Impeachment Untouchables: George Soros, Hunter Biden, and DNC

Impeachment Untouchables: George Soros, Hunter Biden, and DNC

This was one the best interpretations I have heard of the Stalinist show trial in Washington and revelations from Kyiv.

Here is the entire show

Ukraine widens probe against Burisma founder to embezzlement of state funds

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine has widened its investigation into the founder of energy company Burisma to include suspicion of embezzling state funds, Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka said on Wednesday.

Reuters,

21 November, 2019

Allegations of wrongdoing at Burisma go to the heart of a U.S. impeachment inquiry into whether President Donald Trump improperly pressured Ukraine’s leadership to investigate his main rival in the 2020 presidential race.

Trump wants Ukraine to launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who was a board member at Burisma from 2014-2019.

The prosecutor who has investigated Burisma is Kostiantyn Kulyk, who previously met Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to discuss accusations against the Bidens.

After he took office in late August, Ryaboshapka launched a wide-ranging audit of criminal cases to see whether they had been conducted properly. Thirteen of them relate to Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky, Ryaboshapka told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday.

Burisma did not respond to a request for comment.

Ryaboshapka’s predecessors oversaw a series of investigations into Zlochevsky, a multimillionaire former minister of ecology and natural resources. The allegations concern tax violations, money-laundering and licences given to Burisma during the period where Zlochevsky was a minister.

Ryaboshapka said Zlochevsky was now suspected of the “theft of government funds on an especially large scale,” but did not provide evidence or details.

Ryaboshapka was speaking after being asked about a document from the general prosecutor’s office that was leaked at a separate press conference by three lawmakers earlier on Wednesday.

The document, only part of which was visible, showed Kulyk suspected Zlochevsky of offences including using his official position to embezzle 800 million hryvnias ($33 million) of money belonging to the central bank.

The investigation is effectively on hold, however, because the Ukrainian authorities cannot determine Zlochevsky’s whereabouts.

The central bank did not respond to a request for comment.

Giuliani has previously told Reuters he met Kulyk in Paris. He said at that meeting Kulyk echoed allegations that in 2016 Joe Biden as Vice President had tried to have Ukraine’s then-chief prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, fired to stop him investigating Burisma. Biden has accused Giuliani of peddling “false, debunked conspiracy theories” for repeating these allegations.

Kulyk told Reuters in October that he had been investigating Zlochevsky for around two years.

Reuters could not independently verify the extent of Kulyk’s involvement, but a source close to the energy company saw a spike in activity by Kulyk in regards to Burisma after Giuliani’s interest in the company and the Bidens had been conveyed to Kulyk’s then superior, Yuriy Lutsenko.

In late January, Kulyk sent Zlochevsky the first of several summons for questioning, documents seen by Reuters showed.

Zlochevsky has not commented on the summons or an announcement by Ryaboshapka in October that his office was reviewing a series of investigations linked to Zlochevsky.

BEHIND THE IMPEACHMENT SCENES, NEW REVELATIONS ABOUT LT. COL. VINDMAN

There Seems To Be A Reason Why The National Security Council Official Was Told Not To Answer Certain Republican Questions.

TruNews,
22 November, 2019


While America is distracted by the impeachment circus on Capitol Hill, House Democrats are hoping their constituents don’t find out about the latest revelations that have emerged about their new star witness, National Security Council staffer Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.


During his testimony Tuesday, Democrats tried to paint the Purple Heart recipient and Iraq combat veteran as a war hero whose honor couldn’t be questioned. In fact, Vindman fueled this narrative by appearing in his full dress blues and by invoking his family’s history of military service.


Toward the end of his testimony, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked some very pointed questions that openly questioned the colonel’s honor and reputation. Here’s a transcript of the exchange:


Jordan — Colonel Vindman, why didn’t—after the call, why didn’t you go to Mr. Morrison?


Vindman — I went immediately, per the instructions from the July 10th incident, I went immediately to Mr. Eisenberg. After that—once I made my—expressed my concerns, it was an extremely busy week. We had a PCC just finished, we had the call, and then we had a deputies meeting, which consumed all of my time. I was working extremely long days. I attempted to try to communicate to—I managed to speak to two folks in the interagency, I attempted to try to talk to Mr. Morrison. That didn’t happen before I received instructions from John Eisenberg to not talk to anybody else any further.


Jordan — So the lawyer—not only did you not go to your boss—you said you tried, but you didn’t go to your boss—you went straight to the lawyer, and the lawyer told you not to go to your boss?


Vindman — No, he didn’t tell me until—What ended up unfolding was I had the conversation with the attorney, I did my coordination, my core function, which is coordination, I spoke to the appropriate people within the interagency, and then circling back around, Mr. Eisenberg came back to me and told me not to talk to anybody else.


