November 05, 2019 A Timeline Of Joe Biden's Intervention Against The Prosecutor General Of Ukraine This is a working thread intended to be updated when new details come to light. The Washington Post provided a timeline of the 2015/206 intervention by then-Vice President Joe Biden against the then-General Prosecutor of Ukraine, Viktor Shokin. Shokin was investigating Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of the gas company Burisma Holdings which paid Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden at least $50,000 per month for being on its board. We used that timeline to show that Biden's intervention reached its height shortly after the prosecutor confiscated Zlochevsky houses. A new report by John Solomon, based on released State Department emails, supports the suspicion that Joe Biden and others intervened against Shokin on behalf of Burisma and on request of his son: Hunter Biden and his Ukrainian gas firm colleagues had multiple contacts with the Obama State Department during the 2016 election cycle, including one just a month before Vice President Joe Biden forced Ukraine to fire the prosecutor investigating his son’s company for corruption, newly released memos show. During that February 2016 contact, a U.S. representative for Burisma Holdings sought a meeting with Undersecretary of State Catherine A. Novelli to discuss ending the corruption allegations against the Ukrainian firm where Hunter Biden worked as a board member, according to memos obtained under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Just three weeks before Burisma’s overture to State, Ukrainian authorities raided the home of the oligarch who owned the gas firm and employed Hunter Biden, a signal the long-running corruption probe was escalating in the middle of the U.S. presidential election. Solomon points to the same Interfax-Ukraine report about the prosecutor's action against Burisma owner Zlochevsky that we have used to make our case against Biden. Other media have so far ignored that report and several have falsely claimed that the case against Burisma was "dormant" when Biden intervened to get the Prosecutor General fired. Below is an integrated timeline which combines the one WaPo provided with the new dates from Solomon's reporting and from additional sources. It is intended as a working reference that can be updated when new details come to light. Jul 2010-Apr 2012 Mykola Zlochevsky heads the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources in Ukraine. Several oil and gas companies owned by Zlochevsky receive lucrative special drilling permits. Feb 23 2014 The U.S. supported Maidan 'regime change' coup overthrows the elected government of Ukraine. Mar 2014 The EU blocks funds of several Ukrainian oligarchs including Zlochevsky's. RFERL Mar 11 2014 Britain blocks the transfer of $23 million owned by Mykola Zlochevsky companies and opens an investigation against him. Guardian Spring 2014 Burisma hires Devon Archer and Hunter Biden as members of its board. Archer and Biden together own a firm called Rosemont Seneca Partners. Guardian May 2014 Rosemont Seneca Partners starts to receive monthly checks of $166,000 from Burisma. JS Nov 24 2014 U.S. government organ RFERL publishes a video report showing one of Zlochevsky's palaces near Kiev. It notes the Hunter Biden connection. RFERL Dec 2 2014 Unknown Ukrainian prosecutor writes letter saying that Zlochevsky is not under suspicion. Guardian Late 2014 Zlochevsky is put on Ukraine's most-wanted list for alleged economic crimes. RFERL Late 2014 Zlochevsky leaves the Ukraine. Interfax Jan 21 2015 Referring to the letter by the unknown Ukrainian prosecutor a British court orders the closure of the British case against Zlochevsky and to release the $23m. Guardian Feb 10 2015 Victor Shokin nominated as Prosecutor General of Ukraine Interfax Mar 2015 EU lifts blocking of funds of several Ukrainian oligarchs including Zlochevsky RFERL May 27 2015 Hunter Biden meets then-Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, a former national security adviser to Joe Biden who was promoted to the No. 2 job at State under then-Secretary John Kerry. JS July 22 2015 Hunter Biden again meets with the State Department No. 2 Tony Blinken. JS July 31 2015 Ukraine's prosecutor general issues an arrest warrant against Zlochevsky. RFERL Sep 2015 Referring to the closed British case then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt gives a speech urging Ukrainian prosecutors to do more against corruption. Guardian Oct 8 2015 Then-Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland testifies in Congress: “The Prosecutor General’s Office has to be reinvented as an institution that serves the citizens of Ukraine, rather than ripping them off.” WaPo Oct 17 2015 Shokin announces a joint investigation with Britain of the Zlochevsky case. Interfax Dec 7 2015 Joe Biden holds a press conference in Kiev and announces $190 million to “fight corruption in law enforcement and reform the justice sector.” WaPo Dec 7/8 2015 According to his then-National Security Advisor Colin Kahl VP Biden withholds the announcement of a $1 billion loan guarantee Ukraine was supposed to receive. WaPo Dec 8 2015 Joe Biden speaks in the Ukrainian parliament and decried the “cancer of corruption” in the country. “The Office of the General Prosecutor desperately needs reform,” he noted. WaPo End of 