The claim: Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion from Ukraine to assist his son, Hunter Biden

While former Vice President Joe Biden oversaw foreign policy in Ukraine, his son Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings, the largest gas company in the fledgling democracy.

Despite a recently concluded investigation by Senate Republicans that found no wrongdoing by the Bidens, claims to the contrary have continued to circulate on social media.

“VP Biden threatened to withhold 1 billion dollars from Ukraine to save his son’s job,” reads a meme posted to Facebook by Secure America Now. The meme has been shared more than 9,000 times since Oct. 18.

Secure America Now did not respond to a request from USA TODAY for comment.

Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 57 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 57

 Impeaching Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States, for abuse 
  of power by enabling bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 21, 2021

 Mrs. Greene of Georgia submitted the following resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Impeaching Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States, for abuse 
  of power by enabling bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors.

    Resolved, That Joseph Robinette Biden, President of the United 
States, is impeached for abuse of power by enabling bribery and other 
high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following article of 
impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
     Article of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people 
of the United States of America, against Joseph Robinette Biden, 
President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support 
of its impeachment against him for abuse of power by enabling bribery 
and other high crimes and misdemeanors.

                       article i: abuse of power

    The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives ``shall 
have the sole Power of Impeachment'' and that the President ``shall be 
removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, 
Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors''.
    In his conduct as the former Vice President and current President 
of the United States, in violation of his constitutional oath 
faithfully to execute the offices of the Vice Presidency and President 
of the United States, and, to the best of his ability, preserve, 
protect, defend, the Constitution of the United States, and in 
violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be 
faithfully executed--Joseph Robinette Biden abused the power of the 
Office of the Vice President, enabling bribery and other high crimes 
and misdemeanors, by allowing his son to influence the domestic policy 
of a foreign nation and accept various benefits--including financial 
compensation--from foreign nationals in exchange for certain favors.
    As Vice President, Joseph Biden was the senior Obama Administration 
official overseeing anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine. Hence, any 
illegal activity involving corruption conducted by Hunter Biden within 
or in relation to Ukraine would fall under the purview of the Office of 
Vice President Biden and the Obama State Department's anti-corruption 
efforts. In fact, many State Department officials within the Obama 
Administration repeatedly registered reservations about Hunter Biden's 
role on the board of a corrupt company. Thus, any instances of 
corruption on behalf of Hunter Biden via his role as a board member of 
the Ukrainian-operated Burisma energy firm were either not investigated 
or covered up. The evidence of widespread knowledge, corruption, and 
collusion on behalf of the Biden family with foreign nationals is clear 
and compelling.
    Among other examples, it has been materially demonstrated that:
            (1) According to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland 
        Security and Governmental Affairs and the U.S. Senate Committee 
        on Finance, the Vice President's office and State Department 
        officials were aware but ignored concerns relating to Hunter 
        Biden's role on the board of a Ukrainian-based natural gas 
        company (hereafter, ``Burisma'').
            (2) According to the same sources, Hunter Biden's and his 
        family's financial transactions with Ukrainian, Russian, 
        Kazakh, and Chinese nationals raise criminal concerns and 
        extortion threats.
            (3) In early 2015 the former Acting Deputy Chief of Mission 
        at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, George Kent, raised 
        concerns to officials in Vice President Joe Biden's office 
        about the perception of a conflict of interest with respect to 
        Hunter Biden's role on Burisma's board. Kent's concerns went 
        unaddressed, and in September 2016, he emphasized in an email 
        to his colleagues, ``Furthermore, the presence of Hunter Biden 
        on the Burisma board was very awkward for all U.S. officials 
        pushing an anticorruption agenda in Ukraine.''.
            (4) In October 2015, senior State Department official Amos 
        Hochstein raised concerns with Vice President Biden, as well as 
        with Hunter Biden, that Hunter Biden's position on Burisma's 
        board enabled Russian disinformation efforts and risked 
        undermining U.S. policy in Ukraine. Vice President Biden did 
        not resolve this conflict of interest. Instead, he enabled it.
            (5) In addition to the over $4 million paid by Burisma for 
        Hunter Biden's board membership, Hunter Biden, and his family 
