Images of dozens of payments from the Ukrainian gas conglomerate Burisma Holding to former Vice President Joe Biden's son that were made while Biden was President Obama's point man for Ukraine policy have been posted online.
The website CD Media reported the images were "part of the investigative materials acquired during an investigation into Biden corruption" and were "leaked" from the Ukrainian General Prosecutor's office.
The site explained: "Burisma Holdings Limited during a period from 18th November 2014 to 16th November 2015 transacted [dozens of] money transfers through Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC in the sum of 3.5 mln US Dollars. The recipient of the money transfer is the company Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC (belongs to Devon Archer). Note: The company belongs to Devon Archer and Kerry Family including Kerry Senior, Kerry Junior, Heinz Jr and Hunter Biden. Devon Archer, Kerry Jr, Heinz Jr and Hunter Biden are listed as partners in Rosemont Seneca Fund, Rosemont Seneca Partners and affiliated Rosemont Seneca other companies."
As Democrats run impeachment hearings in Washington alleging President Trump withheld aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, Republicans want to know why Burisma hired Hunter Biden and whether or not it had any impact on Obama administration policy.
Gateway Pundit reported memos obtained last week showed Burisma "pressured the Obama State Department to help end the corruption investigation during the 2016 election cycle just one month before then-Vice President Joe Biden forced Ukraine to fire Viktor Shokin, the prosecutor probing his son Hunter."
Other memos obtained through a FOIA lawsuit filed by investigative reporter John Solomon "also revealed Burisma Holdings contacted the Obama State Department several times during the 2016 election to discuss ending the probe," Gateway Pundit said.
There were a total of 46 payments to Hunter Biden's company, including 38 each for the amount of $83,333, the report said.
Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., recently wrote to the State Department expressing concern that Burisma appears to have used Hunter Biden's role on its board to influence State Department matters.
Grassley and Johnson said that two recently obtained State Department emails indicate Burisma's consulting firm noted "two high profile U.S. citizens (including Hunter Biden as a board member) affiliated with the company" when requesting a meeting with State Department officials to discuss the validity of the U.S. government's classification of Burisma as corrupt.
Joe Biden is on video boasting he threatened Ukrainian officials with withholding $1 billion in U.S. aid if they did not fire Ukraine's top prosecutor, who was investigating Burisma at the time.
Joe Biden brags about how he threatened to pull $1 billion in loan guarantees from Ukraine if it didn’t immediately fire Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.
The prosecutor, who was fired, was leading a corruption investigation into a company that employed Biden's son, Hunter pic.twitter.com/xZd3vIMbuL
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 20, 2019
The anonymous whistleblower whose complaint triggered the Democrats' impeachment inquiry alleges President Trump threatened to withhold U.S. aid if Ukraine didn't investigate the Bidens. But the White House argues the transcript of Trump's July 25 conversation with the Ukrainian president refutes that claim. And Ukrainian officials said they didn't feel pressured, and they were unaware of any delay in aid.
The senators point out that a State Department email in 2016 said: "Per our conversation, Karen Tramontano of Blue Star Strategies requested a meeting to discuss with [Under Secretary] Novelli [U.S. Government] remarks alleging Burisma (Ukrainian energy company) of corruption. She noted that two high profile U.S. citizens are affiliated with the company (including Hunter Biden as a board member). Tramontano would like to talk with U/S Novelli about getting a better understanding of how the U.S. came to the determination that the company is corrupt. According to Tramontano, there is no evidence of corruption, has been no hearing or process, and evidence to the contrary has not been considered. Would appreciate any background you may be able to provide on this issue and suggested TPs for U/S Novelli’s meeting."
The senators say other documents "show other meetings that Burisma board members Hunter Biden and Devon Archer scheduled with high-ranking State Department officials. In May 2015, Hunter Biden asked to meet then-Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken to ‘get [his] advice on a couple of things’ and again for lunch on July 22, 2015. On March 2, 2016, just one day after Tramontano was scheduled to meet with Under Secretary Novelli about Burisma, Devon Archer was scheduled to meet with Secretary of State John Kerry."
At the time, the senators said, Joe Biden was the "public face of the administration’s handling of Ukraine."
They continued, "Emails recently obtained and made public through a FOIA request indicate that Burisma’s consulting firm used Hunter Biden’s role on Burisma’s board to gain access and potentially influence matters at the State Department."
The senators say they want to understand "what actions, if any, the Obama administration took to ensure that policy decisions relating to Ukraine and Burisma were not improperly influenced by the employment and financial interests of family members."
Hunter Biden is on record saying he now views his decision to be on the Burisma board and take all that money as "poor judgment."