House investigators have asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to turn over documents and records related to “sudden foreign policy changes” by then-Vice President Joe Biden related to the firing in 2016 of Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Mr. Blinken, House lawmakers lay out a timeline of events that suggest Mr. Biden turned against Mr. Shokin after his son took a lucrative job on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings, which Mr. Shokin was investigating.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer sent the letter to Mr. Blinken as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced plans to launch an impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden over allegations of influence peddling related to his son’s foreign business deals.
The impeachment probe is likely to center on Mr. Biden’s role in ousting Mr. Shokin while his son was paid an annual salary of $1 million as a member of the board of Burisma.
Mr. Shokin was ousted on March 29, 2016, at the urging of Mr. Biden, who boasted in 2018 that he threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees to Ukraine unless Mr. Shokin was fired.