Rudy Giuliani, who seems to be turning conspiracy theory weaving into a full-time job, is now claiming the existence of a deceased whistleblower whose name he conveniently cannot recall. This mystery figure allegedly had damning evidence of bribery and money laundering against President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
This so-called “evidence” is supposedly documented in an FD-1023 form, the tool used by FBI agents to log tips from the public about potential crimes. While it’s likely that Giuliani himself lodged this report, no actual corroborating evidence has surfaced. All of this aligns with the timeline of Giuliani’s unproven allegations against Ukraine and the Biden family in early 2020. But facts never stopped a good conspiracy theory, did they?
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) dismissed the allegations, referring to them as “secondhand hearsay.” Raskin pointed out that these claims emerged right around the time Giuliani was spreading similar allegations against the Bidens.
The plot thickens as the FD-1023 form supposedly alludes to tapes of this alleged scheme. GOP Rep. James Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley have alluded to these tapes as well, yet no such recordings have been produced by anyone – not the FBI, not Giuliani, and certainly not Comer and Grassley.
Even Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), corrected the assertions, stating that Grassley never claimed these tapes existed. Giuliani, however, continues to fan the flames of this fantastical tale. In a recent interview, he claimed that his supposed key witness, the person who informed him about the bribery scheme, is now deceased.
Giuliani paints a vivid picture of this witness – a woman, the chief accountant at Burisma, the wife of the company’s former owner who died under suspicious circumstances. Except, there’s one little problem – the owner he’s referring to, Mykola Lisin, died in 2011, years before Giuliani began his investigation in Ukraine and before either Biden had any involvement with Ukraine or Burisma. The “suspicious circumstances” he alluded to was a car accident.
No one seems to know the name of this mystery woman. Right-wing outlets are reporting her death but with little detail and no name. Even Fox’s Sean Hannity seems to have removed the story from his website.
Furthermore, Sen. Grassley, in a speech on the Senate floor, suggests that she had tapes kept for “insurance.” Yet, here we are again with the infamous tapes that no one seems to have. Grassley questions what the U.S. Attorney is doing with these alleged recordings of the Bidens. Well, Senator, it’s hard to investigate something that doesn’t exist.
So, this unnamed woman, who supposedly had tapes incriminating the Bidens, was married to a man who died in 2011, years before the Bidens were involved with Ukraine or Burisma. This imaginary narrative gets more convoluted by the minute. It’s important to remember that fact-checking is our best defense against the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories, especially those that conveniently seem to crop up without any solid evidence or named sources.
