Representative Elise Stefanik brought to light interesting information today surrounding how the Obama administration was concerned about issues surrounding Vice-President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and his connection to a corrupt Ukraine company Burisma.
During questioning Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch admitted the Obama White House spent time briefing her on how to respond to congress if questions about Hunter Biden and Burisma were raised. This testimony highlights the concerns by the Obama administration about a clear issue with the Biden family and corrupt Ukraine interests.
This admission by former Ambassador Yovanovitch directly contradicted her testimony that was made only minutes before the admission:
-- excerpt, rest (including video) at link above --
Marie Yovanovitch admits Obama admin prepped her on Hunter Biden NY Post, Nov 15, 2019
Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testified Friday that the Obama administration was so concerned about Hunter Biden’s job on Burisma’s board of directors that she was asked prep questions about the issue by White House staffers before her 2016 Senate confirmation.
In response to questions from GOP counsel Stephen Castor, Yovanovitch testified at the House Intelligence Committee’s second public impeachment hearing that she had been informed about the lucrative gig Hunter Biden landed with the petroleum producer — which paid the son of then-Vice President Joe Biden as much as $50,000 a month despite his seeming lack of relevant experience — but took no action when she arrived at her post.
“As I said, I arrived in August of 2016, several months before the elections and several months before President Trump took office. And it was not a focus of what I was doing in that six-month period,” she answered.
Castor then pressed her on why she took no action.
“We — I was aware of it, because as I told you before, in the deposition, there had been a — in terms of the preparation for my Senate confirmation hearings for Ukraine, there was a question about that and a select answer. So I was aware of it, yes,” Yovanovitch said, not providing the answer she was coached to give.
“My understanding from newspaper accounts is that he just recently left, in 2019. I never met him, never talked to him.”
But GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) later hammered home the point that the Obama administration was concerned enough over the younger Biden’s Ukraine job that staffers prepared Yovanovitch to answer them for the confirmation hearing.
“The exact quote from your testimony, Ambassador, is, quote, ‘the way the question was phrased in this model Q&A was, what can you tell us about Hunter Biden’s, you know, being named to the board of Burisma?’ So for the millions of Americans watching, President Obama’s own State Department was so concerned about potential conflicts of interest from Hunter Biden’s role at Burisma that they raised it themselves while prepping this wonderful ambassador nominee before her confirmation,” Stefanik said.