[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 160 (Wednesday, September 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5627-S5631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Unanimous Consent Request

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this morning the Republican majority of 
the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee authorized 
another smattering of subpoenas in what seems to be an ongoing effort 
to disparage a former Vice President and his family.
  While the rest of the country is busy fighting COVID-19, this is what 
the Homeland Security Committee has been up to--using the powers of the 
Senate to, in effect, conduct opposition research for President Trump's 
campaign.
  The Republican chairman has said he plans to release a report about 
it next week--merely a month before election day. There is a dark 
similarity here to the Republican effort in the House in the previous 
election to discredit the Democratic Presidential candidate with the 
Select Committee on Benghazi.
  You may remember the now-minority leader of the House Republican 
caucus bragging that the Republicans created the committee to bring 
down Hillary's poll numbers. You know what they say about a political 
gaffe: It is when politicians tell the truth.
  Well, it seems like the Republican chairman of the Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs Committee has made the same gaffe that 
Minority Leader McCarthy made in 2016. In a little-noticed interview 
with a Wisconsin radio station last month, Senator Johnson said that 
his probe would ``help Donald Trump win reelection,'' and yet somehow 
the current activities of the Republican majority in the Homeland 
Security committee are even worse than what the House Republicans did 
in 2016, because in the rush to find scraps of information for these 
investigations, Senate Republicans may have collected and propagated 
disinformation that came from Putin's intelligence agents.
  Some of the allegations that the Homeland Security chairman is now 
pursuing are the same ones pushed by Andriy Derkach, a known Russian 
agent who was sanctioned by President Trump's own Treasury Department 
for interfering in our elections.
  Powerful Senate Republicans are echoing the same claims that the 
Russians are pushing, the same nonsense that Ukraine interfered in the 
2016 elections and not just Putin.
  We have all become so inured to scandal during this scandalous 
administration, but the fact that a powerful Senate committee may have 
fallen victim to misinformation from Moscow is appalling.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Would the Democratic leader yield?
  Mr. SCHUMER. I will yield.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The chair will remind Senators that Rule XIX 
provides that ``No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by 
any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any 
conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.''
  Mr. SCHUMER. I am aware of it. Everything I have stated here is 
factual--everything, every single thing.
  So, this afternoon, my colleagues and I have drafted a simple 
resolution that calls for the cessation of any Senate investigation or 
activity that allows the U.S. Congress to act as a conduit for Russian 
disinformation.
  I cannot fathom how any Member of this Chamber could justify blocking 
such a resolution. There must not be a single aspect of this Chamber 
that wittingly or unwittingly furthers the propaganda machine of 
Vladimir Putin.
  Now, I know what my friend from Wisconsin might say. He will deny 
receiving information from the particular Russian agent that I have 
mentioned, Mr. Derkach, but Chairman Johnson has never provided a full 
accounting of all the Russian- and Ukrainian-linked individuals he 
sought information from. One of the chairman's subpoenas, for example, 
targeted a Ukrainian national who is an associate of Mr. Derkach.
  So anticipating his objection to this resolution, I would simply ask 
the chairman to provide a full accounting of whom he sought information 
from, so we can know who they are, what their motives are, and, 
therefore, the Senate can see if they are trying to interfere with our 
elections.
  The chairman should have no issue furthering a complete accounting of 
his contacts with Russian and Ukrainian sources. The American people 
ought to know whether the U.S. Senate has been sullied by potentially 
receiving information from discredited Russian agents. The American 
people should expect the Senate to pass this resolution today.
  What were our Founding Fathers most worried about? One of the top 
things--top things--was interference by foreign powers in our 
elections. Back then, their concerns were about bribery or treason or a 
foreign actor who infiltrated our government. Today, in our information 
age, the methods of foreign interference are different, but the risks 
are the same.
  Our chief adversaries--Russia, China, Iran, North Korea--have found 
that disinformation and misinformation are a weak point in open 
societies like ours. That makes it incumbent on us--all of us--here in 
the Congress to be careful about the information we receive and repeat.
  In the zeal for partisan advantage, we hope the Republican majority 
on the Homeland Security Committee has not become a sympathetic 
audience and a potential entrance point to foreign influence campaigns, 
wittingly or unwittingly. What a disastrous and disgraceful state of 
affairs. The Senate should pass this resolution today.
  I yield the floor to my colleague from Oregon.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise in support of this resolution 
offered by the Democratic leader. We are calling for an end to a 
horribly flawed congressional investigation. The foreign threats to our 
democracy--attempts to poison it with disinformation and to sow 
distrust--are an established matter of fact.
  It is especially troubling because for periods over the last year, 
two Senate committees have conducted an investigation involving 
Ukraine, former Vice President Biden, and his son Hunter: the Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, led by our colleague from 
Wisconsin, Chairman Johnson; and our colleague from Iowa, Chairman 
Grassley, of the Finance Committee, in which I am the

