In early 2015 the former Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv,
Ukraine, George Kent, raised concerns to officials in Vice President Joe Biden’s office
about the perception of a conflict of interest with respect to Hunter Biden’s role on
Burisma’s board. Kent’s concerns went unaddressed, and in September 2016, he
emphasized in an email to his colleagues, “Furthermore, the presence of Hunter Biden
on the Burisma board was very awkward for all U.S. officials pushing an
anticorruption agenda in Ukraine.”
In October 2015, senior State Department official Amos Hochstein raised concerns with
Vice President Biden, as well as with Hunter Biden, that Hunter Biden’s position on
Burisma’s board enabled Russian disinformation efforts and risked undermining U.S.
policy in Ukraine.
Although Kent believed that Hunter Biden’s role on Burisma’s board was awkward for
all U.S. officials pushing an anti-corruption agenda in Ukraine, the Committees are only
aware of two individuals — Kent and former U.S. Special Envoy and Coordinator for
International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein — who raised concerns to Vice President
Joe Biden (Hochstein) or his staff (Kent).
The awkwardness for Obama administration officials continued well past his presidency.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry had knowledge of Hunter Biden’s role on
Burisma’s board, but when asked about it at a town hall event in Nashua, N.H. on Dec. 8,
2019, Kerry falsely said, “I had no knowledge about any of that. None. No.” Evidence
to the contrary is detailed in Section V.
Former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland
testified that confronting oligarchs would send an anticorruption message in Ukraine.
Kent told the Committees that Zlochevsky was an “odious oligarch.” However, in
December 2015, instead of following U.S. objectives of confronting oligarchs, Vice
President Biden’s staff advised him to avoid commenting on Zlochevsky and
recommended he say, “I’m not going to get into naming names or accusing individuals.”
Hunter Biden was serving on Burisma’s board (supposedly consulting on corporate
governance and transparency) when Zlochevsky allegedly paid a $7 million bribe to
officials serving under Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Vitaly Yarema, to “shut the case
against Zlochevsky.” Kent testified that this bribe occurred in December 2014 (seven
months after Hunter joined Burisma’s board), and, after learning about it, he and the
Resident Legal Advisor reported this allegation to the FBI.
Hunter Biden was a U.S. Secret Service protectee from Jan. 29, 2009 to July 8, 2014. A
day before his last trip as a protectee, Time published an article describing Burisma’s
ramped up lobbying efforts to U.S. officials and Hunter’s involvement in Burisma’s
board. Before ending his protective detail, Hunter Biden received Secret Service
protection on trips to multiple foreign locations, including Moscow, Beijing, Doha, Paris,
Seoul, Manila, Tokyo, Mexico City, Milan, Florence, Shanghai, Geneva, London,
Dublin, Munich, Berlin, Bogota, Abu Dhabi, Nairobi, Hong Kong, Taipei, Buenos Aires,
Copenhagen, Johannesburg, Brussels, Madrid, Mumbai and Lake Como.
Andrii Telizhenko, the Democrats’ personification of Russian disinformation, met with
Obama administration officials, including Elisabeth Zentos, a member of Obama’s
National Security Council, at least 10 times. A Democrat lobbying firm, Blue Star
Strategies, contracted with Telizhenko from 2016 to 2017 and continued to request his
assistance as recent as the summer of 2019. A recent news article detailed other
extensive contacts between Telizhenko and Obama administration officials.
In addition to the over $4 million paid by Burisma for Hunter Biden’s and Archer’s board
memberships, Hunter Biden, his family, and Archer received millions of dollars from
foreign nationals with questionable backgrounds.
Archer received $142,300 from Kenges Rakishev of Kazakhstan, purportedly for a car,
the same day Vice President Joe Biden appeared with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arsemy
Yasenyuk and addressed Ukrainian legislators in Kyiv regarding Russia’s actions in
Crimea.
Hunter Biden received a $3.5 million wire transfer from Elena Baturina, the wife of the
former mayor of Moscow.
Hunter Biden opened a bank account with Gongwen Dong to fund a $100,000 global
spending spree with James Biden and Sara Biden.
Hunter Biden had business associations with Ye Jianming, Gongwen Dong, and other
Chinese nationals linked to the Communist government and the People’s Liberation
Army. Those associations resulted in millions of dollars in cash flow.
Hunter Biden paid nonresident women who were nationals of Russia or other Eastern
European countries and who appear to be linked to an “Eastern European prostitution or
human trafficking ring.”
