Here we go again: The ever-babbling Trump is asking Putin for dirt on Hunter Biden.
One thing while I'm on your show, as long as Putin now is not exactly a fan of our country, let him explain, where did -- because Chris Wallace wouldn't let me ask the question. Why did the mayor of Moscow's wife give the Bidens, both of them, $3.5 million? That's a lot of money. She gave them $3.5 million. So now, I would think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it. We should know that answer. Now, you won't get the answer from Ukraine, but why are they giving somebody who knows nothing about energy $187,000 a month plus a $3 million upfront payment? I won't even talk about China because they haven't gone into Taiwan yet. That'll be next. But why did the mayor of Moscow's wife give the Biden family $3.5 million? Nobody wants to ask the question. Chris Wallace, who is a total lightweight, unlike his father who interviewed me for 60 Minutes, that was a good piece. Mike Wallace is great. He wants to be Mike Wallace, but he doesn't have the talent. Why is it the mayor of Moscow's wife gave the Biden family $3.5 million? I think Putin now would be willing to probably give that answer. I'm sure he knows.
Mika Brzezinski did a fact check.
"The payments the former president is referring to come from a highly criticized Republican-led Senate report released just weeks before the 2020 election. It maintained that Elena Baturina, the widow of Moscow's former mayor, wired $3.5 million to a firm associated with Hunter Biden. The report did not show that Hunter Biden received any of the money. Hunter Biden's legal team long claimed he had no interest in the firm and was not paid any of the money in question. As to Trump's claims that Putin knows something about the payments, the Russian president has previously said he was unaware of any business ties between Hunter Biden and Baturina."
She pointed out Trump himself was seeking to do business with the former Moscow mayor in the last 90s.
"At this point, Ambassador Bill Taylor, since you were there during this first debacle with the president, wanted to get dirt on the political rival from President Zelenskyy, your thoughts on what you just heard from the former president of the United States," she said.
"Well, Mika, we know that in the summer of 2019, there was discussion of additional weapons for Ukraine," Taylor said.
"We know that the United States had been providing these Javelin missiles. The Trump administration, to its credit, had been providing these Javelin missiles that were very effective, as we're now seeing how effective the Javelins are. There was interest on the Ukrainians. I was there at the time. They were interested in additional weapons, additional Javelins. There was a phone call where they had this conversation with President Trump. President Zelenskyy asked for support for this sale, for additional (Javelins).
"As we know, President Trump asked for a favor on this same topic, of investigations into his political rival. In the end, those weapons went, thank goodness. They were held up for a period of time, which was troubling for the Ukrainians. But in the end, these weapons went, and as we see, they are now putting them to great use against the Russians."
"Vladimir Putin has already addressed this unsubstantiated claim about this payment. He did it in October 2020 on the eve of the presidential election. In fact, if you look at the interview, he effectively rolled his eyes and was annoyed he was being asked about this. He waved it away," Willie Geist said.
"Now, it is worth stopping and taking stock in the middle of what we're watching in Russia. Not only did Donald Trump watch the horrors of what we're seeing in Ukraine and say, quote, 'This is genius' and say, 'This is wonderful,' but now he is taking the side of Vladimir Putin, saying, 'Let's exploit how Putin feels about the United States right now, and get him to give me this invented dirt that came out of a report authored by Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. You know, we're not shocked anymore by Donald Trump, but the things he's said in this war rise to that level."
