Judicial Watch has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for records about the firing of Ukraine’s top prosecutor after then-Vice President Joe Biden threated to withhold aid. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday against the U.S. Department of State (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:19-cv-02893)).
The suit was filed after the State Department failed to respond to a May 7, 2019, FOIA request seeking access to the following records:
- Any and all records regarding, concerning, or related to Viktor Shokin’s investigation of Mykola Zolchevsky and Shokin’s resignation at Ukraine’s Prosecutor General.
- Any and all records of communication between any official, employee, or representative of the Department of State and any official, employee, or representative of the Office of the Vice President regarding Viktor Shokin.
In a widely distributed video, Joe Biden confirmed that he successfully pressured, under threat of withholding $1 billion in U.S. government aid, the Ukrainian government to fire Shokin, who had allegedly launched an investigation into Burisma, which had purportedly paid Biden’s son Hunter $50,000 a month.
“The latest assault on President Trump is an obvious attempt to protect Joe Biden from the corruption scandals involving his son,” said Tom Fitton. “Judicial Watch’s latest lawsuit will be the first to of many to try to get to the bottom of this influence-peddling scandal.”