shokin
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-viktor-shokin-interview-misses-basics-ignores-what-fox-already-knows">https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-viktor-shokin-interview-misses-basics-ignores-what-fox-already-knows</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
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</div><div><b>Fox’s Viktor Shokin interview misses the basics, ignores what Fox already knows</b></div><div>Viktor Shokin was pushed out for corruption, regardless of what Fox News tries to manufacture</div><div>
</div><div>WRITTEN BY JACINA HOLLINS-BORGES & JOHN KNEFEL</div><div>
</div><div>RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JOHN WHITEHOUSE & JULIE MILLICAN</div><div>
</div><div>PUBLISHED <b>08/25/23 </b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On August 25, Fox News previewed an interview of former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin by network host Brian Kilmeade that is set to air in full on August 26. In the preview segment, Shokin accused President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden of “corruption” and “being bribed” to push for the prosecutor’s removal from office in 2016</span>. <b>In fact, there was widespread agreement at the time across the political spectrum in the United States and the European Union that Shokin should be fired for being soft on corruption, including State Department allegations that Shokin himself was corrupt</b>. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Additionally, at the time of his removal, Shokin wasn’t actively investigating Hunter Biden or Burisma, an energy company that had hired Hunter Biden to serve on its board of directors<b>. Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer recently testified that it would have been better for Burisma if the Ukrainian government had kept Shokin because he was unlikely to move against the company.</b></span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Shokin’s claims are part of a longstanding smear campaign led by Rudy Giuliani on behalf of former President Donald Trump,</b> which ultimately led to Trump’s first impeachment. Fox News knew Shokin’s claims were baseless then and continues to know it now, but the network is airing Shokin’s baseless allegations regardless.</div><div>
</div><div>Pushing for Shokin to be fired was the policy of not only the United States, where it was supported by leading Republicans, but also the international community</div><div>European nations, the United States, and over 100 members of Ukrainian parliament had pressured the Ukrainian government for months to fire Shokin. The international community concluded that Shokin was “turning a blind eye to corrupt practices” and “defending the interests of a venal and entrenched elite.” [Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 2/11/16; The New York Times, 3/29/16]</div><div>
</div><div>In 2015, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt called Shokin “an obstacle” to anti-corruption efforts. Ukraine’s refusal to act on anti-corruption measures, including keeping Shokin, resulted in the International Monetary Fund threatening to withhold $40 billion in aid. The European Union applauded his removal. [The Wall Street Journal, 9/22/19]</div><div>
</div><div>Protests in Ukraine demanded Shokin’s removal after he launched an investigation into an anti-corruption watchdog group and had fired various anti-corruption prosecutors. The group, Anti-Corruption Action Center, had publicly criticized Shokin. [Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 3/28/16; Kyiv Post, 3/25/16]</div><div>
</div><div>In 2016, Republican Sens. Rob Portman, Mark Kirk and <b>Ron Johnson</b> and Democratic colleagues addressed a letter to then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, calling for him to “press ahead with urgent reforms to the Prosecutor General’s office and judiciary.” The bipartisan letter was also signed by five Senate Democrats, underlining that removing Shokin was the consensus view in Washington, D.C. — not a pet project of the Biden family. [CNN, 10/3/2019]</div><div>
</div><div><b>Johnson would later lead a committee that investigated Hunter Biden’s role at Burisma and failed to uncover any evidence of wrongdoing</b>. The New York Times noted, “In fact, investigators heard witness testimony that rebutted those charges,” and Johnson acknowledged there were no “massive smoking guns” in the report. [The New York Times, 9/23/20]</div><div>
</div><div>George Kent, the State Department’s expert on Ukraine, testified during Trump’s first impeachment trial that Shokin’s corruption led to his removal. Shokin was fired over corruption allegations and was not actively investigating Burisma when he was removed. The Washington Post reported in 2019 that Kent confirmed that Joe Biden called for the removal of “a corrupt prosecutor general … who had undermined a system of criminal investigation” into Ukrainian corruption cases, and “destroyed the entire ecosystem that we were trying to create.” Kent, who was the No. 2 official in the embassy at the time, explained that Biden was following the official U.S. government position that Shokin must be removed because he was “an impediment to the reform of the prosecutorial system, and he had directly undermined in repeated fashion U.S. efforts and U. S. assistance programs.” In fact, Kent testified that the idea to fire Shokin originated in the State Department before being pitched to others, including then-Vice President Biden. [The Washington Post, 11/19/19; Media Matters, 11/12/19]</div><div>
</div><div>At the time of his removal, Shokin was not actively investigating Burisma, and Hunter Biden was never the subject of an investigation into the company</div><div>Former Deputy Prosecutor General Vitaliy Kasko said in May 2019 that the investigation into Burisma had been “shelved by Ukrainian prosecutors in 2014 and through 2015.” Shokin had stalled investigations into Burisma and its co-founder Mykola Zlochevsky. In 2014, he undermined an attempt by British authorities to freeze $23 million worth of Zlochevsky’s assets. [Bloomberg, 5/7/19]</div><div>
</div><div>Devon Archer testified that he was not aware of any Shokin-led investigation into Burisma. He also testified that he had no reason to believe that then-Vice President Biden called for Shokin’s removal “was driven by anything other than the U.S. Government’s anticorruption policy in Ukraine,” and confirmed that firing Shokin “was bad for Burisma because he was under control.” [Media Matters, 8/3/23]</div><div>
</div><div>Investigations involving Burisma targeted Zlochevsky, who had been accused of “abuse of power, illegal enrichment and money laundering,” rather than the company itself. Shokin had allegedly “dragged his feet” on these investigations, and Hunter Biden, as a board member, was not a target. [The Wall Street Journal, 9/22/19]</div><div>
</div><div><b>Fox News knew its sourcing on the Ukraine conspiracy theory was unreliable</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Conservative writer John Solomon was a key distributor of Rudy Giuliani’s conspiracy theories regarding Shokin’s firing</span>. From March 20, 2019 — when Solomon published his first story on the Ukraine conspiracy theory — through October 2, 2019, Solomon appeared on Fox News or Fox Business at least 72 times, including 51 appearances on Sean Hannity’s prime-time show [Media Matters, 10/17/19]</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">During that period, Fox News senior political affairs specialist Bryan S. Murphy produced an internal “research briefing book” that “openly question[ed] Fox News contributor John Solomon’s credibility, </span>accusing him of playing an ‘indispensable role’ in a Ukrainian ‘disinformation campaign,’” according to The Daily Beast. Murphy’s research came from what was known as Fox’s “Brain Room,” which the network later disbanded, and described Solomon as having “played an indispensable role in the collection and domestic publication of elements of this disinformation campaign.” [The Daily Beast, 2/6/20]</div><div>
</div><div><b>Murphy’s research book also advised that Giuliani had a “high susceptibility to disinformatio</b>n” that was being fed to him by unreliable Ukrainian sources. [The Daily Beast, 2/6/20]</div><div>Fox News continues to accuse Joe Biden of taking bribes regarding Shokin’s firing even when confronted with contradictory evidence. On August 9, a panel discussion on The Five descended into chaos after co-host Jessica Tarlov attempted to get her co-panelists to acknowledge recent testimony from Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer. Archer “was asked, if someone concluded … that Joe Biden was bribed, would you disagree with that? ‘Yeah, I would.’ Devon Archer said that,” Tarlov said to the panel. [Fox News, The Five, 8/9/23]</div><div>Giuliani, a Trump lawyer who would later be arrested for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, was the lynchpin to the entire scheme</div><div>
</div><div>Solomon’s reporting laid the groundwork for Giuliani’s investigations in Ukraine, which ultimately led to Trump’s first impeachment. Some of Solomon’s key sources were “disgraced former Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko and the allies of Dmytro Firtash, an indicted Ukrainian oligarch and accused high-level Russian mafia associate,” who “have been seen as forces driving Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine to dig up dirt on Trump’s political enemies.” [Media Matters, 10/17/19; The Daily Beast, 2/6/20]</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Giuliani ultimately sent his findings to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo</b>, complete with “unproven allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden” with the goal of undermining a future Biden presidential run. Giuliani used his documents “to bolster unproven allegations that Biden pressured Ukraine in order to protect his son, Hunter Biden, who has been involved with a business interest there, and that the Obama administration was using Ukraine to help Hillary Clinton win the 2016 election.” [NBC News, 10/3/19]</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">After Trump’s phone call attempting to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was revealed, Giuliani engaged in a press strategy to redirect the focus back to the Bidens. Some mainstream outlets took the bait, with headlines like “Scrutiny over Trump’s Ukraine scandal may also complicate Biden’s campaign” and “Why Trump’s Ukraine scandal could backfire on Biden.</span>” [Media Matters, 9/23/19]</div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/rudy-giuliani/rudy-giuliani-and-oans-chanel-rion-say-fox-news-shokin-claims-are-same-what-they-did">
