Critics Question Ron Johnson’s Timing Of Burisma Subpoena Request
Just one day after Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary, an investigation over his son Hunter’s ties to Ukrainian energy company Burisma has been opened by Republican lawmakers. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson issued a letter to the Senate Homeland Security Committee — of which he is the chair — asking to schedule a meeting to discuss issuing subpoenas as part of that investigation.
Catherine Herridge of CBS News tweeted the announcement of the meeting, as well as photos of the letter Johnson sent to the committee on Monday morning. She explained that the senator specifically wants to subpoena a witness that is tied to both Burisma and a United States-based firm. The concern, according to Johnson, is related to the government records his committee has obtained. The literature supposedly raises new questions about whether or not Hunter Biden or his father might have done something untoward in order to get him onto the Burisma board.
Not long after Herridge posted her tweet, critics on the social media site took umbrage with the way she was reporting the story, as well as the timing of the letter. Susan Hennessey, who is a political analyst with CNN, summed up quite a few of the objections from others on Twitter.
“What a massive coincidence that the very moment Joe Biden’s campaign regains momentum, the Burisma story we’ve hear nothing about for weeks comes roaring back to life. Just embarrassing for media to be covering this as a serious story at this point.”
Kurt Eichenwald — a published author and well-known Donald Trump adversary — had similar comments on Twitter, but went after Herridge more than he did Johnson, calling her “easily manipulated.” He then pointed out that the Wisconsin senator brought this issue back the very day after Biden won the South Carolina primary but that wasn’t the biggest concern.
Eichenwald explained that the GOP has effectively dropped any real interest in investigating Burisma when Biden lost the Iowa primary and his campaign seemed dead in the water. He then noted how Herridge apparently didn’t investigate whether a letter like the one Johnson wrote is usually issued on a Sunday. He also wanted the reporter to dig a bit deeper into why now was the right time to start looking at subpoenas, right before Super Tuesday could decide Democratic nomination.
SCOOP: Chairman Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee @RonJohnsonWI wants to subpoena witness tied to US firm and Burisma where the former Vice President’s son sat on the board. Letter obtained @CBSNews says government records indicate concerns warranted pic.twitter.com/BBoTB0lGh0
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) March 2, 2020
For now, Johnson’s intent to issue subpoenas appears to be just that — as it doesn’t appear the committee has had a meeting to determine the next course of action.
