There’s been a lot of questions about Hunter Biden’s relationship with the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma while his father was Vice President and a point man for the Obama administration on Ukraine.
Reportedly, Hunter received at least $50,000 a month for his position on the board, despite no prior energy experience and no experience with Ukraine.
During his interview with ABC that was aired yesterday, Hunter Biden admitted that he was likely put on the boards because he was the son of the Vice President. He was then asked if he made what has been reported, $50,000 per month for being on the board.
Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden: “It is impossible for me to be on any boards without saying that I’m the son of the vice president of the United States — lots of things would not happen in my life if my name wasn’t Biden.” pic.twitter.com/pdtfpnPdjH
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) October 15, 2019
He completely refused to answer the question, “Look, I’m a private citizen. One thing I don’t have to do is sit here and open my kimono as it relates to how much money I did or did not make. But it’s all been reported,” he claimed.
Boy, that evasion isn’t a good look. You’re not just a private citizen when your father is the Vice-President dictating policy in the region.
There have been reports including from Fox’s John Solomon that the amount might be more than the $50,000 reported.
But a further problem is the questions of corruption associated with the firm and its connection to the government. This was touched upon during George Kent’s testimony on Thursday, according to a report from the Daily Caller.
A senior State Department official told Congress on Tuesday that he had concerns in 2016 with corruption involving Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian energy firm linked to Hunter Biden, two sources familiar with his testimony told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
George Kent, who serves as deputy assistant secretary of state for Eurasian and European affairs, spoke at length Tuesday about Burisma’s problems with corruption, the two sources told the DCNF. They shared details of the deposition on condition of anonymity.
The career diplomat also said that he raised concerns with USAID in 2016 regarding an event that the agency was to have with Burisma, which is owned by Ukrainian oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky.
Kent was worried because the event involved children, and he did not feel comfortable with them being photographed in conjunction with the company, the two sources said. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Kent isn’t the only one saying there were concerns.
On October 10 in the Wall Street Journal, Valentin Nalyvaichenko who is now a Member of Parliament in Ukraine, said that they needed to investigate both the meddling alleged by Ukraine in the 2016 election and questions of alleged corruption of Burisma.
Second, Ukraine must resolve the allegations regarding Burisma. As the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine, our version of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, I know there are many accusations of corruption against this company.
There have not been any allegations of any specific wrongdoing by Hunter Biden while he was with the firm.
But suggesting in the midst of all this that he’s just a private person and questions aren’t valid or deserving of answers, is perhaps a bit much.
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