Donald Trump’s controversial personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani released another few episodes of his questionable Common Sense series. This time, Giuliani interviewed the “complete witness” – Andrii Telizhenko. Among other places, Telizhenko used to work for the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office and the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington D.C. The duo presented an intriguing yet factually nonsensical story, featuring – surprise, surprise – Burisma, the Biden family, and Ukraine’s former President Petro Poroshenko. The attorney has also talked to a former Party of Regions MP Andrii Derkach.
Spoiler alert: Giuliani and Telizhenko’s accusations can be easily debunked with a series of official documents and common sense. The Derkach episode, in turn, failed to show the “proof” Mayor Rudy had so enthusiastically discussed.
Giuliani’s false accusations or “I don’t have to rely on any piece of Ukrainian anything”
Let’s start with the Telizhenko-“complete witness” narrative. In a nutshell, former New York mayor and his interviewee alleged that Mykola Zlochevsky, owner of the scandalous gas company Burisma Holdings and former Minister of Ecology, bribed both Ukrainian ex-President Petro Poroshenko and Joe Biden “to protect Zlochevsky, Burisma, ultimately Hunter Biden”. While the two sounded hesitant to name the bribe’s sum (wavering between five and eight million dollars for each case), the money was supposed to serve as a reward for closing specific criminal proceedings against Zlochevsky. Giuliani and Telizhenko went into an in-depth description of what happened – and, as we know, the devil is in the detail.
Bribe #1: Prosecutor General Yarema and the UK’s Serious Fraud Office
According to Andrii Telizhenko (whom Giuliani kept actively calling Teleshenko), he first heard of the Burisma case while working at the Prosecutor General Yarema’s Office. “In July, we had to oversee what [Prosecutor General] Makhnytsky was doing… With Prosecutor General Mr. Yarema, we opened another case under Burisma and took it to London court,” he told Giuliani.
Allegedly, that’s when the first Zlochevsky-Poroshenko bribe took place.
The UK Serious Fraud Office opened an investigation and froze $23 million in Zlochevsky’s assets (accounts of Zlochevsky, Burisma, Brociti Investments Limited, and Andrii Kicha). As part of the process, the UK requested a series of documents proving that the funds were of corrupt origin. Ukraine, in turn, failed to provide all of the necessary documentation on time. Instead, one of the prosecutors sent Zlochevsky’s attorney an official letter – a day prior to the start of court hearings – confirming Ukraine had no grounds for issuing a note of suspicion. As a result, Zlochevsky was acquitted.
While the most problematic part of the story is yet to come, it is worth noting that Yarema and Telizhenko didn’t “take” the case to London court. On the contrary, it was London that initiated the investigation and asked for Ukraine’s assistance. As Justice Blake wrote in his judgment stated, “On 22 March 2014 the Director of the SFO (Serious Fraud Office) authorised a money laundering investigation into the defendant”. Yarema’s office, in turn, opened a corresponding proceeding months later – on August 5, 2014. Important: Hunter Biden joined the Burisma board in April 2014, meaning the case couldn’t have concerned him time-wise.
Curiously, Telizhenko then accused Prosecutor Vitaly Kasko of purposefully sabotaging the London case. “Kasko didn’t pass enough evidence and documentation for British authorities to have a court hearing in our favor… He never took any actions or informed the Prosecutor General on that matter”, the “complete witness” told Giuliani. Allegedly, Kasko failed to pass the documents due to the bribe Poroshenko received from Zlochevsky for his acquittal. It would have been an intriguing story… if it were true.
On November 20, 2014, Deputy Prosecutor General on International Cooperation Vitaly Kasko appealed to Oleh Zalisko, who was the Deputy Prosecutor General responsible for investigations. In his official letter, Kasko asked Zalisko to provide the documents requested by the British side and submit them to the Main Department for International Legal Cooperation in Ukraine.
Kasko's request to Zalisko
On December 4, the case was suddenly transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where Giuliani's star witness Viktor Shokin (surprise) was responsible for overseeing it.
After his efforts proved unsuccessful, Kasko wrote a report to the Prosecutor General Yarema. The document addressed to Yarema suggests that the Prosecutor General had tasked his other two deputies, Shokin and Herasymyuk, with handing over the requested information by December 25. In the same report, Kasko asked Yarema to ensure that the documents are submitted by December 30 – after failing to meet the December 25 deadline.