</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/rudy-giuliani/rudy-giuliani-and-oans-chanel-rion-say-fox-news-shokin-claims-are-same-what-they-did">https://www.mediamatters.org/rudy-giuliani/rudy-giuliani-and-oans-chanel-rion-say-fox-news-shokin-claims-are-same-what-they-did</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=
</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ron j?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.axios.com/republicans-ukraine-reform-prosecutors-office-biden-11988d59-49e1-4e07-9b92-596575b9e68d.html">
</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.axios.com/republicans-ukraine-reform-prosecutors-office-biden-11988d59-49e1-4e07-9b92-596575b9e68d.html">https://www.axios.com/republicans-ukraine-reform-prosecutors-office-biden-11988d59-49e1-4e07-9b92-596575b9e68d.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">oct 2019</font></div><div><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">3 Republican senators joined a </span><a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="2016" data-vars-click-url="https://www.portman.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/portman-durbin-shaheen-and-senate-ukraine-caucus-reaffirm-commitment-help" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.portman.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/portman-durbin-shaheen-and-senate-ukraine-caucus-reaffirm-commitment-help" target="blank" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">2016</a><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"> </span><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">push for Ukraine to reform its prosecutor general's office and judiciary, a bipartisan letter</span><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"> </span><a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="uncovered by CNN" data-vars-click-url="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/03/politics/gop-senators-echoed-biden-on-ukraine-reforms-kfile/index.html" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/03/politics/gop-senators-echoed-biden-on-ukraine-reforms-kfile/index.html" target="blank" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">uncovered by CNN</a><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"> </span><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">shows, mirroring the contemporaneous work of then-Vice President Joe Biden.</span></span></div><div><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Why it matters: </span>The letter to former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko illuminates bipartisan support in the U.S. to pursue corruption reforms in the prosecutor general's office.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> It also undermines claims from President Trump and Republicans that Biden demanded Ukraine terminate Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin and drop its investigation into the company for which Biden's son, Hunter, sat on the board.</span></font></p><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">The letter was signed </span>by 8 senators — 5 Democrats and<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> 3 Republicans: Sens. Ron Johnson (Wis.</span>), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Mark Kirk (Ill.). Kirk is no longer serving in the Senate.</font></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The signatories acknowledged governmental reforms already made in Ukraine and expressed concern about the resignation of a Cabinet minister who heralded those reforms.</font></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"We similarly urge you to press ahead with urgent reforms to the Prosecutor General's Office and judiciary,</span>" the letter reads. "The unanimous adoption by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Basic Principles and Action Plan is a good step."</font></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Worth noting: </span>Johnson <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="asked the Justice Department" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/senate-republicans-ukraine-hillary-clinton-2016-election-be525f71-ade4-4383-aae0-b9b3c646a0fc.html" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/senate-republicans-ukraine-hillary-clinton-2016-election-be525f71-ade4-4383-aae0-b9b3c646a0fc.html" target="self" style="">asked the Justice Department</a> earlier this week to look into links between Ukraine and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. His <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="letter" data-vars-click-url="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09-27%20CEG%20RHJ%20to%20DOJ%20%28Ukraine%20DNC%29.pdf" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09-27%20CEG%20RHJ%20to%20DOJ%20%28Ukraine%20DNC%29.pdf" target="blank" style="">letter</a> questioned the narrative that Biden's actions in Ukraine had nothing to do with his son's connection.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Context:</span> As President Trump is facing an impeachment threat over requesting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden,</span> Senate Republicans have attempted to highlight Biden's role in the prosecutor's ouster.</font></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the sentiments expressed in the 2016 letter reflect a 2015 speech Biden made to the Ukrainian parliament with "similar calls for changes to the judiciary and the General Prosecutor's office," per CNN.</font></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It's not enough to set up a new anti-corruption bureau and establish a special prosecutor fighting corruption," Biden said<a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text=" in Kiev" data-vars-click-url="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/09/remarks-vice-president-joe-biden-ukrainian-rada" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/09/remarks-vice-president-joe-biden-ukrainian-rada" target="blank" style=""> in Kiev</a>. "The Office of the General Prosecutor desperately needs reform. The judiciary should be overhauled."</font></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">There is no evidence that Biden's work in Ukraine was to protect his son or that he committed any form of corruption.</font></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Go deeper: </span><a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="Fact check: What Joe and Hunter Biden actually did in Ukraine" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/joe-hunter-biden-ukraine-corruption-trump-1b031c30-3173-4a45-a6a7-2e551759063c.html" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/joe-hunter-biden-ukraine-corruption-trump-1b031c30-3173-4a45-a6a7-2e551759063c.html" target="self" style="">Fact check: What Joe and Hunter Biden actually did in Ukraine</a></font></p></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
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</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/10/19/fox-news-rejected-hunter-biden-expos-new-york-post-writer-refused-to-put-his-name-on-it-reports/">https://www.salon.com/2020/10/19/fox-news-rejected-hunter-biden-expos-new-york-post-writer-refused-to-put-his-name-on-it-reports/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">oct 20?</font></div><div><article style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9em;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>when former LifeLock spokesperson <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/09/16/invisible-company-owned-by-rudy-giuliani-got-taxpayer-backed-ppp-money--but-where-did-it-go/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">Rudy Giuliani</a> approached Fox News with <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/10/16/fbi-investigating-hunter-biden-emails-as-possible-russian-disinformation-operation-reports/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">the trove of emails he alleged had been retrieved from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden</a>, the network declined to run the story over <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/09/14/rudy-giuliani-collaborated-on-smear-of-joe-biden-with-active-russian-agent/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">concerns about its credibility</a>,</b> according to <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/tv/exclusive-fox-news-passed-on-hunter-biden-laptop-story-over-credibility-concerns/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">a new report</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sources told Mediaite that "the lack of authentication of Hunter Biden's alleged laptop, combined with established <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/09/14/rudy-giuliani-collaborated-on-smear-of-joe-biden-with-active-russian-agent/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">concerns about Giuliani as a reliable source</a> and his desire for unvetted publication, led the network's news division to pass."</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Giuliani previously <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/business/media/new-york-post-hunter-biden.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">told</a> The New York Times that he had chosen to place the material with The New York Post because "either nobody else would take it, or if they took it, they would spend all the time they could to try to contradict it before they put it out."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Post, a sister company of Fox News, published the unverified emails in a Wednesday exposé, which drew <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/10/14/experts-dismiss-garbage-fire-hunter-biden-expos-in-ny-post-seems-like-a-complete-fabrication/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">widespread blowback for its dubious sourcing</a>. The Times earlier <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/business/media/new-york-post-hunter-biden.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">reported</a> that most of The Post article had been written by a staff reporter who refused to allow the tabloid to attach his name to the byline over doubts about the article's credibility.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">The alleged emails informing the article were obtained in a circuitous route by two Trump allies: Giuliani and former White House strategist <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/08/20/former-trump-strategist-steve-bannon-arrested-on-charges-of-defrauding-border-wall-donors/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><b>Steve Bannon,</b> who currently faces wire fraud and money laundering charges in a federal court</a>.