[[Page S5628]]

ranking Democrat. My staff has joined in interviews and received 
documents pertinent to the investigation.
  Given my Finance Committee role and my position on the Senate 
Intelligence Committee, I am unable to discuss classified information 
or details of an ongoing inquiry. However, I can discuss public 
information about the spread of Russian propaganda and the pathway it 
is following from Russian agents, through the U.S. Senate, to the 
American people.
  The Russian Government is again interfering in our election. This has 
been confirmed by our intelligence community. Its interference campaign 
includes disinformation about Vice President Biden and the work he was 
doing to fight corruption in Ukraine.
  To spread this disinformation, Russia enlists the help of characters 
like Andriy Derkach and Andriy Telizhenko. Derkach has been identified 
by American counterintelligence as an active agent for Russian 
intelligence. This agent, instead of being treated as a foreign enemy, 
has met personally with the President's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to 
further his task of undermining elections in America. I am not sure, 
colleagues, what you should call an American who aids a Russian agent, 
but counselor to the President is certainly not it.
  In August, the Director of the National Counterintelligence and 
Security Center issued a threat assessment on foreign threats to our 
election. It identified Derkach as a Kremlin-linked actor involved with 
attempting to denigrate former Vice President Biden.
  On September 3, Senator Schumer and I wrote a letter, along with 
several of our Democratic colleagues, urging the Treasury Department to 
issue sanctions against Derkach. It did so the following week, 
describing his role in what it called ``a covert influence campaign 
centered on cultivating false and unsubstantiated narratives concerning 
U.S. officials in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election.''
  Telizhenko is yet another Giuliani associate who, according to press 
accounts, American counterintelligence has identified as a conduit for 
Russian attacks on our elections. He has also been a star witness in 
the Johnson-Grassley investigation
  Derkach and Telizhenko have released what appears to be heavily 
edited portions of phone calls Vice President Biden held with Ukrainian 
officials in the course of his anti-corruption work. Some were released 
on the very same day. Telizhenko is promising further releases. 
Telizhenko also told the Washington Post that he forwarded more than 
100 emails to staff on Senator Johnson's committee and answered their 
questions.
  Our colleague from South Carolina, Senator Graham, was involved in 
the earliest stages of the Johnson-Grassley inquiry in 2019, but in 
February of 2020, Chairman Graham said: ``I called the attorney general 
this morning and Richard Burr, [then, of course] chairman of the Intel 
Committee, and they told me take very cautiously anything coming out of 
the Ukraine against anybody.''
  The disinformation that these two have spread--Derkach and Telizhenko 
have spread--the disinformation these two have spread, largely a 
collection of unproven allegations and wild conspiracy theories, has 
obviously made it into many media outlets in the country all too 
willing to spread the products of Russian intelligence. It has been 
circulated by the President's own legal team.
  From there, that disinformation became the basis of much of the work 
of the Johnson-Grassley inquiry. I am going to have more to say on the 
details of that investigation in the days ahead, but for now, I will 
say this: Chairman Johnson has repeatedly claimed in the media that he 
has uncovered new and damaging information about Vice President Biden's 
activity in Ukraine. This is simply not true. Nothing I have seen--not 
one bit of evidence--could lead to the conclusion that Vice President 
Biden did anything wrong in Ukraine. What I have seen is a monthlong 
investigation that still has no legitimate basis, burning through an 
incredible amount of manpower and taxpayer-funded resources. Neither of 
these committees, by the way, under the rules of the Senate, have any 
jurisdiction over our diplomatic ties with Ukraine. It has no 
legislative purpose.
  This investigation, as I have pointed out on a number of occasions, 
also is happening under a clear double standard that has favored 
Republicans in the Senate and stonewalled oversight by Democrats. In my 
view, that is a sign that the flimsy accusations made against the Vice 
President can't stand up to real scrutiny.
  The real nature of this inquiry has been clear all along. It began as 
a counterprogramming during the impeachment trial, and the urgency 
behind the investigation really almost seemed to die out when the trial 
ended. It only returned--and again, these are facts. All of these are 
facts. It only returned when the Vice President established himself as 
the Democratic frontrunner. The day after the Biden victory in the 
South Carolina primary, Chairman Johnson sent a letter to the committee 
announcing his intention to kick-start the investigation with a 
subpoena.
  So now what I am going to do is outline what Senator Johnson said in 
his own words, because I think that is also very important as Senators 
consider this resolution. These are Senator Johnson's words 
specifically.
  My colleague said in March: ``[I]f I were a Democrat primary voter, 
I'd want these questions satisfactorily answered before I cast my final 
vote.''
  The chairman said in August: ``I would think it would certainly help 
Donald Trump win reelection and certainly be pretty good, I would say, 
evidence about not voting for Vice President Biden.''
  He said in September: ``Stay tuned. In about a week we're going to 
learn a whole lot more of Vice President Biden's unfitness for 
office.''
  Furthermore, the chairman, in my view, looking again at the public 
record, cannot credibly take issue with the work the Vice President was 
doing because he supported it publicly at the time.
  In June 2014, at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Ukraine, 
Chairman Johnson stated: ``If we have to tie aid or help to make sure 
that anti-corruption laws are passed, I think we should do it.''
  In 2016, Chairman Johnson wrote a letter with a bipartisan group of 
members of the Senate Ukraine Caucus to former Ukrainian President 
Petro Poroshenko. The letter reads:

       Succeeding in these reforms will show Russian President 
     Putin that an independent, transparent and democratic Ukraine 
     can and will succeed. It also offers a stark alternative to 
     the authoritarianism and oligarchic cronyism prevalent in 
     Russia. As such, we respectfully ask that you address the 
     serious concerns raised--

  And we are talking here about the Minister of Economic Development 
and Trade.

       We similarly urge you to press ahead with urgent reforms to 
     the Prosecutor General's Office and Judiciary.

  So these are the words, colleagues, the words of the chairman of the 
committee. That is why Senator Schumer and I believe this 
investigation, the Johnson-Grassley investigation, is baseless. We have 
brought forward a resolution that we believe is important to defending 
our democracy. It comes down to a question of what we want campaigns 
and elections to be all about.
  In my view--and I have always said this--right at the core of my 
being, I want elections about our best ideas. That is why I serve on 
the Finance Committee, to try to come up with the best ideas in 
healthcare, taxes, trade, and the like. Elections ought to be about our 
best ideas and having real debates and not attacking the other side 
with farfetched foreign misinformation, especially at a time when the 
American people are dealing with the crushing weight of one crisis 
stacked on another.
  There are 200,000 Americans who have died of COVID-19. I couldn't 
disagree more with the President's handling of the coronavirus 
pandemic. We have seen so much economic hurt. I championed on the floor 
and, for a while, we had bipartisan support for basically bringing 
unemployment into the relevant century and getting an extra $600 per 
week to people and covering gig