Kasko's report to Prosecutor General Yarema (part 1)
Kasko's report to Prosecutor General Yarema (part 2)
Both letters prove that Kasko had actively pursued the Zlochevsky investigation, informed Yarema of the situation at hand and tried to assist the UK authorities – all of the things Telizhenko, Giuliani’s Ukrainian merry sidekick, accused him of not doing. Another deal-breaker was Prosecutor Kravets sending Zlochevsky’s attorney a note – a day prior to the start of court hearings – stating Ukraine had no grounds to press charges against Burisma’s owner. In any case, Mr. Yarema was the Prosecutor General at the time, and Viktor Shokin was responsible for much of the unsent information – not Kasko.
Interestingly, Vitaly Kasko later resigned due to corruption in Shokin’s office.
Giuliani's decision to include the London-Yarema-Zlochevsky story to his series remains a mystery to be unveiled, as it clearly centers on Ukrainian politics rather than on the Biden saga. Regardless, it illustrates the duo's lack of credibility.
Bribe #2: Shokin’s case
According to Andrii Telizhenko, then-President Petro Poroshenko was dissatisfied with the bribe, aiming for twenty million instead of five or eight. After “ousting” Yarema and appointing Shokin in his stead, Poroshenko allegedly pressed to reopen the Burisma case.
For unclear reasons, Zlochevsky “bribed” both Poroshenko and Biden Sr. (assumingly, for extra protection). Moreover, the Poroshenko bribe was in cash, thus rendering it impossible to prove.
As Telizhenko noted, Shokin was “investigating as well as he could” but faced “pressure from outside” – despite slowing down the previous case against Zlochevsky and being internationally recognized as corrupt.
In another One America News documentary, “The Ukraine Hoax”, Shokin went as far as suggesting he was very close to charging Hunter Biden. This is especially interesting, as the criminal proceeding opened by Shokin concerned licenses Mykola Zlochevsky – as the Minister of Ecology – issued in 2010-2012, well before Hunter Biden joined Burisma Holdings.
Consequently, Hunter Biden couldn’t have been related to any of the cases opened at the time Joe Biden called for Shokin’s removal, and the odious prosecutor was fired for other reasons (corruption). In addition, the second case, opened by Shokin, was transferred to NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine) in 2015 and wasn’t even handled by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The tale leaves one with a series of curious questions. Why would Zlochevsky bribe Biden if he had already "agreed" with Poroshenko to dismiss the cases for an additional 8 million? The only evidence Telizhenko elaborates on is Hunter Biden knowing nothing about gas and being on the Burisma board. The Burisma board also includes Aleksander Kwasniewski, former president of Poland, and Joseph Cofer Black, former CIA officer and the US ambassador.
MP Derkach's appearance
In the latest Common Sense episode, former Party of Regions MP Andrii Derkach stated that there were “six criminal proceedings, in which Joe Biden along with his son Hunter are the defendants”.
While it’s true that we know of six Ukrainian criminal cases against Mykola Zlochevsky, no public records show a single proceeding where either of the Bidens would be the defendant. Giuliani, in turn, didn’t demonstrate the statement he was referring to. The blurred documents used in the video's thumbnail are merely responses to Derkach's appeal from 02/14/2020 to open a new criminal proceeding regarding potential misuse of international aid in 2015-2017.
Registration of the new criminal proceeding
Response to Derkach's request to open a new criminal proceeding
Earlier in November, MPs Derkach and Dubinsky informed the journalists that Mykola Zlochevsky was issued a new, edited note of suspicion, which, in turn, involved a specific mention of Rosemont Seneca – a consulting company co-founded by Hunter Biden. It is the only known indication of Hunter Biden or his businesses in Ukrainian criminal documents – which, clearly, doesn’t make Biden or his father the defendant. Moreover, the document – signed by Prosecutor Kulik – instigates a plethora of other questions…
In his show, Giuliani had also repeatedly stated that the case was currently being investigated by prosecutor Konstantin Kulik. Kulik, however, was fired in November 2019. A few days prior to leaving the Prosecutor General's Office, Kulik gave an interview to Apostrophe, in which he confirmed there were no charges against Hunter Biden. Biden Jr's Rosemont Seneca was only mentioned as part of the Zlochevsky investigation, and "that's the procedure in any case". At the time of the interview, Kulik claimed he didn't know Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani's attempts to escalate the so-called Burismagate appear to lack the very same "common sense" Giuliani utilizes to promote his narrative. While it’s up for authorities to decide if Hunter Biden’s company received any illegal funds, it's clear that the story of Donald Trump's personal attorney is full of flaws and misconceptions. The former New York mayor had personally stated that he "didn't have to rely on any piece of Ukrainian anything”, and, unfortunately, it's quite noticeable.