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> The pair gave the outlet a copy of what they claimed was content copied from a hard drive belonging to Hunter Biden, the youngest son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, <b>which they said had been obtained from a computer repairman who wished to remain anonymous.</b></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The repairman told a group of reporters last week that a man named Hunter Biden had dropped the laptop off at his store, but medical issues with his vision prevented him from making an identification.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A number of Post staffers questioned the vetting process for the article and expressed concerns about the sources and the timing as the election nears, The Times reported. Upon publication, other journalists pointed out <a href="https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/1316345382939566080" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">major errors</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/danielsgoldman/status/1316362085220179977" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">holes in article</a>, and <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/10/16/fbi-investigating-hunter-biden-emails-as-possible-russian-disinformation-operation-reports/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">the FBI has since opened an investigation</a> into the story as part of a possible Russian disinformation operation, according to multiple reports.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Times also reported that one of the article's two bylined authors had first learned that her name was on the report after publication; the other writer never previously had a byline at the paper. Both writers formerly worked at Fox News.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Trump-friendly cable network's so-called "Brain Room" <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-internal-document-bashes-john-solomon-joe-digenova-and-rudy-giuliani-for-spreading-disinformation" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">had previously warned hosts</a> about Giuliani's reputation for "amplifying disinformation,"</b>according to The Daily Beast.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One day after The Post published its story, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/giuliani-biden-ukraine-russian-disinformation/2020/10/15/43158900-0ef5-11eb-b1e8-16b59b92b36d_story.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">reported</a> that U.S. officials had repeatedly warned the White House in 2019 that Giuliani was a target of Russian intelligence, and i<b>nformation he passed along might be tainted by his interactions with pro-Putin officials in Ukraine.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the days leading up to publication, a team of The New York Post's top editors met to determine a course of action, including the editor-in-chief and the digital editor-in-chief, a person with knowledge of the meeting told The Times. At least two writers refused to put their names on the report, according to The Times.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The bylines eventually went to <b>Emma-Jo Morris</b> — a deputy politics editor who joined the Murdoch-owned tabloid this spring after four years at Fox News — and Gabrielle Fonrouge, a reporter at The Post since 2014.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">At Fox, Morris worked as an associate producer for Trump <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/05/16/stephen-colbert-imagines-how-those-late-night-calls-between-donald-trump-and-sean-hannity-play-out/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">"pillow-talk" confidante</a> Sean Hannity, </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">according to her LinkedIn profile.Morris' Instagram, which has sent been set to private, i</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ncluded photos of her posing with Bannon and Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally and Republican operative. In July, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/07/10/absolutely-baseless-investigation-white-house-announces-trump-will-commute-roger-stones-sentence/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">commuted Stone's sentence</a> on seven felony counts.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fonrouge, the article's other acknowledged writer, "had little to do with the reporting or writing of the article," according to The Times.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The senior editors at The Post made the decision to publish the Biden files after several days' hard work established its merit," a senior Post official told The Times in an email.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Times, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/10/14/hunter-bidens-alleged-laptop-an-explainer/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">The Washington Post</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-twitter-limit-sharing-of-new-york-post-articles-that-biden-disputes-11602736535" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent;">The Wall Street Journal</a> have all reported that they were not able to independently verify The New York Post's reporting or the contents of the hard drive.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>News outlets have repeatedly <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/business/media/fact-check-biden-ukraine-burisma-china-hunter.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">debunked</a> allegations of corruption against the Bidens</b>, and <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/09/23/political-hit-job-gops-biden-report-littered-with-debunked-claims-and-russian-disinformation/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">a roundly discredited</a> investigation by Senate Republicans — predicated in part on information Giuliani acquired from a Russian agent sanctioned by the Trump administration — found <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/us/politics/biden-inquiry-republicans-johnson.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">no evidence</a> that the former vice president had engaged in wrongdoing related to his son's business dealings.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reports of the FBI investigation echoed headlines from the final weeks of the 2016 election cycle, when U.S. intelligence agencies began probing whether individuals connected to the Trump campaign were involved in Russian government efforts to harm Hillary Clinton via dumps of emails stolen from Democratic officials.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"At least in 2016, Trump's allies pushed powerful disinformation," national security attorney Bradley Moss told Salon last week. "These last-ditch efforts barely qualify as trying anymore."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It's a garbage fire story with obscene numbers of legal holes and flaws," he added.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A Post spokeswoman told The Times in a statement that the story had been "vetted," and it "stands by its reporting."</font></p></article><section class="writer-container" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 2em; padding: 0px 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3; margin: 20px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Roger Sollenberger is a staff writer at Salon.</font></p></section></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/how-to-not-be-a-useful-idiot-for-the-rights-smear-machine/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/how-to-not-be-a-useful-idiot-for-the-rights-smear-machine/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Trump is <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/its-been-one-face/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">trying hard to recreate the perfect storm</a> that landed him in the White House in 2016 despite being the most unpopular candidate in the modern polling era. That year, the Clinton campaign's hacked emails were dribbled out over the final six weeks of the race. There wasn't much to them, but internal campaign communications tend to be frank and are easily mined for scandalettes. Having established the storyline that Clinton was as corrupt as Trump, they provided a steady stream of stories with "emails reveal" in the headlines which served to reinforce the right's narrative.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">We can expect a similar stream of stories of ostensible "smoking guns" stemming from Hunter Biden's emails</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> (whether hacked or fabricated) to come our way in the final weeks of this race.<b> And some people who want to see themselves as fair will inadvertently amplify the right's preferred narratives by assuming that there must be something there.</b></span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So it's very important to keep in mind that the "scandal" is supposed to be that then-Vice President Joe Biden pushed for the removal of Ukraine's top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, to stave off an investigation into Burisma Holdings--the Ukrainian gas company whose Board Hunter sat on--in order to protect his son. It is supposed to be a story about conflict of interest--of the elder Biden using the office of the Vice Presidency to help his son.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">There is not a shred of truth to those claims.</b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The effort to get Shokin fired "was prompted by a push for anti-corruption reforms developed at the State Department and coordinated with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund," <em><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ukraine-court-forces-probe-into-biden-role-in-firing-of-prosecutor-viktor-shokin/2020/02/27/92710222-5983-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Washington Post</a></em><span style="transition-property: color, background, opacity;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ukraine-court-forces-probe-into-biden-role-in-firing-of-prosecutor-viktor-shokin/2020/02/27/92710222-5983-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;" /></span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ukraine-court-forces-probe-into-biden-role-in-firing-of-prosecutor-viktor-shokin/2020/02/27/92710222-5983-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"> reported. And </a><a href="https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/10/03/politics/gop-senators-echoed-biden-on-ukraine-reforms-kfile/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">according to CNN</a>, a bipartisan "letter from 2016 shows tha<b>t Republican senators pushed for reforms to Ukraine's prosecutor general's office and judiciary, echoing calls then-Vice President Joe Biden made at the time.