During a closed-door deposition for the impeachment inquiry into his father, President Joe Biden, Republican Matt Gaetz asked Hunter Biden about his drug use, to which Hunter Biden responded by questioning the appropriateness of the inquiry. The exchange continued with Gaetz asking if Hunter Biden was a high-functioning addict while on the Burisma board, to which Hunter Biden admitted to being a high-functioning addict at points but denied that it was the case the entire time. Gaetz later commented that his questioning exposed the absurdity of the bribery scheme. The House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into Gaetz in 2021, and Hunter Biden emphasized that his father never benefited from his business activities.
An ex-FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, has been charged with making false statements about an alleged bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, related to Ukrainian company Burisma. Smirnov allegedly provided false information to the FBI due to his bias against President Biden. Hunter Biden, who has denied the allegations, is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee. The indictment accuses Smirnov of transforming routine business contacts with Burisma into bribery allegations against Joe Biden after expressing bias against the president. If convicted, Smirnov faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.
E-mails exchanged between President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden's business associate, Eric Schwerin, have been revealed, with 54 messages sent in 2014. The contents of the e-mails are unknown, but the White House claims they were related to financial matters. Hunter Biden was appointed to the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma during this time, while Joe Biden was vice president and pressuring Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor. The Oversight Committee has subpoenaed Schwerin for a deposition, but the top Democrat on the committee has stated that there is no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden.
House Republicans have subpoenaed Hunter Biden to testify in a public hearing as part of an ongoing impeachment investigation into President Biden, but Hunter's defense attorney proposed the hearing to counter closed-door sessions that could distort facts. President Biden has remained silent on the matter, which some believe is a result of his desire to avoid difficult conversations and protect his family. Hunter's memoir, "Beautiful Things," reveals a family dynamic where silence and withholding are seen as proof of love and connection. The memoirs published by the extended Biden family consistently omit or elide Hunter's business dealings, particularly his role at Burisma. The books focus on the close bond between the Biden siblings, with Hunter's existence defined by his late brother Beau.
Fresh revelations contradict Joe Biden's sweeping denials regarding his son Hunter Biden's business dealings. Emails from Hunter Biden's laptop suggest that Joe Biden attended a dinner with an executive from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, contradicting the White House's previous denials. Other statements made by Biden and his representatives about Hunter Biden's business affairs have also been contradicted by recent congressional testimony, court filings, and media reports. These revelations cast doubt on Biden's claims that he never discussed his relatives' business dealings and that they did not profit off the Biden name. However, there is no evidence to support claims that Biden took official actions on behalf of his relatives' business interests.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is seeking answers from the State Department regarding the "sudden foreign policy decisions" that led to the firing of the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating Burisma Holdings while Hunter Biden served on the company's board. Comer's investigation aims to determine whether President Biden was involved in his son's overseas business activities. Comer is requesting information on the State Department's change in disposition towards the Ukrainian Office of the Prosecutor General in late 2015 and the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the prosecutor. The State Department has not yet responded to the request.
Devon Archer, former business partner of Hunter Biden and fellow Burisma board member, met with then-Secretary of State John Kerry just weeks before Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin was fired in 2016. The meeting took place less than four weeks before Shokin's dismissal, which occurred after Vice President Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid if Shokin wasn't fired. The content of the meeting between Archer and Kerry is unclear, but it is known that Burisma was under investigation at the time. Former Prosecutor General Shokin claims he was fired because of his investigation into Burisma, including Hunter Biden and Archer, while the White House maintains that Shokin was fired for being too soft on corruption.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News, former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin claimed that he was fired in 2016 because he was investigating Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas company where Hunter Biden served on the board. Shokin alleged that Joe and Hunter Biden accepted bribes in the case and that the then-vice president's actions ultimately harmed America's reputation and created the groundwork for Russia to invade Ukraine. The White House and other sources have disputed Shokin's claims, stating that he was fired due to his failure to combat corruption. Shokin also accused Hunter Biden of being hired solely to protect Burisma by leveraging his father's role in the White House.
Former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin claimed in an exclusive interview with Fox News that he was fired during the Obama administration for investigating Burisma, the energy firm where Hunter Biden served on the board. Shokin alleged that he was fired because then-Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were bribed. He did not provide proof of the accusation but stated his firm personal conviction. The White House dismissed the claims as false and reiterated that Shokin's office was not investigating Burisma or Hunter Biden at the time of his ouster. The firing of Shokin has been a subject of controversy and has been linked to U.S. pressure to combat corruption in Ukraine.
Republican lawmakers are expressing outrage over a 2015 email chain that reveals the "ultimate purpose" of Hunter Biden's involvement with Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings. The email, which predates President Biden's trip to Ukraine, shows that Burisma executives were discussing a contract for counter-messaging against federal investigations into the company's founder. Republicans argue that this evidence points to public corruption at the highest levels and calls for a full investigation. They claim that Hunter Biden's appointment to Burisma's board was solely due to his family name and connections, and they question whether then-Vice President Biden was aware of his son's engagements. The White House has not responded to these allegations.
Elizabeth Alexander, a top aide for President Biden's re-election campaign and the communications director for first lady Jill Biden, is married to David Wade, a consultant who helped advise Hunter Biden during the Burisma scandal. Wade's consulting firm, GreenLight Strategies, was hired to help Hunter with crisis communications dealing with Burisma. Wade requested $10,000 for the initial project, and Eric Schwerin, the president of Hunter's now-dissolved Rosemont Seneca Partners, forwarded the request to Hunter and Devon Archer, who were both on board with the proposal. The revelations come after Fox News Digital previously reported that at least two of the Biden campaign's national co-chairs have past ties to Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden and his business partners with ties to Burisma attended a December 2015 holiday party hosted by then-Vice President Joe Biden just a few days after he returned from his trip to Ukraine, where he threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid if the country’s leaders did not fire their top prosecutor. Biden's defenders have said that the prosecutor was fired not because he was pursuing corruption too aggressively, but rather because he was too lax. The elder Biden was photographed at the party, and Hunter and several of his business partners from his now-dissolved investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners were also in attendance. Days before the party and Biden's Ukraine trip, several emails were exchanged between Hunter and his partners about Burisma, including deliberations about how to respond to media inquiries about Hunter’s involvement with the Ukrainian company.
Former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker discussed the "explosive" developments surrounding the alleged Burisma bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Senator Chuck Grassley claimed that the Burisma executive who allegedly paid the Bidens kept 17 audio recordings of his conversations with them as an "insurance policy." Grassley revealed from the Senate floor what was said to be a redacted reference in the FBI-generated FD-1023 form alleging a criminal bribery scheme between then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national that involved influence over U.S. policy decisions.
Chuck Grassley, a senior Republican senator, claims to have seen an FBI document detailing unverified claims of a Ukrainian gas company executive who allegedly bribed President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and made audio tapes of phone conversations with them. The document reportedly said there were 17 such recordings in the executive's possession. House Republicans are investigating accusations of bribery and corruption on the part of Joe Biden during his time as vice president. The FBI and a U.S. attorney appointed by former President Donald Trump had reviewed the allegations against the Bidens in 2020 but found the claims to be unsubstantiated.
The House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed Devon Archer, former business partner of Hunter Biden, to testify in an investigation into the business dealings of several members of President Joe Biden's family, including alleged bribery schemes in China, Russia, and Ukraine. Archer served on the board of Burisma with Hunter Biden, and the committee is seeking documents and communications related to their financial conduct. An interim report by the committee found that some Biden family members and associates received more than $10 million from foreign entities, but the White House countered that there was no evidence of undue influence on policy decisions.
