Tag: Hunter Biden

Hunter Biden’s laptop: The April 16, 2015, dinner

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When the New York Post released emails last fall from what it claimed was Hunter Biden’s laptop, The Fact Checker produced an explainer that turned out to be one of the most read articles in our 13-year history. A key question we examined was whether Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, arranged for a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm to meet with the then-vice president when he was in charge of U.S. policy toward Ukraine. The date in question: April 16, 2015.

A campaign spokesman for Joe Biden had said a review of Biden’s schedule for that day found no record of any such meeting. Officials who worked for him in 2015 also told The Fact Checker that no such meeting took place.

Recently, a reader directed our attention to a May 26 New York Post report, featuring more emails, that was headlined: “Hunter Biden brought VP Joe to dinner with shady business partners.” The article suggested Joe Biden met with the Burisma executive, Vadym Pozharskyi, at a dinner that was held in the private “garden room” at Cafe Milano in Washington. Continue reading.

Hunter Biden Takes a Hit at Donald Trump’s Kids For Only Ever Working For Their Dad in New Memoir

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For a time, Hunter Biden was the frequent target of former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, often called out by sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump who slammed him for using father President Joe Biden’s name to personally enrich himself (a claim that Vanity Fair reminds us no one in the Trump family has any business making). As recently as March 2020, Donald Jr. invited Hunter Biden to personally debate him to see who benefited more from their father’s time in public office — and Hunter, who long held his tongue on these attacks, has finally snuck in a response to Trump’s offspring in his new memoir Beautiful Things. Going after Donald Jr.’s claims that he used the Biden name to get lucrative jobs at private companies, Hunter Biden fired back that his last name being an asset in the world of business was an inevitability — as they themselves might know if they ever sought jobs outside of their father’s organizations.

In the memoir that takes us all the way through his experience of President Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, Hunter Biden writes of his lucrative position with Ukraine oil and gas company Burisma that raised so many questions from Trump supporters and family alike. Biden knew that a Ukrainian company that was hoping to gain Western allies in resisting Russia’s influence would find his last name to be a plus.

“There’s no question my last name was a coveted credential. That has always been the case,” he wrote. “Do you think if any of the Trump children ever tried to get a job outside of their father’s business that his name wouldn’t figure into the calculation? My response has always been to work harder so that my accomplishments stand on their own.” Continue reading.

Barr: No need for special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, election fraud

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Attorney General William Barr on Monday said he saw no reason to tap a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden’s finances or claims of election fraud.

Barr, speaking at a Justice Department press conference about new charges in the Lockerbie bombing case, did not comment extensively on the Hunter Biden investigation but said it was being handled “appropriately.”

“I think to the extent that there’s an investigation I think that it’s being handled responsibly and professionally currently within the department,” Barr, who is leaving office this week, told reporters. “To this point, I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave.” Continue reading.

This Newly Released Letter Details The Criminal Referral On Donald Trump Over His Ukraine Phone Call

BuzzFeed News obtained the document through a public records lawsuit.

Nearly one year after the House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump, the federal government has released the criminal referral alleging Trump committed crimes related to his phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, a conversation that sparked the historic proceedings.

The document, obtained by BuzzFeed News from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, is a letter dated September 4, 2019, and signed by Michael Atkinson, inspector general for the intelligence community. It was sent to Stacey Moy, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division. Moy’s involvement in the Ukraine matter has not been previously disclosed.

The inspector general “is formally referring allegations received from an individual regarding, among other things, alleged violations of law related to a telephone call on July 25, 2019, between President Donald J. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,” Atkinson wrote. “This referral is a follow-up to my secure telephone call on August 27, 2019, with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray’s Chief of Staff, Paul B. Murphy, during which I provided to Mr. Murphy a summary of the Complainant’s allegations.” Continue reading.

Material From Giuliani Spurred a Separate Justice Dept. Pursuit of Hunter Biden

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The inquiry, based out of Pittsburgh, was run parallel to an investigation in Delaware and raised alarms among F.B.I. agents about politicization.

WASHINGTON — As federal investigators in Delaware were examining the finances of Hunter Biden during his father’s campaign for president, a similar inquiry ramped up this year in Pittsburgh, fueled by materials delivered by President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Attorney General William P. Barr had asked the top federal prosecutor in Pittsburgh, Scott W. Brady, to accept and vet any information that Mr. Giuliani had on the Biden family, including Hunter Biden. Mr. Brady hosted Mr. Giuliani for a nearly four-hour meeting in late January to discuss his materials.

The arrangement immediately raised alarms within the F.B.I. and the Justice Department. Mr. Giuliani had served as Mr. Trump’s attack dog during the Russia investigation before becoming the face of an effort to tarnish Hunter Biden during President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign. If Mr. Brady’s investigation became public, the agents feared that the F.B.I. could be drawn into a politically toxic battle in the midst of the presidential election, just as it was in 2016. Continue reading.

Hunter Biden says he’s under federal investigation over his taxes

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Hunter Biden, the son of President-elect Joe Biden, said Wednesday that the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware is investigating his tax affairs.

“I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” Hunter Biden said in a statement issued by the Biden-Harris transition team.

He said that he learned of the investigation on Tuesday when his lawyer was advised of the investigation by federal prosecutors. Continue reading.

Putin rejects Donald Trump’s criticism of Biden family business

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that he saw nothing criminal in Hunter Biden’s past business ties with Ukraine or Russia, marking out his disagreement with one of Donald Trump’s attack lines in the U.S. presidential election.

Putin was responding to comments made by Trump during televised debates with Democratic challenger Joe Biden ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Trump, who is trailing in opinion polls, has used the debates to make accusations that Biden and his son Hunter engaged in unethical practices in Ukraine. No evidence has been verified to support the allegations, and Joe Biden has called them false and discredited. Continue reading.

GOP set to release controversial Biden report

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Republicans are preparing to release a report in a matter of days on their investigation focused on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, a move they hope will put fresh scrutiny on the Democratic nominee just weeks from the election.

The controversial probe, spearheaded by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is focused broadly on Obama-era policy and Hunter Biden’s work for Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings.

The GOP report, which is set to be released this week, is expected to argue that Hunter Biden’s work impacted Obama-era Ukraine policy and created a conflict of interest given then-Vice President Joe Biden’s work in the area.

GOP chairman cancels Hunter Biden-related subpoena vote

The Hill logoSenate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) canceled a vote scheduled for Wednesday afternoon on a subpoena stemming from his months-long probe into Hunter Biden and Burisma Holdings.

“Out of an abundance of caution, and to allow time for you to receive additional briefings, I will postpone a vote to subpoena records and an appearance from former Blue Star Strategies consultant Andrii Telizhenko about his work for the lobbying firm,” Johnson said in a
note to committee members, a copy of which was obtained by The Hill.

Johnson told reporters that he was pulling the vote because of “some discrepancies brought up in what we had been told.” Continue reading.

Donald Trump Jr.’s Nepotism Dig At Hunter Biden Shows He’s Not Exactly Self-Aware

There’s a case to be made against nepotism in politics, but not by a guy who has made his career by being the son of Donald Trump.

Most people are familiar with the quote, “Those who refuse to remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” but it apparently escaped Donald Trump Jr.

On Thursday, the president’s eldest son retweeted a Daily Caller story claiming that Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden took full advantage of his family connections to get a job.

Trump then suggested that Joe Biden’s political career is the only reason Hunter Biden was able to get work. Continue reading.