</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>"</b></span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Shokin was corrupt, and that was a problem.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> Vitaliy Kasko, a former deputy of Shokin's who resigned over his boss's habit of stymieing corruption probes, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-07/timeline-in-ukraine-probe-casts-doubt-on-giuliani-s-biden-claim" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">told </a><em><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-07/timeline-in-ukraine-probe-casts-doubt-on-giuliani-s-biden-claim" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Bloomberg</a> </em>that Shokin was not investigating Burisma during the period in question. "There was no pressure from anyone from the U.S. to close cases against" the firm or its owner. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"It was shelved by Ukrainian prosecutors in 2014 and through 2015," Kasko said. And Daria Kaleniuk, a prominent Ukrainian anti-corruption crusader, told </span><em style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-vice-president-biden-said-ukraine-should-increase-gas-production-then-his-son-got-a-job-with-a-ukrainian-gas-company/2019/07/21/f599f42c-86dd-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Washington Post</a> that </em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"<b>Shokin was fired not because he wanted to do that investigation, but quite to the contrary, because he failed that investigation."</b></span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Without some impropriety on Joe Biden's part, Hunter Biden's business ventures aren't a story. He isn't running for office. Like many, if not most children of the powerful, the younger Biden leveraged both his family name and the connections he'd made at Yale to land various business deal and secure a cushy, high-paying position on a corporate board. Both Hunter and Joe Biden have acknowledged that associating himself with a shady Ukrainian gas company--as opposed to, say, a reputable American or Western European firm--was an error of judgment, but it was neither illegal nor unethical. This isn't a meritocracy, and this is one way that wealth and power are reproduced from one generation to the next. It's distasteful and unfair, but that's a class issue, not a scandal. Hunter isn't running for office and his judgment, or lack thereof, isn't a matter of public concern.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Joe Biden spent years in the Senate, and year after year he ranked among the least wealthy members of that body. We know how he came into his wealth--mostly through a multi-million dollar book advance and speaking gigs after leaving office. Biden may not be everyone's cup of tea, but there's no evidence that he's corrupt.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">wapo</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><a href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=91a4cb4122de0af505cbbe73314de12ff4a01553c54fdcfce3c50363f29e427e43db487e53f170404e838b0408cc8f35c70243c7a77a7ddd" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=91a4cb4122de0af505cbbe73314de12ff4a01553c54fdcfce3c50363f29e427e43db487e53f170404e838b0408cc8f35c70243c7a77a7ddd</font></a></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/07/its-own-document-fox-news-rips-fox-news-host-sean-hannity/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/07/its-own-document-fox-news-rips-fox-news-host-sean-hannity/</font></a></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" small="small" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref $</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" small="small" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Opinions</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In its own document, Fox News rips Fox News host Sean Hannity</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sean Hannity on the set of his show on Aug. 7, 2019. (Frank Franklin II/AP)</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Erik Wemple </div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Media critic</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Feb. 7, 2020 at 12:06 p.m. PST</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Each night, Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity engage in some shallow blather during the “handoff” between their ratings-killing programs. In Thursday night’s version, Hannity told Carlson, “You know the deep-state story is even getting bigger. There’s a whole new one developing. I’ll tell you about it privately.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Cute, Hannity....</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Democracy Dies in Darkness</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Opinions</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In its own document, Fox News rips Fox News host Sean Hannity</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sean Hannity on the set of his show on Aug. 7, 2019. (Frank Franklin II/AP)</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">By</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Erik Wemple </div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Media critic</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">February 7, 2020 at 3:06 PM EST</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Each night, Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity engage in some shallow blather during the “handoff” between their ratings-killing programs. In Thursday night’s version, Hannity told Carlson, “You know the deep-state story is even getting bigger. There’s a whole new one developing. I’ll tell you about it privately.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Cute, Hannity.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Just what could this “new” deep-state story be? A clue emerged from a strange sequence of events on Twitter. Marcus DiPaola, who formerly worked at Fox News, posted some tweets about his experience with the network, as well as the front page of an interesting internal document:</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Here's the front page of the internal Fox News Trump-Ukraine timeline. I'll start tweeting some of the highlights shortly. pic.twitter.com/HWGX5sZUh8</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> — Marcus J. DiPaola (@marcusdipaola) February 6, 2020</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That’s the title page of a dossier from the so-called Brain Room of Fox News, a long-standing research hive at the network. The full Ukrainian report, obtained by the Erik Wemple Blog, is a document of great candor and thoroughness, 162 pages of events and statements and indictments and hearings that detail every last wrinkle in the Trump-Ukraine story. Its timeline starts in February 2014 — when former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kyiv for Russia — and concludes in December 2019 — when Trump declared that his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, would write up a report about the findings of his Ukrainian investigation. “I hear he has found plenty,” said the president.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Brain Room report bears the name of Bryan Murphy, a senior political affairs specialist at Fox News. It also bears this withering assessment of John Solomon, former opinion contributor for the Hill who is responsible for setting in motion faulty story lines regarding Ukraine:<b> “John Solomon played an indispensable role in the collection and domestic publication of elements of this disinformation campaign.”</b> Another part of the document provides this assessment of Solomon: “Focus on stories from disinformation campaign, non-disclosure of conflicts, use of unreliable sources, publishing false and misleading stories, misrepresentation of sources, and opaque coordination with involved parties.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That says it all. Even as it levels that critique, the Brain Room document discloses that Solomon is a “Fox News contributor.” Indeed, though Solomon appeared as a guest frequently on “Hannity” throughout the Ukraine story, he left the Hill in fall 2019 and was hired as a contributor at Fox News in October.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Not only does the research paper pummel Solomon, it cites a statistic that Solomon, over six months in 2019, “published 45 columns aimed at discrediting the Russia investigation, 12 of which focused primarily on Ukraine." Where did that statistic come from?</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Media Matters for America! Yes, Media Matters for America, the organization essentially built to take down Fox News. Media Matters for America, the organization routinely slammed on Fox News’s air. Media Matters for America, the organization that essentially forced Glenn Beck from Fox News.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It’s a stunning juxtaposition — one that speaks to the integrity of the Brain Room report. Other faces of the Ukraine issue that surface in the report include Giuliani, the ringleader of Trump’s effort to secure an announcement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of an investigation into the Bidens, who is described as having: “High susceptibility to disinformation” from key Ukrainian actors, according to the document. Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing, a Trump-supporting husband-and-wife legal team, receive this evaluation: “Non-disclosure of financial motives and representation of [Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro] Firtash while spreading false and misleading stories.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Note: Giuliani, diGenova and Toensing appeared on “Hannity” with regularity to take the president’s side on Ukraine. All that explains, perhaps, why Hannity is making noises about a “new” deep state.