Republicans say it is not a coincidence that the day they gained access to an FBI document alleging President Joe Biden was involved in a bribery scheme was the same day that Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted former President Donald Trump.
“Imagine being naive enough to believe that the Biden Bribe evidence and Trump indictment happening the same day was a coincidence,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a top Trump ally, tweeted.
Just hours before news of the indictment, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee were finally allowed to see a document that showed an FBI informant had claimed that Biden and his son Hunter were paid $5 million each related to Biden pressuring Ukraine to fire its then-chief prosecutor Viktor Shokin. Shokin had been investigating the owner of Burisma, which had Hunter Biden on its board.
The FBI allowed Republicans to see the document after Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer had scheduled a vote to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress for not releasing the document.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and other members of Congress told reporters what the document said. She explained, based on notes she took afterwards:
Back in 2015 and 2016, Burisma was looking to buy a U.S.-based oil and gas company and this came from being advised by Hunter Biden and his partners. … They hired Hunter on the board to make the problems go away, that’s what they specifically said.
Hunter advised that they could make more money if they bought a U.S. company so the informant was trying to do the right thing and trying to advise Burisma that they shouldn’t go this route, they should hire an attorney, work out their problems that they were being investigated for, because they were having legal problems and that’s why they were being investigated by this prosecutor Shokin. …
The owner of Burisma said that Hunter was stupid and that his other business partner was smart. He said that he paid $5 million to one Biden and he paid $5 million to another Biden. And it was all a bribery to get Shokin fired and end the investigation into Burisma. He also told the informant this is common practice in Russia and Ukraine. It’s common practice, it’s part of business there, that’s how their culture works, that they will pay bribery money in order to get business deals done, and that many businesses, they take that into account, they put it into their budget basically, when they’re preparing to buy another company or start another company, that that’s just normal. And so over in Ukraine, for them to consider hiring Hunter Biden on their board, in order to make their problems go away — which was the prosecutor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma for corruption and legal problems — this was definitely illegal for a vice president of the United States and their family members.
The informant had asked the owner of Burisma if he was happy that Trump won and he said no, he was not happy. Remember he had invested a lot of money into the Bidens to make his problems go away. But [the owner of Burisma] did say it would take 10 years for all of us to find out the payments made to the Bidens, because of how many bank accounts there were. He said at the time there were no direct payments made to the ‘big guy,’ but in a meeting later after he had become more upset as things were unfolding, he told the informant that he has two pieces of evidence showing proof of payment to Hunter and specifically Joe Biden.
Hours after Greene spoke, Trump announced he was being indicted in Florida related to the Justice Department’s probe into whether he mishandled classified documents.
Republicans argued that was not a coincidence.
House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said in a statement, “The exact same day that the FBI is forced to turn over to Congress absolutely damning and credible allegations regarding Joe Biden’s illegal, egregious, and treasonous corruption, Joe Biden weaponizes his Department of Justice to indict Donald Trump.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna tweeted the indictment coming on Thursday “is not by accident”:
The DOJ indicting President Tump the same day House Oversight Members (to include me) saw documentation from the FBI stating that BIDEN AND his SON each received a wire transfer of $5 million from a foreign actor is not by accident.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) called it a “phony indictment”:
On the day members of Congress learn from an FBI document linking then VP Joe Biden to receiving $5 MILLION from Burisma in a pay-for-play scheme, Biden’s DOJ announces another phony indictment of the leading candidate for the GOP Presidential nomination, Biden’s likely opponent, and the former POTUS. This mob-like justice system is turning Lady Justice on its head and is the most significant threat to our democracy. Stand with President Trump.
Fellow Floridian Rep. Cory Mills (R) quipped: “In police work they call that a clue!”
Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY) asked rhetorically: “Why, on the same day Members of Congress reviewed hard evidence alleging our President took a $5M bribe from a foreign country while VP, would the DOJ indict a former President?”
Another New Yorker, Rep. Claudia Tenney (R) tweeted: “This political decision comes just as House Republicans are revealing a $5 million bribery scheme between Biden and a foreign government.”
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), member of the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted: “It is no coincidence that President Trump was indicted the same day damning evidence against President Biden’s corruption emerged.”
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) tweeted: “More Trump indictments on the same day Biden bribery scheme is exposed.”
Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) tweeted: “Justice isn’t blind if millions in bribe money paid out to the Biden family continues to be swept under the rug by this Department of Justice and FBI while they focus on bogus charges against a former president and current candidate.
Several Republicans, including Greene and Luna, are calling for Biden’s impeachment.
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