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Biden breakdown: Tracking the investigations into the former president

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The House Oversight Committee heard testimony this week from a key Biden official as part of its investigation into the former president’s health decline and issued a subpoena to former first lady Jill Biden’s top aide after he refused to appear voluntarily.
Biden left office in January, but questions about his mental acuity and decline while in office continue to mount after the release of audio of his interview with former special counsel Robert Hur and his cancer diagnosis, drawing attention to a number of actions taken in his final days in office and beyond.
Here’s a look at the known, active investigations into the former president and his team:
HOUSE GOP SECURES FOUR KEY WITNESSES IN BIDEN MENTAL-DECLINE PROBE AS FORMER AIDES AGREE TO TALK
President Joe Biden listens during a visit to the D.C. Emergency Operations Center in Washington. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)
House Oversight investigation into alleged cover-up of Biden’s mental decline
The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is leading an investigation into an alleged cover-up of Biden’s mental decline.
The investigation is looking into whether those inside Biden’s inner circle knowingly colluded to hide the former president’s declining mental acuity and used methods to circumvent the former president when it came to the issuance of important orders, particularly through the use of an autopen tool used to mimic the president’s signature.

The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is leading an investigation into an alleged cover-up of Biden’s mental decline. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Some Biden aides agreed to voluntarily testify for transcribed interviews, including the director of Biden’s former Domestic Policy Council, Neera Tanden; Biden’s assistant and senior advisor to the first lady, Anthony Bernal; former special assistant to Biden and Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations, Ashley Williams; and Annie Tomasini, Biden’s deputy chief of staff.
Tanden appeared before the House Oversight Committee Tuesday. She told lawmakers she had «minimal interaction with Biden despite wielding tremendous authority,» Comer said.
«She explained that to obtain approval for autopen signatures, she would send decision memos to members of the president’s inner circle and had no visibility of what occurred between sending the memo and receiving it back with approval,» Comer explained. «Her testimony raises serious questions about who was really calling the shots in the Biden White House amid the president’s obvious decline.»
Bernal had confirmed his appearance for a voluntary transcribed interview June 26. But after the White House counsel’s office informed him it was waiving executive privilege for the Oversight Committee’s investigation, he refused to appear.
LONE BIDEN OFFICIAL BREAKS SILENCE ON COGNITIVE DECLINE AS CABINET STAYS MUTE
Comer has now subpoenaed Bernal to compel his testimony.
«Given your close connection with both former President Biden and former first lady Jill Biden, the Committee sought to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden’s fitness to serve from the American people,» Comer wrote in a letter to Bernal Thursday with the subpoena attached.
«You have refused the Committee’s request. However, to advance the Committee’s oversight and legislative responsibilities and interests, your testimony is critical.»
Comer said the committee «seeks information about your assessment of and relationship with former President Biden to explore whether the time has come for Congress to revisit potential legislation to address the oversight of presidents’ fitness to serve pursuant to its authority under Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment or to propose changes to the Twenty-Fifth Amendment itself.»
Williams will testify July 11, and Tomasini will testify July 18.

