Hunter Biden Lobbied Obama Admin for More Ukraine Aid (set up State Dept meeting for group’s president)

Hunter Biden served on the board of a trade group that lobbied for increased foreign aid, including for Ukraine. Unknown til now, Hunter Biden’s association with the US Global Leadership Coalition lobbying group, and its close affiliate, the Center for U.S. Global Leadership, has gone unexplored in the coverage of his business dealings.

While affiliated with the groups, Biden joined the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings. (Biden's father was VP at the time and Obama's point man in Ukraine.)

Hunter Biden was on the board of a trade coalition that lobbied the Obama administration in 2014 on foreign assistance to Ukraine, and appears to have set up a State Department meeting for the group’s president.

Biden’s links to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) and its affiliate, the Center for U.S. Global Leadership, have gone largely unreported in the coverage of his various business dealings, which have caused a headache for his father as he runs for president. The Bidens have been dogged by allegations that the younger Biden profited off of his last name.

Similar allegations have followed organizations like Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings, which brought Hunter Biden on as a director in April 2014, despite his having no experience in the energy industry. USGLC, which lobbies and advocates for increased spending in the State Department’s International Affairs Budget, added a series of Ukraine-related bills to its lobbying portfolio at around the same time, lobbying disclosures show.

Biden’s private equity firm, Rosemont Seneca, was by far the smallest company of any of the directors on USGLC or the Center for U.S. Global Leadership. Other directors have included executives and lobbyists from Caterpillar, Cargill, Walmart, Intel, Chevron, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Think tanks such as the Bipartisan Policy Center and the American Enterprise Institute are represented on the group’s boards, as are officials with well-known NGOs like Save the Children and CARE, the anti-poverty group.

But what Biden's firm Rosemont Seneca lacked in terms of assets and name recognition it made up for in access to key figures in the Obama administration, with Joe Biden being at the top of the list. Beyond that valuable connection, Hunter Biden’s partner Devon Archer was a former adviser on Obama Sec. of State John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. A third partner, Christopher Heinz, is Kerry’s step-son.

The value of those political connections was highlighted in text messages cited in an unrelated criminal case against Archer.

“Hunter Biden works for [Archer]. So we’ve got the top level politicos with us. All of my guys, is as top tier as it gets,” a businessman named Bevan Cooney wrote in text messages released in Archer’s case. “You don’t get more politically connected and make people more comfortable than that.”

Hunter Biden has publicly referred to himself as a member of USGLC’s board, though he was technically a director of the Center for U.S. Global Leadership. Tax filings show that Biden was on the center’s board from 2012 through 2018.

In 2014, while affiliated with the groups, Biden joined the board of Burisma Holdings. The company, owned by Mykola Zlochevsky, who served as minister of natural resources under former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, paid Rosemont Seneca, Biden’s firm, more than $80,000 a month, according to publicly available records.

That partnership raised some eyebrows at the time because of Joe Biden’s role as the Obama administration’s main point man on Ukraine issues. Like many Ukrainian firms, especially those in the energy business, Burisma had a reputation for corruption. Hunter Biden’s link to the company was seen as undermining his father’s anti-corruption initiatives. As part of his Ukraine initiative, Joe Biden pushed for increased aid to the former Soviet republic in the wake of its overthrow in February 2014 of Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president.

But in 2016, he would threaten to withhold $1 billion in loan assistance to Ukraine that was made available through some of the very same legislation for which USGLC and some of its business partners lobbied. USGLC also took an interest in Ukraine following Yanukovych’s ouster.

The group, which advocates and lobbies for increased spending in the State Department’s International Affairs Budget, added Ukraine to its portfolio of lobbying issues in April 2014, according to lobbying disclosure form filed with Congress.

USGLC is not well known outside of Washington, D.C. Founded in the mid-1990s, the coalition is made up of more than 400 major corporations and non-government organizations (NGOs), a mix that has earned the group the nickname the “strange bedfellows coalition” inside the Beltway.

Hunter Biden lobbied the Obama administration in 2014 on more foreign assistance to Ukraine, and appears to have set up a State Department meeting for the group’s president.

There are still wide swaths of documentation kept under wraps inside the State Dept that could
substantially alter the public’s understanding of what happened in the Hunter Biden-Joe Biden-Obama-era Ukraine.
President Trump should ordered these released:

<><> Daily intelligence reports from March through August 2019 on Ukraine’s new president Volodymyr Zelensky and his relationship with oligarchs and other key figures. What was the CIA, FBI and U.S. Treasury Department telling Trump and other agencies about Zelensky’s ties to oligarchs like Igor Kolomoisky, the former head of Privatbank, and any concerns the International Monetary Fund might have? Did any of these concerns reach the president’s daily brief (PDB) or come up in the debate around resolving Ukraine corruption and U.S. foreign aid? CNBC, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal all have done recent reporting suggesting there might have been intelligence and IMF concerns that have not been fully considered during the impeachment proceedings.

