An FBI document released Thursday as evidence of bribes paid by Ukrainian businessmen to President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, isn’t as clear cut as it has been portrayed by Republican lawmakers.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley released the document, which is at the heart of allegations that the Bidens took action to aid the energy company Burisma Holdings, on whose board Hunter Biden served.
House GOP leaders claim the document, referred to as an FD-1023 form, is evidence the Bidens were each paid $5 million in bribes when the elder Biden was vice president, to help remove Ukraine’s chief prosecutor who was investigating Burisma.
The document, however, is not as clear cut as Republicans have made it out to be. It contains recollections from late 2015 to June 2022 made to the FBI by a confidential source. The source claimed to have had conversations with Ukrainian businessman Mykola Zlochevsky, who said he was coerced into paying the Bidens.
The FBI and Justice Department didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The White House sought to discredit the document and noted that the allegations were already investigated by the Justice Department under former President Donald Trump.
“It is remarkable that congressional Republicans, in their eagerness to go after President Biden regardless of the truth, continue to push claims that have been debunked for years and that they themselves have cautioned to take ‘with a grain of salt’ because they could be ‘made up,’” said White House spokesman Ian Sams.
However, the U.S. attorney in Delaware has said that the allegations are part of an ongoing, active investigation.
The conversations cited by the source took place between 2016 to 2019, according to the document. Zlochevsky said it cost $5 million to “pay one Biden” and $5 million to pay “another Biden,” the document states.
However, the document doesn’t say Zlochevsky specified payments were made directly to Joe and Hunter. According to the source, Zlochevsky made references only to paying “the Bidens.”
Zlochevsky also told the source he had 17 recordings involving the Bidens, two that included Joe Biden and 15 with Hunter Biden, according to the document.
The source met Zlochevsky in person once and spoke to him twice on the phone and, therefore, “is not able to provide any further opinion as to the veracity of Zlochevsky’s aforementioned statements,” the document states.
Hunter Biden has previously said taking the Burisma role may have been “poor judgment” as his involvement with the Ukranian energy company became a lightning rod during the 2020 presidential campaign.
