House Republicans claimed on Thursday that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter each received a $5 million payment from Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma to get rid of a corruption probe.
Representatives Anna Paulina Luna and Marjorie Taylor Greene were among those given access to a June 2020 FBI document that details testimony given to agents by an informant who had spoken with Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky.
This informant claimed Zlochevsky said he handed out $5 million to each Biden to quash an ongoing investigation by then-Ukrainian Attorney General Viktor Shokin.
Ukrainian prosecutors first opened an investigation into Bursima – the company where Hunter served on the board for five years – over allegations of money laundering, tax evasion and corruption in 2012.
Greene has now alleged the $5million payments were a ‘bribe’ paid by Zlochevsky to get Shokin fired – thus killing the investigation.
House Republicans alleged on Thursday that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter each received a $5 million payment from Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma as a bribe to kill a corruption probe .
Zlochevsky is a multi-millionaire Ukrainian oil and gas oligarch who founded Burisma in 2002. According to people familiar with the document, he told an FBI informant that he paid Joe and Hunter Biden $5 million each to ensure that Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was fired.
Shokin was eventually fired in April 2016, a month after Biden, then vice president, threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees from Ukraine if he was not replaced as attorney general.
Biden has since claimed he was pushing for Shokin to be fired because he was failing to properly curb corruption in Ukraine.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Joe Biden is guilty of corruption,” Luna told Fox News correspondent Chad Pergram.
“There were two separate deals, one that went to Joe Biden for $5 million, one that went to Hunter Biden for $5 million.”
Zlochevsky is a multimillionaire Ukrainian oil and gas oligarch who founded Burisma in 2002. He also held various positions in the Ukrainian government from 2010 to February 2014.
Burisma brought Hunter onto its board in 2014 as it sought to expand overseas, even though it had no prior industry experience.
Hunter would have been a helpful non-executive director who offered advice on legal matters, corporate finance and strategy.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who reviewed the FBI document, alleged the $5 million payments were a ‘bribe’ paid by Zlochevsky to the Bidens to get Shokin fired
President Joe Biden and his son Hunter leave Holy Spirit Catholic Church in South Carolina after attending mass in August 2022
The June 2020 document that contains the bomb allegations is internally referred to by the FBI as an FD-1023 form. and is used by agents to log unverified reports from confidential human sources.
An anonymous source familiar with the contents of the document said Fox News Digital that the source claimed to have learned of the alleged corruption from Zlochevsky, who at the time was supposed to consult with the source on how Burisma might acquire a US-based oil company.
Zlochevsky told the FBI source that his company paid the Bidens because Shokin was investigating Burisma, which made it difficult for the company to enter the US market.
According to the person familiar with the FBI document, the informant said Hunter and Joe Biden were paid “in so many different bank accounts” that investigators wouldn’t be able to “untangle this for at least 10 years.”
Fox News Digital reported that the source who informed the FBI of the payments had been used as a source since 2010 and had been paid approximately $200,000 in return.
After a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday, Biden dismissed the charges, saying, “Where’s the money?”
President Biden played down the accusation Thursday, saying, “Where’s the money?”
He came at the end of a joint White House press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and after reporters posed questions to the couple.
As the brouhaha died down, Biden was asked about the Republican claims and added after his first remark, “Just kidding. It’s a malarkey filler.
Biden’s flippant response infuriated Rep. Nancy Mace, who sits on the oversight committee.
“We don’t find it funny to sell your country,” she tweeted. “Prove us wrong by releasing your and your family’s unredacted bank statements. The FBI can’t protect you forever.
White House officials have repeatedly expressed frustration at being questioned over what they say are unsubstantiated allegations, and the FBI has warned that the information was unverified.
Biden was also asked what he was doing to protect the independence of the Justice Department, after years of attacks from Donald Trump both in and out of office.
You will notice that I have never – not once – suggested [to] the Department of Justice what they should or shouldn’t do about whether or not to lay charges,” he said. ‘I’m honest.’