        received millions of dollars from foreign nationals with 
        questionable backgrounds. Specifically, the ongoing FBI 
        investigation into Hunter Biden's laptop revealed that Hunter 
        received a 2.8 carat diamond gift from a high-ranking Chinese 
        official in 2017. Hunter Biden told the New Yorker Magazine 
        that he ``felt uncomfortable receiving the diamond and gave it 
        to other associates''.
            (6) Hunter Biden had business associations with Ye 
        Jianming, founder of the CEFC China Energy Company, Ltd., 
        Gongwen Dong, and other Chinese nationals linked to the 
        Communist government and the People's Liberation Army. Those 
        associations resulted in millions of dollars in cash flow. 
        There exists a vast web of corporate connections and financial 
        transactions between and among the Biden family and Chinese 
        nationals.
            (7) Hunter Biden paid nonresident women who were nationals 
        of Russia or other Eastern European countries and who appear to 
        be linked to an ``Eastern European prostitution or human 
        trafficking ring''.
            (8) In 2016, Ukraine's top anti-corruption prosecutor, 
        Viktor Shokin, had an active and ongoing investigation into 
        Burisma and its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky. At the time, Hunter 
        Biden continued to serve on Burisma's board of directors. 
        According to news reports, then Vice-President Biden 
        ``threatened to withhold $1 billion in United States loan 
        guarantees if Ukraine's leaders did not dismiss [Shokin]''. 
        After that, Ukraine's Parliament fired Shokin.
            (9) Hunter Biden received millions of dollars from foreign 
        sources as a result of business relationships that he built 
        during the period when his father was Vice President of the 
        United States and after. The financial transactions which 
        Hunter engaged in illustrate serious counterintelligence and 
        extortion concerns relating to Hunter Biden and his family.
            (10) Hunter Biden's work with Chinese nationals connected 
        to the Communist regime illustrate the deep financial 
        connections that accelerated while his father was Vice 
        President and continued after he left office.
            (11) On June 23, 2011, Sean Conlon, a business associate of 
        Hunter Biden, suggested that a $10 billion deal could be struck 
        in exchange for certain persons meeting Vice President Biden. 
        This shows deliberate ``pay-for-play'' and ``quid-pro-quo''. 
        The email, in full, to Robert Biden, from Sean Conlon, is as 
        follows:
                    (A) ``So we have engagement letter if they get 
                other 10 bonds they have a face value of 10b. While it 
                is far fetched Devon [Archer] said he talked to his 
                professor and these get traded. We get 10% in fees. We 
                need to get these guys to an event or something where 
                they get to just formally meet your Dad. For follow on 
                they can talk to Chief of Staff. Let me know how soon 
                we can do that. V brief. If Nagi get that done we get 
                more bonds to move. Regards your hard working partner 
                in Positano! Sean'' (emphasis added).
            (12) Emails between Hunter Biden and his cousin reveal that 
        the President of Hunter's Chinese Communist Party-linked firm, 
        Eric Schwerin, repeatedly asked Hunter for an appointment to 
        the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage 
        Abroad--a position he ultimately received. The email from 
        Hunter to his cousin, Missy, regarding the request for the 
        appointment to the Commission is as follows:
                    (A) ``Eric asked for one of these [an appointment] 
                the day after the election in 2008. You know better 
                than me what are real and interesting appointments. 
                Let's go through the list with Steve and see what makes 
                sense. I don't know how much 2016 and nepotism plays 
                into it.''.
    In all of this, President Biden gravely endangered the security of 
the United States and its institutions of government. Through blatant 
nepotism, he enabled his son to influence foreign policy and 
financially benefit as a result of his role as Vice President. He 
supported his son engaging in collusion with Chinese Communist Party-
linked officials. He allowed his son to trade appointments with his 
father and other high-ranking administration officials in exchange for 
financial compensation. He permitted his son to take money from Russian 
oligarchs, including Elena Baturina, the wife of the former mayor of 
Moscow.
    In so doing, Joseph R. Biden threatened the integrity of the 
democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, 
and imperiled a coordinate branch of government. He thereby betrayed 
his trust as former Vice President and current President, to the 
manifest injury of the people of the United States.
    Wherefore President Biden, by such conduct, has demonstrated that 
he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the 
Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner 
grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. 
President Biden thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from 
office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, 
trust, or profit under the United States.
                                 <all>
Author: spirit