In 2016, the son of the American president tried to use the American State Department to promote the interests of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. The fact that the matter only became public shortly after Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the election campaign is causing irritation.
Hunter Biden (right) with his father Joe Biden (left) and his sister Valerie Biden Owens in front of the White House on July 26.
According to the New York Times, Hunter Biden, the son of the American president, asked the American embassy in Italy for help in arranging an energy deal in Tuscany in 2016. Joe Biden was vice president under Barack Obama at the time and was responsible for Ukraine. At the time, Hunter Biden was on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma, which was struggling to obtain the necessary permits for a geothermal project. So Hunter Biden asked the then US ambassador to Rome, John Phillips, to help him establish contact with the governor of the Tuscany region, Enrico Rossi.
Attempt to exploit his father’s position
The embassy, however, reacted cautiously. “I want to be cautious and not promise too much,” an embassy employee replied, according to the New York Times. “This is a Ukrainian company, and just to protect us, the U.S. government should not actively lobby the Italian government for this.” The embassy recommended that he first contact the Doc Advocacy Center, the government’s program to support American companies that want to do business with foreign governments.
Hunter Biden asked several people to establish contact with Rossi, said his lawyer Abbe Lowell. The request was appropriate because Biden only asked for contact. According to Lowell, no meeting ultimately took place and the project was not realized. A White House spokesman said the president was not aware that his son had contacted the American embassy in Italy on behalf of Burisma.
Hunter Biden had repeatedly tried to exploit his position as Joe Biden’s son for business and brokerage services, and had repeatedly gotten both himself and his father into trouble. The Republicans in the House of Representatives even began investigating this with a view to impeaching Joe Biden.
Timing of publication irritating
In June, Hunter Biden was found guilty in a criminal trial for illegal possession of weapons. His previous drug addiction was once again publicly discussed. He is also facing proceedings for failing to pay his federal taxes on time between 2016 and 2020. He will have to answer for this in court in September. In this context, all of his millions of dollars in income, some of which were dubious, during these years were made public – payments from Burisma, but also in connection with other foreign business deals, for example in China.
A controversial question is why Hunter Biden’s activities in Italy became public now, shortly after Joe Biden was eliminated from the presidential election campaign. The New York Times had already asked the State Department in 2021 for documents related to Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
Another reason was Hunter Biden’s dubious laptop, which he had sent to Delaware for repair in 2019. Because he did not pick up the device and the managing director became suspicious when he saw all the suspicious documents, he handed the laptop over to the FBI. Little by little, emails on the laptop became public, suggesting that he had used his famous name to secure lucrative contracts. But even after repeated inquiries from the New York Times, the State Department only made a few meaningful documents public – until now.
A State Department spokeswoman said that the publication of the documents, which almost coincided with Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, was a coincidence. The New York Times considers the explanation plausible. At the end of 2022, the State Department had 19,000 requests for access to documents pending. The requests are often only processed after years. According to a source at the New York Times, the latest publication had been decided weeks ago; the official release took place the week before Biden dropped out of the race. Given the department’s overload and the unpredictability of Biden’s withdrawal, tactical timing is unlikely, writes the New York Times.