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The vice president publicly pushed for reform of the prosecutor general’s office at the time. Biden later said that he told Poroshenko that Ukraine would not receive $1 billion in loan guarantees unless Shokin was removed and the prosecutor general’s office was reformed. Much of that is recounted on the tapes.
In one clip, Biden congratulates Poroshenko on installing a new prosecutor general.
“It’s going to be critical for him to work quickly to repair the damage that Shokin did,” Biden says. “And I’m a man of my word. And now that the new prosecutor general is in place, we’re ready to move forward to signing that new $1 billion loan guarantee.”
At no point in the clips released Tuesday does Biden mention Burisma or his son. Biden has denied discussing the gas company with his son, and his advisers have emphasized that he was pushing for Shokin’s ouster as a matter of U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine, which called for anti-corruption reforms.
In one call, Poroshenko reported to Biden that he had met with Shokin and asked for his resignation and that Shokin had, an hour before the call, complied and written a letter resigning from his post. Poroshenko described the move as the “second step of keeping my promises.”
“Great,” Biden replied. “I agree.”
In the recordings, Poroshenko also appeared to seek Biden’s approval before appointing Yuri Lutsenko to replace Shokin, noting that if Biden was opposed to a “politically motivated figure” like Lutsenko taking on the role, he could rethink the move.
Biden replied that he would “huddle” with his team and “talk over what you and I just talked about.” It is unclear whether Biden was referring to Poroshenko’s comments about Lutsenko or other items they discussed on the call.