[[Page S5629]]

workers and all kinds of other people. Yet, still, the economy has 
collapsed, and millions are out of work. My Oregon neighbors--a number 
of them--have seen their communities reduced to ashes. Thousands and 
thousands of homes and businesses have been lost. There has been a 
national outcry against racism and violence against Black Americans.
  Our elections are supposed to be about those kinds of issues, and in 
all of them, what I have tried to do is devote my public service to 
bringing people together and getting parties to find common ground on 
the best ideas of how to make changes in these areas. Now, that sure 
seems to me to be what the Senate should be all about rather than 
baseless attacks and foreign disinformation.
  I urge my colleagues to support the resolution that Senator Schumer 
and I have championed. It is long past time for this badly flawed 
investigation by our colleagues to end.
  As in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of a resolution opposing efforts 
to launder Russian disinformation through the Congress, which is at the 
desk. I further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be 
agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid 
upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). Is there objection?
  The Senator from Wisconsin.
  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I reserve the right to object.
  I want to first point out--I want to thank the previous Presiding 
Officer for pointing out the fact that if this is not a violation of 
rule XIX, it is coming pretty darn close.
  What you just witnessed here is this: We have witnessed Democrats 
doing what Democrats do so well, accusing the other side of doing 
exactly what they do--only 10 times or 100 times worse.
  Earlier today, I chaired a business meeting of the Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs Committee, precipitated, created, made 
necessary by the fact that the ranking member of my committee presented 
an absurd, ridiculous interpretation of our rules. Based on the 
subpoena authority I received earlier on June 4, the ranking member 
said, in order to actually schedule a subpoena or schedule a meeting--a 
deposition--I could come back for another vote.

  During my opening statement of that business meeting, having just 
described that level of meddling--which, by the way, the ranking member 
also provided that ridiculous interpretation to our witness, the 
witness, Jonathan Winer, an individual, by the way, who decided not to 
cooperate with the Department of Justice inspector general in his 
report on the FISA abuse. He decided not to show up for his deposition 
that had been previously scheduled. Having just explained that in my 
opening statement, I would like to read the next part, which describes 
the duplicity and the hypocrisy of the Democrats.
  I said: The most recent example of this hypocrisy was a letter and 
classified addendum created by senior Democratic leaders that accused 
Senator Grassley and me--
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair will remind Senators that rule XIX 
provides that ``[N]o Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, 
by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any 
conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.''
  Mr. JOHNSON. I appreciate the warning. I don't think I did that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized.
  Mr. JOHNSON. Let me continue.
  The most recent example is a letter and classified addendum created 
by senior Democratic leaders that accused Senator Grassley and me of 
relying on foreign disinformation. This ``intelligence product,'' which 
was full of false allegations, was produced, classified, and then 
leaked to the press more than a week before Senator Grassley or I were 
given access to it. Many in the media dutifully reported this hot tip. 
Democrats then used those media reports to repeat, distort, and 
embellish the false charges. This coordinated smear--and that is what 
you have to call it. It is a coordinated smear which continues today on 
the floor of the Senate--culminated in an August 7 opinion piece in the 
Washington Post submitted by Senator Richard Blumenthal.
  But John Ratcliffe, the Director of National Intelligence, wrote:

       I can confirm the IC did not create the classified addendum 
     to the 13 July letter, nor did we authorize its [release].

