Barack Obama’s Office Says Republicans Pushing ‘Russian Disinformation Campaign’ With Joe Biden-Ukraine Story
The office of former President Barack Obama wrote in a letter released this week that Senate Republicans were helping to push a “Russian disinformation campaign.” The letter claims the Russian campaign is related to the allegations that Joe Biden engaged in corruption in Ukraine.
The letter, dated March 13, was written by Anita Decker Breckenridge, a records representative for Obama. It had been sent to the National Archives and Records Administration in response to a letter written in November 2019 from Republican Senators Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley. Johnson and Grassley’s letter requested the archive for records related to the Obama administration’s interactions with Ukraine. As CBS News reported, the letter from Obama’s office called the Republican-led investigation into allegations that Ukraine may have played a role in interfering in the 2016 presidential election an “effort to shift blame” away from Russia.
“It arises out of efforts by some, actively supported by Russia, to shift the blame for Russian interference in the 2016 election to Ukraine.”
At the time the Republican letter was written, President Donald Trump was making allegations that Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, had engaged in corruption in Ukraine. Trump was facing a fast-moving impeachment inquiry over allegations that he pressured the Ukrainian president into an investigation of Biden. Trump would be impeached for those efforts and for obstruction of Congress, but would be acquitted on both charges during a trial in the U.S. Senate.
In his letter, Obama’s office said that the request for records regarding Ukraine would “give credence to a Russian disinformation campaign — one that has already been thoroughly investigated by a bipartisan congressional committee — is without precedent.”
The United States intelligence community has concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election on the order of President Vladimir Putin, with the goal of helping to elect Trump. The president has pushed back against this idea, casting doubt on whether Russia had interfered and suggesting that other countries may have as well.
Republicans had accused Hunter Biden of improperly using his father’s connections to secure a position on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma and hinted that Joe Biden may have used his power to stop an investigation of the company. There has been no evidence presented to support either idea.
Obama has endorsed Biden for president in his run against Trump. The former vice president became the presumptive Democratic nominee after Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign last month.
