Hunter Biden reportedly sought U.S. government help for a lucrative energy project in Italy while Biden was vice president, raising allegations that he used his father’s political standing as leverage for his own overseas business ventures.
According to newly released records and interviews cited by The New York Times, Biden’s son wrote at least one letter to the U.S. ambassador to Italy in 2016 asking for support for Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company where he served on the board.
The response was lukewarm, with authorities appearing somewhat hesitant to comply with a request from the son of a sitting vice president representing a foreign company.
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Hunter Biden has been accused in the past of using his father’s political influence for his own business interests. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
“This is a Ukrainian company and, purely out of self-defense, the USG should not be actively lobbying the Italian government without going through the DOC Advocacy Center,” the officials wrote.
These acronyms refer to U.S. government and Department of Commerce programs that assist U.S. companies seeking business with foreign governments.
“We want to be careful not to promise too much,” a Commerce Department official based at the U.S. Embassy in Rome said.
Hunter Biden has asked several people to introduce him to Burisma and the president of the Tuscany region of Italy, where the company is developing a geothermal power project, said Abe Lowell, a lawyer for Biden.
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Burisma Holdings headquarters stands in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Researchers at Area 1, a security firm run by a former National Security Agency official, said Russian hackers had been sending phishing emails to subsidiaries of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings in an attempt to break into the company. (Photographer: Evgeny Maloretka/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He said the meeting did not take place.
“No meetings were held, no projects were realised, no requests were made in the US, only introductions in Italy.”
In a statement to The Times, Lowell called Biden’s outreach a “proper request.”
The White House said President Biden was unaware that his son had contacted the U.S. Embassy in Italy on behalf of Burisma while he was vice president.
Hunter Biden has not been charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires individuals to disclose when they lobby the U.S. government on behalf of foreign interests.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, arrive at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware, June 6, 2024. Hunter Biden’s trial on firearms possession charges continues today with additional witnesses. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department and the White House.
