] showing what the New York Post characterized as a "meeting" between Joe Biden and Vadym Pozharskyi, a Burisma advisor, in 2015, though that characterization was disputed by witnesses.[5] The article's veracity was strongly questioned by most mainstream media outlets, analysts and intelligence officials, due to the chain of custody of the laptop and its contents, and suspicion that it may have been part of a disinformation campaign.[95][96][97] A Republican activist delivered a portable drive to the Washington Post and stated that the device contained data copied from the laptop. The Post confirmed that some of the materials provided to them were genuine, but could not confirm that the materials on the portable drive came from the purported laptop; the Post also concluded that most of the data could not be verified and fake material may have been mixed in with it.[94] Hunter Biden said that it is possible the laptop could be his.[98][99]

Ukrainian businessman Hares Youssef told The Times that an associate of Dmytro Firtash asked Youssef to lie about Hunter Biden's business dealings to damage Joe Biden's presidential campaign, in exchange for a United States visa.[100]

Subjects of the conspiracy

The false allegations asserted that Joe Biden asked for the dismissal of Viktor Shokin to cover up crimes by his son Hunter Biden.[24]

Viktor Shokin

Viktor Shokin was appointed to the position of Prosecutor General of Ukraine by Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, to whom he was loyal. Due to his own corruption and failures to do his job to clean up corruption, representatives of the EU, the United States, the World Bank, and International Monetary Fund,[6] pressed Poroshenko for his removal.[101]

In March 2016 testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, former ambassador to Ukraine John E. Herbst stated, "By late fall of 2015, the EU and the United States joined the chorus of those seeking Mr. Shokin's removal" and that Joe Biden "spoke publicly about this before and during his December visit to Kyiv". During the same hearing, assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland stated, "we have pegged our next $1 billion loan guarantee, first and foremost, to having a rebooting of the reform coalition so that we know who we are working with, but secondarily, to ensuring that the prosecutor general's office gets cleaned up."[8] An overwhelming majority vote in the Ukrainian Parliament in March 2016 led to Shokin's removal from office[102] after an investigation into extortion of another company led to associates who were found in possession of diamonds, cash and other valuables,[103] as well as documents and passports belonging to Shokin.[104]

In an August 2023 Fox News interview, Shokin said he was fired as prosecutor general "at the insistence of then-Vice President [Biden] because I was investigating Burisma." One month later, Poroshenko was asked on Fox News for his reaction to Shokin's assertion. Poroshenko responded:

First of all, this is a completely crazy person. There is something wrong with him. Second, there is not one single word of truth. And third, I hate the idea to make any comments and to make any intervention in an American election. We have very much enjoyed the bipartisan support, and please, do not use such a person like Shokin to undermine the trust between bipartisan support and Ukraine.

The Fox News interviewer responded, "Okay, so that is not true. He didn't get fired because of Joe Biden." Poroshenko confirmed this, adding Shokin was fired by the Ukrainian parliament "for his own statement" and "he played a very dirty game unfortunately."[105][106]

Hunter Biden

Hunter Biden is a lawyer whose career previously included a period as an executive vice president at MBNA and three years at the United States Department of Commerce. He then worked as a lobbyist until 2006, when George W. Bush appointed him to the board of directors of Amtrak. Hunter Biden resigned from Amtrak in February 2009, shortly after the inauguration of Barack Obama, when his father Joe Biden became vice-president. He resumed lobbying, and was counsel at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, until the Ukrainian oil and gas firm Burisma Holdings appointed him to its board of directors in April 2014.[107] As Hunter Biden had no prior experience in Ukraine or the energy sector, some viewed this as a likely attempt to buy influence via his father, though Hunter Biden was hired to conduct general corporate consulting rather than to provide energy expertise.[108] Hunter Biden's employment was described by some as a potential conflict of interest, and advisors to the Obama administration considered the situation awkward.[109]

