(Tennessee Star) Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley on Thursday published an unclassified FBI document containing confidential human source information related to an alleged bribery scheme involving Joe and Hunter Biden in which a Ukrainian gas company hired Hunter Biden to secure access to his father to help the firm stifle an investigation into its dealings.
The House Oversight Committee previously issued a subpoena to obtain the document, with which FBI Director Christopher Wray did not comply. Though he ultimately permitted the committee members to view the FD-1023 in a secure location, the contents remained unpublished until Grassley’s Thursday release.
The document shows that the bureau had a trusted source privy to Burisma’s efforts to quash a probe from then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin and its plans to expand to the U.S. and secure a company for IPO purposes.
Burisma Holdings hired Hunter Biden to have his father “protect” the company
During CHS’s first meeting with Burisma leaders, senior official Vadim Pojarskii reportedly stated that Burisma had hired Hunter Biden to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems,” though Pojarskii declined to elaborate.
In another meeting, the CHS conversed with CEO Mykola Zlochevsky about President Joe Biden’s recent declaration that Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma at the time, was corrupt and ought to be removed from office.
Zlochevsky, in that instance, told the CHS not to fret about the adverse impact such a declaration may have on Burisma’s prospects, saying “[d]on’t worry Hunter will take care of all of those issues through his dad.”
Biden ultimately succeeded in getting Shokin fired after threatening Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that he would withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees if he did not remove him.
Burisma feared Shokin’s probe would stop its efforts to get publicly traded in the U.S.
The energy company sought to purchase an existing U.S. firm for IPO purposes. An initial public offering refers to the original sale of stock in a company when it first becomes a publicly traded company. Firms often opt to make such a move as a means of raising capital to finance expansion.
The CHS debated the sense of CEO Mykola Zlochevsky’s plan to by a U.S. company rather than forming a new U.S. entity or to purchase an already listed corporate shell company to which the CEO retorted that Hunter Biden had advised that such a plan would result in raising more money.
The CHS was concerned about the prospect of raising capital through an IPO in America given the ongoing corruption probe from Shokin and advised Zlochevksy to settle the case in Ukraine, though the Burisma executive dismissed the idea because he was not convinced Burisma would win the case.
Zlochevsky told the CHS that he need to retain Hunter Biden “so everything will be okay” and that the Shokin case “will go away anyway.”
Burisma knew Hunter Biden had no experience, thought he was dumb, and sought additional counsel
During the CHS’s first meeting with Burisma officials, the company discussed the composition of its board and the aid of the Bidens, to which the CHS questioned why they sought additional assistance.
“Pojarskii replied that Hunter Biden was not smart, and they wanted to get additional counsel,” the FBI document reads.
During a subsequent conversation with Zlochevsky, the CHS advised him to at least hire more conventional U.S. oil and gas advisors, citing the Bidens’ lack of experience in the industry.
Zlochevsky acknowledged the Bidens’ shortcomings, called Hunter stupid, and suggested that the Burisma CEO’s dog was smarter than the first son.
