Former Ukrainian Prosecutor Accuses Joe Biden of Corruption

Former Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Shokin accused President Joe Biden of corruption, saying that while he didn't want to wade into "unproven facts," his belief was that Biden bribed Ukrainian officials in exchange for Shokin's firing.

"I do not want to deal in unproven facts, but my firm personal conviction is that, yes, this was the case. They were being bribed. The fact that Joe Biden gave away $1 billion in U.S. money in exchange for my dismissal, my firing, isn't that alone a case of corruption?" Shokin told Fox News on Friday.

Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.

Shokin, who has played a central role in the conspiracy theory related to Biden and Ukraine, has long claimed that Biden pushed for his removal because Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings, the company where Biden's son Hunter sat on the board.

State Department officials, anti-corruption activists and European diplomats have all disputed Shokin's claims, arguing that he was fired because of his failure to prosecute Ukrainian politicians for corruption. Shokin's former deputy, Vitaliy Kasko, also previously stated that while there was once an active investigation into Burisma, it was dormant at the time that Biden joined calls for Shokin's removal during his time as vice president.

The Justice Department under the Trump administration also investigated allegations about whether or not Biden was bribed and found claims like Shokin's to be "not supported by the facts."

"For years, these false claims have been debunked, and no matter how much air time Fox gives them, they will remain false," a White House spokesperson told Newsweek. "Fox is giving a platform for these lies to a former Ukrainian prosecutor general whose office his own deputy called 'a hotbed of corruption', drawing demands for reform not only from then-Vice President Biden but also from U.S. diplomats, international partners, and Republican Senators like Ron Johnson."

Shokin's comments seem to refer to the president's own remarks, during which he took credit for Shokin's firing.

In January 2018, Biden boasted about withholding a loan to Ukraine until the prosecutor was removed during a talk at the Council of Foreign Relations.

"I was supposed to announce that there was another billion-dollar loan guarantee. And I had gotten a commitment from [former Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko and from [former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy] Yatsenyuk that they would take action against the state prosecutor. And they didn't," Biden said.

"I said, nah, I'm not going to—or, we're not going to give you the billion dollars. They said, you have no authority. You're not the president...I said, call him," Biden continued. "I looked at them and said: I'm leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money. Well, son of a b****. He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time."

Earlier this month, Representative James Comer, who chairs the Oversight Committee, claimed that Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden's, told House Republicans that the president's son allegedly asked for Shokin's firing. However, a transcript of Archer's deposition released by Comer cast doubt over those claims.

Asked whether he ever witnessed a conversation between a Burisma executive and Hunter Biden about Shokin investigating the company, Archer responded, "No, that didn't happen, but, again, I was left out of everything."

Comer did not attend the deposition, which could offer an explanation for the confusion.

Update 08/25/23, 1:31 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comments from the White House.