Congressional investigations

After Republicans took control of the House in January 2023, three House committees initiated investigations into Joe Biden, his family, and the Justice Department. In September 2023, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy authorized the committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry, to be led by James Comer, chairman of the House investigation into the Biden family. McCarthy had days earlier said that he would hold a full House vote to authorize an inquiry.[110]

The Washington Post reported that during a November 7 luncheon with the Republican Governance Group, McCarthy's successor Mike Johnson indicated there was insufficient evidence to initiate formal impeachment proceedings.[111] Johnson said on December 2 that he believed he had enough House votes to continue to impeachment proceedings, as Republicans said a vote might be held within days, though they acknowledged they had not found evidence of misconduct by the president.[112][113][17]

Lev Parnas testimony

At the invitation of committee Democrats, on March 20, 2024, Parnas testified before the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee investigation into the Biden family that was pursuing the impeachment of President Joe Biden.[114][115][116] Parnas stated he was tasked by Giuliani with "finding dirt on the Bidens" to "spread misinformation about them" but he was unable to find evidence of Biden corruption in Ukraine.[117] He testified, in part:[118]

The American people have been lied to, by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and various cohorts of individuals in government and media positions. They created falsehoods to serve their own interests knowing it would undermine the strength of our nation ... Congressman Pete Sessions, then-Congressman Devin Nunes, Senator Ron Johnson and many others understood they were pushing a false narrative. The same goes for John Solomon, Sean Hannity and media personnel, particularly with Fox News, who used this narrative to manipulate the public ahead of the 2020 elections. Sadly, they are still doing this today as we approach the 2024 elections ... The only information ever pushed on the Bidens and Ukraine has come from one source and one source only: Russia and Russian agents.

