Witnesses in Tuesday’s Trump impeachment hearing both testified that Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings raised concerns of a potential appearance of a conflict of interest, following a line of intense questioning by GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Stefanik, R-N.Y., grilled both Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and aide to Vice President Pence Jennifer Williams about allegations of corruption against the company where Biden held a lucrative role on the board while his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, was leading Ukraine policy and anti-corruption efforts there for the Obama administration.
“Every witness who has testified and has been asked this has answered yes,” Stefanik said. “Do you agree that Hunter Biden, on the board of Burisma, has the potential for the appearance of a conflict of interest?”
Vindman replied: “Certainly, the potential, yes.”
Stefanik asked Williams the same, to which she responded: “Yes.”
The Biden family’s actions in Ukraine, along with a separate issue connected to 2016 election interference, were at the core of what President Trump wanted investigated out of Kiev. Trump’s now-famous July phone call – in which he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch the investigations – prompted a whistleblower complaint and, in turn, the impeachment inquiry in the House. The president’s request came after millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen, which Democrats and some witnesses have cited as a quid pro quo arrangement. – READ MORE