House GOP’s star witness in Biden probe has strong ties to 'close Putin ally'

13 February 2024

One name that has been heard a lot in right-wing media outlets is Tony Bobulinski, an investor who House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) and other Republicans have been touting as their greatest weapon against Hunter Biden.

Bobulinski, according to many MAGA Republicans, will be the downfall of Hunter Biden and, by extension, his father, President Joe Biden.

But in an article published on February 13, Daily Beast reporters William Bredderman and Roger Sollenberger lay out some reasons why Bobulinski's "ties" make him a problematic witness.

"As Republicans examine Hunter Biden's questionable business ties," the journalists explain, "it turns out Bobulinski is connected to one particular character perhaps more unsavory than any other figure in the inquiry's constellation: Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg…. a Ukrainian-born energy magnate who's been a close ally of Vladimir Putin for decades."

Bredderman and Sollenberger note that in 2017, Vekselberg "reportedly funneled $500,000 to an LLC run by Donald Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, supposedly with the intention of influencing the new administration to let Russia illegally occupy parts of Eastern Ukraine."

"U.S. law enforcement has placed sanctions on Vekselberg multiple times, citing Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election, Moscow's aggression against Ukraine, and the oligarch's ties to Putin," the Daily Beast journalists explain. "Vekselberg tried to evade those sanctions with the help of an American attorney. But Republicans are trying to look past Bobulinski's ties to Vekselberg, as they paint Hunter Biden — dishonestly and without actual evidence — as a corrupt figure facilitating payments to his father."

Read the Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).

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