Johnson warns Congress could have been subjected to ‘misinformation campaign’ about former Ukrainian prosecutor

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in a statement Thursday night warned Congress could have been subjected to a “misinformation campaign” about former Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin and his investigation of a Biden-linked natural gas company.

This comes after the Oshkosh Republican was asked by reporters yesterday about a 2016 letter to the president of Ukraine after CNN reported on its existence. He was not immediately able to recall its contents.

In the letter, a bipartisan group of eight senators advocated for former Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko “to press ahead with urgent reforms” to the country’s prosecutor general’s office, led at the time by Shokin. That mirrors former Vice President Joe Biden’s calls from that time to remove Shokin from power.

But in a statement Thursday night after reviewing the 2016 letter, Johnson pointed to a recent letter he and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent to U.S. AG Bill Barr inquiring about the existence of documents that ran counter to Biden’s claim that actions in Ukraine “had nothing to do” with his son Hunter sitting on the board of Burisma, a natural gas company Shokin was investigating.

One such document the letter says may exist is a note claiming the legal team of Burisma apologized to Shokin’s replacement for “dissemination of false information by U.S. representatives and public figures” about Shokin investigation into Burisma’s owner.

If that document is accurate, Johnson said, “Congress would have been subjected to the same misinformation campaign against the Ukrainian prosecutor general, perpetrated by representatives of the U.S. government.”

“The Senate Ukraine Caucus’ 2016 letter was encouraging the Ukrainian government to vigorously pursue an anti-corruption agenda generally,” Johnson said.

That letter called for “reforms to the Prosecutor General’s office and judiciary.”

See Johnson’s statement:
https://www.wispolitics.com/2019/u-s-sen-johnson-provides-information-regarding-2016-letter/

See the 2016 letter:
https://www.portman.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/portman-durbin-shaheen-and-senate-ukraine-caucus-reaffirm-commitment-help

See the Grassley letter:
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09-27%20CEG%20RHJ%20to%20DOJ%20%28Ukraine%20DNC%29.pdf

See the CNN story:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/03/politics/gop-senators-echoed-biden-on-ukraine-reforms-kfile/index.html