Hunter Biden sought US state department assistance to help land Burisma deal while Joe was VP: ReportUS President Joe Biden‘s son Hunter Biden reportedly sought assistance from the the ambassador in Italy to land a business deal when his father was the vice president, according to new reports.
The new reports revealed that the Hunter, using his father’s position, wrote a letter to the US ambassador to Italy in 2016 seeking assistance for a Ukrainian gas company Burisma, where he was a board member.
This news came to light only after state department records were released to the New York Times after Joe Biden ended his 2024 re-election bid last month.
An embassy official in Rome advised against actively advocating with the Italian government on behalf of a Ukrainian company without going through the proper channels at the Department of Commerce. The official, who works for the commerce department, emphasized the need to protect the United States’ interests.
“This is a Ukrainian company and, purely to protect ourselves, United States should not be actively advocating with the government of Italy without the company going through the Department of Commerce advocacy center,” the official wrote.
The advocacy center is a program designed to support American companies seeking business opportunities with foreign governments.
Hunter Biden asked several people if they could arrange an introduction between Burisma and the president of the Tuscany region of Italy, where Burisma was pursuing a geothermal project, Abbe Lowell, Biden’s lawyer, said.
Calling the outreach by Hunter a “proper request,” Lowell, in a statement, said, “No meeting occurred, no project materialized, no request for anything in the US was ever sought and only an introduction in Italy was requested.”
The White House spokesman confirmed that President Biden was unaware of his son’s outreach to the US embassy in Italy on behalf of Burisma during his time as vice president.
Hunter Biden has not been charged with violating FARA, which requires individuals to disclose when they lobby the US government on behalf of foreign interests, reported New York Times.
However, prosecutors have suggested that they possess evidence of Hunter Biden contacting the State Department on behalf of a Romanian real estate developer facing corruption charges, in a recent court filing.
Despite this, prosecutors have indicated that they will not be adding a FARA charge against Biden, even though he did not register as a lobbyist for either the Romanian developer or Burisma.
The outreach to the US Embassy in Rome on behalf of Burisma, which had not been previously reported, is similar to other instances where Hunter Biden has been criticised for potentially using his father’s political influence to further his foreign business interests.
“This is, I think, the biggest political corruption scandal in our history’s lifetime,” Representative James R. Comer, a Kentucky Republican and the chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, said on Newsmax last week after the prosecutors’ filing about Biden’s outreach for his Romanian client.
A businessman involved in the Burisma geothermal energy project in Tuscany revealed that Hunter Biden was asked to help secure regulatory approval when the company encountered difficulties. This information was found in emails from Biden’s laptop cache, where his associate Eric Schwerin communicated with an Italian businessman claiming connections to Enrico Rossi, the former president of the Tuscany regional government.
“Burisma is hoping that some of its executives can get a meeting with the president to discuss their geothermal business in Tuscany,” Schwerin wrote in an email to the Italian businessman in July 2016, attaching a letter from Biden to Rossi. Concurrently, Biden sought assistance from John Phillips, the US ambassador, to contact Rossi, as evidenced by State Department records and interviews.
A commerce department official noted in an email to other US government officials, “The Ambassador already replied to one letter from Biden.” The official suggested that Biden might be seeking additional support beyond what he had already received.
However, in an interview, Rossi stated that he never met with Biden and did not recall any outreach from the US Embassy regarding the geothermal project.
The new reports revealed that the Hunter, using his father’s position, wrote a letter to the US ambassador to Italy in 2016 seeking assistance for a Ukrainian gas company Burisma, where he was a board member.
This news came to light only after state department records were released to the New York Times after Joe Biden ended his 2024 re-election bid last month.
An embassy official in Rome advised against actively advocating with the Italian government on behalf of a Ukrainian company without going through the proper channels at the Department of Commerce. The official, who works for the commerce department, emphasized the need to protect the United States’ interests.
“This is a Ukrainian company and, purely to protect ourselves, United States should not be actively advocating with the government of Italy without the company going through the Department of Commerce advocacy center,” the official wrote.
The advocacy center is a program designed to support American companies seeking business opportunities with foreign governments.
Hunter Biden asked several people if they could arrange an introduction between Burisma and the president of the Tuscany region of Italy, where Burisma was pursuing a geothermal project, Abbe Lowell, Biden’s lawyer, said.
Calling the outreach by Hunter a “proper request,” Lowell, in a statement, said, “No meeting occurred, no project materialized, no request for anything in the US was ever sought and only an introduction in Italy was requested.”
The White House spokesman confirmed that President Biden was unaware of his son’s outreach to the US embassy in Italy on behalf of Burisma during his time as vice president.
Hunter Biden has not been charged with violating FARA, which requires individuals to disclose when they lobby the US government on behalf of foreign interests, reported New York Times.
However, prosecutors have suggested that they possess evidence of Hunter Biden contacting the State Department on behalf of a Romanian real estate developer facing corruption charges, in a recent court filing.
Despite this, prosecutors have indicated that they will not be adding a FARA charge against Biden, even though he did not register as a lobbyist for either the Romanian developer or Burisma.
The outreach to the US Embassy in Rome on behalf of Burisma, which had not been previously reported, is similar to other instances where Hunter Biden has been criticised for potentially using his father’s political influence to further his foreign business interests.
“This is, I think, the biggest political corruption scandal in our history’s lifetime,” Representative James R. Comer, a Kentucky Republican and the chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, said on Newsmax last week after the prosecutors’ filing about Biden’s outreach for his Romanian client.
A businessman involved in the Burisma geothermal energy project in Tuscany revealed that Hunter Biden was asked to help secure regulatory approval when the company encountered difficulties. This information was found in emails from Biden’s laptop cache, where his associate Eric Schwerin communicated with an Italian businessman claiming connections to Enrico Rossi, the former president of the Tuscany regional government.
“Burisma is hoping that some of its executives can get a meeting with the president to discuss their geothermal business in Tuscany,” Schwerin wrote in an email to the Italian businessman in July 2016, attaching a letter from Biden to Rossi. Concurrently, Biden sought assistance from John Phillips, the US ambassador, to contact Rossi, as evidenced by State Department records and interviews.
A commerce department official noted in an email to other US government officials, “The Ambassador already replied to one letter from Biden.” The official suggested that Biden might be seeking additional support beyond what he had already received.
However, in an interview, Rossi stated that he never met with Biden and did not recall any outreach from the US Embassy regarding the geothermal project.
Source : Times of India