  The foreign information we were falsely accused of receiving--we have 
a misprint here.
  The foreign information we were falsely accused of receiving 
utilized--purportedly comes from a Ukrainian named Andriy Derkach, who 
has since been sanctioned by the Treasury Department. Although neither 
Senator Grassley nor I ever sought, received, or used any information 
from Mr. Derkach, the media has continued to report otherwise for 
weeks, despite our repeated and unequivocal denials.
  But it is true that a chart produced by Mr. Derkach is now part of 
our investigatory record, not because of me or Senator Grassley but 
because Senator Peters' staff introduced it into the record.
  So as was the case in the 2016 election, the only foreign 
disinformation being used to interfere in this investigation has been 
introduced by Democrats against Republicans and not by Republicans.
  Given all the concerns expressed by Democrats over foreign 
disinformation, it is notable that we have not heard the same concern 
over disclosure of the Steele dossier containing Russian 
disinformation. We are aware of this fact because, during the course of 
this investigation, my chief counsel uncovered it buried in four 
classified footnotes to the Department of Justice inspector general 
FISA report. We also know the FBI was aware of this as early as 2016. 
Think about that. The FBI knew that Russian disinformation was 
contained in the Steele dossier as early as August of 2016. Yet they 
continued the investigation, and that investigation spilled over into a 
special counsel and disrupted America's Government and politics for 
years.
  We also note that the Steele dossier was bought and paid for by the 
DNC and Clinton campaign. Apparently, Democrats are willing to look the 
other way when they pay for or use disinformation against Republicans.
  That is what I read in my opening statement at our business meeting 
earlier today.
  As I look at this resolution, the last ``whereas'' talks about a 
congressional investigation that alleges the same discredited claims by 
Derkach. I don't know who Derkach is. As I said earlier, Senator 
Grassley and I have repeatedly, unequivocally, denied we did not 
solicit; we did not accept; we did not receive any information from Mr. 
Derkach whatsoever. Yet Democrats persist in pushing this false 
allegation.
  As a matter of fact, I am not sure our committee has alleged anything 
yet. About the only thing that I have alleged is the glaring and 
obvious conflict of interest.
  I have to step back here. I just have to give a little history about 
Ukraine. In February of 2014, Ukrainians, courageous Ukrainians--
basically two factions: one that wanted to integrate closer to the West 
and the younger Ukrainians who wanted to rid themselves of the 
corruption of the Soviet legacy--joined together in massive protest on 
the Maidan. Approximately, February 20, 21, over 80 Ukrainians were 
slaughtered by snipers protesting to rid Ukraine of corruption and 
increase their ties to the West.
  Less than 2 months later--and I have asked my colleagues: Is there 
any disinformation here? Is this anything from Russian sources? Two 
months later, here are the series of events that occurred.
  On April 16, 2014, Vice President Biden met with his son's business 
partner, Devon Archer, at the White House. That is kind of a big deal--
anybody meeting with the Vice President at the White House. Hunter 
Biden's business partner got to do that.
  Five days later, Vice President Biden visited Ukraine. The media 
described him as the public face of the administration's handling of 
Ukraine. The next day, April 22, Archer joined the board of Burisma.
  Again, Burisma is this company that is owned by what George Kent from 
the State Department called an ``odious oligarch,'' Mykola Zlochevsky. 
It is hard to say Ukrainian names.

[[Page S5630]]