<><>State Department memos detailing conversations between former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko. He says Yovanovitch raised the names of Ukrainians she did not want to see prosecuted during their first meeting in 2016. She calls Lutsenko’s account fiction. But State Department officials admit the U.S. embassy in Kiev did pressure Ukrainian prosecutors not to target certain activists. Are there contemporaneous State Department memos detailing these conversations and might they illuminate the dispute between Lutsenko and Yovanovitch that has become key to the impeachment hearings?

<><>State Department memos on U.S. funding given to the George Soros-backed group the Anti-Corruption Action Centre. There is documentary evidence that State provided funding to this group, that Ukrainian prosecutor sought to investigate whether that aid was spent properly and that the U.S. embassy pressured Ukraine to stand down on that investigation. How much total did State give to this group? Why was a federal agency giving money to a Soros-backed group? What did taxpayers get for their money and were they any audits to ensure the money was spent properly? Were any of Ukrainian prosecutors’ concerns legitimate?

<><> Transcripts of Joe Biden’s phone calls and meetings with Ukraine’s president and prime minister from April 2014 to January 2017 when Hunter Biden served on the board of the natural gas company Burisma Holdings. Did Burisma or Hunter Biden ever come up in the calls? What did Biden say when he urged Ukraine to fire the prosecutor overseeing an investigation of Burisma? Did any Ukrainian officials ever comment on Hunter Biden’s role at the company? Was any official assessment done by U.S. agencies to justify Biden’s threat of withholding $1 billion in U.S. aid if Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin wasn’t fired?

<><> All documents from an Office of Special Counsel whistleblower investigation into unusual energy transactions in Ukraine. The U.S. government’s main whistleblower office is investigating allegations from a U.S Energy Department worker of possible wrongdoing in U.S.-supported Ukrainian energy business. Who benefited in the United States and Ukraine from this alleged activity? Did Burisma gain any benefits from the conduct described by the whistleblower? OSC has concluded there is a “substantial likelihood of wrongdoing” involved in these activities.

<><>All FBI, CIA, Treasury Department and State Department documents concerning possible wrongdoing at Burisma Holdings. What did the U.S. know about allegations of corruption at the Ukrainian gas company and the efforts by the Ukrainian prosecutors to investigate? Did U.S., Latvian, Cypriot or European financial authorities flag any suspicious transactions involving Burisma or Americans during the time that Hunter Biden served on its board? Were any U.S. agencies monitoring, assisting or blocking the various investigations? When Ukraine reopened the Burisma investigations in March 2019, what did U.S. officials do?

<><> All documents from 2015-16 concerning the decision by the State Department’s foreign aid funding arm, USAID, to pursue a joint project with Burisma Holdings. State official George Kent has testified he stopped this joint project because of concerns about Burisma’s corruption reputation.

Did Hunter Biden or his American business partner Devon Archer have anything to do with seeking the project? What caused its abrupt end? What issues did Kent identify as concerns and who did he alert in the White House, State or other agencies?

<><> All cables, memos and documents showing State Department’s dealings with Burisma Holding representatives in 2015 and 2016. We now know that Ukrainian authorities escalated their investigation of Burisma Holdings in February 2016 by raiding the home of the company’s owner, Mykola Zlochevsky. Soon after, Burisma’s American representatives were pressing the State Department to help end the corruption allegations against the gas firm, specifically invoking Hunter Biden’s name. What did State officials do after being pressured by Burisma? Did the U.S. embassy in Kiev assist Burisma’s efforts to settle the corruption case against it? Who else in the U.S. government was being kept apprised?

<><> All contacts that the Energy Department, Justice Department or State Department had with Vice President Joe Biden’s office concerning Burisma Holdings, Hunter Biden or business associate Devon Archer. We now know that multiple State Department officials believed Hunter Biden’s association with Burisma created the appearance of a conflict of interest for the vice president, and at least one official tried to contact Joe Biden’s office to raise those concerns. What, if anything, did these Cabinet agencies tell Joe Biden’s office about the appearance concerns or the state of the various Ukrainian investigations into Burisma?

<><> All memos, emails and other documents concerning a possible U.S. embassy’s request in spring 2019 to monitor the social media activities and analytics of certain U.S. media personalities considered favorable to President Trump. Did any such monitoring occur? Was it requested by the American embassy in Kiev? Who ordered it? Why did it stop? Were any legal concerns raised?

<><> All State, CIA, FBI and DOJ documents concerning efforts by individual Ukrainian government officials to exert influence on the 2016 U.S. election, including an anti-Trump Op-Ed written in August 2016 by Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington or efforts to publicize allegations against Paul Manafort. What did U.S. officials know about these efforts in 2016, and how did they react? What were these federal agencies’ reactions to a Ukrainian court decision in December 2018 suggesting some Ukrainian officials had improperly meddled in the 2016 election?