See also

References

  1. ^ Multiple sources:
  2. ^ Kessler, Glenn (September 27, 2019). "A quick guide to Trump's false claims about Ukraine and the Bidens". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2021. Trump has falsely claimed that Biden in 2015 pressured the Ukrainian government to fire Viktor Shokin, the top Ukrainian prosecutor, because he was investigating Ukraine's largest private gas company, Burisma, which had added Biden's son, Hunter, to its board in 2014.
  3. ^ Goldman, Adam (October 22, 2020). "What We Know and Don't About Hunter Biden and a Laptop". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Prokop, Andrew (September 28, 2023). "Republicans' thin corruption case against Joe Biden, explained". Vox. There is wide agreement that anti-corruption must be at the top of this list, and that reforms must include an overhaul of the Prosecutor General's Office including removal of Prosecutor General Shokin, who is widely regarded as an obstacle to fighting corruption, if not a source of the problem
  5. ^ a b c Kessler, Glenn (October 15, 2020). "Hunter Biden's alleged laptop: an explainer". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 15, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Blake, Aaron (January 27, 2020). "The Bidens, Burisma and impeachment, explained". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  7. ^ Blake, Aaron (September 23, 2020). "GOP's Hunter Biden report doesn't back up Trump's actual conspiracy theory — or anything close to it". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Ukrainian Reforms Two Years After the Maidan Revolution and the Russian Invasion Hearing". United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. United States Government Publishing Office. March 15, 2016. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  9. ^ Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em (October 3, 2019). "Republican senators echoed Biden in urging Ukrainian president to reform prosecutor general's office". CNN.
  10. ^ Cohen, Zachary; Cohen, Marshall; Polantz, Katelyn (March 16, 2021). "US intelligence report says Russia used Trump allies to influence 2020 election with goal of 'denigrating' Biden". CNN. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  11. ^ "Foreign Threats to the 2020 US Federal Elections" (PDF). National Intelligence Council. March 10, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  12. ^ Matishak, Martin (March 16, 2021). "Russia stoked Ukraine allegations, used Trump allies to undermine Biden, U.S. intel agencies say". Politico. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  13. ^ Rashbaum, William K.; Protess, Ben; Vogel, Kenneth P.; Hong, Nicole (May 27, 2021). "Prosecutors Investigating Whether Ukrainians Meddled in 2020 Election". The New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  14. ^ Fandos, Nicholas (November 7, 2020). "Republican Inquiry Finds No Evidence of Wrongdoing by Biden". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Demirjian, Karoun (July 4, 2023). "Republicans Are Divided on Impeaching Biden as Panel Begins New Inquiry". The New York Times.
  16. ^ Otten, Tori (September 12, 2023). "McCarthy Launches Biden Impeachment Inquiry—With Zero Evidence". The New Republic. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Fitzpatrick, Sarah; Shabad, Rebecca (December 1, 2023). "House GOP chairmen accuse Hunter Biden of seeking special treatment in impeachment probe". NBC News. However, Republicans have admitted that they haven't found evidence of wrongdoing by the president.
  18. ^ Giles, Kier (2023). Russia's War on Everybody. London, UK; New York, NY: Bloomsburg. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-3502-5508-1.
  19. ^ A'Beckett, Ludmilla (2013). "Strategies to Discredit Opponents: Russian Presentations of Events in Countries of the Former Soviet Union". Psychology of Language and Communication. 17 (2): 133–156. doi:10.2478/plc-2013-0009. S2CID 48066635.
  20. ^ Badawy, Adam; Addawood, Aseel; Lerman, Kristina; Ferrara, Emilio (2019). "Characterizing the 2016 Russian IRA influence campaign". Social Network Analysis and Mining. 9. arXiv:1812.01997. doi:10.1007/s13278-019-0578-6. S2CID 256091225.
  21. ^ Boyte, KJ (2017). "An Analysis of the Social-Media Technology, Tactics, and Narratives Used to Control Perception in the Propaganda War over Ukraine". Journal of Information Warfare. 16 (1): 88–111. JSTOR 26502878.
  22. ^ Golovchenko, Yevgeniy; Buntain, Cody; Eady, Gregory; Brown, Megan A.; Tucker, Joshua A. (2020). "Cross-Platform State Propaganda: Russian Trolls on Twitter and YouTube during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election". The International Journal of Press/Politics. 25 (3): 357–389. doi:10.1177/1940161220912682. S2CID 218809071.
