Burisma: Hunter Biden Calls State Dept for Help

Hunter Biden has called for help from the U.S. State Department to secure a deal involving the Ukrainian gas company Burisma in 2016.

According to The New York Times, the request came while his father was Vice President, and the company faced challenges in obtaining regulatory approval for a geothermal project in Tuscany, Italy.

Documents and interviews reveal that Hunter Biden sent a letter to the U.S. ambassador to Italy, requesting assistance for Burisma.

However, U.S. Embassy officials in Rome expressed caution, with one Commerce Department official noting the need to avoid making overly ambitious promises and suggesting that any advocacy should be coordinated through the Department of Commerce Advocacy Center.

The project ultimately did not advance, and it remains unclear if the embassy took any action.

The information surfaced through documents released by the State Department in response to a 2021 public records request, amid Hunter Biden’s ongoing legal issues and just before President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection.

EDITOR’S PICK:

Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, stated that Hunter merely requested an introduction between Burisma and the president of the Tuscany region, emphasizing that no meetings or projects resulted from this outreach. Lowell described the request as “proper.”

The White House clarified that President Joe Biden was unaware of his son’s outreach to the U.S. Embassy in Italy.

Hunter Biden’s role as a Burisma board member since 2014 has been a focal point of Republican scrutiny, aiming to link President Biden to his son’s business activities.

This scrutiny intensified after an FBI informant backed by Republicans was charged with fabricating details about a bribe involving Burisma.

Additionally, special counsel David Weiss has alleged that Hunter Biden attempted to influence U.S. policy by lobbying U.S. officials regarding a Romanian businessman’s investigation.

While no foreign lobbying charges have been filed, Weiss’s team plans to introduce new testimony about these alleged lobbying efforts in Hunter Biden’s upcoming tax trial.

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Stephen Jesuwale

Jesuwale Stephen is a journalist who finished from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism. He is a distinctive writer, media strategist and also a Digital Marketer