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Opinion | Serious about corruption? Investigate the Bidens

Speaker Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and their Democratic colleagues have spent countless hours and taxpayer dollars to find evidence that President Trump was involved in corruption.  At the same time, Democrats refuse to even consider the fundamental issue at hand – was President Trump right to question the activities of Hunter Biden in Ukraine?

 Months ago, media reported Hunter Biden’s shady business dealings.  But, once impeachment began, the mainstream media moved to kill the story.  We’re told nothing to see there.  Yet each week, new information continues to emerge demanding a full investigation of the facts.

 We know that Hunter Biden essentially made his living as a high-powered lobbyist benefiting from his father’s career as a Senator and Vice President. 

 When Joe was elected Vice President, Hunter claimed to leave lobbying, but really he just shifted his game.  He formed a series of companies with Christopher Heinz, the stepson of Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman and later Secretary of State John Kerry.  These kids, trading on their fathers’ names and political ties, made a pretty powerful combo.

 As the New York Times reported, Biden and Heinz pursued multiple foreign business investments “where connections implied political influence and protection.”

These guys closed lucrative deals with China right after Hunter visited China on Air Force II with his father.  Importantly, they were working in Ukraine while Joe was leading Ukrainian policy for the U.S to fight corruption.

 Ukraine is known for its corruption.  A small group of oligarchs hold most political power.  Hunter and his company went to work for one of these guys and his notoriously corrupt energy company, Burisma Holdings.  Hunter was paid up to $50,000 a month to sit on its board.

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 We know Hunter knew nothing about energy or Ukraine.  But, when you’re dealing a with a corrupt country like Ukraine, and the son of the Vice President of the United States is involved in a corrupt company, that sends a signal to government officials when considering pursuing investigations.

 At the same time, Vice President Biden was threatening to withhold aid to Ukraine unless they fired the prosecutor allegedly looking into Burisma.  Senior State Department officials raised concerns about Hunter to the Vice President.  Yet, the arrangement continued until recently.

 The bottom line is that there are serious allegations here, they directly relate to impeachment, and Congress needs to find out what happened.  In fact, I introduced a H.Res. 631 directing the relevant committees to investigate alleged Biden corruption.  Despite having a substantial number of cosponsors, my resolution has been bottled up by Speaker Pelosi. 

 Last week, Republicans on the Intelligence Committee echoed my resolution, requesting that if Hunter Biden is going to be the basis for impeachment, Congress should get his testimony in the impeachment inquiry.  But, Democrats have signaled they won’t allow it.  My question is, why?

 We know the answer – this is a partisan witch hunt against President Trump.  President Trump never once demanded a quid pro quo from President Zelenksy.  You can read the transcript yourself.  While the Democrats and their allies in the press have trashed President Trump for raising Burisma and Ukraine’s role in the 2016 elections, those are serious issues worthy of investigation. 

 I am proud to be a leader in the pressure campaign to expose the hypocrisy of the Democrats’ sham process.  And I will continue leading the fight to investigate the Bidens and expose real corruption that may exist.  If Democrats are serious about exposing corruption, investigating Hunter Biden cannot be ignored.

 One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t win a fight you don’t join.  When you fight, good things can happen.  That is why I am going to keep fighting, to make sure the truth is out there.

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Bradley Byrne is the president and CEO of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and a former Republican congressman who represented Alabama's 1st Congressional District.

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