  23. ^ Suk, Jiyoun; Lukito, Josephine; Su, Min-Hsin; Kim, Sang Jung; Tong, Chau; Sun, Zhongkai; Sarma, Prathusha (2022). "Do I sound American? How message attributes of IRA disinformation relate to Twitter engagement". Computational Communication Research. 4 (2): 590–628. doi:10.5117/CCR2022.2.008.SUK. S2CID 252602333.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Mayer, Jane (October 4, 2019). "The Invention of the Conspiracy Theory on Biden and Ukraine". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  25. ^ a b Bastos, Marco; Farkas, Johan (July 2019). "'Donald Trump Is My President!': The Internet Research Agency Propaganda Machine". Social Media + Society. 5 (3). doi:10.1177/2056305119865466. hdl:2043/29693. ISSN 2056-3051. S2CID 181681781.
  26. ^ Bardella, Kurt (May 20, 2020). "Opinion | Republicans are doing Trump's election dirty work — starting with Hunter Biden". NBC News. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  27. ^ Oates, Sarah; Gurevich, Olya; Walker, Christopher; Deibler, Danielle; Anderson, Jesse (September 8, 2020). "Sharing a Playbook?: The Convergence of Russian and U.S. Narratives about Joe Biden". APSA Preprints. doi:10.33774/apsa-2020-v9pgw. S2CID 225285388. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  28. ^ Alba, Davey (October 29, 2019). "Debunking 4 Viral Rumors About the Bidens and Ukraine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  29. ^ "Foreign Affairs Issue Launch with Former Vice President Joe Biden". Council on Foreign Relations. January 23, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  30. ^ Kessler, Glenn; Rizzo, Salvador; Kelly, Meg (September 30, 2020). "Fact-checking the first Trump-Biden presidential debate". The Washington Post.
  31. ^ Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em (October 3, 2019). "Republican senators echoed Biden in urging Ukrainian president to reform prosecutor general's office". CNN. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  32. ^ "FD-1023 of Alexander Smirnov" (PDF). Senator Chuck Grassley. June 30, 2020.
  33. ^ a b Lindsay Whitehurst; Lisa Mascaro (February 15, 2024). "FBI informant charged with lying about Joe and Hunter Biden's ties to Ukrainian energy company". Associated Press.
  34. ^ Daniel Dale; Marshall Cohen; Annie Grayer (September 28, 2023). "Fact check: Republicans make false, misleading claims at first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing". CNN.
  35. ^ Thrush, Glenn (February 15, 2024). "Ex-F.B.I. Informant Is Charged With Lying Over Bidens' Role in Ukraine Business". The New York Times.
  36. ^ Rabinowitz, Hannah (February 20, 2024). "Indicted ex-FBI informant told investigators he got Hunter Biden dirt from Russian intelligence officials". CNN.
  37. ^ Lucas, Ryan (February 10, 2024). "Ex-FBI source charged with Biden lies is tied to Russian intelligence, prosecutors say". National Public Radio.
  38. ^ Sauliuc, Adriana (March 2021). "Russia's Disinformation Campaign In The Time Of COVID-19 Pandemic". Romanian Military Thinking. 2021 (1): 22–33. doi:10.55535/rmt.2021.1.02. ISSN 1841-4451. S2CID 259031527.
  39. ^ Schlesinger, Robert (October 15, 2020). "Trump's tries at an October surprise show how divorced from reality he is". NBC News. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  40. ^ Melkozerova, Veronika (November 13, 2023). "Ukraine charges Rudy Giuliani's top local ally with Moscow-linked treason". Politico. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  41. ^ a b Stern, David (November 14, 2023). "Ukrainian lawmaker with ties to Giuliani arrested on treason charges". Washington Post. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  42. ^ Goldberg, Michelle (October 20, 2020). "Opinion | Is the Trump Campaign Colluding With Russia Again?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  43. ^ a b c d McCausland, Phil (November 15, 2023). "Ukraine charges officials tied to Hunter Biden probe and Russia". Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  44. ^ a b c "Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Dubinsky arrested for treason The deputy is suspected of working for Russia and interfering in U.S. elections". Meduza. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  45. ^ Walker, Shaun (November 14, 2023). "Ukraine MP linked to Rudy Giuliani charged with colluding with Russia". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  46. ^ Kochubey, Bogdan (January 11, 2023). "Zelenskiy strips Putin ally Medvedchuk, three others of Ukrainian citizenship". Reuters. Retrieved June 4, 2023..
  47. ^ Levin, Dov H. (March 7, 2023). "Is sunlight the best counterintelligence technique? The effectiveness of covert operation exposure in blunting the Russian intervention in the 2020 U.S. election". Intelligence and National Security. 38 (5): 816–834. doi:10.1080/02684527.2023.2181923. ISSN 0268-4527. S2CID 257421505.
