Former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, who is at the center of controversy surrounding conflicts of interest related to Ukraine, served on the board of a trade coalition that lobbied the Obama administration for additional aid to the eastern European country, according to the Daily Caller.
Hunter Biden worked from 2012 to 2018 on the board of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), which pushed for increased spending and assistance to Ukraine, while his father dictated U.S. policy toward the former Soviet nation.
Hunter Biden’s technical role was director of the Center for U.S. Global Leadership. Its firm, Rosemont Seneca, made up a part of the coalition.
While on the board of the USGLC, Hunter Biden was also recruited by one of the country’s most notoriously corrupt energy companies, Burisma, for upwards of $50,000 a month despite no prior experience in the industry in 2014. A Federalist analysis of Hunter Biden’s pay reveals just how much he was being showered with excess compensation from Ukrainian elites seeking White House access. For example, executives on the board of Exxon Mobil, a company worth billions more than Burisma, only pay its members little more than half of what Hunter Biden was raking in.
In February 2014, Joe Biden played a role in securing additional aid to Ukraine following the ouster of Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych. Two years later, with Hunter Biden on the board of Burisma and the USGLC, Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billon in assistance to Ukraine, provided by legislation for which the trade coalition had lobbied.
Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Ukraine have come under heightened scrutiny in recent months after the failed impeachment coup launched against President Donald Trump brought the Bidens’ interactions with Ukraine into the spotlight.
Weeks after Trump’s exoneration in the Senate, two top Republican senators have pivoted their focus on Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine, conducting a probe of the perceived conflicts of interest. Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who chairs the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who chairs the Finance Committee, have formally requested records from federal agencies as part of their ongoing probe. Earlier this month, the Treasury Department confirmed the presence of Suspicious Activity Reports filed in relation to Hunter Biden’s overseas work.
