Sen. Lindsey Graham invited Rudy Giuliani to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The South Carolina Republican wants President Trump's personal attorney to talk about his allegations of corruption related to former Vice President Joe Biden’s role in the firing of Ukraine’s top prosecutor.
“Have heard on numerous occasions disturbing allegations by Rudy Giuliani about corruption in Ukraine and the many improprieties surrounding the firing of former Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin,” Graham tweeted on Tuesday morning. “Given the House of Representatives’ behavior, it is time for the Senate to inquire about corruption and other improprieties involving Ukraine. Therefore I will offer to Mr. Giuliani the opportunity to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee to inform the committee of his concerns.”
Therefore I will offer to Mr. Giuliani the opportunity to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee to inform the committee of his concerns.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 8, 2019
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Biden bragged in 2018 that, as vice president, he threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees if Ukraine did not fire its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin. Giuliani alleged for months that Biden wanted Shokin fired because Shokin allegedly undertook an anti-corruption investigation into Ukrainian oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of Burisma Holdings. Burisma Holdings employed Biden’s lobbyist son, Hunter, as a board member starting in 2014, reportedly paying him $50,000 a month.
The Biden camp and many others have countered that Shokin was widely seen by the United States and Europe — and inside Ukraine — as ineffective, corrupt, and a hindrance to Ukraine’s progress. Ukraine’s Parliament removed Shokin in 2016.
Giuliani seemed open to Graham’s invitation, though he said his position as Trump’s personal attorney might complicate things.
“Love Lindsey, but I am still a lawyer and I will have to deal with privilege,” Giuliani told CNN. “Given the nature of his invitation about my concerns I might be able to do it without discussing privileged information.”
Giuliani has spoken about his allegations related to the Bidens and Ukraine dozens of times on television, in news articles, and on Twitter throughout 2019.
Giuliani’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to look at the Bidens eventually spilled over into a controversial July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke for roughly half an hour, while top officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listened in . Trump asked for a "favor" from Ukraine in investigating a conspiracy theory related to the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which determined the Russians hacked the Democratic National Committee’s email systems, an assessment special counsel Robert Mueller and the U.S. intelligence community agreed with. Trump also urged the Ukrainian leader to look into any Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 election. Trump brought up his request related to CrowdStrike immediately after Zelensky asked about purchasing anti-tank weaponry, known as Javelins, from the U.S.
Trump also asked about "the other thing," suggesting the Ukrainians investigate allegations of corruption related to Joe and Hunter Biden. Trump urged Zelensky to speak with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, but the Justice Department quickly made it clear that Barr wasn’t associated with the effort .
