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Then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden allegedly "coerced" Burisma co-founder and CEO Mykola Zlochevsky into paying them millions of dollars each in exchange for pressuring the Ukrainian government to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating the company.
The accusations are contained in unclassified FBI documents that were released on Thursday by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Grassley obtained the FBI-generated FD-1023 from "legally protected disclosures by Justice Department whistleblowers," he said in a statement.Zlochevsky allegedly
told the FBI's confidential human source (CHS) that during a meeting in August 2016 it cost him "5 (million) to pay one Biden, and 5 (million) to another."
Zlochevsky allegedly said that it was "too late to change his decision," which CHS understood as meaning that Zlochevsky "already had paid the Bidens, presumably to 'deal with Shokin'."An addendum to the report from June 2020 says that Zlochevsky told CHS that he had "17 recordings" involving his interactions, including two with Joe Biden. The other 15 were with Hunter Biden.The recordings allegedly show evidence that Zlochevsky "was somehow coerced into paying the Bidens to ensure Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was fired."
In a phone call shortly after the 2016 presidential election, Zlochevsky allegedly told CHS that he didn't want to pay the Bidens but he was "pushed to pay" them.CHS said that Zlochevsky used the Russian term "poluchili" to describe the alleged payments, the FBI form said. The term "literally translates to 'got it' or 'received it', but is also used in Russian-criminal-slang for being 'forced or coerced to pay.'"
Zlochevsky allegedly told CHS that no one would find out about his financial dealings with the Bidens.
In 2019, Zlochevsky told CHS that he did not send funds directly to the "Big Guy", who CHS understood to mean Joe Biden.Zlochevsky told CHS that it would take investigators a decade to find the alleged illicit payments to Joe Biden.
CHS told the FBI that it was common for businessmen in post-Soviet countries to brag about making bribes, which are "extremely common" in Russia and Ukraine.
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New details from a previously redacted FBI document claim that the owner of Ukrainian gas company Burisma thought Hunter Biden was dumber than his dog.
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Meetings with the FBI informant
In 2016, Zlochevsky met with an FBI informant at an outdoor coffee shop in Vienna, Austria, discussing the feasibility of Burisma acquiring a U.S.-based entity.
An unidentified individual also at the meeting said the conversation occurred around the same time that Joe Biden made public statements about now-former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin being corrupt, saying that he should be fired or removed from office.
Zlochevsky was told, according to the document, that Shokin's public investigation into Burisma would have negative effects on Burisma's IPO. The Burisma owner replied: "Don't worry, Hunter will take care of all of those issues through his dad."
Numerous media outlets reported that Shokin investigated but never sought to prosecute Burisma. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent testified in Trump's first impeachment inquiry that Shokin was corrupt and that the U.S. and its allies made a coordinated effort to remove him from his position.
When it was suggested that Zlochevsky/Burisma pay an attorney $50,000 to litigate the matter, Zlochevsky laughed at the thought, saying: "It costs $5 [million] to pay one Biden, and $5 [million] to another Biden," the document says. The informant said at the time that it was unverified whether such alleged payments were already made.
Then, when told that "some normal U.S. oil and gas advisors" should be hired due to the Bidens' lack of experience, Zlochevsky reportedly said that Hunter Biden "was stupid, and his [Zlochevsky's] dog was smarter."
Other conversations between the informant and Zlochevsky took place in 2016 and 2017, continuing until a final call in 2019.
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