  48. ^ Sonne, Paul; Helderman, Rosalind S. (May 19, 2020). "Ukrainian lawmaker releases leaked phone calls of Biden and Poroshenko". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  49. ^ Sonne, Paul; Helderman, Rosalind S.; Dawsey, Josh; Stern, David L. (June 30, 2020). "Hunt for Biden tapes in Ukraine by Trump allies revives prospect of foreign interference". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 1, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  50. ^ a b Bertrand, Natasha (June 26, 2020). "Senate panel demands testimony from ex-Obama officials in revived Biden probe". Politico. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  51. ^ Seddiq, Oma (June 21, 2020). "Former Ukrainian president says Biden never pressed him on Burisma". Politico. Archived from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  52. ^ a b Cohen, Zachary; Atwood, Kylie; Cohen, Marshall (September 10, 2020). "Vowing crackdown on Russian meddling, US sanctions Ukrainian lawmaker who worked with Giuliani to smear Biden". CNN. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  53. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Russia-Linked Election Interference Actors". United States Department of the Treasury. September 10, 2020. Archived from the original on September 11, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  54. ^ a b Vogel, Kenneth P.; Novak, Benjamin (December 4, 2019). "Giuliani, Facing Scrutiny, Travels to Europe to Interview Ukrainians". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  55. ^ Kramer, Andrew E.; Schwirtz, Michael (October 15, 2019). "The Ukrainian Prosecutor Behind the Dossier Targeting Hunter Biden". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  56. ^ Hodge, Nathan; Butenko, Victoria; Cohen, Marshall (November 16, 2023). "Ukraine implicates three Giuliani allies in plot to help Russia meddle in 2020 US election". CNN. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  57. ^ Myers, Steven Lee; Kramer, Andrew E. (August 1, 2016). "How Paul Manafort Wielded Power in Ukraine Before Advising Donald Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  58. ^ a b Winter, Tom; Dilanian, Ken; De Luce, Dan (January 25, 2020). "The oligarch linked to $1 million loan to Giuliani ally has a shadowy past". NBC News. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  59. ^ Draper, Robert (April 11, 2022). "'This Was Trump Pulling a Putin'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  60. ^ Barnes, Julian E. (March 16, 2021). "Russian Interference in 2020 Included Influencing Trump Associates, Report Says". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  61. ^ Jalonick, Mary Clare; Balsamo, Michael (April 20, 2021). "Intel officials say Russia boosting Trump candidacy". Associated Press. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  62. ^ Barnes, Julian E.; Rosenberg, Matthew (November 22, 2019). "Charges of Ukrainian Meddling? A Russian Operation, U.S. Intelligence Says". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  63. ^ Eckel, Mike (December 8, 2022). "Five Things To Know About The U.S. Intelligence Report On Russian Election Interference". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  64. ^ Davies, Dave (October 9, 2019). "How A Political Hit Job Backfired, And Led To Trump's Impeachment Peril". NPR Fresh Air. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  65. ^ a b c Vicens, AJ; Friedman, Dan (March 16, 2021). "Russia worked to boost Trump in 2020—with help from Giuliani, Fox News, and OANN". Mother Jones. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  66. ^ a b Dovere, Edward-Isaac (June 11, 2020). "Is OAN the Leading Edge of Russian Misinformation?". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  67. ^ Markay, Lachlan (October 3, 2019). "Book Alleging Biden Corruption in Ukraine Lifted Passages From Wikipedia". The Daily Beast. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  68. ^ Hagle, Courtney; Lewis, Bobby (September 23, 2019). "Debunking lies about Trump, Biden, Ukraine, and the whistleblower". Media Matters for America. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  69. ^ Shuster, Simon (November 19, 2019). "Trump's Call For Investigations Finds New Support Among Russian Allies in Ukraine". Time. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  70. ^ Schneider, Spencer (2021). "Money, Power, and Radical Honesty: A Look At Members of Congress' Use of Information for Financial Gain". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3951560. ISSN 1556-5068. S2CID 244460392.
