A lawyer who once represented the president of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company that employed Hunter Biden, retroactively registered as a foreign agent for work he did for a natural gas company seven years ago.
I received a registration from John Bretta. Documents filed Thursday Filed with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), law firms and lobbyists are required to disclose their work representing the interests of foreign clients.
Mr Bretta's revelations about his 2016 work for Mykola Zlochevsky, who co-founded Burisma Holdings in 2002, came more than seven years after the fact, and why Burisma – Questions and concerns arose as to why Hunter Biden, who also worked for Holdings, did so. Mr. Zlochevsky was not registered as a foreign agent with FARA at the time.
Mr. Buretta previously served as Mr. Zlochevsky's defense attorney amid corruption investigations into Burisma's director by Ukrainian and U.S. authorities.
Biden allegedly 'forced' to pay millions of dollars to Burisma CEO to help fire Ukrainian prosecutor: FBI form
Hunter Biden (left) also worked on behalf of Burisma and its former president Mykola Zlochevsky, but was not registered as a foreign agent under FARA. (Getty Images)
Mr. Bretta's law firm, Cravath, Swain & Moore, said in a filing this week that “in January 2016, Mr. “He was retained as Mr. Ski's representative. The representation has since expanded.” The investigation, which also involved Burisma Holdings Limited and the Ukrainian government, continued until April 2017. This proxy included both registrable and non-registrable activities. This registration and related materials include all communications with U.S. government officials during the course of your representation. ”
The law firm alleges that as part of its representation of Zlochevsky, Buretta met with three senior Obama administration officials in March 2016 and sent a letter to another U.S. government official in September 2016. was pointed out in writing.
The law firm said: “During these interactions, Mr. Bretta identified his client and presented facts relevant to potential investigations in the United States and Ukraine, including information from UK proceedings in which the client was involved. “I did,” he pointed out.
Buretta's law firm did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment, but in a statement to the Washington Examiner said the filing was made after consultation with the Justice Department.
“After consulting with the Department of Justice regarding the scope of FARA, Cravath has filed a retrospective registration covering legal services provided to two former clients in March and September 2016, and will terminate the registration as of September 2016. We have filed a supplementary statement,” Cravath, Swain & A spokesperson for Moore told the magazine.
House Republicans consider running for Hunter Biden over contempt of Congress
In recent years, the Department of Justice has stepped up enforcement of FARA violations. During former President Donald Trump's administration, the Justice Department indicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for failing to register as a foreign agent for work he did in Ukraine.
But unlike Bretta, Manafort, who was ultimately sentenced to prison, was not allowed to retroactively file FARA disclosures to avoid prosecution.
Unlike Bretta, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was not allowed to retroactively file FARA disclosures to avoid prosecution. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Thursday's FARA filing included a breakdown of the amount Cravath received from Burisma Holdings. Documents show the company was paid nearly $350,000 between January 2016 and August 2017.
The filing from Bretta and his attorneys comes as House Republicans continue to investigate Hunter Biden, who is accused of violating FARA, wire fraud, money laundering and other crimes.
Then-Vice President Biden and Hunter Biden allegedly “extorted” payments from Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky. millions of dollars in exchange for cooperation in firing Ukrainian prosecutors investigating the company, according to allegations contained in unclassified FBI documents released last July by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
Grassley said he released the documents documenting alleged bribery involving Joe Biden and Ukrainian business executives so that Americans “can read them for themselves without the filters of politicians and bureaucrats.”
The document in question is Form FD-1023 (Confidential Human Source (CHS) Report Document) prepared by the FBI and reflects an interview conducted by the FBI. “Highly reliable” Hunter Biden is a confidential source who detailed multiple meetings and conversations he had with the CEO of Burisma Holdings over several years starting in 2015. Hunter Biden was a director of Burisma at the time.
Biden acknowledged that while he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, Mr. Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings, and at the time, Mr. Hunter held a high-paying position on the board that paid him thousands of dollars a month. The vice president at the time threatened to withhold $1 billion in vital U.S. aid if Mr. Shokin was not fired.
Documents released last year show that then-Vice President Biden and Hunter Biden offered Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky millions in exchange for cooperation with Ukrainian prosecutors' investigation of the company. He was allegedly “forced” to pay the dollar amount. (George Frey, Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency, Getty Images)
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Biden supporters have argued that the vice president at the time pushed for Shokin's removal over concerns that Ukraine's prosecutors were mitigating corruption, and that Shokin's removal was a policy position of the United States and the international community at the time. claims.
The House Oversight Committee is scheduled to meet next week to consider a resolution to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for violating a congressional subpoena.
The Oversight Committee and the House Judiciary Committee last month subpoenaed Hunter Biden to give a private deposition as part of a House Republican-led initiative. Impeachment inquiry into President Biden. He ignored the subpoena and instead held a press conference outside the Capitol.
FOX News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
