Russian State TV Touts GOP Allegations That Ukrainian Company Bribed Biden

Russian state TV pundits recently touted Republicans' allegations that a Ukrainian company bribed President Joe Biden when he served as vice president during the Obama administration in exchange for an influence on policy decisions.

In a TV segment, the hosts and guests suggested that the United States is sending military aid to Ukraine to help defeat Russia in the ongoing war because the Eastern European country controls Biden and that U.S. foreign policy is influenced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a Ukrainian company.

The Russian TV hosts and guests didn't specify the Ukrainian company they were referring to, but an ongoing GOP-led investigation is looking into the connection between the Biden family and Burisma, a Ukrainian oil and gas company.

"We are talking about the fact that a foreign country greased the palm of a sitting U.S. vice president. It was done repeatedly. Eventually, the person became president. The foreign country that greased the palm 100% lever of pressure over the incumbent president. So Biden is, in fact, absolutely controllable by the Ukrainians," a Russian TV host said, according to a clip posted with English subtitles to Twitter by TheKremlinYap on Saturday.

"Now we understand the whys and wherefores of America giving any weapons to Ukraine," the TV host added. Similar remarks were made by another Russian state TV host who alleged that Ukraine is blackmailing Biden, and therefore the president feels inclined to send military aid.

"There was a phrase that this approach of the U.S. towards Ukraine and flooding it with money is a result of blackmail. Ukrainians are blackmailing Biden. Biden says, 'Ok, I'll give you money,'" a Russian state TV guest said, according to a clip with English subtitles that was posted Saturday to Twitter by Julia Davis, a columnist at The Daily Beast and creator of the Russian Media Monitor.

Another Russian TV guest suggested that "you'd have to be a total cretin to believe that the foreign policy of the United States depends on Ukraine or the director of some Ukrainian company," to which the first guest said, "Ok, then I'll be a cretin."

Meanwhile, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee launched an investigation against the Biden family into an alleged bribery scheme. In May, the committee's chairman, Representative James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, tried to get records from the FBI that he believes might back the allegation, which he is basing on information he received from an anonymous whistleblower.

Comer then issued a subpoena last month to the FBI seeking an unclassified FD-1023 document related to the alleged scheme. A FD-1023 form is generally a report about an informant and may involve someone speaking to the FBI about alleged crimes. The FBI later allowed all committee members to view the subpoenaed document.

Earlier this month, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, revealed details about the information in the FBI document. She pointed out that the president's son Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings from 2014 to 2019. This was also a time when Burisma was being investigated by former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who Joe Biden and his allies allegedly helped oust.

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