<><> All State, CIA, FBI and DOJ documents concerning contacts with a Democratic National Committee contractor named Alexandra Chalupa and her dealings with the Ukrainian embassy in Washington or other Ukrainian figures. Did anyone in these U.S. government agencies interview or have contact with Chalupa during the time the Ukraine embassy in Washington says she was seeking dirt in 2016 on Trump and Manafort? (hat tip John Solomon)

nypost.com link

HUNTER DOES CHINA-—Twelve days after Hunter stepped off Air Force Two in Beijing, his company signed a historic deal with the Bank of China, the state-owned financial behemoth often used as a tool of the Chinese government. The Bank of China had created a first-of-its-kind investment fund called Bohai Harvest RST (BHR). According to BHR, one of its founding partners was none other than Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC.

It was an unprecedented arrangement: the government of one of America’s fiercest competitors going into business with the son of one of America’s most powerful decision-makers.
Chris Heinz (John Kerry’s stepson) claims neither he nor Rosemont Seneca Partners, the firm he had part ownership of, had any role in the deal with Bohai Harvest. Nonetheless, Biden, Archer and the Rosemont name became increasingly involved with China. Archer became the vice chairman of Bohai Harvest, helping oversee some of the fund’s investments.

Troublingly, some of those investments had major implications for national security.
Hunter Biden’s father, the vice president, met earlier with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington as part of the Nuclear Security Summit.

In December 2014, BHR became an “anchor investor” in the IPO of China General Nuclear Power Corp. (CGN), a state-owned energy company involved in the construction of nuclear reactors. In April 2016, the US Justice Department would charge CGN with stealing nuclear secrets from the United States — actions prosecutors said could cause “significant damage to our national security.”

Of particular interest to CGN were sensitive, American-made components that, according to experts, resembled components used by the US on its nuclear submarines.

The foreign aid scam is being exposed. The political elite split our tax dollars 50/50, with half coming back to pols, fully laundered.

Democrat Doug Schoen, a Clinton crony, arranged Washington meetings for Bielkova on behalf of Pinchuk (who hired Schoen). Meetings included one with Ciaramella and his then-boss Zentos (Zentos is now political and economic chief at the US Embassy in Tblisi). Clintonite Schoen began foreign lobbying work for Pinchuk @ $40,000 per month beginning in 2000; Schoen arranged April 2016 meetings for Bielkova with national security professionals, including Ciaramella, at Pinchuk's behest. NOTE: Schoen’s filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act stated he didn’t attend meetings personally.....but that the meeting topic was “the Ukrainian progress in energy reform, and steps to be taken to increase energy independence.”

Clintons getting their activities with Ukraine exposed:

<><> A 2015 WSJ report includes a chart of “foreign donors” to the Clinton Foundation showing “Ukraine” as a top donor among a list of large donors including “foreign individuals and their foundations and companies" while Clinton was secretary of state from Jan. 21, 2009 to Feb. 1, 2013.

<><> Ukrainian oligarch Pinchuk donated from $10-25 million to the Clinton Foundation between 1994-2005.
<><> Pinchuk hired Clinton pollster Doug Schoen @$40,000 per month in 2000. In 2004, Schoen introduced Pinchuk to Hillary.
<><> Schoen set-up nearly a dozen meetings between Pinchuk and senior State Dept officials between Sept 2011 and Nov 2012.
<><> FOIA Emails show billionaire oligarch Pinchuk invited to dine at Secy of State Hillary's home despite denials they met.

<><> Victor Pinchuk, a former Ukrainian parliamentarian and businessman whose father-in-law is a former president of Ukraine is a connected Ukrainian who served two terms as an elected member of the Ukrainian Parliament and is a proponent of closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union.

Chelsea Clinton and Viktor Pinchuk in Kiev, Ukraine 8/21/16.

<><> The Clinton Foundation publicly reports, and its foundation spokesman confirmed, that other foreign entities have given more than the Pinchuk Foundation (which is listed as having given between $10 million and $25 million).

<><> Between 2009 and 2013, including when Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state, the Clinton Foundation received at least $8.6 million from the Victor Pinchuk Foundation based in Kiev, Ukraine, the Journal reported.

<><> In 2008, “Mr. Pinchuk made a five-year, $29 million commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative (a wing of the foundation that coordinates charitable projects) "to train future Ukrainian leaders and professionals to modernize Ukraine," according to the Clinton Foundation.
<><> Several alumni of the Clinton program are current members of the Ukrainian Parliament.

<><> Ukranian Pinchuk was especially generous---not only blanketing the Clinton Foundation with money, he hired Hillary for a $300,00 speech to help him boost Ukraine's creds; even Chelsea got into the act.

CIRCA 2013----Pinchuk and Hillary at a Ukraine forum discussing regime change, exiting Russia, (Ukrainian
progress in energy reform?)....and hitting up the US for more foreign aid from shoo-in Hillary.

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