[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5886-S5888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         UKRAINE INVESTIGATION

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Last week Senator Johnson and I released our report

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about our investigation into potential conflicts of interest with 
respect to Ukraine policy during the Obama administration. My 
Democratic colleagues have attacked this investigation with unsupported 
and inaccurate allegations that this investigation is rooted in a 
foreign-sourced influence campaign. They have asserted that our 
oversight activities relating to the Obama administration are advancing 
a Russian disinformation campaign and have implied that we are 
``wielding that disinformation as a political cudgel.'' Nothing could 
be further from the truth, so I want to explain.
  My Democratic colleagues have publicly insinuated that I received the 
records from a Ukrainian national, Andriy Derkach, a Russian agent who 
has taken action to influence and interfere in the 2020 election.
  Now, get this: I have praised the Treasury Department for sanctioning 
Derkach. I have neither received nor solicited information from 
Derkach. This is probably the third time I have come to the floor of 
the Senate to say this. Yet you still keep getting these accusations 
from my friends on the other side of the aisle. Now, the Democrats know 
that we have not received this information. Yet they refuse to stop 
repeating their false insinuations, and those false insinuations have 
resulted in Russian-based media repeating the Democratic 
disinformation, which is Exhibit A why the Democrats should have never 
created that false narrative in the first place. In fact, during the 
course of this investigation, the minority--not the majority--of the 
committee introduced Derkach's disinformation into the committee 
record.
  Foreign election interference should have no quarter in this country, 
and we must do everything to stop that interference. If only the 
Democrats felt the same about the Steele dossier, which is the very 
definition of Russian disinformation and election interference.
  Our investigation is based upon Obama administration government 
records and records from a Democratic lobby shop, Blue Star Strategies. 
They aren't based on any information that we received from a fellow by 
the name of Derkach. So if my Democratic colleagues think that those 
records amount to Russian disinformation, then that says more about the 
previous Obama administration than it does about the Johnson-Grassley 
inquiry.
  Do you think my Democratic colleagues would have attacked an 
investigation involving Donald Trump, Jr.? Remember, I interviewed the 
President's son years ago as part of my Russia investigation. I didn't 
hear any complaints about my investigative work at that time. Funny how 
this has played out, right?
  My Democratic colleagues have jammed up document production from 
government agencies and engaged in questionable political media 
efforts. We would have been done with this investigation a long time 
ago if all that opposition hadn't occurred, but here we are, and now 
the American people can see our work and judge our work for themselves.
  I would like to remind my Democratic colleagues that the first step 
in this investigation was a letter that I wrote on August 14, 2019. 
That letter was about an Obama-era Committee on Foreign Investment in 
the United States transaction. That transaction gave control over an 
American company that made anti-vibration technologies with military 
applications to a Chinese Government-owned aviation company and a 
Chinese-based investment firm with established ties to the Communist 
Chinese Government. Reports indicated that a firm formed by Hunter 
Biden and Chris Heinz, the stepson of John Kerry, later partnered with 
a Chinese-based firm to purchase the American company.
  Also at that time, Joe Biden was Vice President and John Kerry was 
Secretary of State. The State Department is an approval agency on the 
Committee on Foreign Investment.

