A long-awaited report released by Senate Republicans Wednesday makes a series of devastating new corruption allegations against Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and alleges that the Obama White House knew Hunter’s work for Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings prevented “the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine” during Biden’s tenure as vice president.
According to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Senate Finance Committee report, Hunter Biden had business associations with Chinese nationals linked to the Communist government and People’s Liberation Army resulting in millions of dollars in questionable cash transactions. The Senate investigation also found links between Hunter Biden and human trafficking, the adult entertainment industry, and/or prostitution.
OUT TODAY: Report with @chuckgrassley found millions of dollars in questionable financial transactions between Hunter Biden & his associates and foreign individuals, including the wife of the former mayor of Moscow. https://t.co/R1MxQ4xGKP
— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) September 23, 2020
Senate investigators found “potential criminal activity relating to transactions among and between Hunter Biden, his family, and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals.” The millions of dollars in “questionable financial transactions” include the wife of the former mayor of Moscow as well as individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
According to the report, an investment firm co-founded by Hunter Biden, Rosemont Seneca Thornton, “received $3.5 million in a wire transfer” from Elena Baturina, the wife of the former mayor of the Russian capital.
The report goes further and alleges that not just Hunter Biden but other members of the Biden family “were involved in a vast financial network that connected them to foreign nationals and foreign governments across the globe.”
In one instance, the report stated that Hunter Biden “opened a bank account” with a Chinese national linked to China’s communist government, which “financed a $100,000 global spending spree” for the former vice president’s brother, James Biden, and his wife, Sara Biden.
Shockingly, the 87-page report also states that the committees received records showing that Hunter Biden “sent thousands of dollars” to individuals who have “either been involved in transactions consistent with possible human trafficking; an association with the adult entertainment industry; or potential association with prostitution.”
“Some recipients of those funds are Ukrainian or Russian citizens,” the report alleges, adding that “the records note that it is a documented fact that Hunter Biden has sent funds to non-resident alien women in the United States who are citizens of Russia and Ukraine and who have subsequently wired funds they have received from Hunter Biden to individuals located in Russia and Ukraine.”
“The records also note that some of these transactions are linked to what ‘appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring,’” the report said.
Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley launched the investigation in August of 2019 to look into corruption involving Hunter Biden, and Chris Heinz, the stepson of former Secretary of State John Kerry.
While the elder Biden’s mission as the Obama administration’s “point man” on Ukraine was to root out corruption in the country, his son was holding a lucrative job on the board of the notoriously corrupt Burisma.
After he joined the firm in 2014, Hunter Biden connected Burisma with Blue Star Strategies, a Washington DC-based consulting firm, to help the natural gas company fight corruption charges in Ukraine.
The panel found that the Obama administration “knew that Hunter Biden’s position on Burisma’s board was problematic and did interfere in the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine.”
“This investigation has illustrated the extent to which officials within the Obama administration ignored the glaring warning signs when the vice president’s son joined the board of a company owned by a corrupt Ukrainian oligarch,” the report’s executive summary stated.
“Even though Hunter Biden’s position on Burisma’s board cast a shadow over the work of those advancing anticorruption reforms in Ukraine, the Committees are only aware of two individuals who raised concerns to their superiors,” the Senate report stated. “Despite the efforts of these individuals, their concerns appear to have fallen on deaf ears.”
Both Bidens have denied any wrongdoing related to his work.
The Senate’s investigation relied on records from the U.S. government, Democrat lobbying groups, and interviews of about a dozen current and former officials.
The panel also interviewed two close Biden advisers, former deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former international energy envoy Amos Hochstein, as well as two current ambassadors, Geoffrey Pyatt, who previously was the top diplomat in Ukraine, and Bridget Brink, who was previously the deputy assistant secretary of State with responsibility for Ukraine. Current deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent, former National Security Council Eastern Europe director Liz Zentos, former assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs Victoria Nuland, and David Wade, the former chief of staff to Secretary of State John F. Kerry, also spoke to investigators in the probe.
The panel’s investigation was launched weeks before Congress was notified about the so-called “whistleblower complaint” that prompted the Democrats’ inquiry into President Trump’s July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Trump pressed Zelensky to look into Joe Biden’s role in pressuring the former Ukraine President to fire the prosecutor who was investigating the founder of Burisma. “It sounds horrible to me,” Trump correctly noted.
In their report, Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson say they “faced many obstacles” and were “persistently hampered” by a number of factors, including the Democrats’ impeachment proceedings, COVID-19, and “several instances of obstructive behavior.”
Democrats have charged that the investigation relies on Russian disinformation and was an attempt to thwart their investigation into Trump-Ukraine scandal, but the chairmen in their report claim otherwise.
“The Chairmen’s efforts have always been driven by our belief that the public has the right to know about wrongdoing and conflicts of interest occurring within government, and especially those conflicts brought about by the actions of governmental officials,” the Chairmen said. “This is a good-government oversight investigation that relies on documents and testimony from U.S. agencies and officials, not a Russian disinformation campaign, as our Democratic colleagues have falsely stated.”