A White House scheduling email sent to then-Vice President Joseph R. Biden ahead of a call with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was also sent to his son Hunter who was serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy firm looking to escape a corruption probe.
In the call, the elder Mr. Biden urged Mr. Poroshenko to continue reforming Ukraine’s prosecutor general office. It’s unclear whether Hunter Biden was involved in the call outside of getting an email alert about it.
The timing of the call, however, coincides with Hunter Biden’s $1 million-a-year job on the board for Burisma, which allegedly hired him to help dodge charges from the Ukrainian prosecutor general.
The White House scheduling email was sent on May 26, 2016, from Mr. Biden’s assistant, John S. Flynn. It was disclosed by the National Archives in response to a Freedom of Information Request and mined by an online FOIA sleuth who gave it to The Washington Times.
The scheduling email from Mr. Flynn provided both Mr. Biden and Hunter Biden with the details for the vice president’s upcoming trips to Delaware and Rhode Island as well as the call to Mr. Poroshenko.
“Boss — 8:45 a.m. prep for 9 a.m. phone call with Pres Poroshenko. Then we’re off to Rhode Island for infrastructure event and then Wilmington for UDel commencement. Nate will have your draft remarks delivered later tonight or with your press clips in the morning,” Mr. Flynn wrote to the then-vice president and Hunter Biden.
It’s unclear why Mr. Biden’s son was included as a recipient of the email.
Mr. Flynn did not respond to an inquiry from The Times.
Mr. Biden’s call to Mr. Poroshenko occurred as executives of the Burisma energy company were seeking Mr. Biden’s help through Hunter Biden to end the corruption probe, according to recently released information from a paid FBI informant.
The message from Mr. Flynn looped in Hunter Biden via his company address at Rosemont Seneca. The younger Biden co-founded the firm with several business associates. Those business associates are currently under investigation by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, which is probing the Biden family’s lucrative foreign business deals.
Mr. Biden has repeatedly denied any knowledge or involvement in his son’s business deals.
Mr. Biden’s call to Mr. Poroshenko took place on May 27, 2016.
According to a readout of the call provided by the White House, the two leaders “discussed the importance of continuing to institute reforms in the Office of the Prosecutor General, and the significance of Ukraine’s progress toward implementing judicial reforms and meeting IMF conditions,” among other matters.
Two months earlier, Mr. Poroshenko had ousted Viktor Shokin amid accusations that he failed to investigate and prosecute widespread corruption in the country.
Mr. Biden was among those who pushed for Mr. Shokin’s ouster and he bragged about it at a Council of Foreign Relations forum. He said he traveled to Kyiv and threatened Mr. Poroshenko that he would withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees if Mr. Shokin was not removed.
“If the prosecutor is not fired, you are not getting the money,” Mr. Biden said he told Mr. Poroshenko.
Charges that Mr. Shokin failed to prosecute corruption have been challenged and Mr. Shokin appears to have been pursuing charges against Burisma.
Nearly two months before Mr. Shokin’s firing, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, Mr. Shokin’s office “announced the seizure of property from … Burisma Holding’s founder, Mykola Zlochevsky.”
Newly released details from a paid FBI informant include a claim that Mr. Biden and Hunter Biden each accepted $5 million payments from Mr. Zlochevsky, Burisma’s CEO.
The “trusted” and “highly credible” FBI informant said Mr. Zlochevsky paid the bribes between 2015 and 2016 to solicit Mr. Biden’s help in thwarting Mr. Shokin and any corruption probe of Burisma.
Mr. Zlochevsky said he had audio recordings documenting Mr. Biden’s involvement. None of his claims have been verified, and Mr. Zlochevsky’s whereabouts are unknown.
House Democrats impeached President Trump for abuse of power over his efforts to get Mr. Poroshenko’s successor, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to investigate whether Mr. Biden pushed out Mr. Shokin to benefit Burisma and Hunter Biden.
They have dismissed the Burisma bribery allegations against Mr. Biden and believe the story and the informant are fabricated.
“I don’t think there is any credibility to that person,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, told The Times. “I don’t think he exists. I think this is nonsense from the Republicans.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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