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The story of Hunter Biden’s foray into Ukraine

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  • The story of Hunter Biden’s foray into Ukraine

    The gas tycoon and the vice president’s son: The story of Hunter Biden’s foray into Ukraine

    By Paul Sonne ,
    Michael Kranish and
    Matt Viser
    September 28 at 8:08 PM
    When then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son joined the board of an obscure Ukrainian gas company half a decade ago, it was a stunning coup for its owner, a former Ukrainian minister working to remake the company’s image as he faced a money-laundering investigation.

    For Hunter Biden, the job came with risks: Ukraine was in the throes of political upheaval, and there was building scrutiny of former government officials profiting in the lucrative gas industry. His father was the face of the Obama administration’s effort to get Ukraine to crack down on corruption.

    The region was so unsettled that one of Hunter Biden’s investment firm partners at the time — former secretary of state John F. Kerry’s stepson — believed that joining the board of Burisma Holdings was a bad idea and ended his business relationship with Biden and another partner, his spokesman told The Washington Post.

    While there's no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, something I sincerely doubt could be said of Trump's business selling (and double-selling, and triple-selling) condos to Russians, there's no more question in my mind than in Kerry's stepson's, that Hunter's decision was just plain wrong.
    “Why didn’t Joe Biden tell Hunter, ‘Come off it. What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ ” said Oliver Bullough, a British journalist on the advisory board of the Anti-Corruption Action, or AntAC, a nonprofit in Ukraine.

    Other reporting has it that Hunter claims Joe's only comment was, "I hope you know what you're doing," which would be similar language, but, like telling a girl when you look at her time stands still ... doesn't have the same impact as telling her she's got a face that would stop a clock.

    Hunter taking a job helping out a Ukrainian oligarch, like taking a job helping out Trump ... I'm looking at you, too, Kurt Volker ... was always going to leave him looking dirty as soon as anyone started paying attention. In an act of brazen crony capitalism not matched since Dubya, Hunter lent his last name to a money launderer.

    That's a fact, and due diligence would have turned it up. So he either didn't do due diligence, or he accepted the position regardless.

    Political relatives' business practices have always had a tendency to embarrass their kin. Sometimes they can do something about it, but mostly, they just have to live with the smears, expecting people of good faith to assign blame where it belongs.

  • #2
    It's early, and I'm on my first cup of coffee, so I may have missed it...

    This unnamed (in this article) "Ukranian Oligarch" was supposedly pro-Russian. Did you find that?
    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
      It's early, and I'm on my first cup of coffee, so I may have missed it...
      6:40 a.m. is more like second pot for me, not first cup, but whatever, ya caffeithen.

      This unnamed (in this article) "Ukranian Oligarch" was supposedly pro-Russian. Did you find that?
      I highlighted the o/p story because it was more topical, but I left a lot of links in the o/p, including to 'other reporting," an in-depth essay in the New Yorker, long form journalism, which is more my cup of tea.

      Will Hunter Biden Jeopardize His Father’s Campaign?
      Joe Biden’s son is under scrutiny for his business dealings and tumultuous personal life.
      By Adam Entous
      July 1, 2019
      In June, 2009, five months after Joe Biden became Vice-President, Hunter co-founded a second company, Rosemont Seneca Partners, with Christopher Heinz, Senator John Kerry’s stepson and an heir to the food-company fortune, and Devon Archer, a former Abercrombie & Fitch model who started his finance career at Citibank in Asia and who had been friends with Heinz at Yale. (Heinz and Archer already had a private-equity fund called Rosemont Capital.) Heinz believed that Hunter would share his aversion to entering into business deals that could attract public scrutiny, but over time Hunter and Archer seized opportunities that did not include Heinz, who was less inclined to take risks.