Jordan — I’m going to read from the transcript here: “Why did you go to your direct report, Mr. Morrison?” And your response was—this is page 102—“Because Mr. Eisenberg had told me to take my concerns to him.” And then I asked: “Did Mr. Eisenberg tell you not to report, to go around Mr. Morisson?” And you said, “Actually, he did say that I shouldn’t talk to any other people.” Is that right?


Vindman — Yes, but there’s a whole—there’s a period of time in there between when I spoke to him and when he circled back around. It wasn’t that long a period of time, but it was enough time for me to—


Jordan — Enough time for you to go to talk to someone that you won’t tell us who it is, right?


Vindman — I’ve been instructed not to Representative Jordan —


Jordan — Here’s what I’m getting. The lawyer told you don’t talk to any other people and you interpret that as not talking to your boss, but, you talked to your brother, you talked to the lawyers, you talked to Secretary Kent, and you talked to the one guy Adam Schiff won’t tell you—won’t let us—won’t let you tell us who he is. Is that right?


Vindman — Representative Jordan, I did my job.


Jordan — I’m not saying you didn’t. All I’m saying is you—the instruction from the lawyer was you shouldn’t talk to anybody, and you interpret that as don’t talk to my boss, but I’m going to go talk to someone that we can’t even ask you who that individual is.


Vindman — That is incorrect.


Jordan — Well, I just read what you said that: “I shouldn’t talk to any other people.”


Chairman Adam Schiff — The gentleman’s time has expired.


Vindman — I’m sorry, Mr. Chairman, but that sequence is not the way that it played out. I spoke to the attorney—

Jordan — I’m reading your transcript, Colonel Vindman.


Schiff — Mr. Jordan, please let the colonel answer.


Vindman — There’s—The sequence played out where immediately afterwards, I expressed my concerns, I did my coordination function, Mr. Eisenberg circled back around and told me not to talk to anybody else. In that period of time, I did not manage to talk to—


Jordan — Oh, so that’s when it happened. That’s when you talked with someone.

Schiff — Mr. Jordan—


Vindman — That’s right.


In his role as Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, Vindman answers directly to Senior Director for Europe and Russia Tim Morrison, who testified in the hearing the followed. During his testimony, Morrison was asked by Jordan about Vindman. Here’s a transcript of that exchange:


Jordan — You testified you had issues with Colonel Vindman’s judgment is that right?


Morrison — It is, sir.


Jordan — You said specifically you had problems with him exercising appropriate judgment as to what and you testified hill had concerns about Colonel Vindman’s judgment, is that right?


Morrison — Yes, sir.


Jordan — And you testified Colonel Vindman did not always adhere to the chain of command.


Morrison — Yes, sir.


Jordan — You testified he had issues accessing information outside his lane.


Morrison — I believe I stated there were those who were concerned about that, yes, sir.


Jordan — You testified Colonel Vindman was not included on certain trips, is that right?


Morrison — Yes, sir.


Jordan — And you testified colleagues expressed concerns to you about Colonel Vindman leaking information, is that right?


Morrison — Yes, sir.


Jordan — When I asked Colonel Vindman why he didn’t go to you with his concerns about the call, even though his boss had no concerns about anything—I think your language was nothing improper, anything illegal on the call—I asked Colonel Vindman why he didn’t go to you and instead talked to the lawyers, his brother, secretary Kent and one person he wouldn’t tell us and chairman Schiff wouldn’t allow him to tell us. When I asked him why he did that, he indicated the lawyers had instructed him to do that and he tried to get ahold of you. Is that fair?


Morrison — I watched part of the proceedings this morning. I heard him say that, yes, sir.


Jordan — He pointed out that you, Colonel Vindman’s boss, also went to lawyers. But your reason for going to it lawyers was a little different, wasn’t it?


Morrison — Yes, sir.


Jordan — Yeah, I think you had a few things you and Mr. Castor talked about earlier at today’s hearing. But I think at the top of your list you were concerned about the content of the call leaking out, is that fair?


Morrison — Yes, sir.


Jordan — And that’s exactly what happened, isn’t it?


Morrison — Sir, I don’t know—I don’t know that the contents leaked out. There was a whistle-blower complaint. The president chose to declassify the memcon.


Jordan — It seems to me you were prophetic, Mr. Morrison, because you stated: “I feared how the disclosure of the contents of the call would play in Washington’s political climate. My fears have been realized.” It seems to me you saw what might happen, and it sure enough did. Fair to say?