Neera Tanden, who served as President Biden’s staff secretary, was the president and CEO of Center for American Progress (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Biden’s former White House doctor, Kevin O’Connor, declined an invitation to sit for a transcribed interview scheduled for June 27.
Comer subpoenaed O’Connor to compel that testimony.
Comer sent letters to five more top former Biden staffers, putting his total outreach in the investigation to 10 people so far.
The latest round of letters are being sent to former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, former senior communications advisor Anita Dunn, former top advisors Michael Donilon and Steve Ricchetti and former deputy chief of staff for policy Bruce Reed.
SCOOP: GOP PUSH FOR NEW HOUSE COMMITTEE TO PROBE BIDEN DECLINE ‘COVER-UP’ GAINS STEAM
Senate Judiciary Committee
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday morning, «Unfit to Serve: How the Biden Cover-up Endangered America and Undermined the Constitution.»
The hearing included testimony from three experts, including University of Virginia law professor John Harrison, Heritage Foundation fellow Theodore Wold and a former White House press secretary from the first Trump administration, Sean Spicer.
The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project first investigated the Biden administration’s use of an autopen earlier in 2025 and found that the same signature was on a bevvy of executive orders and other official documents, while Biden’s signature on the document announcing his departure from the 2024 race varied from the apparent machine-produced signature.
Wold testified before the committee and described the alleged cover-up of Biden’s declining health a «constitutional crisis.»
Republican senators blasted their Democratic colleagues for boycotting and walking out of the hearing.
«I will note that few of my Democratic colleagues are here today,» Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn said Wednesday. «Thank you to Sen. Welch from Vermont for being here, leaving us with no other option than to take the boycott of this hearing as an admission of guilt for their role in this crisis.
«We must not turn away from the search for answers, and it is not an overstatement to say that the future of our country could one day hinge on how we choose to act or not act on this very issue.»
Vermont Democratic Sen. Peter Welch and Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin did attend the start of the hearing, with Durbin abruptly walking out after describing the hearing as a distraction and accusing Republican colleagues of being «asleep at the wheel» with other legal issues within the Trump administration due to their focus on Biden.
BIDEN STRUGGLES WITH WORDS, KEY MEMORIES IN LEAKED AUDIO FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR INTERVIEW
«In the last week alone, several events have demanded this committee’s immediate attention,» Durbin said Wednesday. «The horrific assassination in Minnesota, the treatment of our colleague Sen. Padilla by federal agents in Los Angeles and President Trump’s unprecedented deployment of the U.S. military in Los Angeles.
«We should hear without delay from Attorney General Bondi and FBI Director Patel about what they are doing to address the unacceptable political violence in our country, including threats to Article III judges and justices, as well as members of Congress,» Durbin added. «And we need to hear from the Homeland Security Secretary Noem about the treatment of our colleague, Sen. Padilla, and this administration’s mass deportation campaign against immigrants.»
Welch also left the hearing after declaring it would not benefit his constituents.
Justice Department investigation into Biden pardons
Biden used his final weeks as commander in chief to grant clemency and pardon more than 1,500 people in what the White House described at the time as the largest single-day act of clemency by a U.S. president.

The Justice Department is reviewing the list of people granted pardons by Biden amid concerns about his use of an autopen to automatically sign documents. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Justice Department is reviewing the list of people granted pardons by Biden amid concerns about his use of an autopen to automatically sign documents.
DOJ Pardon Attorney Ed Martin is reviewing the list of Biden-era pardons granted during the former president’s final weeks in office, including the one granted to his son, Hunter, and the preemptive pardons granted to Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Gen. Mark Milley, Biden family members and members of the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riots.
BIDEN ONLY HAND-SIGNED ONE PARDON DURING FINAL SPREE, AND IT WAS HIS MOST CONTROVERSIAL ONE
But Biden only signed one pardon by hand during his final weeks in office, and it was his most controversial, for his son, Hunter.

Biden issued several preemptive pardons of prominent critics of Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
Biden pardoned his son Hunter in December 2024 after vowing to the American people for months he would not do so.
Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony gun offenses during special counsel David Weiss’ investigation. The first son was also charged with federal tax crimes over his alleged failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.

Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Dec. 13, 2023. (Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press)
Before his trial, Hunter Biden entered a surprise guilty plea.
In December 2024, the former president announced a blanket pardon that applies to any offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden «has committed or may have committed» from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
«From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,» the former president said.

Signatures of former President Joe Biden (DOJ/Getty)
HERE ARE BIDEN’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL PARDONS, MAINLY SIGNED USING AUTOPEN
«There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough,» he said.
«I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.»
House Oversight investigation into alleged cover-up of Biden’s cancer diagnosis
Biden was diagnosed with an «aggressive form» of prostate cancer in May.
«Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,» Biden’s team shared in a statement. «On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.

Former President Joe Biden walks on the tarmac as he arrives on Air Force One at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport May 10, 2024, in SeaTac, Wash. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
«While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.»
JOE BIDEN DIAGNOSED WITH ‘AGGRESSIVE FORM’ OF PROSTATE CANCER WITH METASTASIS TO THE BONE
During his presidency, Biden had a cancerous skin lesion removed from his chest, the White House said at the time.
Biden, during a 2022 speech discussing pollution in his home state, said, «That’s why I and so damn many other people I grew up (with) have cancer.»
But Comer has expanded his investigation into Biden’s mental decline to include an investigation into the timeline of when Biden learned he had cancer.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has subpoenaed former President Joe Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, to appear for a deposition as part of a probe into Biden’s mental decline. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
BIDEN’S WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN SUBPOENAED AS REPUBLICANS DIG DEEPER INTO ALLEGED COGNITIVE DECLINE COVER-UP
«If you’ll remember, Joe Biden did an interview several years ago and said he had cancer. The White House quickly issued a statement saying, ‘Oh, he misspoke,’» Comer said during an appearance on Fox Business’ «Mornings with Maria.»
«Now, how many people do you know in the history of the world that have misspoke saying they had cancer when they really didn’t?
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«So, there’s evidence out there that would suggest that there’s been a cover-up with respect to his cancer for many years, just based on Joe Biden’s own words.»
Comer has subpoenaed O’Connor, the former White House physician who gave Biden several clean bills of health.
Fox News’ Alec Schemmel and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
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Russia sat on intel of Hillary Clinton’s alleged ‘heavy tranquilizers’ use, new docs claim

