A federal judge has removed a filing by former President Donald Trump’s legal team from documents in the 2020 election meddling case in Washington, DC, which appears to include an affidavit by Viktor Shokin — the Ukrainian prosecutor fired for allegedly investigating a natural gas company owned by President Biden. serve on the board.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied a motion by Trump’s lawyers to file an affidavit by Shokin — misspelled as “Victor Shorkin” — citing federal rules prohibiting amicus briefs in criminal cases as well as DC court guidelines.
“At this time, the court does not find it necessary to depart from the normal course of procedure by allowing this filing,” Chutkan said in his order on Tuesday.
The former president’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
Chutkan also threw out six other petitions from Trump’s legal team, including another request to submit an amicus brief — one from a former judge and senior judicial officer — a motion to intervene and a writ of habeas corpus.
Biden, 80, who is now Trump’s running mate in the 2024 election, has boasted about pressuring then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in late 2015 to fire Shokin in exchange for the release of $1 billion in US loan guarantees.
At the time, Ukrainian prosecutors were investigating the owner of Burisma Holdings, Mykola Zlochevsky. The second son, Hunter Biden, has served on the natural gas firm’s board since 2014, earning about $1 million a year.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied Trump attorneys’ motion to file Viktor Shokin’s affidavit, citing federal rules and DC court guidelines for amicus curiae briefs.AP
A Ukrainian prosecutor has been fired for allegedly investigating a gas company where President Biden’s son, Hunter, serves on the board.NurPhoto via Getty Images
“I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor isn’t fired, you don’t get the money,’” Biden told a Council on Foreign Relations panel in 2018 in recounting his visit. “Alright, bitch. He was fired.”
Ukraine’s parliament then voted to remove Shokin in March 2016.
Trump was indicted in 2019 for relying on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate corruption allegations against Biden over the matter.
Lawyers for the former president, including John Lauro (above), did not respond to requests for comment.AP
Democratic impeachment managers argued Shokin’s removal was consistent with US policy on Ukraine, which Biden oversaw for the Obama administration.
In a rare interview that aired on Fox News Saturday, Shokin said he believed Biden and his son accepted bribes to force him from office in March 2016.
Former President Donald Trump is now Biden’s main opponent for the 2024 election.AP
“I don’t want to deal with unproven facts, but my strong personal conviction is, yes, this is the case. They were bribed,” Shokin told host Brian Kilmeade. “And the fact that Joe Biden gave US $1 billion in exchange for my impeachment, my impeachment, isn’t that just a case of corruption?”
An FBI whistleblower file released last month records claims by Zlochevsky that he was “forced” to pay Joe and Hunter $5 million each to avoid an investigation from Kyiv’s top law enforcement officials.
The House Judiciary Committee is reportedly seeking testimony from Shokin regarding the president’s alleged corruption.
In a rare interview aired Saturday, Shokin said he believed Biden and his son (above) accepted bribes to force him from office in March 2016.AP
Hunter’s former business partner Devon Archer, who also holds a seat on Burisma’s board, told the House Oversight Committee in July that the first son got a board position so “people would be threatened to screw them … legally.”
Archer also said he was not aware of any corruption allegations related to Hunter’s time at Burisma, but suggested the allegations may have stemmed from the high salaries both partners received.
Biden boasted about pressuring Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in late 2015 to fire Shokin in exchange for $1 billion in US loan guarantees. Shutterstock
In a subsequent interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Archer said Shokin was considered a “threat” to Burisma and ran Zlochevsky out of Ukraine shortly before his ouster.
As part of a separate case, lawyers for the House Ways and Means Committee submitted an amicus brief in Delaware federal court that included testimony from two IRS whistleblowers alleging political interference from the Justice Department during the five-year investigation into Hunter Biden’s alleged tax crimes.
In a rare interview that aired Saturday, Shokin said he believed Biden and his son accepted bribes to force him from office in March 2016. Fox News
US District Judge Maryellen Noreika denied a request from Hunter’s lawyers to keep the filing sealed after the eldest son’s plea deal blew up in court — and federal prosecutors withdrew the case to refile in another district.
Trump’s federal trial on his alleged illegal attempts to stay in power will begin on March 4, 2024, the day before “Super Tuesday” in the Republican primary.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
