President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani called for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to be investigated “quickly and expeditiously” over alleged conflicts of interest when he was vice president.
Giuliani tweeted a New York Times article Thursday about Biden’s work in Ukraine in 2016 when he threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees if Ukraine did not dismiss Viktor Shokin, the country’s prosecutor general. Shokin, who was accused of corruption, was voted out by the Ukrainian Parliament soon after.
Biden’s son, Hunter, stood to benefit from the decision because he was on the board of an energy company owned by a Ukrainian businessman that was being targeted by the prosecutor.
Giuliani tweeted Thursday: “Biden conflicts are too apparent to be ignored and should be investigated quickly and expeditiously. But the more important question is how deep and how high did the alleged Ukraine conspiracy go?”
https://t.co/FNVj16Hf10 via @nytimes. Biden conflicts are too apparent to be ignored and should be investigated quickly and expeditiously. But the more important question is how deep and how high did the alleged Ukraine conspiracy go?
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) May 2, 2019
At the time of Shokin’s departure, Hunter Biden was being paid $50,000 per month for his work with Burisma Holdings, the energy company. Hunter Biden left Burisma’s board last month.
Biden’s campaign said that his son’s position had no role in his 2016 work in Ukraine and that he never discussed the effort to remove Shokin with Hunter Biden.
Since joining the race, Biden has jumped in the polls and has a clear lead in the crowded Democratic field. A RealClearPolitics national average of polls shows him with 32.8% support.