      Kerry's stepson is Christopher Heinz. The linchpin to the Ukrainian company was Devon Archer. The oligarch is Mykola Zlochevsky, who was tied to the pro-Russian Yanukovych, ex-president and in exile by the time Zlochevsky started working to rehabilitate himself and his company.
      For another venture, Archer travelled to Kiev to pitch investors on a real-estate fund he managed, Rosemont Realty. There, he met Mykola Zlochevsky, the co-founder of Burisma, one of Ukraine’s largest natural-gas producers. Zlochevsky had served as ecology minister under the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych. After public protests in 2013 and early 2014, the Ukrainian parliament had voted to remove Yanukovych and called for his arrest. Under the new Ukrainian government, authorities in Kiev, with the encouragement of the Obama Administration, launched an investigation into whether Zlochevsky had used his cabinet position to grant exploration licenses that benefitted Burisma. (The status of the inquiry is unclear, but no proof of criminal activity has been publicly disclosed. Zlochevsky could not be reached for comment, and Burisma did not respond to queries.) In a related investigation, which was ultimately closed owing to a lack of evidence, British authorities temporarily froze U.K. bank accounts tied to Zlochevsky.

      From all accounts, Hunter was an afterthought. He had plenty of cover, too, starting with Poland's Kwaśniewski.
      In early 2014, Zlochevsky sought to assemble a high-profile international board to oversee Burisma, telling prospective members that he wanted the company to adopt Western standards of transparency. Among the board members he recruited was a former President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, who had a reputation as a dedicated reformer. In early 2014, at Zlochevsky’s suggestion, Kwaśniewski met with Archer in Warsaw and encouraged him to join Burisma’s board, arguing that the company was critical to Ukraine’s independence from Russia. Archer agreed.

      So there was reason to believe Zlochevsky was actually interested in reform, but really ... the guy's money was rooted in larceny, and if he was trying to clean up his image, it was only because his image needed cleaning.
      When Archer told Hunter that the board needed advice on how to improve the company’s corporate governance, Hunter recommended the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, where he was “of counsel.” The firm brought in the investigative agency Nardello & Co. to assess Burisma’s history of corruption. Hunter joined Archer on the Burisma board in April, 2014. Three months later, in a draft report to Boies Schiller, Nardello said that it was “unable to identify any information to date regarding any current government investigation into Zlochevsky or Burisma,” but cited unnamed sources saying that Zlochevsky could be “vulnerable to investigation for financial crimes” and for “perceived abuse of power.”

      I don't know how much more of your attention I can capture here, but the New Yorker article is the real deal, going through the full timeline on Hunter, with biographical details that are simply necessary to form a full picture. You can't understand Joe's relationship with Hunter without remembering that when Joe first took his oath of office to the Senate standing next to their beds, Hunter was in the hospital, right next to Beau, both of them recovering from the car wreck that took Joe's wife.

      Joe's going to get smeared with this, because that's politics, but still, like Hunter's black-sheeping, it ain't right.
      Last edited by Juvenal; 09-29-2019, 09:44 AM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Juvenal View Post
        6:40 a.m. is more like second pot for me, not first cup, but whatever, ya caffeithen.



        I highlighted the o/p story because it was more topical, but I left a lot of links in the o/p, including to 'other reporting," an in-depth essay in the New Yorker, long form journalism, which is more my cup of tea.

        Will Hunter Biden Jeopardize His Father’s Campaign?
        Joe Biden’s son is under scrutiny for his business dealings and tumultuous personal life.
        By Adam Entous
        July 1, 2019
        In June, 2009, five months after Joe Biden became Vice-President, Hunter co-founded a second company, Rosemont Seneca Partners, with Christopher Heinz, Senator John Kerry’s stepson and an heir to the food-company fortune, and Devon Archer, a former Abercrombie & Fitch model who started his finance career at Citibank in Asia and who had been friends with Heinz at Yale. (Heinz and Archer already had a private-equity fund called Rosemont Capital.) Heinz believed that Hunter would share his aversion to entering into business deals that could attract public scrutiny, but over time Hunter and Archer seized opportunities that did not include Heinz, who was less inclined to take risks.

