Burisma again, Hunter Biden again: how Ukraine is being dragged into the US presidential election

Donald Trump continues to accuse his rival of corrupt activity, including in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, 20 days before the US presidential election, the tabloid New York Post reported that it had obtained correspondence between the son of one of the candidates, Joe Biden, Hunter, and Vadim Pozharsky, an adviser to the Ukrainian company Burisma. In an email, Pozharsky thanks Biden Jr. for helping arrange a meeting with his father, who was vice president of the United States at the time.

For Donald Trump, who according to polls trails Biden by 10%, this became an occasion to revive the story of his opponent's relations with Ukraine, the topic on which he now appears to be placing the main emphasis in his election campaign, as was the case, in particular, during recent debates between the leaders of the Democrats and Republicans.

What does the New York Post report say?

The tabloid (or, more accurately, yellow press) outlet, popular in the States, published screenshots of email correspondence between Pozharsky and Biden, focusing mainly on two letters. The first is dated May 12, 2014, shortly before Biden Jr. joined the board of directors of Burisma. In a letter also sent to another Burisma employee, Devon Archer, Pozharsky asks Biden Jr. to "use his influence" to stop the "politically motivated persecution" of Burisma's activities after the investigation launched by former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.

In the second, sent on April 17, 2015, Pozharsky thanks Biden Jr. for the invitation to Washington and the opportunity to meet his father. "It was very pleasant, it is an honor for me," Pozharsky adds, and finally suggests meeting for coffee at Hunter's office before leaving for the airport.

How did this correspondence end up with the New York Post?

The outlet says that this correspondence, as well as a 12-minute video allegedly showing Hunter smoking crack and having sex with an unidentified woman, was extracted from the hard drive of a MacBook Pro that was taken in April 2019 to a repair shop in Delaware (the Biden family's home state) but was never picked up.

After unsuccessfully trying to contact the client, the shop owner handed the hard drive over to the FBI in December. But before that, he made a copy and shared it with Robert Costello, a lawyer for Trump's close ally Rudy Giuliani.

What makes this correspondence questionable?

First, the shop owner who accepted the laptop for repair was unable to identify the client as Hunter Biden and did not take payment in advance. That is, there is no confirmation that the correspondence was extracted from a laptop belonging to Biden Jr.

Second, much points to this being a carefully planned part of Trump's election campaign: the involvement of the US president's personal lawyer and former New York mayor Giuliani, and his former adviser Steve Bannon, only strengthens doubts.

According to the New York Post, it was Bannon who first reported the existence of this hard drive back in September. And Bannon is one of the main driving forces behind the theory that the Biden family's relations with Ukraine go beyond the law.

Why did social networks restrict access to the New York Post report?

The social networks Facebook and Twitter quickly restricted access to the New York Post material. Facebook explained this by saying that the accuracy of the story must be verified by appropriate specialists.

Twitter, in turn, began banning users who spread the link to this material through posts and private messages. The company's chief executive said the photographs used in the report include private and personal information, and that its policy does not tolerate content obtained through hacking.

What do the Bidens say?

Hunter Biden's lawyer Jorge Mesires told AP that "they have no idea where this story came from, and for obvious reasons cannot believe what Rudy Giuliani is telling the NY Post." He also added that no such meeting took place.

Even if we assume they did meet, Biden Sr. was not the only US official Pozharsky could have crossed paths with, since he was part of the Burisma delegation that lobbied the company's interests with congressmen in 2014.

In addition, the camp of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (Biden's running mate in the election and potential vice president) published a statement setting out their vision of relations between the US and Ukraine.

"Biden will seek to end the conflict in Ukraine, and together with European allies he will work to support Ukraine, which strives for a sovereign, democratic and prosperous future," the statement says.

Joe Biden has also promised to provide Ukraine with military assistance, including lethal weapons, to protect itself from Russian aggression. "Joe Biden understands what Donald Trump does not: Ukraine is fighting to defend its independence and sovereignty. Ukraine's success will contribute to better security and stability in Europe, in America's interests," said the Democratic leaders' campaign headquarters.

What is Trump pressing on?

Although the Senate investigation, led by Republicans, found no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden in his ties with Ukraine, it allows the incumbent president to keep mentioning the name "Biden" alongside the word "corruption."

Although Joe Biden insists that he does not talk to his son about business at all, Trump persistently calls his rival a corrupt politician, thanks to whom his son managed to make a fortune abroad, not only in Ukraine but also in China and Russia.

Background

In October 2019, former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin told Trump's personal lawyer Giuliani, during a private conversation, that he had been told to halt the investigation into Burisma.

According to recordings published by independent MP Andriy Derkach, Biden Sr. did indeed demand that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko dismiss Shokin, but the reason given was not the investigation into Burisma's activities, but the blocking of reform to clean up the Prosecutor General's Office.

Vasily Obaraz, TK Media