  Six days later, after Archer joined the board, British officials 
seized $23 million from the London bank accounts of Burisma's owner, 
Mykola Zlochevsky. Fifteen days later, on May 13, Hunter Biden joined 
the board of Burisma. And over the course of the next, approximately, 4 
to 5 years, Hunter and his firms were paid more than $3 million for his 
and Archer's board participation.
  Again, Ukraine had just gone through a revolution. Their leadership 
was desperate for U.S. support. We all have to believe that Mr. 
Zlochevsky, an odious oligarch, would have made those Ukrainian 
officials well aware of the fact that the son of the Vice President of 
the United States, the public face of the administration's handling of 
Ukraine, was sitting on his board.
  So what kind of signal did that send to Ukrainians who were trying to 
stand up and were being pressured by U.S. officials to rid their 
country of corruption? It basically said: If you want U.S. support, 
don't touch Burisma
  The fact is, when all was said and done, Burisma and Mykola 
Zlochevsky were never held to account. The investigation, the 
prosecution of him was ceased. It never occurred.
  In terms of Russian disinformation, these false charges, these wild 
claims against me and Senator Grassley--I was way ahead of the curve 
when it came to Russian disinformation. Back in 2015, as chairman of 
the European Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I 
held three hearings focusing on what Russia does to destabilize the 
politics in countries--an attempted coup in Montenegro and other places 
in Eastern Europe. So I am well aware of what Russia is doing--well 
aware. I don't condone it. I condemn it. I am not having any part of 
pushing it.
  But I have to say, for all the crocodile tears the Democrats shed in 
terms of Russian disinformation, the effects on our politics, I would 
argue that the Russian disinformation that has been perpetrated on our 
politics and the effect it has on the election pales in comparison to 
the false allegations, for example, that Russia colluded with the Trump 
campaign. It was promoted by Democrats for years, culminating in a 
special counsel and finally an impeachment. But how Democrats have used 
and how the media has promoted and carried the water for Democrats all 
this time has had a far greater effect, by orders of magnitude, in 
terms of destabilization and affecting the politics and affecting the 
elections. That is basically the truth.
  I would just ask my colleagues and I would ask the American public to 
take a look at what has really been happening here. The false 
allegations, the basic playbook the Democrats engage in, time and 
again, create a false narrative, create a false intelligence product, 
accuse the other side of things that you are doing tenfold. That is 
what is happening here.
  I, personally, am tired of it. As a result, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I am very disappointed that my colleague 
has objected.
  I just want to make a brief response reflecting on my role as a 
senior member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Again, as 
I indicated earlier, I can't get into anything classified or sources 
and methods, but before we leave this subject, I just want to remind 
the Senate that the Russian disinformation campaign is going on now. It 
is not some abstract issue. The Russian disinformation campaign is 
going on now.
  The Russians have attempted to rewrite the history of the 2016 
campaign. It is the conclusion of the intelligence community--this is 
not Democrats; it is not Republicans; it is the intelligence 
community--that they are trying to interfere again, this time in the 
2020 election, including with these attacks on Vice President Biden, 
and they are saying this now. And active Russian agents, like Mr. 
Derkach, apparently are having press conferences. I heard a report that 
he may have had one today.
  So Members of the Senate--again, this is a matter of public record--
have been presented with specific warnings about these Kremlin-backed 
conspiracies and lies again and again, including in classified 
settings. As I wrap this up, I would only ask that Members of this 
great institution reflect on that.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin.
  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, a quick response because in my other 
paper here, I did not have the full quote from John Ratcliffe. I would 
like to read it now.
  This is referring to the intelligence product that senior Democratic 
leaders created, leaked to the press, accusing Senator Grassley and I, 
falsely, of receiving information from Andriy Derkach.
  John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence, wrote:

       I can confirm the IC did not create the classified addendum 
     to the 13 July letter, nor did we authorize its creation. The 
     IC was not consulted prior to its creation and subsequent 
     release to the entire membership of the U.S. House of 
     Representatives.

  Then, referring to that addendum, he said it ``by no means reflects 
the full and complete analysis of the IC.''
  I would ask unanimous consent to enter into the Record an article 
that was published today by John Solomon talking about the extensive--
extensive--contacts by members of the Obama administration in terms of 
the NSC and the State Department and the Ambassador with Andriy 
Telizhenko. It is right here.
  We have a nice picture of House Member Elliot Engel as well.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

 Democrats Had Extensive Contact With Ukrainian They Now Use For `Red 
                          Scare' Attack on GOP

                           (By John Solomon)

