SBI starts investigation into Sytnyk's possible involvement in U.S. presidential election – SBI head
The State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) has initiated investigative actions in the framework of criminal proceedings on the possible intervention of Artem Sytnyk, Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), in the election of the U.S. President, SBI Roman Truba has said.
"As for the possible influence of the head of the NABU in the presidential elections in the United States. Criminal proceedings on this fact have been recently registered by employees of the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine. We are just starting investigative actions in this criminal proceeding," Truba said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
At the same time, he added: "I can't say anything more at this stage."
As reported, on March 15, 2019, Lutsenko said during the Right to Power program that he had received a statement from MP Borysav Rozenblat (unaligned) in which the latter alleged Director of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk had shared information from the so-called "black ledger" [of the Party of Regions] to support Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.
On March 22, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said its detectives did not collect and hand over to any party any proof of U.S. political consultant Paul Manafort's illegal activities.
In turn, Ukraine's Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) head Nazar Kholodnytsky said, "If he (Sytnyk) really saw himself as a geopolitical figure and helped Hillary, then it is necessary to draw conclusions. This is wrong ... I met with him [Sytnyk] in 2016 and talked with him at a conference in Panama. He also told me he wanted to help Hillary. He didn't answer when I asked him where he was and where Hillary was."
The leak of the records kept by the Party of Regions was a reason for Manafort's dismissal as Trump's campaign manager and became one of the key accusations in the investigation of collusion [between Trump campaign officials] with Russia. The case has been under investigation for the last two years.
According to The New York Times newspaper, Manafort's name is mentioned 22 times in the "black ledger," which indicates $12.7 million was paid to him from 2007 to 2012.
