Romney Backs Burisma Probe, Paving Way for Johnson to Subpoena Witness
Senator Mitt Romney (R., Utah) said Friday that he would support Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) in his plan to subpoena a witness as part of a probe into Burisma and the Bidens.
“Senator Romney has expressed his concerns to Chairman Johnson, who has confirmed that any interview of the witness would occur in a closed setting without a hearing or public spectacle,” Liz Johnson, Romney’s communications director, said in an emailed statement to National Review. “He will therefore vote to let the Chairman proceed to obtain the documents that have been offered.”
Romney previously raised concerns over the situation, which Johnson has said is simply to let “the American people see what this possible corruption is,” telling reporters Thursday that the probe “appears political.”
“There’s no question that the appearance of looking into Burisima and Hunter Biden appears political. I think people are tired of these kind of political investigations,” Romney told reporters, and said he had to meet with Johnson before deciding on his vote.
With Romney’s approval, Johnson’s plan to subpoena a former Ukrainian embassy official who consulted for the Washington-based Blue Star Strategies — a firm Burisma hired to combat accusations of corruption within the energy company — will likely proceed.
“As part of the committee’s ongoing investigation, it has received U.S. government records indicating that Blue Star sought to leverage Hunter Biden’s role as a board member of Burisma to gain access to, and potentially influence matters at, the State Department,” Johnson wrote to announce his intentions on Sunday.
Johnson, who said Thursday that he had begun inquiring about the situation in 2017, said Wednesday that he had come across a Blue Star document which describes a “misinformation campaign” against Ukrainian prosecutor Victor Shokin, who Joe Biden bragged about getting fired.