  Clearly, this transaction presented conflicts of interest, and that 
is exactly why I wrote the letter of August 2019 to the Treasury 
Department.
  My Democratic colleagues like to say that we started this 
investigation as a result of the Trump impeachment. Well, the last time 
I checked, August 14, 2019, was well before the impeachment 
investigation began. That letter was also sent before Congress was 
notified of the Ukrainian-related whistleblower complaint and before it 
was made public.
  No matter how hard the Democrats try to say otherwise, this 
investigation is rooted in nothing but simply good government 
oversight. That is exactly the type of investigation I have run my 
entire Senate career.
  After the August 2019 letter, news reporting picked up the pace about 
Hunter Biden's association with Burisma, the corrupt Ukrainian company, 
and the fact that his father was in charge of the Obama 
administration's anti-corruption policy for Ukraine.
  Now, just think about that for a second. Vice President Biden was 
responsible for carrying an anti-corruption message to Ukraine on 
behalf of the U.S. Government. At the same time, his son was making 
millions of dollars working on the board of a corrupt Ukrainian 
company.
  To any reasonable observer, that is a very questionable fact pattern 
that deserves attention, and it got a lot of attention besides from 
Grassley and Johnson. Documents made public as a result of the Freedom 
of Information Act and investigative reporting brought very fresh 
public attention and scrutiny to this fact pattern.
  Reporting showed additional potential conflicts of interest with 
respect to Hunter Biden's business dealings all over the world, not 
just Ukraine. Those financial dealings also exposed how Hunter Biden 
and his business associates sought to benefit financially from their 
relationship with Vice President Biden.
  As our report shows, Hunter Biden and his business associates had 
extensive connections to Russian or Ukrainian nationals. Their business 
association also extended to Russian nationals.
  The report also shows that Hunter Biden, his family members, and 
business associates had extensive connections to Chinese nationals. The 
records acquired by the committee show that Hunter Biden and his 
associates and family members were connected to Chinese nationals 
associated with the Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army. 
Those connections formed business links, which resulted in millions of 
dollars passing through company after company.
  Some of those companies were associated with Hunter Biden, his 
business partner Devon Archer, and James Biden. The records show deep 
and complex financial relationships with Chinese nationals and how 
financially fruitful those relationships became.
  As one example, records show that Hunter Biden opened a bank account 
with a Chinese national linked to the Communist regime and funded with 
approximately $100,000. Then he, James Biden, and Sarah Biden went on 
an extravagant global spending spree. Records show that Hunter Biden, 
via his law firm, also sent over a million dollars to James Biden's 
consulting firm, the Lion Hall Group. When the bank contacted Sarah 
Biden, who was associated with the firm's bank account, she refused to 
answer the questions and provide any additional information and 
documentation. According to records we have on file, the bank submitted 
the account for closure.
  Now, what is very clear is that Hunter Biden leveraged his name and 
his father's position for financial gain, and his work with Burisma is 
just the tip of the iceberg.
  These associations and the millions of dollars that passed between 
and among Hunter Biden, Archer, James Biden, and others create criminal 
financial concerns. Moreover, they create counterintelligence and 
extortion concerns.
  The investigation also uncovered that the Obama administration was 
well aware of the problems that Hunter Biden's board position caused. 
State Department officials testified that his board membership created 
the perception of a conflict of interest and was very awkward for all 
U.S. officials pushing an anti-corruption agenda in Ukraine.
  Secretary of State Kerry publicly denied knowing of Hunter Biden's 
role on the Burisma board. Now, we have acquired evidence that he did, 
in fact, know about that role.
  The owner of Burisma was viewed as an ``odious oligarch'' by State 
Department officials. However, in December

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of 2015, instead of following U.S. objectives of confronting oligarchs, 
Vice President Biden's staff advised him to avoid commenting on the 
odious oligarch and instead say ``I am not going to get into naming 
names or accusing individuals.''
  Well, if you are running an anticorruption agenda in Ukraine and you 
pull your punches when it comes to Burisma while your son is on the 
board, that goes to judgment--and here it looks like very bad judgment 
and weak leadership.
  Based on witness testimony, Burisma's owner allegedly paid a $7 
million bribe to officials serving under Ukraine's prosecutor general 
to shut the case against him. When he allegedly placed the bribe in 
December 2014, Hunter Biden was on the board and--can you believe 
this--he had been hired to be on the board to assist with what they 
call ``corporate governance and responsibility.'' Obviously, he wasn't 
doing his corporate job--due diligence.
  The facts show that the Obama administration was well aware of the 
problems that Hunter Biden being on the Burisma board caused. The facts 
show that the Obama administration turned a blind eye to it. Everyone 
knew about the problems it caused, but nobody wanted to do anything 
about it. So much for leadership.
  At its core, the investigation is a good government oversight 
investigation. These are exactly the kinds of shady, backroom deals 
that the American people should know about. So now the facts are out 
there. The American people can judge this information for themselves. 
They don't need the people on the other side of the aisle of this 
institution telling them what went on when they were using 
disinformation from Russia and spreading that disinformation around and 
trying to say it was attributed to something that we got.
  As for the next step, Senator Johnson and I will continue to review 
the records that we possess and further records that we hope we are 
able to acquire.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Enzi). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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