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Though Fox News isn’t exactly forthcoming about its internal operations, the Brain Room isn’t a state secret. Occasionally network hosts will reference its work, as did Jesse Watters last fall, when he saw a Washington Post headline that he didn’t believe was real: “When I saw the headline afterwards, I forwarded it to our Brain Room because I thought it was an Onion” story, said Watters. There’s a great reverence among employees for the work of the room, as reflected in this comment from former host Kimberly Guilfoyle in June 2017: “Here are some doughnut facts from our Brain Room, so [they] must be true.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A 2011 story in Rolling Stone quoted a network insider as alleging that the Brain Room was where "the evil resides.” And a former network executive told Gabriel Sherman — for his biography of late Fox News chief Roger Ailes — that the room had a “Nixonian” air. That said, Sherman wrote that the “mystique” of the Brain Room faded over time as staffers realized that it was a professional operation designed to fact-check the news. It’s the Brain Room, for example, that feeds all those contextual facts that viewers see on their screens during congressional hearings and other political events.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">There’s no absence of context in the Brain Room’s Ukraine magnum opus. It has everything, including key revelations and charges against Hannity. Here’s the timeline’s entry for March 26, 2019:</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Melinda Haring, the editor of the UkraineAlert blog at the Atlantic Council and a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, writes in the Washington Post:</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The mechanics of the information operation that Poroshenko’s minions pulled off are obvious.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> Lutsenko used Solomon to get to Hannity to get to Trump, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">whose Twitter feed set thousands chattering about nonexistent collusion… If a bunch of obscure foreigners few Americans have ever heard of can play Trump so easily, and so obviously, what’s to stop others from doing the same?”</span></b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> (387) David Holmes, Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, later said, “The barrage of allegations directed at Ambassador Yovanovitch, a career ambassador, is unlike any anything I have seen in my professional career.” (388)</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Here’s another, absolutely devastating entry:</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> September 26, 2019: John Solomon, Toensing, and diGenova all appear on Hannity again to discuss <b>Shokin</b>’s affidavit, filed at the request of Firtash’s attorneys. At no time during the program does Hannity, Toensing, and diGenova mention who requested the statement nor do they discuss that they are Firtash’s attorneys. Solomon also doesn’t mention that he shares attorneys with Firtash. diGenova says “we’ve known from the very beginning that </span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Mr. Shokin </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">was not a corrupt prosecutor.” (856) Later that night, President Trump tweets a clip of diGenova from Hannity.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> (857)</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">More: In an entry for Oct. 9, 2019, the Brain Room document notes that Andriy Derkach, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, had made a specific allegation regarding corruption by former vice president Joe Biden. The Kyiv Post, notes the Brain Room report, called the charge “dubious.” “Hours later, Giuliani appeared on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News and parroted Derkach’s claim. (897).”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In an entry that footnotes reporting from the Erik Wemple Blog, the document even tosses shade on how Hannity introduces Solomon on his program:</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> May 14, 2018: The Hill’s editor-in-chief sent out a memo to staff stating that “effective immediately” John Solomon would no longer publish stories under the banner of news but instead would be an “opinion contributor.” (218) Solomon said that the choice to have his writing classified as opinion was his. During his TV appearances, Hannity has often continued to announce Solomon as an “investigative reporter” at The Hill.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">What we have here is a journalistic blowout. It is a trouncing of Hannity and his treasured contributor, Solomon — written not by some mainstream media outlet or Media Matters for America, but by Fox News itself. Turns out the network is keeping its best reporting to itself.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In a statement to the Erik Wemple Blog, Mitchell Kweit, senior vice president of the Brain Room, said: “The research division of FOX News produces a briefing book for all major stories, which serves as a standing collection of extensive data on major topics for internal use by all those in editorial functions. The Ukraine briefing book is nothing more than a comprehensive chronological account of what every person involved in the Ukraine controversy was doing at any identifiable point in time, including tracking media appearances of major players who appeared on FOX News and in many other outlets. The 200 page document has thousands of data points and the vast majority have no relation to FOX News – instead it’s now being taken out of context and politicized to damage the network.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In an interview with the Erik Wemple Blog, DiPaola commended Fox News for the separation between opinion shows and the so-called straight-news side, where he worked as a freelancer for a few months. “It did feel a lot like church and state,” he says. “They separate news from opinion pretty well.” As for the Brain Room timeline, DiPaola says, “I mean, it’s a Brain Room product, it’s meant to be unbiased. It’s evidence that Fox News Channel isn’t all bad. It’s evidence that there are honorable people working at Fox News all day.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">And it’s evidence that those honorable people understand the threat “Hannity” poses to any news organization.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Read more from Erik Wemple:</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sean Hannity and Fox News have normalized media corruption</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The comical hypocrisy of Sean Hannity</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Impeachment report hammers the Hill and John Solomon</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">John Solomon leaves behind lasting damage at the Hill</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Giuliani goes full conspiracy theory in insane ‘Fox & Friends’ appearance</div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" small="small" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/here-are-7-stunning-new-pieces-of-impeachment-evidence-just-released-by-the-house/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/here-are-7-stunning-new-pieces-of-impeachment-evidence-just-released-by-the-house/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Here are 7 stunning new pieces of impeachment evidence just released by the House</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Cody Fenwick January 14, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, dropped a new slate of deeply revealing evidence Tuesday night in the impeachment case against President Donald Trump.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Though the evidence doesn’t change the basic narrative of the case against Trump — that he and a group of his cronies used the administration in various ways to put pressure on Ukraine to announce investigations into his political rivals as the 2020 campaign heated up — it adds more color and detail to the story and should make the president’s culpability in a disturbing plot even harder for his Republican allies to deny.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here are seven stunning new facts the new evidence revealed:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1. Rudy Giuliani told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he’s working with Trump’s “knowledge and consent.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Writing to Zelensky on May 10, when Giuliani was trying to plan a trip to Ukraine to pressure the country into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden, the president’s lawyer wrote that he is acting with Trump’s “knowledge and consent.” This claim fundamentally undercuts the argument some defenders of the president have been inclined to make that Giuliani was operating as a rogue agent.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2. In the same letter, Giuliani says he is acting in his “capacity as personal counsel to President Trump.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I am private counsel to President Donald J. Trump,” Giuliani wrote. “Just to be precise, I represent him as a private citizen, not as President of the United States.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This confirms, as many have argued repeatedly, that Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine were clearly for Trump’s personal benefit, not the country’s. That’s part of the reason why it was so grossly wrong, and indeed impeachable, for him to use the powers of his office to induce Ukraine to announce an investigation into Biden and other political opponents.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kyle Cheney</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@kyledcheney</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> · 20h</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Replying to @kyledcheney</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The House released 50 pages of the evidence here, but it’s just a portion of the materials: https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/20200114-hpsci_transmittal_letter_to_hjc-new_evidence_attachment.pdf …https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/20200114-parnas_excerpts_translated_slide_deck.pdf …</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kyle Cheney</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@kyledcheney</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AMONG THE EVIDENCE: A letter from Giuliani to Zelensky seeking a May meeting which he says has Trump's "knowledge and consent."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">3. Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow gave John Dowd, another attorney, permission from the president to defend Igor Furman and Lev Parnas, two of Giuliani’s associates who have been indicted on campaign finance charges, in part, for their Ukraine-related work.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump has claimed he doesn’t know who Furman and Parnas are, even though he has appeared in pictures with them. This evidence makes it harder to believe this is true and raises more questions about why he was trying to conceal his dealings with them.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4. Parnas wrote notes on Ritz-Carlton stationery suggesting he was directly involved with the Ukraine scheme.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“get Zalensky [sic] to Annonce [sic] that the Biden case will Be Investigated,” he wrote.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a letter to House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler, Schiff said Parnas’ lawyer confirmed that he wrote the note.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>5. Parnas texted with a man named Robert F. Hyde, believed to be the same person who is running for a House seat in Connecticut, about removing former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Schiff explained:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In response to some articles, tweets, and videos accusing the Ambassador of being disloyal to President Trump, Mr. Hyde wrote “Wow. Can’t believe Trumo [sic] hasn’t fired this bitch. I’ll get right in that. Mr. Hyde then sent a series of text messages suggesting that he had Ambassador Yovanovitch under physical surveillance in Kyiv and that “They are willing to help if we/you would like a price.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">6. Parnas was also communicating with Ukrainian officials which, Schiff argued, demonstrated “that Mr.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Parnas served as a direct channel between President Trump’s agent, Mr. Giuliani, and individuals close to President Volodymyr Zelensky.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Parnas tried to set up a meeting for Giuliani and Zelenksy in May 2019 via senior aides to the Ukrainian president, the texts show.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">7. Giuliani tried to get a visa approved for a disgraced former Ukrainian prosecutor.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Parnas told Giuliani that former</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin</span>,</b> who has been feeding the unsupported allegations against Biden, was denied a visa to the U.S. Giuliani said in response: “I can revive it,” despite having no formal role at the State Department.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cody Fenwick is a senior editor at AlterNet. He writes about politics, media and science. Follow him on Twitter @codytfenwick.</font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">new</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/nunes-spent-at-least-57000-of-taxpayer-money-on-parnas-arranged-trip-to-dig-up-dirt-on-biden/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/nunes-spent-at-least-57000-of-taxpayer-money-on-parnas-arranged-trip-to-dig-up-dirt-on-biden/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/devin-nunes-spent-57000-flights-europe-allegedly-investigate-bidens-1473765" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Newsweek is now reporting</a> that</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> Nunes’ congressional office spent $57,000 in taxpayer money to fly Nunes and three members of his congressional staff to Europe for secret meetings with Shokin and other Parnas-arranged “sources.”</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/rudy-giuliani-has-a-long-shady-history-with-ukraine/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/rudy-giuliani-has-a-long-shady-history-with-ukraine/</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mojo</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In March 2018, Rudy Giuliani <a href="http://tgsv.net/triglobal-strategic-ventures-announces-successful-trip-for-city-of-kharkiv-representatives-to-new-york-city/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">met</a> in Manhattan with a delegation of lawmakers from Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million in eastern Ukraine. Giuliani, who joined President Donald Trump’s legal team a few weeks later, was at this gathering because, Giuliani says, his security firm <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rudy-giulianis-corrupt-oligarch-ukraine-2018-11" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">agreed</a> in 2017 to help the city improve its emergency services and seek foreign investment.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But the deal had a murkier element. Giuliani later <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/01/ukrainian-oligarch-pavel-fuks-scrutinized-by-robert-mueller-was-rudy-giuliani-client/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">conceded</a> that he wasn’t just working for Kharkiv and that for at least some of the work he was paid by<b> Pavel Fuks</b>, a Kharkiv-born business executive who became a prominent real estate developer in Moscow in the 2000s and who has said that he negotiated directly with Trump between 2004 and 2010 about building a Trump-branded<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;"> </span>tower in Moscow. Fuks was one of several Ukrainians with Russian ties whose attendance at Trump’s presidential inauguration was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/us/politics/ukraine-donald-trump-inauguration.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">investigated</a> by former special counsel Robert Mueller.</span> So at the start of Trump’s presidency, Giuliani was hobnobbing with at least one Ukrainian player who would be tainted by scandal. </font></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_1" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: rgb(242, 243, 239); position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-4" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/giuliani-pursued-shadow-ukraine-agenda-as-key-foreign-policy-officials-were-sidelined/2019/09/24/ee18aaec-deec-11e9-be96-6adb81821e90_story.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">exploded</a> into public view this month, with the revelation that Trump pressured the country’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to work with Giuliani and Attorney General <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/25/william-barr-ukraine-memo-1512255" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">William Barr</a> to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and information to discredit Mueller’s probe. A complaint filed by an intelligence community whistleblower that triggered this new Trump scandal depicted Giuliani as a Trump henchman prowling Ukraine for negative material Trump could use against Biden. But the former New York mayor’s involvement in Ukraine and other former Soviet bloc countries has been more extensive and even more sketchy than these disclosures indicate.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The New York meeting and an earlier trip Giuliani trip took to Kharkiv in November 2017 were arranged by TriGlobal Strategic Ventures, the firm <a href="http://tgsv.net/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">says</a> on its website. TriGlobal, which claims to have offices in New York, Moscow, and Kiev, sells itself as an international business consultancy that does public relations work for clients in Russia and Ukraine. The firm also brags that it has worked with Giuliani since 2004, <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-rudy-giuliani-mystery-trips-to-russia-armenia-and-ukraine" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">arranging</a> trips for him to former Soviet states. Last October, Giuliani took a break from his work representing Trump to <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/rudy-giuliani-armenia-speech-russia-3ef1a9cdff8e/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">speak</a> about cybersecurity at a conference <b>TriGlobal organized in Armenia to promote a Russia-led economic bloc, the Eurasian Economic Union</b>. Giuliani appeared at the event alongside a <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Russian official, Sergey Glazyev, who was <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/03/17/fact-sheet-ukraine-related-sanctions" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">sanctioned</a> in March 2014 for his role in the annexation of Crimea</b> and who has been <a href="https://www.jpost.com/International/Putin-adviser-denies-antisemitic-conspiracy-about-Ukraines-new-president-589231" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">accused</a> of <a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/05/07/putin-aide-says-new-ukraine-leader-could-populate-war-torn-region-with-jews-a65509" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">advancing</a> anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Ukraine, an accusation he’s denied. Giuliani was reportedly invited to a conference by Russian Armenian multimillionaire Ara Abramyan, a member of TriGlobal’s board, who <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-rudy-giuliani-mystery-trips-to-russia-armenia-and-ukraine" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">reportedly</a> suggested at the time that he expected Giuliani to deliver a message for him to Trump.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Friday, the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Washington Post</em> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/giuliani-set-to-make-paid-appearance-next-week-at-kremlin-backed-conference/2019/09/27/a15ab242-e133-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">reported</a> that Giuliani planned to participate in a panel led by Glazyev at the same conference in Armenia this year. Giuliani canceled his plans to attend after the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Post</em>‘s report. He said he decided not to attend after learning that Russian President Vladimir Putin planned to go. “If Putin’s going it’s easy,” he said in a text.