2015 Shokin hands one case on Zlochevsky to the U.S. supported National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Interfax Jan 20 2016 Biden meets Poroshenko in Davos, Switzerland, when he also presses “the need to continue to move forward on Ukraine’s anti-corruption agenda,” according to a White House statement. Kahl said Biden at that meeting reinforced the linkage between the loan guarantee and the necessary reforms. WaPo Feb 2 2016 Shokin confiscates several large properties and a Rolls-Royce Phantom owned by Zlochevsky. Interfax Feb 4 2016 First public announcement of the confiscation of Zlochevsky's properties. Interfax Feb 4 2016 Hunter Biden starts following Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Twitter. JS Feb 12 2016 Biden speaks to Poroshenko by phone. “The two leaders agreed on the importance of unity among Ukrainian political forces to quickly pass reforms in line with the commitments in its IMF program, including measures focused on rooting out corruption,” the White House said. WaPo Feb 16 2016 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says that he had advised Shokin to step down. Interfax Feb 16 2016 Poroshenko announced he had asked Shokin to resign. WaPo Feb 17 2016 Shokin goes on paid leave. Interfax Feb 18 2016 Another call takes place between Biden and Poroshenko. WaPo Feb 19 2016 The presidential press secretary Sviatoslav Tseholko says that Shokin's letter of resignation had arrived at the presidential administration. On the same day, Poroshenko tables a motion in parliament to dismiss Shokin. Interfax Feb 19 2016 Poroshenko announces he has received Shokin’s resignation letter. It still required parliamentary approval, and Shokin did not go away quietly. WaPo Feb 19 2016 Biden speaks separately with Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. WaPo Feb 22/23 2016 Karen Tramontano of Blue Star Strategies, a U.S. representative for Burisma Holdings, seeks a meeting with then-Undersecretary of State Catherine A. Novelli who oversees international energy issues to discuss ending the corruption allegations against Burisma. JS Feb 24 2016 A State Department email exchange under the subject line "Burisma" notes that Karen Tramontano especially mentioned Hunter Biden while she tried to get the meeting. JS Mar 1 2016 Tramontano is scheduled to meet Novelli and that State Department officials are scrambling to get answers ahead of time from the U.S. embassy in Kiev. JS Mar 2 2016 Hunter Biden’s fellow board member at Burisma, Devon Archer, has a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry. Secretary Kerry’s stepson, Christopher Heinz, had earlier been a business partner with both Archer and Hunter Biden at the Rosemont Seneca investment firm. JS Mar 3 2016 Shokin is back at work. Interfax Mar 16 2016 Reports emerged that Shokin was back at work after having been on vacation. WaPo Mar 22 2016 Biden and Poroshenko speak again by phone. WaPo Mar 29 2016 The Ukrainian parliament, in a 289-to-6 vote, approves Shokin’s dismissal. WaPo undated "Mr. Zlochevsky’s allies were relieved by the dismissal of Mr. Shokin, the prosecutor whose ouster Mr. Biden had sought, according to people familiar with the situation." NYT Mar 31 2016 Poroshenko meets with Biden during a trip to Washington, and Biden emphasizes that the loan guarantee was contingent on further reform progress beyond Shokin’s removal. WaPo Apr 14 2016 Biden and Poroshenko have another call. Biden congratulates the president on his new cabinet and “stressed the urgency of putting in place a new Prosecutor General." WaPo May 12 2016 Poroshenko nominated Yuriy Lutsenko as the new prosecutor general. WaPo May 13 2016 In a phone call, Biden told Poroshenko he welcomed Lutsenko’s appointment. WaPo Undated "Mr. Zlochevsky’s representatives were pleased by the choice, concluding they could work with Mr. Lutsenko to resolve the oligarch’s legal issues, according to the people familiar with the situation." NYT Jun 2016 Hunter Biden joins Zlochevsky at a Burisma organized event in Morocco. Guardian Aug 22 2016 Joe Biden tells the Atlantic how he blackmailed Poroshenko into firing the "corrupt" Shokin. Atlantic Sep 2016 Ukraine cancels arrest warrant against Zlochevsky and closes the case against him. Guardian Jan 12 2017 Ukraine's prosecutor closes the case against Burisma after the company agrees to pay UAH 180 millions of tax liabilities. Interfax Jan 19 2017 Burisma announces a donation of between $100,000 and 249,999 to the Atlantic Council Guardian Aug 2017 U.S. supported National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) closes its case against Zlochevsky Interfax Oct 27 2017 Zlochevsky is estimated to have $535 million in assets, more than double than a year earlier. Interfax Jan 23 2018 Joe Biden brags publicly how he blackmailed Poroshenko into firing Shokin. CFR Feb 1 2018 After more than three years abroad Zlochevsky returns to Ukraine. Interfax May 14 2019 Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko says that the Zlochevsky case was reopened "several months ago". Interfax Jul 2019 Shokin maintains his suspicions about the vice president's motives, accusing Biden of promoting his dismissal for personal reasons. He insists he had "no doubt" Biden wanted him gone in an effort to protect his son's new employer. ABCNews Posted by b on November 5, 2019 at 20:13 UTC | Permalink Comments