GOP senator drops subpoena of ex-Ukrainian official in Biden probe

[Dennis Donovan]

Last edited Wed Mar 11, 2020, 08:00 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: NBC News

The Senate Homeland Security chairman told committee members that “out of an abundance of caution” he would seek more briefings before moving ahead.

March 11, 2020, 5:43 PM EDT

By Leigh Ann Caldwell and Mike Memoli

WASHINGTON — Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson has backed down from holding a vote to subpoena an ex-Ukranian official as part of his investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden amid concerns from Democrats and some Republicans.

“We will continue to iron out the discrepancies that were raised over the last couple days, and I can't really get into much more than that,” the Wisconsin Republican told reporters.

Johnson was seeking documents of Andriy Telizhenko, a former Ukrainian embassy official who consulted for consulting firm Blue Star Strategies, which represented Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings when Hunter Biden served on the company's board. Telizhenko has been a key figure in pushing the narrative of alleged Obama administration corruption in Ukraine and alleged Ukraine interference in the 2016 election.

Johnson sent a note to committee members on Wednesday shortly before the vote was to take place saying that “out of an abundance of caution” he will allow more time for the congressional panel to receive additional briefings before it moves forward.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gop-senator-drops-subpoena-ex-ukrainian-official-biden-probe-n1156001

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More from TPM:

Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) has long objected to giving Telizhenko a platform, citing foreign disinformation efforts. Telizhenko has spouted inflammatory and baseless allegations about the Democratic party.

But by Wednesday afternoon, Johnson had abruptly cancelled the vote to allow members of the committee time to receive additional briefings, something ranking member Peters had been clamoring for over the last few months.

As a committee aide told TPM, there was an FBI staff-only meeting on Tuesday morning, during which some members’ aides were briefed about Telizhenko and Russian disinformation efforts that might involve him.

Throughout the day, the aide said that staffers who attended the counterintelligence briefing escalated the information to senators, who grew increasingly concerned. After a late afternoon Senate-wide briefing on election security, enough members from both sides of the aisle wanted further briefings that the chairman was forced to delay the vote.

The cancellation was so sudden that Telizhenko himself hadn’t even heard about it until TPM clued him in.

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[True Blue American]

1. McCaskill tore

Him a new one this morning on Joe.

[OKNancy]

2. I guess they figured out that a nutcase wouldn't help their bogus cause

[Firestorm49]

3. It sounds to me like Johnson is starting a waiting game.

I don’t trust him in the least. You know damn well that Republicans rarely mean what they say. Johnson is no exception.

[marble falls]

4. Knitting a bogus case isn't as easy as he thought.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. Johnson is a deadender and he knows it.

Wisconsin Dems better get their Replacement up and running. This Guy is so ripe for kicking his ass to the curb.

[Historic NY]

6. Maybe we can get to the bottom of the Moscow Mules.

[link:https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eight-republicans-spent-july-4-in-russia-where-are-the-fireworks/2018/07/06/beae30be-812e-11e8-b658-4f4d2a1aeef1_story.html|

[Dennis Donovan]

7. Kick for addl info added to the OP

[rockfordfile]

8. Trump is losing. They will try this closer to election. But it won't help them.

It will remind people of how un-American the GOP are.