Rep. Mike Quigley dismissed allegations of unethical business dealings in Ukraine within Joe Biden’s family as a “debunked conspiracy” despite testimony from a top U.S. diplomat who said those charges were never investigated.
“The testimony is taking place in the nation’s capital, not Area 51,” the Illinois Democrat said of Republicans participating in Wednesday’s upcoming public impeachment hearings. “If they want to go after debunked conspiracy theories, they can go out there. But that’s how this all began, with them trying to force an ally to go after a sham investigation.”
Republicans have said they want to call the former vice president’s son, Hunter Biden, to testify after a whistleblower in the intelligence community alleged a quid pro quo took place between President Trump and the Ukrainian president during a phone call earlier this year.
During the call, Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “do him a favor” and investigate Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of an oil and gas company in the country while his father was still in office. Zelensky was elected president largely on a promise to root out corruption.
Senior diplomat Kurt Volker testified before Congress in a closed-door hearing last month that “no evidence was brought forward to support (the allegations)” against the Bidens. He added, however, that the accusations have “never actually been investigated” and have therefore not been fully debunked.
“I thought they were very self-serving and not credible,” Volker said.
