In the process, Biden inadvertently admitted that President Obama, if not involved, at least was aware of the shady business of his Vice President.
The Worst President in the Last 100 Years" - Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson Questions Obama's Political Past
Victor Davis Hanson- Resetting the Obama Reset
In Defense of Hunter Biden
Notwithstanding Hunter Biden's moral deficiencies in other matters, based on what has been publicized so far, legally, he may have done nothing wrong being part of his father's Ukrainian enterprise. Joe Biden’s shenanigans and his son’s role in it need to be understood in the context of Ukraine's corrupt political culture.
Corruption is deeply embedded into the Ukrainian DNA. It is the blood of the Ukrainian economy - the stimulus for government officials and employees to perform their duties. Corruption is a fundamental necessity, a precondition for functioning governance.
Never-ending redistribution and re-division of assets is a defining characteristic of the Ukrainian business environment. People in business are constantly threatened by corporate raiders that attack businesses with guns, forged ownership documents, or new laws and regulations. To protect themselves from these realities, businesses hire “roof.” In criminal jargon, it means protection. Various entities offer protection: organized crime, police, high-ranking government officials, etc. The necessity for a “roof” is built into the cost of doing business.
In 2002, during President Viktor Yanukovych's tenure, his ecology minister Mykola Zlochevsky registered Burisma Holding Limited in Cypress. Burisma secured lucrative government licenses for gas field exploration and production to become Ukraine's second-largest private gas company. And not by accident. De jure, the licenses for the exploration of natural resources are drafted as bilateral agreements between the government entities and private enterprises, but de facto, they are unilateral and revocable grants of privileges by a president and high-ranking government officials to their cronies and supporters. As long as President Yanukovych was in power, Mr. Zlochevsky’s assets were secured from a hostile takeover. President Yanukovych was his “roof” and benefactor.
But nothing is permanent in the wicked Ukrainian world.
In February 2014, Yanukovych was overthrown in an America-sponsored coup and fled the country. Zlochevsky followed him shortly after. In a dramatic reversal of fortunes, Burisma overnight changed from one of the strongest to one of the weakest. The recourse of the weakest was to find a new “roof” before the newly-elected Petro Poroshenko’s government was sworn in during June 2014.
It is unknown when and who approached Joe Biden or John Kerry, Secretary of State at the time, and what was offered in exchange for lobbying and political support. But on April 22, 2014, Devon Archer, a managing partner of Rosemont Seneca Partners, a $2.4 billion private equity firm co-owned by the stepson of John Kerry, Christopher Heinz, was put on Burisma’s board.
On May 13, 2014, Hunter Biden himself joined the board.
On the same day, Christopher Heinz rushed to distance himself and the firm from what looked like an unscrupulous endeavor. He sent emails to Matt Summers and David Wade, two of his stepfather’s top aides at the State Department, “I can’t speak why they decided to, but there was no investment by our firm in their company,” wrote Heinz. Whether Christopher Heinz intended to dissociate his firm from the activity or to create plausible deniability, the passage revealed that the State Department was aware of the arrangement and exposed Christopher Heinz’s concern regarding, if not the legality, the ethics of the undertaking.
For Burisma, the impact of having Hunter Biden and Devon Archer on its board could not be overstated. It had acquired an ultimate “roof” — the Vice President of the United States of America. We must not be naïve; Burisma did not hire good-for-nothing drug addict Hunter Biden for his expertizes or business acumen. It did not hire obscure Devon Archer for his administrative genius either — they were simply messengers. There was no other way to interpret the assignments of Hunter Biden and Devon Archer to the board of Burisma.
By their presence on the board the “roof” sent a subliminal message to Poroshenko, who made no secret of his desire to add Burisma to his basket of assets, that the United States government protects. Although Poroshenko got the message, he could not resist the temptation. As soon as he was sworn in, he directed his prosecutor-general, Vitally Yarema, to open a corruption investigation into Burisma.
Corruption investigations have been an effective instrument of force reallocating assets in Ukraine. It is important to point out that Yarema did not investigate Hunter Biden. There was simply nothing to investigate, Burisma was a private company and could appoint to its board anybody. Yarema was tasked to uncover or manufacture some dirt on Burisma and its owner Mykola Zlochevsky.
