Daily Broadside | A Confidential Source Says the Bidens Were Bribed to Protect Burisma

I feel like a truant high schooler when I miss more than a day of posting, but the truth is that my life is just packed this summer with all kinds of projects and a wedding in the fall. I really want the Daily Broadside to live up to its name, so I’ll keep pushing to figure out how to do better.

Thanks to those of you commenting, and hello to some new suscribers. Glad to have you.

Did you see that Sen. Chuck Grassley released a document today in which a confidential human source (CHS) says that the Ukrainian oligarch who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden, was “coerced” into sending them money?

Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky, the Ukrainian oligarch who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden, was “coerced” into sending them money, according to an FBI FD-1023 form released Thursday by Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Zlochevsky and the confidential human source (CHS) allegedly participated in a phone call after the 2016 presidential election, in which Zlochevsky said he was “pushed to pay” the Bidens and did not want to send the money, according to the form.

“CHS asked Zlochevsky whether he was concerned about Burisma’s involvement with the Bidens. Zlochevsky stated he didn’t want to pay the Bidens and he was ‘pushed to pay’ them,” the FD-1023 form reads.

“(CHS explained the Russian term Zlochevsky used to explain the payments was ‘poluchili’ (transliterated by the CHS), which literally translates to ‘got it’ or ‘received it,’ but is also used in Russian-criminal-slang for being ‘forced or coerced to pay’,” the form continues.

“CHS then stated, ‘l hope you have some back-up (proof) for your words (namely, that Zlochevsky was ‘forced’ to pay the Bidens). Zlochevsky replied he has many text messages and ‘recordings’ that show that he was coerced to make such payments,” the form adds.

“Zlochevsky asked whether it would make any (legal) difference whether he voluntarily made such payments, or if he was ‘forced’ to make them,” the form continues.

The Ukrainian oligarch said he had a total of “17 recordings” involving the Bidens including two featuring Joe Biden, according to the form. The other 15 recordings allegedly only feature Hunter Biden, who served on Burisma’s board beginning in April 2014 until he left the position in 2019.

The FBI sat on this information to protect “the Big Guy.” Replace the name “Biden” with “Trump” and the ink wouldn’t even be dry on the leak to the press before the articles of impeachment were drafted. Yet this scummy agency and Merrick Garland’s DOJ do NOTHING about this clear threat to national security.

Congress and Granny Box Wine impeached Trump twice with little more than hearsay, yet the evidence is overwhelming that the Biden family has been involved in criminal, if not treasonous, activity to enrich themselves and to hell with what it means to the country.

CHS was made aware of Hunter Biden’s position on the Burisma board of directors during the initial meeting, where he was told Hunter Biden was hired to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems,” while Joe Biden was serving as vice president, according to the FBI form. Burisma wanted additional assistance with the U.S. acquisition because they did not believe Hunter Biden was smart, the FBI form continues.

But Joe considers Hunter the smartest guy he knows.

At the Austria meeting, the CHS allegedly told Burisma it would be difficult for the IPO to take place while then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General (PGO) Viktor Shokin was investigating the firm. Zlochevsky told the source, “Hunter will take care of all of those issues through his dad,” according to the FBI form.

Oh. So a protection racket. But the Resident swears he never discussed business dealings with his son backed by his word as a Biden.

How much money did the Ukrainian pay the Bidens?

After an investigation of Burisma by Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was disclosed in 2016, the source told Mykola Zlochevsky, owner of Burisma, that the disclosure would have a negative effect on the prospective initial public offering. Mr. Zlochevsky replied that Mr. Hunter Biden “will take care of all of those issues through his dad,” according to the document.

Mr. Zlochevsky was also cited as saying that it cost $5 million to pay one Biden and $5 million to pay another Biden.

The source replied that payments to the Bidens would complicate matters and that the Bidens didn’t have experience with the oil and gas sector, according to the document. Mr. Zlochevsky said that despite his low opinion of Mr. Hunter Biden’s intelligence, Mr. Zlochevsky needed to keep him on the board “so everything will be okay.” He also said both Bidens had told him that Mr. Hunter Biden needed to remain on the board.

At about the same time, Mr. Joe Biden, U.S. vice president at the time, was pressuring Ukrainian officials to fire Mr. Shokin.

“‘We’re leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor’s not fired, you’re not getting the money,’” Mr. Joe Biden said at a public event about the interaction, referring to a $1 billion loan guarantee he threatened to withhold. “Well, son of a [expletive]. He got fired.”

Mr. Shokin has said that the threat was cited when he was ousted. He said in a sworn statement that then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked him to resign because of “pressure from the U.S. presidential administration, in particular from Joe Biden.”

