House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has called on FBI Director Christopher Wray to hand over another confidential informant file related to an alleged bribe linked to the Bidens.
New York Post reported on Friday, January 12, 2024, that the file, dated March 1, 2017, is said to contain crucial information related to an alleged $10 million bribe from the owner of Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings to Hunter and Joe Biden.
Jordan contends that this confidential file is essential for the committee’s ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings and the impeachment proceedings against President Biden.
The file reportedly contributed to the creation of a publicly available report dated June 30, 2020, implicating then-Vice President Biden in a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme.
The 2020 FBI informant file, previously disclosed by Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, made startling allegations that both Biden and his son coerced Burisma’s owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, into paying each of them $5 million.
This alleged payment was purportedly made to influence the dismissal of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin in early 2016.
Chairman Jordan underscores the significance of the 2017 informant file, stating that Judiciary panel members first learned of its existence during a transcribed interview with former Pittsburgh US Attorney Scott Brady.
Brady was appointed by then-Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate matters related to Ukrainian corruption in 2020.
Sources reveal that Jordan is prepared to subpoena the informant file should the FBI fail to meet the January 19 deadline for its submission.
The 2017 informant file discussed Hunter Biden’s involvement and plans for Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi to travel to Washington, D.C., in March 2017.
However, New York Post reported that the FBI’s source emphasized that it was not relevant to Burisma’s interest in acquiring a US-based petroleum business for $50-$100 million.
The informant’s accounts detail four conversations with Zlochevsky between late 2015 and early 2016, coinciding with then-Vice President Biden’s visit to Kyiv.
During this visit, Biden allegedly pressured Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to remove Shokin, who was subsequently ousted in March 2016 by Ukraine’s parliament.
Notably, Biden reportedly boasted about his role in Shokin’s removal during a 2018 panel discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations.
He admitted to threatening to withhold $1 billion in US loan guarantees in December 2015 to force Shokin’s ouster, a statement met with laughter from the audience, as reported by New York Post.
Democrats maintain that Shokin’s removal was sought by both the US and European nations due to his corruption, countering the allegations presented in the informant files.
Hunter Biden’s tenure on Burisma’s board from 2014 to 2019, earning up to $1 million annually despite lacking relevant energy experience was highlighted in the NY Post report. His monthly salary was reportedly halved in March 2017, just two months after his father left the White House.
Zlochevsky, according to the FBI source, claimed to have 17 recordings of conversations with the Bidens, two involving Joe Biden, as well as numerous text messages and financial information related to payments to the Bidens.
Despite this, Zlochevsky asserted that he did not directly send funds to the “Big Guy,” understood to be a reference to Joe Biden.
The file further reveals that Zlochevsky estimated it would take investigators a decade to uncover records of illicit payments to Joe Biden.
“[The source] asked Zlochevsky how many companies/bank accounts Zlochevsky controls; Zlochevsky responded it would take them (Investigators) 10 years to find the records (i.e. illicit payments to Joe Biden),” the file states as cited by New York Post.
Additionally, the report touches upon emails from former associates of Hunter Biden referring to Joe Biden as “the big guy” in discussions surrounding the first son’s business ventures abroad.
This includes a 2017 deal with a Chinese government-linked energy conglomerate, where Joe Biden was set to receive a 10% stake.