In January 2015, Yarema was replaced with Poroshenko’s close associate Viktor Shokin, who continued the investigation. Just like his predecessor, Viktor Shokin did not investigate Hunter Biden. Prosecutor Shokin was directed by President Poroshenko to build a corruption case to forfeit the profitable gas licenses awarded to Burisma.
By 2016, the investigation was at its pinnacle, and Burisma’s management panicked. They had been contacting the State Department requesting it to help end the investigation. In the spring of 2016, Joe Biden was forced to act. He stepped in to protect his son’s employer, Burisma Holdings, and demanded Poroshenko dismiss Shokin.
Poroshenko tried to stall it, but Biden issued an ultimatum, “You have six hours to solve the problem, or Ukraine would lose a billion dollars in US aid.” Poroshenko capitulated — Shokin was fired.
Biden bragged about his accomplishment: ‘You have no authority. You’re not the President —Poroshenko said’ … I said, 'Call him.' “I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.’ Well, son of a b----. He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time."
In the process, Biden inadvertently admitted that President Obama, if not involved, at least was aware of the shady business of his Vice President.
At this juncture, Poroshenko realized the futility of his efforts and decided that having a percentage of something is better than a hundred percent of nothing. He made a deal with Zlochevsky. Poroshenko’s trusted man Igor Kononenko joined Burisma’s board. The vanquished enemies became allies. Miraculously, there was no longer a need for investigation, and a new prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko, “who was solid at the time,” closed the probe. There was no longer a need for Joe Biden’s services either. Hunter Biden and Devon Archer eventually resigned from Burisma's board. Zlochevsky returned to the country. The “roof” had earned its pay.
The payment must be worth millions of dollars. The sixty thousand dollars a month paid to Hunter Biden and Devon Archer was a drop in the bucket. The big money has gone to someone else. Lacking an understanding of the Ukrainian business environment, the Republicans have been targeting Hunter Biden, a tiny fish in multimillion dollar international protection rocket who may not even be fit for prosecution. Thus far, he has served as a distraction from investigating the senior-level perpetrator(s).
Alexander G. Markovsky is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, a conservative think hosted at King’s College, New York City, which examines national security, energy, risk-analysis, and other public policy issues. He is the author of Anatomy of a Bolshevik and Liberal Bolshevism: America Did Not Defeat Communism, She Adopted It. Mr. Markovsky is the owner and CEO of Litwin Management Services, LLC. He can be reached at info@litwinms.com
Photo credit: Rumble video screengrab
Will Someone Please Wake Me From This Nightmare?
When Joe Biden became president, America was on a solid footing, inflation was under control, we were energy independent, the price of gasoline was under $2.00, and things in America were great.
Now most of that has been undone, and nothing is being done about it. This is like a nightmare in which you are terrified only to awake and be thankful it was only a dream.
But the present nightmare is no dream, and things are only getting worse in America.
Will someone please wake me from this nightmare?
While Trump was president, nearly 500 miles of wall were built and immigration was controlled. Biden has opened the border and invited all to come, and they are coming by the millions.
When Biden became president, America was energy independent and we were even selling energy abroad. Biden stopped construction of oil pipelines, stopped drilling on public lands, and began a campaign against fossil fuels, the very product that has made America great. Will someone please wake me from this nightmare?
Trump appointed constitutional judges around the country, and three great justices to the Supreme Court. They have protected life by reversing Roe V. Wade. Biden, nominally a Catholic, is the most pro-abortion president in recent history. Protestors at abortion clinics have been assaulted and pro-life clinics and churches have been attacked.
When Trump left office, everyone knew what was a woman and there was no question but that God had created only men and women. Biden has continued to promote the idea that people who say they are transgender need our support, even to puberty blockers and radical surgeries that injure children for life. Now men undress in women’s locker rooms, and compete in women’s sports, destroying the incentives of women who have trained all their lives for success.
