CIA Director John Ratcliffe announced Tuesday that he has declassified a cache of documents revealing efforts by then–Vice President Joe Biden and his aides to block an internal intelligence assessment from being made public in 2016 — a report that portrayed his diplomatic efforts in Ukraine in a negative light and flagged questions about his family’s business interests in the region.
“Today, I declassified CIA intelligence regarding Ukraine after determining it is in the public interest,” Ratcliffe posted on X, attaching a link to the newly released material.
The files include a series of internal emails and memos suggesting that Biden’s staff acted to halt the circulation of the intelligence report, which Ukrainian officials reportedly said reflected “bewilderment and disappointment” at his limited involvement during his December 2015 visit to Kyiv.
According to RealClearInvestigations, Ukrainian officials had expected Biden’s trip to deliver a firm stance against corruption. Instead, they were left frustrated, particularly as headlines in the United States highlighted Hunter Biden’s lucrative board position with Burisma Holdings, the energy firm long dogged by corruption allegations.
One of the U.S. intelligence assessments concluded bluntly that the optics “undermined the credibility” of Washington’s stated campaign against corruption.
Among the documents made public was a February 10, 2016, email from an official in the Director of National Intelligence’s office to CIA analysts, relaying that Biden “would strongly prefer the report not be disseminated,” citing direct conversations with the vice president and national security adviser Colin Kahl.
The next day, Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and emphasized the need for Kyiv to continue advancing anti-corruption reforms — though he made no mention of the shelved assessment.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said the disclosures added “more evidence of a corrupt pattern of behavior,” accusing Biden of “using political power to suppress politically damaging intelligence.” Comer said his committee would pursue new investigative actions in response.
“🚨 @CIADirector Ratcliffe is leading the charge to restore trust and transparency at the @CIA,” Comer wrote on X, reposting Ratcliffe’s Tuesday announcement.
The declassification comes as scrutiny grows over Biden’s past involvement in Ukraine — including his own public acknowledgment that he pressured officials in Kyiv to fire their top prosecutor while Hunter Biden remained on Burisma’s payroll. The revelations are expected to escalate ongoing GOP investigations into what Republicans describe as the politicization of U.S. intelligence agencies.
President Donald Trump, who was impeached during his first administration over his Ukraine policy, has repeatedly vowed to bring transparency and accountability to what he has called the “malign work of the deep state” and a coordinated “government coup” against him.
{Matzav.com}
Joe is like everybody else. He puts on his pajama bottoms one arm at a time.