Politics

Despite Misgivings, Romney Will Vote To Subpoena Burisma Witness

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Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney announced on Friday he will support Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson’s committee vote next Wednesday to subpoena documents from a former consultant for Burisma Holdings.

Romney’s announcement comes one day after he decried Johnson’s probe into Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company linked to Hunter Biden, as overly political and perhaps not something appropriate for the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, chaired by Johnson, to be looking into.

“Senator Romney has expressed his concerns to Chairman Johnson, who has confirmed that any interview of the witness would occur in a closed setting without a hearing or public spectacle,” Romney Communications Director Liz Johnson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He will therefore vote to let the Chairman proceed to obtain the documents that have been offered.”

Romney’s support of the measure to subpoena Andrii Telizhenko, a former consultant for a firm that Burisma hired to fight against corruption allegations, all but confirms the measure will pass. Romney is one of eight Republicans on the committee, while Democrats hold just six seats.

Romney told reporters on Thursday that people are tired of politically motivated investigations such as his colleague’s probe into Burisma. 

“There’s no question that the appearance of looking into Burisma and Hunter Biden appears political,” Romney said when asked Thursday about the upcoming subpoena vote. “I think people are tired of these kind of political investigations.”

Sen. Mitt Romney: “There’s no question that the appearance of looking into Burisma & Hunter Biden appears political… We also have a lot of work to do on matters that are not related to Burisma. We probably ought to focus on those things.” pic.twitter.com/2le3uUd8Yu

— The Hill (@thehill) March 5, 2020

The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee committee is investigating whether Hunter Biden leveraged his relationship with his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, to help Burisma combat allegations of corruption.

Telizhenko, a former consultant for Blue Star Strategies, a firm that worked with Burisma to fight against corruption allegations, has already provided Johnson with records showing that Hunter Biden’s role as a board member of Burisma was leveraged in attempts to influence matters at the State Department, the Wisconsin senator wrote in a letter to Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan on Monday.

Telizhenko has possession of additional Burisma-related documents, but a non-disclosure agreement is preventing him from handing over any more documents to Johnson’s committee without being compelled by a subpoena, Johnson told Peters in his letter.