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Russia allegedly had intelligence suggesting that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was taking «heavy tranquilizers,» which former President Barack Obama and Democratic Party leaders found to be «extraordinarily alarming,» a newly declassified intelligence report claims.
Fox News Digital first reported that the U.S. intelligence community did not have any direct information that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to help elect Donald Trump during the 2016 election, but, at the «unusual» direction of then-President Obama, reportedly published «potentially biased» or «implausible» intelligence suggesting otherwise.
BRENNAN DIRECTED PUBLICATION OF ‘IMPLAUSIBLE’ REPORTS CLAIMING PUTIN PREFERRED TRUMP IN 2016, HOUSE FOUND
The information came from a report declassified by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The report was prepared by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in 2020.
The report, which was based on an investigation launched by former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., was dated Sept. 18, 2020. At the time of the publication of the report, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was the chairman of the committee.
The report had never before been released to the public, and instead, remained highly classified within the intelligence community.
Fox News Digital obtained the «fully-sourced limited-access investigation report that was drafted and stored in a limited-access vault at CIA Headquarters.» The report includes some redactions.
One section of the report states that the material in Putin’s possession included Russian intelligence on Democratic National Committee information allegedly showing that senior Democrat leaders found Clinton’s health to be «extraordinarily alarming.»
Then-President Obama stands with then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (AP)
«As of September 2016, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service had DNC information that President Obama and Party leaders found the state of Secretary Clinton’s health to be ‘extraordinarily alarming,’ and felt it could have ‘serious negative impact’ on her election prospects,» the report states. «Her health information was being kept in ‘strictest secrecy’ and even close advisors were not being fully informed.»
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service also allegedly had DNC communications that showed that «Clinton was suffering from ‘intensified psycho-emotional problems, including uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression, and cheerfulness.’»
«Clinton was placed on a daily regimen of ‘heavy tranquilizers’ and while afraid of losing, she remained ‘obsessed with a thirst for power,’» the report states.
The Russians also allegedly had information that Clinton «suffered from ‘Type 2 diabetes, Ischemic heart disease, deep vein thrombosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.’»
The Russians also allegedly possessed a «campaign email discussing a plan approved by Secretary Clinton to link Putin and Russian hackers to candidate Trump in order to ‘distract the American public’ from the Clinton email server scandal.»
Gabbard, during the White House press briefing Wednesday, said there were «high level DNC emails that detailed evidence of Hillary’s, quote, psycho-emotional problems, uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression and cheerfulness, and that then Secretary Clinton was allegedly on a daily regimen of heavy tranquilizers.»
«Then CIA Director Brennan and the intelligence community mischaracterized intelligence and relied on dubious, substandard sources to create a contrived false narrative that Putin developed a, quote unquote, ‘clear preference’ for Trump,» Gabbard said. «Brennan and the IC misled lawmakers by referencing the debunked Steele dossier to assess, quote unquote, ‘Russia’s plans and intentions,’ falsely suggesting that this dossier had intelligence value when he knew that it was discredited, the intelligence community excluded significant intelligence and ignored or selectively quoted reliable intelligence that contradicted the intelligence community assessments.»
«Key findings on Putin’s alleged support for Trump, including this intelligence reporting, would have exposed the ICA’s claim as implausible, if not ridiculous,» she said.
Neither Clinton nor Obama responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
A tranquilizer is a drug used to reduce mental disturbance, such as anxiety and tension. Tranquilizers are typically prescribed to individuals suffering from anxiety, sleep disturbances and related conditions affecting their mental and physical health.
OBAMA OFFICIALS ADMITTED THEY HAD NO ‘EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE’ OF TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION: HOUSE INTEL TRANSCRIPTS
Fox News Digital, in 2020, first reported on the «Clinton Plan.»