                       September 16, 2020--2:30pm

       For months, Democrats on Capitol Hill have waged a whisper 
     campaign to disparage the reputation of a former Ukrainian 
     government official named Andrii Telizhenko, who has emerged 
     as a fact witness for Republicans investigating the 
     controversial business deals of Joe Biden's son Hunter.
       Led by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), 
     the Democrats have tried to suggest--without evidence--that 
     Telizhenko is connected to Ukrainian Parliamentary member 
     Andrii Derkach, identified by U.S. intelligence as leading 
     Russian disinformation efforts targeting Joe Biden in the 
     2020 election and sanctioned by the Trump Treasury 
     Department.
       Their campaign will break into the open Wednesday on the 
     Senate floor when Democrats try to force a vote on a 
     resolution criticizing Senate Homeland Security and 
     Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) 
     suggesting the probe he and Senate Finance Committee chairman 
     Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) are leading into the Bidens' 
     Ukraine dealings is part of Derkach's election meddling. 
     Their argument is thin, relying on the fact that Telizhenko 
     has talked publicly about some of the same issues as Derkach. 
     Their resolution is likely to fail in the GOP-controlled 
     Senate.
       But the Democrats' character-assassination campaign suffers 
     a much bigger problem: Long before he assisted the GOP Senate 
     investigation, Telizhenko was a trusted mid-level Ukrainian 
     government contact for the Obama-Biden administration, 
     according to scores of U.S. government emails and memos 
     obtained by Just the News.
       The memos show Telizhenko routinely arranged sensitive 
     meetings for senior State Department officials at the U.S. 
     embassy in Kiev, met with senior Democrats on Capitol Hill, 
     including current House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman 
     Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), and facilitated contacts with 
     Ukrainians for the National Security Council and the U.S. 
     Justice Department in Washington dating to 2013. He also was 
     cleared for meetings inside the Obama White House, Secret 
     Service entry logs show.
       His contacts included such senior State officials as 
     William Taylor and Geoffrey Pyatt, two ambassadors, the memos 
     show.
       In another words, the man the Democrats are now using for a 
     ``red scare'' attack on the GOP senators was actually their 
     own party's Ukrainian contact, vetted and cleared by the 
     State Department to meet with senior officials like 
     ambassadors and DOJ prosecutors on sensitive foreign matters.
       Telizhenko also was hired by the Democratic-leaning firm 
     known as Blue Star Strategies to help Burisma Holdings--the 
     Ukrainian gas firm that hired Hunter Biden as a board member 
     in 2014--lobby the State Department and Ukrainian prosecutors 
     to drop corruption allegations against the company in 2016, 
     the memos show.
       Telizhenko, in fact, was so trusted and familiar with Obama 
     administration officials that he was on a first-name basis, 
     trading smiley face emoticons and arranging coffee and beer 
     outings in Washington with such contacts as Obama-era 
     National Security Council staffer Elisabeth Zentos, the memos 
     show.

[[Page S5631]]

