US President Biden and his son are said to have received bribes from a Ukrainian company years ago. Investigators now say it’s all made up. The former informant faces up to 25 years in prison.
An FBI informant is said to have lied about US President Joe Biden’s alleged contacts with a Ukrainian energy company. During the 2020 presidential election campaign, the 43-year-old claimed that Biden and his son Hunter each received five million dollars in bribes from the Burisma company in 2015 or 2016, US authorities said.
The former informant has now been charged with making false statements and creating false and fictitious records. His allegations against Joe and Hunter Biden are completely fabricated, the lawsuit says. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Hunter Biden served on Burisma’s board of directors from 2014 to 2019. At the time, his father was US Vice President under President Barack Obama.
The man further claimed, citing an alleged conversation with a high-ranking Burisma representative, that the company had appointed Hunter Biden to the supervisory board so that he could protect the company “from all sorts of problems through his father,” the indictment said.
“Routine business contacts”
The informant actually had contact with Burisma executives – but later than stated. By then, President Obama’s administration was no longer in office. At that time – before his later election as president – Biden had no opportunity to influence US politics, according to the prosecutors, who acted on behalf of the Justice Department’s special advisor, David Wiess.
“In short, the defendant parlayed his routine and non-extraordinary business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations” against Joe Biden, according to the indictment.
It could be a turning point for Republicans seeking to impeach President Biden over alleged misconduct by his son. The allegations made by the defendant were previously considered important evidence.
With information from Katharina Wilhelm, ARD Los Angeles
Katharina Wilhelm, ARD Los Angeles, tagesschau, February 16, 2024 8:10 a.m