Simple facts about the Trump Ukraine affair:— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) September 21, 2019
1. Viktor Shokin was prosecutor general from February 2015 to March 2016. He was considered close to President Poroshenko & was considered utterly corrupt. He did not prosecute any high-level person.
2. A prosecutor in Ukraine is usually a person who uses state power to investigate crimes, but after having done so the prosecutor goes to the culprit & extorts him or her, after which the prosecutor closes the case.— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) September 21, 2019
3. Mykola Zlochevsky is a Ukrainian businessman who was Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources from July 2010 till April 2012. He was accused to have inappropriately acquired gas licenses to build his current gas company Burisma. This has never been properly investigated.— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) September 21, 2019
4. Shokin opened a case against Zlochevsky but closed it soon. We may guess what happened, but we do not know.— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) September 21, 2019
5. In February 2016, Shokin's highly respected young Deputy Prosecutor, Vitaly Kasko resigned denouncing the corruption and lawlessness of the Prosecutor General's office. The whole West demanded his resignation.— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) September 21, 2019
6. "Bowing to pressure from international donors, the Ukrainian Parliament voted on Tuesday to remove a prosecutor general who had clung to power for months despite visible signs of corruption." (NYT). VP Joe Biden led a Western & domestic liberal Ukrainian consensus.— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) September 21, 2019
7. On May 12, 2016, Yuriy Lutsenko was finally confirmed by the Rada as prosecutor general. President Poroshenko clearly wanted to avoid Kasko, the obvious honest candidate. Lutsenko had started as a socialist youth politician and spent two years in prison under Yanukovych.— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) September 21, 2019
8. To general disappointment, Lutsenko did not do better than Shokin, while politically more skillful. He took another round on Zlochevsky & then closed the case for unknown reasons. Lutsenko did not prosecute any serious criminal during his 3 years in office.— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) September 21, 2019
9. That Joe Biden's son Hunter was a member of the board of Burisma was only a decoration of no significance. Neither Shokin nor Lutsenko had any credibility whatsoever as prosecutors as their dismal record showed. Joe Biden's efforts to oust Shokin were universally praised.— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) September 21, 2019
10. Only perverted crooks can put more credence in Shokin & Lutsenko than Biden. (I know them all three.)— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) September 21, 2019
A reminder Trump isn't interested in exposing "corruption" and gets most of his information from Russian propaganda.
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