Sen. Mitt Romney said Thursday there is no need for a Senate panel to investigate the Ukrainian company that hired Hunter Biden, likely jeopardizing the probe.
The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee plans to vote next week on subpoenas for witnesses related to the energy firm Burisma, a vote the Utah Republican dismissed as a waste of time and political posturing.
“There’s no question that the appearance of looking into Burisma and Hunter Biden appears political,” Mr. Romney told reporters Thursday. “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
“I would hope if there is something of significance that needs to be evaluated that would be done perhaps the FBI or some other agency that’s not as political as perhaps a committee of our body,” he said. “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.”
The panel only has an 8-6 Republican majority, so a Romney flip would torpedo any subpoenas or other moves to investigate Burisma or Mr. Biden.
Still, he wouldn’t definitively say Thursday that he will vote down any Burisma investigation.
“I will make that decision after I’ve had the chance to meet the chairman and see what information he has,” Mr. Romney said.
Mr. Romney was the only Republican in the Senate to vote to convict President Trump on either of the two impeachment charges.
Mr. Biden, the son of Democratic presidential front-runner Joseph R. Biden, was paid millions of dollars to sit on the Burisma board while his father was vice president despite having had no experience in the energy field.
Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican and the panel chairman, is looking to investigate reports that Burisma and some related firms tried to leverage the younger Mr. Biden’s name against U.S. or Ukrainian anti-corruption teams.
The elder Mr. Biden openly bragged in 2017 about having leveraged U.S. foreign aid to Ukraine to interfere in the East European nation’s justice system.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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