As has been pointed out in Jordan’s questioning of Vindman, his younger brother—a twin born less than 10 minutes after him—is also a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. He also serves at the National Security Council in the ethics office—a position from which he would be able to cover for his brother’s activities.


A D.C. source has independently told TruNews that Vindman did, in fact, leak the call to both the mainstream media and to Schiff’s office. In so doing, he worked directly with CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella, who has been previously identified in the alternative media as the so-called “CIA whistleblower.”


TruNews’ source says Army officials are investigating that leak, as well as the Ukrainian offers of the defense minister position to Vindman when he took part in the official delegation to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inauguration earlier this year. The source also says Army investigators are looking into Vindman’s meetings with lobbyists from Yorktown Solutions.


Yorktown Solutions purports to be an advisory firm that offers a broad range of “bespoke” consulting services with government, corporate, and institutional clients. Its website offers access to “influential stakeholders in the United States.” The lobbying firm is run by Daniel Vajdich—a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who served on two of the 2016 presidential campaigns:


Then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — as deputy foreign policy director, and
Sen. Ted Cruz — as senior national security adviser and chairman of the campaign’s Russia Working Group


The Atlantic Council bills itself as an independent think tank, but in reality is a war drum banger for the Deep State that frequently pushes an anti-Russia narrative. Ukraine has been a particularly heavy issue for the organization in recent years, perhaps in part due to the patronage of “oligarch” Victor Pinchuck.


The Kyiv billionaire was among those investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller during the early stages of the “Russia Narrative” investigation over a $150,000 donation to the Trump Foundation as compensation for a speech by the would-be president in 2015. Ultimately, it was determined there was nothing improper about the payment.


Pinchuk is a steel magnate who developed pipe used for gas and oil distribution systems. He’s described himself as a “proud Soviet” and says the fall of the Soviet Union was “a big tragedy.” He opposed the Russian occupation of Crimea mainly because it was bad for business.



The billionaire is frequently connected to both President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—as well as the Clinton Global Initiative. He has paid both of the Clintons in the past to speak at his annual Yalta European Strategy Conference.


While he’s a relative unknown to the general public, Vajdich is well connected to Republicans in Washington. He served as a staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as a researcher for the American Enterprise Institute. He also served in an advisory role with the Romney 2012 campaign on its Russia Working Group.


In 2017, Yorktown Solutions was picked up its first major client—Ukrainian energy giant Naftogaz—to help deal with a “Russian war chest armed against them,” according to media reports at the time.


Turning back to Vindman, however, he read from his most recent Officer Evaluation Report in defense of Morrison’s claims that he was not reliable or trustworthy. The narrative of that report, written by Morrison’s predecessor, Fiona Hill, described the colonel as being in the “top 1 percent” of the Army’s officer corps.


After Vindman declined a Democrat request to have the entire OER entered into the Congressional Record, TruNews obtained a copy of it. What was found in the report adds even more intrigue to the colonel’s official story. Here are two of the key discoveries:


Despite being a lieutenant colonel in the active-duty Army, Vindman has never completed a single tour in a command position, which is highly unusual for someone who spent nine years as an infantry officer who wears the Ranger device.


The official account of his receipt of the Purple Heart was that his unit was struck by an improvised explosive device in Iraq and he was injured in the explosion, however, he was not given a Bronze Star or any valor award alongside the decoration for injuries sustained in combat.


Regarding Vindman’s Ranger School training, independent journalist Mike Cernovich has interviewed several of his classmates, who described the colonel as “lazy” and a “chow thief.” The latter is a derogatory term used to describe someone who steals food from other students.


Food deprivation is a key component of the Ranger School experience in order to test students’ ability to function in stressful situations while also dealing with hunger. Graduates of Ranger School lose on average about 20 lbs., but have been known to lose twice that much.


Vindman, however, is referred to as the “fat officer” by other Ranger School graduates. TruNews has independently confirmed Cernovich’s reporting with other classmates of Vindman. They described how he was “peered out”—a process by which fellow students kick out a Ranger candidate due to lack of trust or respect—and that he was “recycled” several times before he finally completed the training in 2003. One of his classmates told TruNews:


“He was the biggest piece of [expletive] officer I had ever met. The Rangers in the private groups are all calling him fat officer or fat colonel.”


TruNews’ source says Vindman was ultimately pushed through Ranger School due to his proficiency with the Ukrainian and Russian languages.


Separately, independent journalist and author Paul Sperry reported that his found out that Vindman’s Purple Heart was awarded for “a few scratches.” TruNews has subsequently confirmed from a source with knowledge of the IED incident in Iraq that the colonel largely escaped injury, but suffered from temporary tinnitus caused by the concussion of the explosion.



(Photo Credit: TruNews)