The Justice Department (DOJ) needs to open an investigation into Hunter and Joe Biden’s dealings in Ukraine, former DOJ official and Senior Legal Fellow at The Heritage Foundation Hans Van Spakovsky asserted Saturday.
In a closed-door deposition before committees spearheading the formal House impeachment inquiry, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent told congressional investigators that he had qualms about Hunter Biden’s role on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings in 2015, but was rebuffed by former Vice President Biden’s staff which said the office was preoccupied with Beau Biden’s cancer battle.
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The Washington Post first reported details of Kent’s testimony on Friday, which included his concerns that the younger Biden’s role in the company could complicate U.S. diplomatic efforts with Ukrainian officials, and raised the issue of a possible conflict of interest. Kent also testified that he was worried that Hunter Biden’s position would make Ukrainian officials think he was a channel of influence to his father, who was vice president at the time.
Appearing on “Fox & Friends: Weekend” with host Ed Henry, Van Spakovsky said that he found the details unveiled in Kent’s hearing “unbelievable and frankly shocking.”
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“This is just more evidence that there needs to be a law enforcement investigation of the vice president’s possible abuse of the powers of his office to both enrich his family and to stop any prior investigation of it,” he said.
“Look, we all know why he got that job. [It] was because his father was the vice president and was in charge of diplomatic efforts and foreign aid issues in the Ukraine. That’s a clear conflict of interest,” said Van Spakovsky.
Hunter Biden was reportedly paid $83,333 per month after being hired in 2014, while serving as a non-executive “ceremonial figure” with a “powerful name,” a report said Friday.
Biden’s campaign responded to this story on Friday by ripping into President Trump.
“Donald Trump’s unprecedently corrupt administration is melting down because of the scandal he touched-off by trying to get Ukraine to lie about Joe Biden — and as the vice president said yesterday, he should release his tax returns or shut up,” a Biden campaign spokesperson told Fox News. “On Joe Biden’s watch, the U.S. made eradicating corruption a centerpiece of our policies toward Ukraine including achieving the removal of an inept prosecutor who shielded wrongdoers from accountability.”
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“What I say is that there needs to be a current, open, law enforcement investigation by our Justice Department of what exactly happened,” Van Spakovsky told Henry.
“Why is the Biden camp and why are Democrats so against investigating that potential wrongdoing?” he asked.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
