It still amazes me how virtually all information flowing out of Ukraine has to pass through disinformation filters that make it impossible to tell whats going on, whether its western or russian propaganda.
We still don't know what really happened with the Manafort dossier, but that seems quaint when we don't even know what's going on with the Burisma investigation, and we've got NBC, ZeroHedge and Reuters running conflicting stories;
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-impeachment-burisma/ukraine-widens-probe-against-burisma-founder-to-embezzlement-of-state-funds-idUSKBN1XU2N7https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukrainian-indictment-reveals-hunter-biden-group-made-165-million-mphttps://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/sondland-testified-misleading-ukraine-story-spread-among-conservatives-social-media-n1087511NBC is claiming its all propaganda and fake and nothing is true and right-wing outlets and Russia are making up fake news;
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The incorrect story, first disseminated by the finance blog ZeroHedge, claimed that Mykola Zlochevsky, the head of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, had been indicted over money laundering related to the Biden family. Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden, was previously on Burisma’s board of directors.
Zero Hedge is claiming that there is a
leaked document from inside the Ukrainian prosecutor's office alleging a wide-ranging money laundering probe with Hunter Biden et al named in a draft indictment;
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An indictment drawn up by Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General against Burisma owner Nikolai Zlochevsky claims that Hunter Biden and his partners received $16.5 million for their 'services' - according to Ukrainian MP Alexander Dubinsky of the ruling Servant of the People Party.
Dubinsky made the claim in a Wednesday press conference, citing materials from an investigation into Zlochevsky and Burisma.
"Zlochevsky was charged with this new accusation by the Office of the Prosecutor General but the press ignored it," said the MP. "It was issued on November 14."
Meanwhile Reuters reported just that the Ukrainian prosecutor general's office has widened the investigation into Burisma and Zlochevsky to include embezzling state funds- but only states a document was leaked by 3 other Ukrainian lawmakers, not verifying that document or its contents;
Quote
Ukraine has widened its investigation into the founder of energy company Burisma to include suspicion of embezzling state funds, Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka said on Wednesday.
...
Ryaboshapka was speaking after being asked about a document from the general prosecutor’s office that was leaked at a separate press conference by three lawmakers earlier on Wednesday.
The document, only part of which was visible, showed Kulyk suspected Zlochevsky of offences including using his official position to embezzle 800 million hryvnias ($33 million) of money belonging to the central bank.
The investigation is effectively on hold, however, because the Ukrainian authorities cannot determine Zlochevsky’s whereabouts.
As usual, I'd say the truth is probably somewhere in the middle: NBC is clearly putting out propaganda and fake news designed to attack Trump, while Zero Hedge is getting ahead of itself in its rush to defend Trump by taking the leaks without determining their true context- but probably real. And Reuters is just trying to do actual, cautious and responsible reporting and is taking fire from NBC because they reported on facts that are helping Trump.
The more detailed reporting I've heard suggests that the document and draft indictment are real, but were leaked by either pro-Trump or trying-to-pander-to-get-Trump's-support Ukrainian lawmakers, and its not clear whether its just a draft with no legal power or something they intend to make official. Or just fabricated. And at the same time, its clear that the "legitimate" prosecutor general is indeed holding a press conference to say he's expanding the investigation into Burisma, which makes it absurd while NBC's attempts to say "nothing to see here folks"
This post was edited by Goomshill on Nov 20 2019 07:03pm