More bad news for President Joe Biden from the doc dump that blew up his mendacious narrative about getting that Ukrainian prosecutor fired back when he was veep.
That is, blackmailing Ukraine’s government with a threat to cut off US aid unless it axed top prosecutor Viktor Shokin right as he was closing in on the energy firm . . . that employed First Son Hunter.
It’s now vital that House Oversight Committee chair Rep. Jim Comer (R-Ky.) add another subpoena target to his long witness list.
That would be former CIA official Eric Ciaramella, who worked on Ukraine late in the Obama administration and into the early Trump years.
Eric’s main claim to fame: He’s widely believed to be the whistleblower who fingered then-President Donald Trump for allegedly linking a demand for an investigation into Biden corruption to Ukraine military aid payments, setting in motion Trump’s first impeachment.
He’s also a regional expert on Ukraine who was caught totally unawares by early 2016 rumors that Shokin’s purported corruption was endangering a US aid payment.
No question Ciaramella’s a firm Democrat.
But Comer’s committee needs to grill him on his utterly damning Obama-era words:
“Yikes. I don’t recall this coming up in our meeting with them on Tuesday,” he said of a meeting with top people in Shokin’s office, later adding, “We were super impressed with the group, and we had a two-hour discussion of their priorities and the obstacles they face.”
In other words, Biden’s claims of wanting Shokin gone because he was corrupt were seen as bunk by the people running policy point on Ukraine for President Barack Obama.
Ciaramella must testify before Comer’s House Oversight Committee.
The Kentucky Republican could ask:
- Why the lame ‘yikes’ when faced with a clear example of private-agenda diplomacy from Joe Biden?
- Was Biden acting on demands from Hunter and his shady crew when he arranged the Shokin ouster?
- Did Ciaramella himself think Shokin was corrupt, when his words at the time clearly suggest he didn’t?
These are deeply uncomfortable questions.
But they need to be asked.
And Ciaramella is precisely the man to answer them.
After all, he’s a clear advocate for Ukraine aid.
And he was apparently peeved enough by Trump holding it up that he outed him with spectacular effect.
Ciaramella was furious when Trump held up aid to help his campaign.
How did he feel about Biden holding up aid to help his son?