Ukraine’s highest prosecutor has said he is holding a broad review of investigations closed under his predecessors, including more than a dozen linked to the Ukrainian energy company where Joe Biden’s son served on the board of directors.
The general prosecutor, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, said the review was part of Ukraine’s reform process as investigative powers are handed over to another government agency by the middle of next month.
On 25 July, US president Donald Trump called Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. During the course of the call he reportedly asked the Ukrainian leader eight times to investigate former US vice-president Joe Biden and Biden’s son Hunter. It is additionally reported that Trump ordered his staff to withhold nearly $400m in aid to Ukraine days before the call took place.
Biden is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination and take on Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Trump confirmed he discussed the Bidens with Zelenskiy, and accused the pair – without offering any evidence – of corruption.
A US intelligence community whistleblower filed a report after becoming alarmed at Trump’s behaviour in the matter. The White House refused to release the substance of the whistleblower complaint, setting up a confrontation with Congress over the release of information. Complaints of this nature are usually reported to Congress within seven days.
Trump’s personal lawyer, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, has admitted asking the Ukrainians to investigate the Bidens. It is illegal for a political campaign to accept a “thing of value” from a foreign government. Democrats say an investigation into a political opponent – for which Trump appears to have been pushing – would amount to a thing of value.
At a press conference on Friday, Ryaboshapka said he had no evidence of any wrongdoing by Hunter Biden and had not been contacted by Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who has spearheaded an informal investigation into the Biden family for the US president.
Trump has demanded the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, open an investigation into Hunter Biden for his work in Ukraine, and into his father for urging the country to fire the then general prosecutor, Viktor Shokin.
Asked whether he would investigate the pair, Ryaboshapka said he was holding an “audit of all cases”, a docket numbering in the thousands, which could include about 15 relating to the energy company Burisma.
In a follow-up statement, Ryaboshapka said his office was reviewing “high-profile proceedings concerning senior officials” under the former president Viktor Yanukovych, including cases tied to Burisma’s owner, Mykola Zlochevsky.
The statement stressed “no procedural decisions” had been made against Zlochevsky or “any persons related”.
The decision is not a full accession to Trump’s demands, as the earlier Burisma cases under review do not directly involve Hunter Biden or his father’s political influence.
Ryaboshapka’s remarks on Friday appeared to be part of Ukraine’s continued strategy of resisting the Trump administration’s demands for a full investigation, while avoiding antagonising the US president. Ukraine, where a revolution took place in 2014, relies heavily on the US and Europe for financial support for reforms and military aid.
Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate his potential opponent in the 2020 elections has led to an impeachment inquiry in Washington.
Shokin was widely regarded as corrupt, and there is no evidence Biden sought to have him fired for investigating Burisma.
Hunter Biden’s appointment to the board of directors of Burisma, with a reported monthly salary of $50,000 (£41,000), has been the subject of an investigation by Giuliani. The former New York mayor has collected evidence from several former Ukrainian prosecutors to try to discredit Biden before the elections.
