Hunter Biden steps down from Chinese Board as Trump attacks him for taking $1B bribe
Hunter Biden is stepping down from the board of a Chinese-backed private equity company and promising to forgo all foreign work if his father, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, is elected president in 2020.
Trump and Giuliani have pushed claims for months that the former vice president bribed government officials in Ukraine to stifle investigations into Burisma, the gas company for which Hunter was a board member.
The claims go back to a bombshell New York Times story published May 1 that detailed both Bidens' ties to Ukraine, and revealed that the former vice president had successfully gotten a Ukrainian prosecutor removed from office.
The development raised questions over a possible conflict of interest and suspicions that Biden was trying to shield his son from an investigation into one of his business interests.
Hunter Biden worked for the Boies Schiller Flexner law firm that consulted for Burisma. Biden was in charge for the company's legal affairs with international companies, according to a press release, but Biden has disputed that characterization. At the time, Burisma's founder faced multiple investigations into alleged tax evasion and money laundering.
Hunter Biden later stepped down from the board in April 2019 when his term expired.
Joe Biden was part of a larger push coming from former President Barack Obama's administration for the Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin to be removed over concerns of corruption in his office. Biden acted as a vocal opponent of Shokin and has publicly detailed his threat to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees from the country if Shokin wasn't fired.
But reports have since emerged showing there was not an active investigation into Hunter when the former vice president made the push for Shokin's firing. Yuriy Lutsenko, Ukraine's prosecutor general, later said that he had no evidence of wrongdoing against either Biden.
Despite the absence of proven wrongdoing by the Bidens, the Trump administration has used the back-and-forth to obscure Giuliani's communications with Ukraine and growing concerns that Trump may have collaborated with a foreign power to gain political leverage.
After the report, Giuliani announced he was planning to travel to Ukraine to press president-elect Volodymyr Zelensky to pursue two investigations that could act as political leverage for Trump.
Giuliani eventually canceled his trip after facing widespread criticism for what appeared to be an attempt to push a foreign government to meddle in the 2020 US election, but Trump and his allies have continued claiming Biden was acting in his own personal interest.
Trump later tweeted a video with news coverage of the initial report questioning Bidens' intentions as a part of his campaign marketing efforts.
After months of keeping a relatively low-profile as President Donald Trump leveled a barrage of unsubstantiated accusations of corruption at him, the younger Biden is publicly vowing to avoid any conflict of interest.
After months of keeping a relatively low-profile as President Donald Trump leveled a barrage of unsubstantiated accusations of corruption at him, the younger Biden is publicly vowing to avoid any conflict of interest.
According to a statement released on his behalf by his lawyer George Mesires, Biden said he’ll resign at the end of the month from the management company of a private equity fund that’s backed by Chinese state-owned entities. He also pledged that he wouldn’t work for any foreign-owned companies or serve on their boards during a potential Biden administration. He reiterated that he never discussed his business activities with his father.
“Hunter always understood that his father would be guided, entirely and unequivocally, by established U.S. policy, regardless of its effects on Hunter’s professional interests,” the statement said. “He never anticipated the barrage of false charges against both him and his father by the President of the United States.”
The claims go back to a bombshell New York Times story published May 1 that detailed both Bidens' ties to Ukraine, and revealed that the former vice president had successfully gotten a Ukrainian prosecutor removed from office.
The development raised questions over a possible conflict of interest and suspicions that Biden was trying to shield his son from an investigation into one of his business interests.
Hunter Biden worked for the Boies Schiller Flexner law firm that consulted for Burisma. Biden was in charge for the company's legal affairs with international companies, according to a press release, but Biden has disputed that characterization. At the time, Burisma's founder faced multiple investigations into alleged tax evasion and money laundering.
Hunter Biden later stepped down from the board in April 2019 when his term expired.
Joe Biden was part of a larger push coming from former President Barack Obama's administration for the Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin to be removed over concerns of corruption in his office. Biden acted as a vocal opponent of Shokin and has publicly detailed his threat to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees from the country if Shokin wasn't fired.
But reports have since emerged showing there was not an active investigation into Hunter when the former vice president made the push for Shokin's firing. Yuriy Lutsenko, Ukraine's prosecutor general, later said that he had no evidence of wrongdoing against either Biden.
Despite the absence of proven wrongdoing by the Bidens, the Trump administration has used the back-and-forth to obscure Giuliani's communications with Ukraine and growing concerns that Trump may have collaborated with a foreign power to gain political leverage.
After the report, Giuliani announced he was planning to travel to Ukraine to press president-elect Volodymyr Zelensky to pursue two investigations that could act as political leverage for Trump.
Giuliani eventually canceled his trip after facing widespread criticism for what appeared to be an attempt to push a foreign government to meddle in the 2020 US election, but Trump and his allies have continued claiming Biden was acting in his own personal interest.
Trump later tweeted a video with news coverage of the initial report questioning Bidens' intentions as a part of his campaign marketing efforts.
After months of keeping a relatively low-profile as President Donald Trump leveled a barrage of unsubstantiated accusations of corruption at him, the younger Biden is publicly vowing to avoid any conflict of interest.
After months of keeping a relatively low-profile as President Donald Trump leveled a barrage of unsubstantiated accusations of corruption at him, the younger Biden is publicly vowing to avoid any conflict of interest.
According to a statement released on his behalf by his lawyer George Mesires, Biden said he’ll resign at the end of the month from the management company of a private equity fund that’s backed by Chinese state-owned entities. He also pledged that he wouldn’t work for any foreign-owned companies or serve on their boards during a potential Biden administration. He reiterated that he never discussed his business activities with his father.
“Hunter always understood that his father would be guided, entirely and unequivocally, by established U.S. policy, regardless of its effects on Hunter’s professional interests,” the statement said. “He never anticipated the barrage of false charges against both him and his father by the President of the United States.”
