Judicial Watch sues for records on Biden’s firing of Ukrainian prosecutor

Former Vice President Joe Biden isn’t going to escape scrutiny of his demands that the Ukraine government for his son’s personal gain.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for records about the firing of Ukraine’s top prosecutor after the then-Vice President threated to withhold aid has been filed on Wednesday against the U.S. Department of State (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:19-cv-02893)).

Mykola Zlochevsky is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who was Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources from July 2010 till April 2012 and was the deputy secretary for Economic and Social Security on the National Security and Defense Council from April 2012 until February 2014.  He owns Barisma Holdings, the firm that paid Hunter Biden more than $50,000 per month to serve on its Board of Directors.  Critics call those payments bribery.

Judicial Watch sued the State Department after it failed to respond to a May 7, 2019, FOIA request seeking access to the following records:

1. Any and all records regarding, concerning, or related to Viktor Shokin’s investigation of Mykola Zolchevsky and Shokin’s resignation at Ukraine’s Prosecutor General.
2. Any and all records of communication between any official, employee, or representative of the Department of State and any official, employee, or representative of the Office of the Vice President regarding Shokin.

In a widely distributed video, Biden confirmed that he successfully pressured, under threat of withholding $1 billion in U.S. government aid, the Ukrainian government to fire Shokin, who had allegedly launched an investigation into Burisma, which had purportedly paid Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, more than $50,000 a month.