       ``Hi Andrii! I'm doing ok. Yes, definitely got some rest 
     over the weekend. How about you?'' Zentos wrote April 4, 2016 
     to Telizhenko from her official White House email account. 
     ``Survive the visit ok? Also, should we still plan for coffee 
     this week? Maybe Wednesday or Friday? Hope all is well! 
     Liz.''
       A month earlier, a planned beer outing with Zentos got 
     changed. ``Would you be up for doing coffee instead of beer 
     though? I'm realizing that if I drink beer at 3 p.m., I will 
     probably fall asleep while attempting to work afterward,'' 
     Zentos wrote.
       Zentos and Telizhenko also discussed the sensitive case of 
     Burisma and its founder, Mykola Zlochevsky, in a July 2016 
     email exchange with the subject line ``Re: Z,'' the shorthand 
     Telizhenko used to refer to the Burisma founder. Their email 
     exchange did not mention Hunter Biden's role in the company 
     but showed the Obama White House had interest in the business 
     dealings of Hunter Biden's boss.
       ``Hi Liz, Yes, It would be great to meet, tomorrow whatever 
     works best for you 12:30pm or 6pm--I am ready,'' Telizhenko 
     wrote the NSC staffer, adding a smiley face. Zentos 
     eventually replied when he suggested a restaurant: ``Ooh, 
     that would be wonderful--thanks so much!''
       Attached to Telizhenko's email was an org chart showing the 
     structure of some foreign companies that had been connected 
     at one point to Zlochevsky's business empire.
       The memos show Zentos first befriended Telizhenko when she 
     worked at the U.S. embassy as far back as 2014.
       The memos show that officials at the Obama Justice 
     Department, the NSC, and the State Department enlisted 
     Telizhenko for similarly sensitive diplomatic matters dating 
     to 2013 including:
       Arranging for senior members of the Ukraine Prosecutor 
     General's Office to travel to Washington in January 2016 to 
     meet with NSC, State, DOJ and FBI officials to discuss 
     ongoing corruption cases. At the time, the Ukraine 
     prosecutors had an escalating corruption probe of Burisma, 
     where Hunter Biden served on the board. Within weeks of the 
     Washington meeting, Vice President Joe Biden had pressured 
     Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko to fire the lead 
     prosecutor, Viktor Shakin.
       Securing a meeting in February 2015 at the U.S. embassy in 
     Kiev with a deputy Ukrainian prosecutor whom U.S. officials 
     wanted to confront about a bribe allegedly paid by Burisma.
       Facilitating a draft statement in November 2013 from 
     members of the Ukrainian parliament to President Obama 
     denouncing then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, whom 
     the Obama administration would help oust from power a few 
     weeks later.
       ``We, people of Ukraine, appeal to you with request to 
     support Ukrainian people in their standing for freedom, 
     justice and democracy,'' the November 2013 draft statement 
     from Telizhenko to the U.S. embassy in Kiev read. ``The 
     President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych proved that he is not 
     the guarantor of constitutional rights and freedoms of 
     citizens, freedom of choice and right for free expression.''
       The draft statement was fielded by a military attache at 
     the U.S. embassy who urged Telizhenko to get it to the 
     embassy's political section for consideration. ``The 
     ambassador has not shared with me what the position of the US 
     government would be on such a statement, other than his 
     message yesterday morning,'' the attache wrote. ``. . . I'm 
     sure once you pass this statement to Ambassador Pyatt's 
     political section, they will render a timely response.''
       Photos taken by U.S. and Ukrainian government photographers 
     show Telizhenko facilitated meetings between 2014 and 2016 
     with key lawmakers in Washington, including Democrat Reps. 
     Engel and Marcy Kaptur and then-GOP Sen. Bob Corker, as well 
     as other U.S. agencies.
       And the emails show U.S. embassy officials in Kiev 
     routinely sought advice and insights from Telizhenko about 
     happenings inside the Ukrainian government. ``Andriy, we have 
     heard that there may be a briefing today. Do you know the 
     specifics?'' embassy political officer Stephen Page asked in 
     a January 2014 email.
       Such contacts are normal in the diplomacy and national 
     security business of the United States. But they take on 
     significance now because they have been missing from the 
     Democrats' attacks on Telizhenko and the GOP senators who 
     have interviewed him in their probe of the Bidens. The 
     question now is: If Telizhenko is so bad as Democrats claim, 
     why did the Obama administration and Democrats so frequently 
     engage him?
       Sen. Wyden's recent statement ignored that issue. ``While 
     Democrats are pushing for more aggressive action against 
     Russian assets interfering in our elections, Republicans are 
     using their conspiracy theories to advance bogus 
     investigations,'' he said.
       U.S. intelligence officials tell Just the News that while 
     they remain vigilant in fighting Russian interference in the 
     2020 election, they have no direct evidence Telizhenko is, 
     like Derkach, connected to the Kremlin. However, they have 
     extensive evidence he was welcomed by the U.S. government 
     during the Obama years and that he assisted Trump lawyer Rudy 
     Giuliani's probe of legal matters in Ukraine, including 
     finding political dirt last year on the Bidens.
       The officials also noted there is open source intelligence 
     that Telizhenko actually engaged in a rivalry in the 
     Ukrainian press with Derkach and derided the Ukrainian 
     parliamentary member as a Russian operative just a few months 
     ago. The open source information includes a BuzzFeed article 
     quoting Telizhenko and social media posts, the officials 
     said.
       Ukraine is a country with much corruption and many 
     mysterious characters. But one thing is clear: U.S. 
     government memos corroborate Andrii Telizhenko was trusted by 
     the Obama administration for many years before congressional 
     Democrats turned on him.

  Mr. JOHNSON. The same person they are saying is just this dangerous 
Russian agent, they were using extensively throughout the Obama 
administration to set up contacts. He actually had the ability to go to 
meetings in the White House, and he attended those. This is the person 
whom now they are saying, because we spoke to him and got a little bit 
of information from him, we are dealing in Russian disinformation.
  If they had that level of concern, why did Democratic lobbying firm 
Blue Star Strategies employ him for over a year, and why did Democrats 
deal with him so frequently during the Obama administration?
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.