President Barack Obama waves on stage with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during a rally at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Nov. 7, 2016. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/The Associated Press)
On July 28, 2016, then-CIA Director John Brennan briefed Obama on a plan from one of Clinton’s campaign foreign policy advisors allegedly «to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service.»
Comey, Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper were in the Brennan–Obama briefing.
After that briefing, the CIA reportedly properly forwarded that information through a Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to Comey and Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, with the subject line: «Crossfire Hurricane.»
Fox News Digital exclusively obtained and reported on the CIOL in October 2020, which stated: «The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate.»
«Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date,» the memo continued. «An exchange (REDACTED) discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.»

President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House announcing he was nominating John Brennan as the new CIA director. (Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)
The FBI on July 31, 2016, opened a counterintelligence investigation into whether candidate Trump and members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Russia to influence the 2016 campaign. That investigation was referred to inside the bureau as «Crossfire Hurricane.»
OBAMA ADMIN ‘MANUFACTURED’ INTELLIGENCE TO CREATE 2016 RUSSIAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE NARRATIVE, DOCUMENTS SHOW
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to take over the FBI’s original «Crossfire Hurricane» investigation. After nearly two years, Mueller’s investigation, which concluded in March 2019, yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election.
Shortly after, John Durham was appointed as special counsel to investigate the origins of the «Crossfire Hurricane» probe.
Durham found that the FBI «failed to act» on a «clear warning sign» that the bureau was the «target» of a Clinton-led effort to «manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes» ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

President Barack Obama speaks to the media after meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey in the Oval Office at the White House on July 19, 2016. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
«The aforementioned facts reflect a rather startling and inexplicable failure to adequately consider and incorporate the Clinton Plan intelligence into the FBI’s investigative decision-making in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation,» Durham’s report states.
«Indeed, had the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation as an assessment and, in turn, gathered and analyzed data in concert with the information from the Clinton Plan intelligence, it is likely that the information received would have been examined, at a minimum, with a more critical eye,» the report continued.
Durham, in his report, said the FBI «failed to act on what should have been – when combined with other incontrovertible facts – a clear warning sign that the FBI might then be the target of an effort to manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes during the 2016 presidential election.»
Meanwhile, the report states that Brennan «ordered the post-election publication of 15 reports containing previously collected but unpublished intelligence, three of which were substandard – containing information that was unclear, of uncertain origin, potentially biased, or implausible – and those became foundational sources for the ICA judgments that Putin preferred Trump over Clinton.»
FBI LAUNCHES CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS OF JOHN BRENNAN, JAMES COMEY: DOJ SOURCES
«The ICA misrepresented these reports as reliable, without mentioning their significant underlying flaws,» the committee found.
«One scant, unclear, and unverifiable fragment of a sentence from one of the substandard reports constitutes the only classified information cited to suggest Putin ‘aspired’ to help Trump win,» the report states, adding that the ICA «ignored or selectively quoted reliable intelligence reports that challenged-and in some cases undermined – judgments that Putin sought to elect Trump.»
The report also states that the ICA «failed to consider plausible alternative explanations of Putin’s intentions indicated by reliable intelligence and observed Russian actions.»
The committee also found that two senior CIA officers reportedly warned Brennan that «we don’t have direct information that Putin wanted to get Trump elected.»
Despite those warnings, the Obama administration moved to publish the ICA.
The report also includes intelligence from a longtime Putin confidant who explained to investigators that «Putin told him he did not care who won the election,» and that Putin «had often outlined the weaknesses of both major candidates.»
FLASHBACK: DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON ‘STIRRING UP’ SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA
The report also stated that the ICA committed context showing that the claim that Putin preferred Trump was «implausible – if not ridiculous.»
The committee also found that the ICA suppressed intelligence that showed that Russia was actually planning for a Clinton victory because «they knew where (she) stood» and believed Russia «could work with her.»
The declassification of the report comes just days after Gabbard declassified and released documents that included «overwhelming evidence» that demonstrated how, after Trump won the 2016 election against Clinton, then-President Obama and his national security team laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump–Russia collusion probe.

