Romney to support Johnson subpoena in Burisma probe

Romney had raised concerns that the investigation had the appearance of a political probe aimed at hurting Joe Biden, who has reemerged in the 2020 primary as the Democratic front-runner to take on President Donald Trump. But Romney's office said Friday that Johnson alleviated his concerns of a "public spectacle," so he agreed to back the subpoena to a public affairs consultant who worked with Burisma, the Ukrainian energy firm that hired Biden's son Hunter.

"Senator Romney has expressed his concerns to Chairman Johnson, who has confirmed that any interview of the witness would occur in a closed setting without a hearing or public spectacle," Romney spokeswoman Liz Johnson said. "He will therefore vote to let the Chairman proceed to obtain the documents that have been offered."

Romney's announcement is significant now Johnson likely has enough support to issue subpoena when his committee votes on Wednesday, with Republicans holding an 8-6 advantage on the panel.

Johnson is planning to issue a subpoena for records to Andrii Telizhenko, the former consultant for public affairs firm Blue Star Strategies that worked with Burisma. Johnson says Telizhenko, a Rudy Giuliani ally who worked at the Ukrainian embassy in 2016 and has spread conspiracy theories that Ukraine meddled in the election in 2016, has expressed a willingness to cooperate with the Senate probe.

Trump and his allies have repeatedly made unfounded and false claims to allege that the Bidens acted corruptly in Ukraine.

The Senate Republican investigations into Ukraine come amid Biden's surge in the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, and Johnson said this week that the information he was seeking would be of interest to primary votes. Although Johnson has said the investigation is unconnected to the election, Trump said in a Fox News interview this week with Sean Hannity that he would make Ukraine a "major issue in the campaign" if Biden is the Democratic nominee.