House Republicans are accusing President Biden and his son Hunter of peddling influence “in practically every corner of the globe” after a pair of bombshell reports on the extent of cash and gifts they allegedly received while the first son sat on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings.
Fox News Digital broke the story last week that in February 2016, Hunter thanked Burisma President Mykola Zlochevsky for birthday gifts he described as “far too extravagant” – less than two months before the top Ukraine prosecutor investigating Burisma and Zlochevsky at the time, Viktor Shokin, was infamously fired.
The Obama administration had pushed for Shokin’s firing, and Biden boasted on camera in 2018 that when he was vice president he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire Shokin.
Less than two weeks after Hunter expressed gratitude for the birthday gifts from Zlochevsky, the Obama White House released a readout of then-Vice President Biden’s call with Ukraine’s president at the time, saying Biden “commended President Poroshenko’s decision to replace Prosecutor General Shokin, which paves the way for needed reform of the prosecutorial service.”
BIDEN’S CLAIM TO HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF HUNTER’S BUSINESS DEALINGS IS BECOMING HARDER TO MAINTAIN
Fox News Digital’s report last week came two days before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee reviewed FBI documents alleging a criminal bribery scheme between the then-vice president and a Burisma executive that involved influence over U.S. policy decisions.
Sources told Fox News Digital that the Burisma executive appears to be at a “very, very high level” of the company. One source familiar said the document could be referring to Zlochevsky, but the name is redacted in the document.
House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital called the developments shocking.
“A top FBI whistleblower I have interviewed has alleged that evidence was developed about bribes among Burisma executives and Biden family members, including Hunter Biden and Joe Biden,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said. “The whistleblower further alleged that elements within the FBI have been involved in a coverup of these events. Our work to corroborate these stunning allegations continues.”
Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., who sits on the Oversight committee, said the FBI documents “prove the Biden Crime Family sold out the American people for $5 million dollars.”
“Joe Biden’s shaky house of cards is about to come tumbling down,” she said. “It is disgusting that the FBI spent years promoting the Russia collusion hoax all while covering up for the Biden Crime Family. The American people have a right to see the documents I saw, so I am calling on the FBI to release them to the American public immediately.”
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said, “The more we learn about Biden family corruption, we realize that it was a global enterprise not only in Ukraine, but also China, the Middle East, and everywhere in between. In practically every corner of the globe, the Biden family’s selling of influence and peddling of access is being covered up because Joe Biden is in the White House.”
A confidential human source told the FBI during a June 2020 interview that Biden was allegedly paid $5 million by the unnamed Burisma executive, sources told Fox News Digital Thursday.
The FD-1023 form, dated June 30, 2020, is the FBI’s interview with a “highly credible” confidential source who detailed multiple meetings and conversations he or she had with a top Burisma executive over the course of several years, starting in 2015. Fox News Digital has not seen the form, but it was described by several sources who are aware of its contents.
Fox News Digital has learned that the confidential human source has been used by the FBI as a regular, reliable source of information since 2010 and has been paid approximately $200,000 by the bureau.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.