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These gigs form part of Giuliani’s lucrative post-mayoral career as a roving international security consultant and high-priced lawyer. That career has continued, even after Trump brought Giuliani onto his personal legal team with a mandate to take a combative approach against Mueller’s investigation. Giuliani provides not only pro-bono legal assistance for Trump, but, he says, political advice, and reportedly he acts as somewhat of a personal emissary for the president. All the while, Giuliani has shrugged off questions of whether clients, including foreign interests, are paying him and his firm as he functions as Trump’s consigliere. And he has refused to comprehensively identify his clients. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He claims that he does not need to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act—which would require him to disclose details of his work for overseas clients—because he does no lobbying in the United States for foreign entities and instead merely provides security advice to any client he has abroad.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But at least one former client disputes Giuliani’s claims about his work.</b> “I would call him the lobbyist for Kharkiv and Ukraine—this is stated in the contract,” Fuks <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/30/us/politics/ukraine-giuliani-foreign-work.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">told</a> the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">New York Times</em> in March. “It is very important for me that such person as Giuliani tells people that we are a good country, that people can do business with us. That’s what we would like to bring to America’s leaders.” Neither Giuliani nor Fuks has made their contract public. Giuliani has declined to say what he and his firm were paid for the work.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Seven Senate Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), <a href="https://www.tomudall.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FARA%20Letter%20DOJ.pdf" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">pressed</a> the Justice Department this week to investigate whether Giuliani is violating foreign lobbying law. “Like any other American, Mr. Giuliani has legal obligations to report his work on behalf of foreign clients,” they wrote, “and the Department of Justice should not give him preferential treatment or exempt him from his obligation just because he is the President’s personal attorney.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Giuliani conducted other business in Ukraine while working for Kharkiv and Fuks. In June 2017, Giuliani traveled to Kiev where he reportedly <a href="https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/ele_schiff_cummings_letter_to_sec_pompeo_on_ukraine.pdf" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">met with</a> then-President Petro<b> Poroshenko, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko</b>, and other government officials.</span> Giuliani also <a href="https://www.pinchukfund.org/en/news/20207/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">spoke</a> on “democracy” and the “rule of law” at a conference organized by the foundation of Ukrainian metals magnate, Victor Pinchuk—an oligarch whose 2016 payment of $150,000 to Trump’s charitable foundation drew <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/us/politics/trump-mueller-ukraine-victor-pinchuk.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">scrutiny</a> from Mueller. Giuliani, who in 2006 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/us/politics/17candidates.html?module=inline" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">reported</a> receiving up to $200,000 per <a href="https://www.wsb.com/speakers/rudy-giuliani" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">speech</a>, has declined to say how much he he was paid for that presentation. It’s unclear if these activities had any connection to Giuliani’s deal with Fuks and Kharkiv.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a text message Thursday, Giuliani said his work in Ukraine in 2017 was unrelated to his recently revealed activity. “My business in Ukraine ended in Dec. 2017,” he wrote. But Giuliani’s involvement in the country continued after he became Trump’s lawyer in April 2018.</font></span></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_3" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: rgb(242, 243, 239); position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-11" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">In May 2018, Ukrainian officials stopped investigating payments to Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort and dropped an offer to assist with Mueller’s prosecution of him.</span> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Ukrainian officials <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/world/europe/ukraine-mueller-manafort-missiles.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">told</a> the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">New York Times</em> they feared helping Mueller would anger Trump, potentially complicating their purchase from the United States of antitank weapons aimed at deterring Russian aggression. This week Giuliani insisted in a text message to me that he did “not know anything about” that move.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>At some point in 2018—the exact date is unclear—Giuliani began working on Ukraine-related matters with<span style="box-sizing: inherit;"> </span>two Soviet-born American business executives, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. </b>Giuliani has <a href="https://twitter.com/RudyGiuliani/status/1129761193755910144?s=20" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">said</a> they’re his clients, though his work for them appears indistinguishable from his efforts on Trump’s behalf. In a text message on Monday, Giuliani declined to comment on this work, citing attorney-client privilege. Parnas and Fruman did not respond to inquiries.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>According to a joint <a href="https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/meet-the-florida-duo-helping-giuliani-dig-dirt-for-trump-in-ukraine" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">investigation</a> by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">BuzzFeed News</em>, it was Parnas and Fruman who first <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mikesallah/rudy-giuliani-ukraine-trump-parnas-fruman" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">encouraged</a> Giuliani’s effort to dig up dirt on Biden</b>. Both Parnas and Fruman, who live in South Florida, became big GOP donors in 2018, giving at least $576,500 in combined donations over several months. They used the resulting access to powerful Republican figures to promote a plan to sell American liquified gas to Ukraine. In May 2018, the duo dined with the president at the Trump International Hotel and had breakfast in Beverly Hills with Donald Trump Jr. and Tommy Hicks Jr., who later became co-chair of the Republican National Committee, according Facebook posts by Parnas, which he later deleted. It is unclear if Giuliani was helped connect them with Trump.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to the OCCRP/<em style="box-sizing: inherit;">BuzzFeed News</em> report, Parnas and Fruman organized a late </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">2018 Skype call between Giuliani and <b style="">Viktor Shokin</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, the prosecutor whose firing was pushed by Biden and many European diplomats in 2016. Shokin was ousted for blocking anti-corruption probes, but Giuliani and Trump have asserted that Biden sought Shokin’s dismissal to protect his son, Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, from investigation. There is no evidence to support that claim.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But Shokin, not surprisingly, was apparently eager to help smear Biden.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Parnas claims that he and Fruman put Giuliani in touch with Shokin’s replacement, Yuriy Lutsenko, late last year. Giuliani and Lutsenko met in New York in January 2018 and in Poland in February, according to the OCCRP/<em style="box-sizing: inherit;">BuzzFeed News</em> report. Giuliani <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-gambit-for-trump-giuliani-engaged-parade-of-ukrainian-prosecutors/2019/09/26/4d3dc72e-e072-11e9-8fd3-d943b4ed57e0_story.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">told</a> the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Washington Post</em> that he has met with five current and former Ukrainian prosecutors overall, including Shokin and Lutsenko, since last year. </span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Shortly after their get-togethers, Lutsenko and Giuliani began pushing allegations in the US media about Biden and claiming Ukrainian officials interfered in the 2016 election to help the Hillary Clinton campaign. </b>Many of these claims ended up in articles written by <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Hill</em> opinion writer John Solomon, whose reports were amplified by Fox News and other conservative media and by Trump—but his reports have largely been<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/how-a-conservative-columnist-helped-push-a-flawed-ukraine-narrative/2019/09/26/1654026e-dee7-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">debunked</a><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">.</em> Ukrainian anti-corruption activists <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/05/10/rumors-joe-biden-scandal-ukraine-absolute-nonsense-reformer-says/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">claim</a> Shokin and Lutsenko were promoting phony accusations, and Lutsenko later <a href="https://thebabel.net/texts/28898-genprokuror-yuriy-lucenko-ne-idet-v-otstavku-vot-chto-on-rasskazal-nam-o-konfliktah-s-poslom-ssha-i-glavoy-nabu-dele-burisma-plenkah-rozenblata-i-istochnikah-korrupcii-bolshoe-intervyu" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">withdrew</a> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-16/ukraine-prosecutor-says-no-evidence-of-wrongdoing-by-bidens" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">many</a> of his claims. Daria Kaleniuk, the head of a Ukrainian anti-corruption group, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/22/reporters-stop-helping-donald-trump-spread-lies-joe-biden-ukraine/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">contends</a> that Lutsenko issued allegations to please Trump in a bid to keep his job. </span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“I was investigating, going back to last year, complaints that the Ukrainian people, several people in Ukraine, knew about a tremendous amount of collusion between Ukrainian officials, and Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic National Committee,” Giuliani <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/20/trump-has-been-openly-trying-leverage-ukraine-his-political-benefit-months/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">claimed</a> last week on CNN. These<b> accusations promoted by Giuliani have been embraced by Trump’s Justice Department and Attorney General William Barr.