  71. ^ a b Farhi, Paul (September 28, 2019). "How a conservative columnist helped push a flawed Ukraine narrative". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  72. ^ Mackinnon, Amy; Standish, Reid (September 26, 2019). "How a D.C. News Site Amplified Dubious Ukraine Claims". Foreign Policy. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  73. ^ Kalmbacher, Colin (November 8, 2019). "Top Takeaways from Fiona Hill, Alexander Vindman Transcripts". Law & Crime. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  74. ^ Gertz, Matt (September 18, 2023). "John Solomon inadvertently detonated the House impeachment case". Media Matters for America. Retrieved September 19, 2023. There is wide agreement that anti-corruption must be at the top of this list, and that reforms must include an overhaul of the Prosecutor General's Office including removal of Prosecutor General Shokin, who is widely regarded as an obstacle to fighting corruption, if not a source of the problem.
  75. ^ Ecarma, Caleb (October 21, 2020). "Sean Hannity Is Still Trying to Make Hunter Biden's Emails a Thing". Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  76. ^ Gertz, Matt (September 26, 2019). "Timeline: How Trump allies and propagandists teamed up to try to smear Biden over Ukraine". Media Matters for America. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  77. ^ a b Sheth, Sonam (March 17, 2021). "Russian proxies 'helped produce a documentary that aired on a US television network' last year, intelligence report says". Business Insider. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  78. ^ Stone, Ken (March 17, 2021). "San Diego's OAN Had Role in Russian Efforts to Sway Election, Intelligence Report Hints". Times of San Diego. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  79. ^ Rawnsley, Adam (December 7, 2022). "Rudy Giuliani's Russian Spy Pal Charged With Money Laundering". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  80. ^ a b Santucci, Jeanine; Today, Usa (September 25, 2019). "'I would like you to do us a favor.' What Trump and Zelensky said in their July 25 phone call". USA TODAY. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  81. ^ Sheth, Sonam (March 19, 2022). "Marie Yovanovitch says Rudy Giuliani was Trump's 'personal dirt-digger' and corrupt Ukrainians used him to spread 'lies and half-truths' in the US". Business Insider. Retrieved March 20, 2022. Trump tried to "pressure the Ukrainian president into publicly announcing investigations targeting the Bidens while withholding vital military aid and a White House meeting."
  82. ^ Edelman, Adam (January 27, 2020). "Trump impeachment defense team turns attention to Bidens, Burisma". NBC News. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  83. ^ Chalfant, Morgan (March 4, 2020). "Trump says Biden Ukraine dealings will be a 'major' campaign issue". The Hill. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  84. ^ Fandos, Nicholas (May 20, 2020). "Senate Panel, Urged On by Trump, Subpoenas Biden-Related Material". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  85. ^ Fandos, Nicholas (September 23, 2020). "Republican Inquiry Finds No Evidence of Wrongdoing by Biden". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020.
  86. ^ Baker, Stephanie; Reznik, Irina (October 18, 2019). "To Win Giuliani's Help, Oligarch's Allies Pursued Biden Dirt". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  87. ^ Shortell, David (February 10, 2020). "Barr confirms Justice Department is receiving Giuliani information about Ukraine". CNN. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  88. ^ Schmidt, Michael S.; Protess, Ben; Vogel, Kenneth P.; Rashbaum, William K. (October 11, 2019). "Giuliani Is Said to Be Under Investigation for Ukraine Work". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  89. ^ Strohm, Chris; Fabian, Jordan (November 15, 2019). "Giuliani Faces U.S. Probe on Campaign Finance, Lobbying Breaches". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  90. ^ Vogel, Kenneth P.; Fandos, Nicholas (March 11, 2020). "Senate Panel Delays Subpoena Vote Over Concerns About Ukraine Witness". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  91. ^ Harris, Shane; Nakashima, Ellen; Miller, Greg; Dawsey, Josh (October 15, 2020). "White House was warned Giuliani was target of Russian intelligence operation to feed misinformation to Trump". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  92. ^ Banco, Erin; Ackerman, Spencer; Suebsaeng, Asawin (October 16, 2020). "Bolton Warned His Staff To Stay Away From Russia-Aligned Rudy Giuliani". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  93. ^ Suebsaeng, Asawin; Banco, Erin (October 17, 2020). "Rudy: Only '50/50' Chance I Worked With a 'Russian Spy' to Dig Dirt on Bidens". