Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik became a US Marine after fleeing his Communist homeland, and the motto of the USMC is “Semper Fidelis.”

Semper Fi – not Semper Lie.

But Monday, as his catastrophic cross-examination in the second Karen Read murder trial continued, Buhkenik did not appear to be especially truthful, to put it mildly.

The $211,080-a-year ex-Red was shown the text messages sent to him and some American-born crooked state troopers by since-fired disgraced Trooper Michael Proctor. In one message the dim-bulb Proctor bragged that he was going through the cell phone of Karen Read, whom he described as “retarded.

He leeringly texted to his knuckle-dragging buddies that he had found “no nudes so far.”

Alan Jackson, the defense attorney asked Bukhenik: ‘What do you think he was looking for what when he wrote that phrase?”

“I don’t know what he was looking for.” Semper lie.

Jackson: “What would be a responsible explanation of what he was looking for when he wrote ‘no nudes so far?’”

“I don’t know what he was looking for.” Semper lie.

“You certainly did nothing, you took no action to stop him, from potentially looking for naked pictures of my client?

“That’s correct.” Buhkenik told the truth! For once.

Then Jackson asked him about his statement on Friday under oath that Michael Proctor had conducted his investigation with “integrity and honor.” Proctor’s actions included the solicitation of a boost, er gift, from the McAlberts after his arrest of the innocent woman Karen Read.

Like Sgt. Schultz, he claimed he knew nothing about the text. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it.

“Do you stand by your statement that Michael Proctor conducted this investigation with integrity?”

“Yes I do.” Semper lie.

“Did you think that (no nudes so far) text was appropriate?”

“I don’t remember reading that text.” Semper lie.

Bukhenik was Proctor’s supervisor. He had to write his quarterly evaluations. Jackson read back to him his own words, his overall evaluation of the gift-seeking, drunk-driving, misogynistic Proctor, in his own words.

“(He) displays professional demeanor, composure, dignity and respect during the performance of his duties and especially during his interactions with the public. This is seen during interviews with witnesses, suspects as well as with victims and their families.”

Yuriy would this after Proctor wrote “retarded” – and worse – to his moronic state trooper buddies. And after he grubbed for the “gift” in return for arresting the innocent woman.

Rating: Four stars out of five.

Jackson finished reading and asked Buhkenik: “Was that statement in your evaluation true or false?”

Bukhenik: “It was true.”

Yuriy said Friday that his grasp of the English language often fails him. He grew up in the old Soviet Union, so English is his third language. That’s what he said, under oath. It’s his fallback, whenever he really gets jammed up on the witness stand by Jackson.

“You knew Michael Proctor’s proclivities,” Jackson asked him after reading the first evaluation. “Obviously. He told them to you.”

Yuri interrupted.

“Da term, ‘proclivities,’” he said. “What does dat mean?”

So then Jackson continued reading the Proctor evaluation. And remember what Jackson said in his opening statement to the jury – “Do you know how much it takes to get fired from the State Police?”

There are dozens of retired state cops who’ve committed every sort of imaginable crime, and they’re relaxing in Florida with six-figure pensions, even if they did a month or two in prison for, say, embezzlement of federal funds.

They never got fired, but Proctor did. Yet this is what his superior, a naturalized US citizen named Bukhenik, wrote about him.

“Trooper Proctor has had a high-profile caseload with a lot of pressure from external sources from the first day of the investigation. He handled himself in all the cases with utmost professionalism and competence. He is able to investigate his cases thoroughly and with strict integrity.”

Rating: five stars out of five.

“’With strict integrity,’” Jackson repeated. “Did it show strict integrity when he called Miss Read ‘retarded?’”

“I believe,” Bukhenik said, “that as a US citizen he has the right to comment. That’s his First Amendment right. We uphold the Constitution… He might habe been voicing his frustration.”

About what? Did he not get his, you know, “gift” from the McAlberts for railroading Karen Read?

Remember, Bukhenik’s duties at the Norfolk County district attorney’s office included running the elite Rubber Ducky Detail. If anyone in the county made any remarks that Kamala Harris delegate Meatball Morrissey considered an affront to him, Bukhenik would be dispatched to try to intimidate them.

He was really good at his job, especially with suburban moms. He would show up in his tricked-up MSP vehicle, a huge gun on his hip, and start yelling at them in broken English. All his KGB-Stasi fantasies were coming true.

But now, he’s all into… the First Amendment. Freedom of speech.

Semper Fi? More like Semper Lie.

Jackson returned to how Bukhenik, tormentor of pro-Karen Read women across the county, “liked” the message that his boy Michael Proctor was searching her phone for nudes.

“The fact is, Sergeant, he put that in writing and you liked it, correct?”

“I acknowledged the text message,” Buhkenik testified. “I never saw the vile term.”

Semper Lie.

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Internally investigated MSP Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik’s hairline is reminding Howie of Al “Grandpa Munster” Lewis, seen at left. (Collage of photos of Lewis by Hulton Archive/Getty Images and of Bukhenik by David McGlynn/Pool)