Special Counsel John Durham (Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Fox News Digital, in 2020, exclusively obtained the declassified transcripts from Obama-era national security officials’ closed-door testimonies before the House Intelligence Committee, in which those officials testified that they had no «empirical evidence» of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, but continued to publicly push the «narrative» of collusion.
DURHAM TESTIFIES THAT THE FBI IGNORED HILLARY CLINTON PLAN TO LINK TRUMP TO RUSSIA
The House Intelligence Committee, in 2017, conducted depositions of top Obama intelligence officials, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, among others.
The transcripts, from 2017 and 2018, revealed top Obama officials were questioned by House Intelligence Committee lawmakers and investigators about whether they had or had seen evidence of such collusion, coordination or conspiracy – the issue that drove the FBI’s initial case and later the special counsel probe.
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«I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting/conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election,» Clapper testified in 2017. «That’s not to say that there weren’t concerns about the evidence we were seeing, anecdotal evidence…. But I do not recall any instance where I had direct evidence.»
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Zelenskyy forced to rethink anti-corruption law after public backlash

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to introduce new legislation that will restore the independence of anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine after fierce public opposition and international condemnation over signing a law that targeted Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption institutions.
In a sudden turn of events, Zelenskyy posted a video on X in which he said, «Of course, everyone has heard what people are saying these days – on social media, to each other, on the streets. It’s not falling on deaf ears. We analyzed all concerns, all aspects of what needs to be changed and what needs to be stepped up.
«I will propose a bill to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine that will be the response. It will ensure the strength of the rule of law system, and there will be no Russian influence or interference in the activities of law enforcement. And very importantly – all the norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be in place,» he said according to a translated version on the screen.
UKRAINE SEES SWEEPING PROTESTS OVER BILL WEAKENING ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCIES
Mass protests erupted in Kyiv and across Ukraine in opposition to the law, the largest anti-government demonstrations since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Zelenskyy to express her strong concerns and convey Brussels’ disapproval of the bill.
One source close to the situation, who asked to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital that the incident should give President Zelenskyy pause as to whether he is getting the best counsel from his closest people.
The individual with ties to the Ukraine government said this propaganda bonanza for Russia is a self-inflicted wound and also shows the president and his team have misread public sentiment.
Many Ukrainians and Western allies fear the current turmoil could jeopardize their path to join the European Union and fracture society’s unity while the country faces continued Russian onslaughts.
Although he signed the original bill, Zelenskyy said with the announcement of the new bill that it will ensure the independence of anti-corruption bodies and also eliminate Russian influence over their activities. In defending the previous legislation, he claimed that Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure was infiltrated by Russia.
Ukrainians protest in the first wartime rally against a newly passed law, which curbs independence of anti-corruption institutions, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in central Lviv, Ukraine July 22, 2025. (Roman Baluk/Reuters)
The previous bill that passed on Tuesday allowed Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, appointed by the president, wide authority over cases before the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), an anti-corruption agency that was championed by the United States and Europe. It gave the prosecutor general the sweeping power to transfer cases from NABU and usurp other powers from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), the agency responsible for prosecuting NABU’s cases.
UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY NAMES NEW PRIME MINISTER FOR FIRST TIME SINCE RUSSIA’S WAR BEGAN
«That is tantamount to being able to squash any legal accountability for corruption,» Josh Rudolph, anti-corruption expert and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told Fox News Digital.
Rudolph noted that the heads of NABU and SAPO are highly reputable professionals and were selected with the concurrence of Ukraine’s international partners, a key component of joining the EU.
«Zelenskyy could have come out as a hero or a villain if he signed the bill. It was a moment of truth,» Orysia Lutsevych, Head of Ukraine Forum, Chatham House, told Fox News Digital. Even though Zelenskyy listened to public opinion and ultimately backed down, his overall popularity continues to take a hit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (not in picture) hold a joint press conference during the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 (URC2025) at Roma Convention Center La Nuvola, on July 10, 2025 in Rome, Italy (Antonio Masiello/Getty Image)
Ukraine has been plagued by government corruption since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Many Ukraine watchers are worried that efforts to rollback anti-corruption initiatives will be fodder for Russian propaganda and fracture Ukraine’s unity at a critical time in the war.
«Russia can and will use Ukraine’s move to restructure anti-corruption agencies to argue lack of unity, support for the government, and internal disagreements. It will again apply its propaganda arguments about legitimacy of Zelenskyy and the need for elections,» Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of Kyiv School of Economics, told Fox News Digital.

In this handout photo taken from video released by Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin claims Zelenskyy is illegitimate and has called for new elections in Ukraine. Elections were scheduled for March 2024 but postponed while the country remains at war and under martial law.
The disunity within Ukraine comes at a time when Russian forces are escalating large-scale missile and drone strikes in Kyiv and across the country. Russian forces continue to make advances while Kyiv urgently pleads with Europe and the United States to send air defense systems and other key weapons to limit Moscow’s battlefield gains.
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