        Kerry's stepson is Christopher Heinz. The linchpin to the Ukrainian company was Devon Archer. The oligarch is Mykola Zlochevsky, who was tied to the pro-Russian Yanukovych, ex-president and in exile by the time Zlochevsky started working to rehabilitate himself and his company.
        For another venture, Archer travelled to Kiev to pitch investors on a real-estate fund he managed, Rosemont Realty. There, he met Mykola Zlochevsky, the co-founder of Burisma, one of Ukraine’s largest natural-gas producers. Zlochevsky had served as ecology minister under the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych. After public protests in 2013 and early 2014, the Ukrainian parliament had voted to remove Yanukovych and called for his arrest. Under the new Ukrainian government, authorities in Kiev, with the encouragement of the Obama Administration, launched an investigation into whether Zlochevsky had used his cabinet position to grant exploration licenses that benefitted Burisma. (The status of the inquiry is unclear, but no proof of criminal activity has been publicly disclosed. Zlochevsky could not be reached for comment, and Burisma did not respond to queries.) In a related investigation, which was ultimately closed owing to a lack of evidence, British authorities temporarily froze U.K. bank accounts tied to Zlochevsky.

        From all accounts, Hunter was an afterthought. He had plenty of cover, too, starting with Poland's Kwaśniewski.
        In early 2014, Zlochevsky sought to assemble a high-profile international board to oversee Burisma, telling prospective members that he wanted the company to adopt Western standards of transparency. Among the board members he recruited was a former President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, who had a reputation as a dedicated reformer. In early 2014, at Zlochevsky’s suggestion, Kwaśniewski met with Archer in Warsaw and encouraged him to join Burisma’s board, arguing that the company was critical to Ukraine’s independence from Russia. Archer agreed.

        So there was reason to believe Zlochevsky was actually interested in reform, but really ... the guy's money was rooted in larceny, and if he was trying to clean up his image, it was only because his image needed cleaning.
        When Archer told Hunter that the board needed advice on how to improve the company’s corporate governance, Hunter recommended the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, where he was “of counsel.” The firm brought in the investigative agency Nardello & Co. to assess Burisma’s history of corruption. Hunter joined Archer on the Burisma board in April, 2014. Three months later, in a draft report to Boies Schiller, Nardello said that it was “unable to identify any information to date regarding any current government investigation into Zlochevsky or Burisma,” but cited unnamed sources saying that Zlochevsky could be “vulnerable to investigation for financial crimes” and for “perceived abuse of power.”

        I don't know how much more of your attention I can capture here, but the New Yorker article is the real deal, going through the full timeline on Hunter, with biographical details that are simply necessary to form a full picture. You can't understand Joe's relationship with Hunter without remembering that when Joe first took his oath of office to the Senate standing next to their beds, Hunter was in the hospital, right next to Beau, both of them recovering from the car wreck that took Joe's wife.

        Joe's going to get smeared with this, because that's politics, but still, like Hunter's black-sheeping, it ain't right.
        Thanks - will come back to this later.
        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

        Comment


        • #5

          Comment


          • #6
            This thread could be titled "A desperate attempt to sweep Hunter's and Joe's dirty dealings under the rug".
            Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
            But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
            Than a fool in the eyes of God


            From "Fools Gold" by Petra

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
              This thread could be titled "A desperate attempt to sweep Hunter's and Joe's dirty dealings under the rug".
              tl/dr

              Comment


              • #8
                Desperation.
                Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by demi-conservative View Post
                  Desperation.
                  And now we have Joe demanding that the media stop talking about it...


                  And, no, this isn't a parody. It's real.

                  https://theconservativetreehouse.com...an-prosecutor/
                  Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
                  But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
                  Than a fool in the eyes of God


                  From "Fools Gold" by Petra

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                    And now we have Joe demanding that the media stop talking about it...
                    Biden Campaign Urges TV Networks to Stop Booking Giuliani

                    Advisers to the former vice president wrote to executives at ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News to “demand” that Mr. Giuliani not be invited on the air to discuss Ukraine and President Trump.

                    By Michael M. Grynbaum
                    Sept. 29, 2019
                    Updated 8:32 p.m. ET
                    Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidential campaign contacted top television anchors and networks on Sunday to “demand” that Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, be kept off the air because of what they called his misleading comments about the Biden family and Ukraine.