The FBI source told the bureau that he gleaned from the conversation that payments had already been made to the Bidens, presumably to deal with Mr. Shokin.

The Bidens are a corrupt, malicious, self-gratifying crime family. While they use their positions of power and proximity to power to enrich themselves and lie about everything to maintain their grift, they destroy the country they swore to serve. Well, only Brandon swore, but he and his family are suckling at the teats of the great American sow.

If our government now protects the corrupt and prosecutes the innocent, looking for a crime that fits the man, we no longer have a “democracy” or a “republic.” We have an unaccountable, lawless criminal enterprise that is hellbent on keeping its power and protecting itself.

The colonies of the 1700s rebelled over much less.

Have a good weekend.

Daily Broadside | So Glad We’re Back to a Stable World

Daily Verse | Exodus 12:40-41
Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt.

Monday’s Reading: Exodus 15-18

Monday and we’re now into the first full week of Brandon’s second year as Resident as Russia! Russia! Russia! threatens to invade Ukraine at the invitation delivered last week by the dunce in the White House; “minor incursion” and all that. Do you know that Trump was the only president in the last 30 years to not start or escalate existing foreign conflicts or war? Barring some kind of intervention, that’s all about to change as our military service members in their high-heels, pregnancy flight suits and vaccines prepare to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression and mockery of our woke civilian military.

The US and its allies will deliver a “swift, severe and united response” if Russia invades Ukraine, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, warned on Sunday amid rising tensions.

Maybe. I don’t trust anything that Blinken says nor the administration’s competence to deliver or sustain a smack-down on the Russians. Perhaps their attitude is the same as Megamind’s:

The only reason Russia is even making the move on Ukraine is that Brandon is an empty suit who reads whatever is put on his teleprompter. He’s certainly not a geopolitical genius, as his catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan showed us. Effects of the invasion could be harsh for the U.S.

Treasurys are a traditional haven during periods of geopolitical and economic stress. A rally in Treasurys would pull down yields, which move in the opposite direction of prices. A Treasury selloff has pushed up yields, with the 10-year Treasury rate TMUBMUSD10Y, 1.778% finishing near 1.77% Friday after hitting a nearly two-year high earlier in the week.

The Swiss franc, another popular haven, could also rally, with the euro/Swiss franc EURCHF, 0.12% currency pair likely to fall to CHF1.03 “on a frozen rope if Russia moves,” Donnelly said. The euro bought 1.043 francs Friday.

Also:

If Russia invades Ukraine, inflation-weary Americans will likely pay even higher prices at the pump.Oil prices have already shot up to seven-year highs in recent days. A conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which the White House has warned could be imminent, would have the potential to drive them much higher.That’s because Russia is the No. 2 oil producer on the planet, behind only the United States. And Ukraine is a key energy transit hub, where a large amount of Russian natural gas exports to Europe flow through.

An invasion of Ukraine would trigger immediate fears of sanctions from Washington on Russia’s vast energy resources, damage to the region’s energy infrastructure and raise the specter of Vladimir Putin weaponizing exports of natural gas and crude oil.

Investors would buy first and ask questions later.

What does Russia want?

The Kremlin wants what it says: an end to NATO expansion, a rollback of previous expansion, a removal of American nuclear weapons from Europe, and a Russian sphere of influence. However, Putin may accept less. The Kremlin’s primary goal is a guarantee that Belarus, Ukraine, and Georgia will never belong to a military or economic bloc other than the ones Moscow controls and that Russia will be the ultimate arbitrator of the foreign and security policy of all three states. In essence, this conflict is about whether 30 years after the demise of the Soviet Union, its former ethnic republics can live as independent, sovereign states or if they still must acknowledge Moscow as their de facto sovereign.

The G7 is threatening harsh economic sanctions that would severely hurt Russia, so it’s possible that an invasion can be avoided. But maybe not:

The United States has ordered the families of all American staff at the US Embassy in Ukraine to leave the country amid heightened concern that Russia, which has massed troops on the border, is about to invade.

In a statement on Sunday, the State Department also said that non-essential embassy staff could leave Ukraine at government expense and that all Americans should consider departing immediately.

[…]

The US Embassy in Kyiv warned that “military action by Russia could come at any time and the United States government will not be in a position to evacuate American citizens in such a contingency, so US citizens currently present in Ukraine should plan accordingly.”

Take them at their word, embassy staff.

A Russian invasion could lead to a much bigger conflict and pull focus away from Brandon’s problems at home and perhaps trigger aggression by China and Iran, two other foes who have, respectively, designs on Taiwan and avenging the loss of top commander Qasem Soleimani who died by a US drone strike two years ago. If either of them act while we’re dealing with Russia, all bets are off.

But at least the tweets are nice, right NeverTrump?