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  94. ^ a b Timberg, Craig; Viser, Matt; Hamburger, Tom (March 30, 2022). "Here's how The Post analyzed Hunter Biden's laptop". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  95. ^ Robertson, Katie (October 18, 2020). "New York Post Published Hunter Biden Report Amid Newsroom Doubts". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  96. ^ Benveniste, Alexis (October 18, 2020). "The anatomy of the New York Post's dubious Hunter Biden story". CNN. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  97. ^ Bertrand, Natasha (October 19, 2020). "Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say". Politico. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  98. ^ Schreckinger, Ben (October 12, 2021). "'Hiding the Ball': Hunter Biden Complicates White House Anti-Corruption Push". Politico. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  99. ^ Benner, Katie; Vogel, Kenneth P.; Schmidt, Michael S. (March 16, 2022). "Hunter Biden Paid Tax Bill, but Broad Federal Investigation Continues". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  100. ^ Rana, Manveen (November 9, 2020). "I was asked to lie about Hunter Biden, admits Ukrainian businessman: Hares Youssef claims he was promised a US visa in return for information that would damage Joe Biden's presidential campaign". The Times. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  101. ^ Politi, James; Sevastopulo, Demetri; Peels, Michael; Olearchyk, Roman (October 4, 2019). "Envoys pushed to oust Ukraine prosecutor before Biden". Financial Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  102. ^ McLaughlin, Daniel (March 29, 2016). "EU hails sacking of Ukraine's prosecutor Viktor Shokin". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  103. ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (March 29, 2016). "Ukraine Ousts Viktor Shokin, Top Prosecutor, and Political Stability Hangs in the Balance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  104. ^ Carroll, Oliver (October 9, 2019). "The inside story of Ukraine's 'very good' prosecutor at the centre of Trump's latest scandal". The Independent. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  105. ^ Bump, Philip (September 25, 2023). "The Republican case against Biden takes a body blow … from Fox News". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  106. ^ Meyer, Ken (September 25, 2023). "Ex-Ukrainian President Wrecks Fox Host's Attempt to Use Shokin in Biden Conspiracy: 'Please' Don't Use This 'Completely Crazy Person'". Mediaite. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  107. ^ Ivanova, Polina (October 19, 2019). "What Hunter Biden did on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma". Reuters. Kiev. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  108. ^ Ivanova, Polina; Tsvetkova, Maria; Zhegulev, Ilya; Baker, Luke (October 18, 2019). "What Hunter Biden did on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma". Reuters.
  109. ^ Kranish, Michael; Stern, David L. (July 22, 2019). "As vice president, Biden said Ukraine should increase gas production. Then his son got a job with a Ukrainian gas company". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  110. ^ Hughes, Siobhan; Ferek, Katy Stech (September 12, 2023). "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Launches Formal Biden Impeachment Inquiry". The Wall Street Journal.
  111. ^ Alemany, Jacqueline (November 10, 2023). "Momentum behind impeachment inquiry slows under new speaker". The Washington Post.
  112. ^ Zhao, Christina (December 2, 2023). "Speaker Mike Johnson says he thinks he has the votes to authorize Biden impeachment inquiry". NBC News.
  113. ^ Kaplan, Rebecca; Kapur, Sahil; Shabad, Rebecca (December 1, 2023). "House vote to authorize Biden impeachment inquiry could happen as early as next week". NBC News.
  114. ^ Fitzpatrick, Sarah; Concepcion, Summer (March 20, 2024). "Lev Parnas, ex-Giuliani associate, testified allegations against Bidens are false and 'spread by the Kremlin'". NBC News. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  115. ^ Rohrlich, Justin (March 20, 2024). "Comer Keeps Stepping In It as Impeachment Witness Dishes Dirt on Giuliani". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  116. ^ Parnas, Lev (March 19, 2024). "Written Statement of Lev Parnas, March 19, 2024" (PDF). House Oversight Committee. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  117. ^ "Lev Parnas dishes dirt on Rudy Giuliani and escaping the 'Trump cult' in madcap Biden impeachment hearing". The Independent. March 20, 2024.
  118. ^ Walsh, Sheri (March 20, 2024). "At House impeachment inquiry hearing, key witness Lev Parnas blasts Republicans for pushing 'falsehoods'". UPI. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biden–Ukraine_conspiracy_theory&oldid=1219523105"