                    “We are writing today with grave concern that you continue to book Rudy Giuliani on your air to spread false, debunked conspiracy theories on behalf of Donald Trump,” a pair of top Biden campaign advisers, Anita Dunn and Kate Bedingfield, wrote in the letter.

                    “Giving Rudy Giuliani valuable time on your air to push these lies in the first place is a disservice to your audience and a disservice to journalism,” the advisers wrote.

                    The note, which was obtained by The New York Times, was sent to executives and top political anchors at ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC, including star interviewers like Jake Tapper, Chuck Todd and Chris Wallace.

                    29biden-giuliani-superJumbo.jpg

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I've seen some of Giuliani's interviews. He's doggedly getting the truth out there and isn't taking any guff from his interviewers. It's no wonder Joe wants him silenced!
                      Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
                      But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
                      Than a fool in the eyes of God


                      From "Fools Gold" by Petra

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                        And now we have Joe demanding that the media stop talking about it...

                        [ATTACH=CONFIG]39979[/ATTACH]

                        And, no, this isn't a parody. It's real.

                        https://theconservativetreehouse.com...an-prosecutor/
                        More desperation
                        Last edited by demi-conservative; 09-30-2019, 01:59 AM.
                        Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          The story is wrapped up in a whole historical array of east versus west government involvement, intelligence influences, and corrupt oligarchs -- both pro and anti-Russia -- apparently all entangled in a geopolitical power struggle over gas pipelines. The problem is that not only is the backstory extraordinarily complex and convoluted, but you have both sides arguing different things and claiming innocence. Even once you decide to choose one conspiracy over the other (most likely based solely on what partisan side you're on), then you have to sift through the nuances of it all.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                            And now we have Joe demanding that the media stop talking about it...

                            [ATTACH=CONFIG]39979[/ATTACH]

                            And, no, this isn't a parody. It's real.

                            https://theconservativetreehouse.com...an-prosecutor/
                            Right after yelling at a Fox News reporter for asking him the wrong question.

                            I'm always still in trouble again

                            "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                            "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                            "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                              I've seen some of Giuliani's interviews. He's doggedly getting the truth out there and isn't taking any guff from his interviewers. It's no wonder Joe wants him silenced!
                              I've seen some of them, too, or listened to them, anyway, and they're literally incoherent.

                              You can't really tell what he's talking about as he goes to war with the statements he made seconds before, and when you can, it's scratch-your-head stuff. Whatever it is, it's anything but factual.

                              The problem with Hunter is crony capitalism.

                              As best I can tell, Giuliani's problem with Hunter is ... "Joe got Ukrainian prosecutor Shokin fired to close down an investigation to protect Hunter," which is equal parts conspiracy theory and counter-factual fantasy, again, assuming there actually is a problem hidden inside Rudy's ramblings.


                              Shokin's initial appointment, by Poroshenko, the chocolate tsar, himself a Ukrainian oligarch, was met with dismay by the entire European community. It signaled that Poroshenko wasn't serious about combating corruption.

                              The investigation into Burisma, which was real at one time, was also dormant, (or closed according to other sources). And hardly just Burisma. Every other investigation into corruption under his office was dormant, according to everyone from the WSJ to Bloomberg ... because Shokin, true to everyone's fears, wasn't going after corruption. The implication, never proven, but come on, why else ... was that he was shaking them down instead.

                              Everyone, from the EU to the IMF, including the US, wanted him gone.

                              Also never proven, but come on ... Zlochevsky "used his cabinet position [ecology minister under Yanukovych] to grant exploration licenses that benefitted Burisma [the company he founded]." That's the corruption that was being investigated.

                              That was under Yanukovych, who preceded Poroshenko, who preceded Zelensky, the current president of Ukraine.

                              This was years — and a full scale people's revolution under Poroshenko's predecessor Yanukovych, including citizens gunned down in a Tiananmen square-style massacre, leading to Yanukovych's flight to Russia cushioned by billions in cash trucked out of the country with him — before Hunter, who was recruited by Archer, who was recruited by the pro-reform former Polish president Kwaśniewski, joined the board under the auspice of improving corporate governance to create Western-style transparency.

                              Comment

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