While Trump was in office you were pretty much permitted to say whatever you knew to be true and free speech was not hindered. Now, under Biden, you can be fired for simply pointing out something destructive, but which you know to be true. This includes issues about climate change, the value of masks and vaccinations, and other so-called health measures. Will someone please wake me from this nightmare?
Biden has made it clear that he supports going to zero carbon emissions which would eliminate all use of coal, and fossil fuels. Natural gas is used to make fertilizer, which is very important to agriculture. And, over 6,000 things that we use on a daily basis are made from oil. Wind and solar will never take the place of coal-fired, or natural gas-fired energy generation. Electric cars will soon be a national disaster because they are useless during a time of disaster with no electricity available. It is not possible to build batteries large enough to carry a city during times when the sun does not shine or the wind blow.
Several have testified that the Bidens received 5 million, 10 million from foreign governments, which is illegal, but nothing has been done about it. Hunter cheats on his taxes and lies on his application for a gun permit, yet he only gets a very light sentence. There seems to be a two-tier justice system. Will someone please wake me from this nightmare?
There is considerable evidence that the past two elections were rigged against Republicans, yet no measures are taken to insure this does not happen again. If this is not corrected it could spell the end of our constitutional republic.
Under Trump there was little inflation, prices were fairly stable. Biden has spent billions by just printing the money. This is classic inflation and is hurting everyone with higher prices for everything from food to hardware. This is especially true for gasoline, the price of which is also affected by the Biden energy policies.
Under Trump religious expression was protected. Now under the Biden Administration we see FBI agents infiltrating Catholic churches and reporting on “un-American” activities. Freedom of religion is attacked on several fronts. Our clear First Amendment Rights are not protected. Will someone please wake me from this nightmare?
In at least one town, people rode bikes through its streets totally naked. With prayer and Bible reading no longer permitted in our schools, our schools no longer have a moral compass. What has historically been considered a disgrace is now just another person’s freedom of expression. This is madness.
Not long ago most Americans were very patriotic. Now statues of Americans are being torn down for very light reasons. The American flag is defaced and no longer respected. A pride flag is displayed above the American flag at the white house. Children no longer pledge to the flag in our schools. None of this can be considered constructive action.
Patriotic Americans have protested over various policies, spoken up at school board meetings and taken stands for righteousness, and these have been called domestic terrorists by our government. Others, such as those in Black Lives Matter, have destroyed businesses and burned down whole sections of town, and these are called peaceful protestors. Some have even been arrested and their bail paid by some Democrats. This is insane.
Most of our schools were shut down during the recent pandemic, and children lost time that will never be made up. Academic achievement has stalled and the only answer educators seem to know is to just spend more money on education. They do not seem to consider that quality education is taking place at a much-reduced price. Our schools have lost any clear moral direction. Even worse, our children are taught to hate our national heroes.
Trump had plans to leave Afghanistan in an orderly fashion. Biden abandoned our military airport, left Afghanistan without telling our allies, was responsible for the death of 13 of our soldiers, and left behind billions in state-of-the-art military equipment. Even some Americans were left behind. This was a serious crime.
President Trump strongly supported the Second Amendment, but Biden has worked hard to undermine our Second Amendment Rights.
I worked with many Democrats for several years and considered them to be both logical and sane. Yet, what is happening in America right now in mostly Democrat-led states and cities is neither logical nor sane. It has to be obvious to any thinking person that if America continues down our present path, we will be easy game for a foreign power, and our great republic will be destroyed. This has to stop, and it begins with some patriotic American Democrats re-taking control of their party and stop this madness.
This is not just a nightmare that will go away when we awake. This is a terrible national condition that must be remedied before it is too late. Things are moving so rapidly toward destruction that we may not survive until the next election. We have to wake up from this madness.
Jim Hollingsworth is a graduate of Pensacola Christian College with a master’s degree in Biblical Studies. He has written five books: Climate Change: A Convenient Truth, Cortez: A Biography, The Ancient Culture of the Aztec Empire, Abortion Compassion, and A Commentary on the Book of Romans. A Commentary on the Book of Galatians is with the publisher. Available where books are sol
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