</b></span><b> On Wednesday, the Justice Department said that a probe initiated by Barr and run by a US attorney, John Durham, is “exploring the extent to which a number of countries, including Ukraine, played a role in the counterintelligence investigation directed at the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.” </b>(The nature of this probe is unclear. Ukraine was not involved in the initiation of the FBI’s investigation of the Russian attack on the 2016 election and the interactions between the Trump campaign and Russia.) </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Washington Post</em>, since Zelensky took office in May, Giuliani has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/giuliani-pursued-shadow-ukraine-agenda-as-key-foreign-policy-officials-were-sidelined/2019/09/24/ee18aaec-deec-11e9-be96-6adb81821e90_story.html?wpisrc=al_news__alert-national--alert-world--alert-politics&wpmk=1" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">sidelined</a> the State Department and helped force the firing of the US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, whom he accused, seemingly without evidence, of “collusion” and of “working for” liberal financier George Soros. Trump’s request that Zelensky help Giuliani unearth negative information on Biden has received lots of attention. Zelensky agreeing to do so has received less notice. According to the whistleblower’s complaint, Giuliani met with a Zelenksy adviser on August 2 in Madrid to follow up on “cases” discussed in the July 25 phone call.</font></span></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_5" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: rgb(242, 243, 239); position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-10" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Giuliani’s role, particularly his work in Ukraine in 2017 and 2018, has not been fully explained. The whistleblower <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6430345/20190812-Whistleblower-Complaint-Unclass.pdf" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">complaint</a> alleges that Giuliani has been “a central figure” in Trump’s covert effort to use his power to press Ukraine to help tilt the 2020 election in his favor. An unnamed US official quoted by the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Post</em> made a similar claim: “<b>Rudy—he did all of this,” the official <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/giuliani-pursued-shadow-ukraine-agenda-as-key-foreign-policy-officials-were-sidelined/2019/09/24/ee18aaec-deec-11e9-be96-6adb81821e90_story.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">said</a>. “This shitshow that we’re in—it’s him injecting himself into the process.”</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asked about his work in Ukraine, Giuliani, in a series of texts, called the issue “bull distraction.” Not enough is publicly known yet to back up Giuliani’s this-is-a-distraction defense, or to assess whether Giuliani’s actions in Ukraine will ultimately help Trump or cause him more difficulty in a scandal that has led to an impeachment inquiry. </font></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">patel?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Further, “American intelligence agencies believe Moscow is likely to redouble its efforts as the 2020 presidential campaign intensifies.”</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Add to this new reporting from The Daily Beast and others that <b>Lev Parnas, the Giuliani crony</b> freshly indicted for campaign finance fraud, facilitated a meeting in Vienna late last year between House intelligence committee<b> ranking member Nunes and fired Ukrainian prosecutor general Victor Shokin</b>, a figure often mentioned in the impeachment hearings. The purpose: yet another attempt to dig up imaginary dirt intended to corroborate fictions about Ukraine, the Bidens and 2016.</font></span></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/former-republican-lawmaker-rips-thin-skinned-weakling-devin-nunes-for-threatening-critics-with-yet-another-lawsuit/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/former-republican-lawmaker-rips-thin-skinned-weakling-devin-nunes-for-threatening-critics-with-yet-another-lawsuit/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 1119</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">f<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/former-republican-lawmaker-rips-thin-skinned-weakling-devin-nunes-for-threatening-critics-with-yet-another-lawsuit/" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.4; display: inline !important;">ormer Republican lawmaker rips ‘thin-skinned weakling’ Devin Nunes for threatening critics with yet another lawsuit</a></font></div><div class="mag-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 19px; padding: 0px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="grid-post-box-meta mag-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="author-italic author vcard" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/tom-boggioni/" title="Posts by Tom Boggioni" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Tom Boggioni</a> / <a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/raw-story/" title="Posts by Raw Story" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Raw Story</a></font></span></div></div><div class="mag-excerpt entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Appearing on MSNBC on Sunday morning, former Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) scorched former colleague Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) for threatening another lawsuit.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">no lnx</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Former Republican lawmaker rips ‘thin-skinned weakling’ Devin Nunes for threatening critics with yet another lawsuit</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Written by Tom Boggioni / Raw Story November 24, 2019</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Appearing on MSNBC on Sunday morning, former Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) scorched former colleague Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) for threatening another lawsuit, this time against CNN and the Daily Beast for reporting that an </span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani claims the California Republican met with former chief Ukraine prosecutor </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Viktor Shokin </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">in Vienna in 2018 looking for dirt on political opponents.</span></b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">With the Washington Times reporting on Saturday that Nunes has threatened yet anther lawsuit, Jolly said the combative defender of Donald Trump needs to step up and come clean and stop being so “thin-skinned.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Host Gura noted that Nunes may be facing a Congressional ethics inquiry if the claims made by Lev Parnas attorney Joseph A. Bondy are true, leading Jolly to first turn to Nunes’ initial response.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Look, I would first say Devin Nunes wants to sue the media over this,” he began. “What a bunch of thin-skinned weaklings Republicans have become wanting to sue the media over a legitimate report.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Lev Parnas said he met with the prosecutor, that’s it. Stop trying to sue the media and sue the cow and all that other stuff” he continued noting another infamous lawsuit filed by the lawmaker against a Twitter critic posing as one of his cows. “The House Ethics Committee gives a lot of deference to members. Without a direct tie to some type of campaign contribution that he benefited from or an actual bribe, which clearly there is no reporting of, the question is did he bring ill-repute upon the House by not disclosing to the Intelligence Committee or his colleagues going into the series of hearings that in fact, he had a conflict or additional information.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Watch below:</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=
</font></font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aug 28, 2018 — Nunes travels to London and asks to talk with heads of both MI5 and MI6 in an effort to find someone who will support conspiracy theories about the “Steele Dossier” and provide dirt on former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. (Spoiler: Neither intelligence chief would meet with him.)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nov 30, 2018 — Nunes travels to Ukraine along with three of his aids, and spends over $63,000 in a four-day visit in which it now appears that he <b>met with corrupt former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin for the express purpose of supporting Trump’s conspiracy theory against Joe Biden.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mar 19, 2019 — Nunes sues a cartoon cow, along with other parody accounts, in an effort to both silence critics and promote a conspiracy theory about “shadow banning” of conservative accounts on Twitter.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Apr 19, 2019 — Nunes instructs Fox viewers to avoid confusion by not reading the actual Mueller report, and sticking to the “summary” provided by Bill Barr.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Oct 29, 2019 — </font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Nunes and other Republicans plant lies about the whistleblower into transcripts of House impeachment inquiry investigations, in the hopes of ‘poisoning’ those transcripts.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Oct 30, 2019 — Officials reveal tha<b>t Nunes’ staffer Kashyap Patel has been pretending to be the NSC expert on Ukraine and bringing unsourced data directly to Trump to reinforce conspiracy theories while shutting out information from actual expert Alexander Vindman.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nunes is going back to the Ethics Committee — and no, they won’t be able to find any.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>