FBI director, House chair to meet over Hunter Biden document this week
Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley discusses FBI Director Christopher Wray's upcoming meeting with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on ‘Fox News Live.’
EXCLUSIVE: President Joe Biden was allegedly paid $5 million by an executive of the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, where his son Hunter Biden sat on the board, a confidential human source told the FBI during a June 2020 interview, sources familiar told Fox News Digital.
The sources briefed Fox News Digital on the contents of the FBI-generated FD-1023 form alleging a criminal bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national that involved influence over U.S. policy decisions.
The FD-1023 form, dated June 30, 2020, is the FBI's interview with a "highly credible" confidential source who detailed multiple meetings and conversations he or she had with a top Burisma executive over the course of several years, starting in 2015. Fox News Digital has not seen the form, but it was described by several sources who are aware of its contents.
An FD-1023 form is used by FBI agents to record unverified reporting from confidential human sources. The form is used to document information as told to an FBI agent, but recording that information does not validate or weigh it against other information known by the FBI.
President Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, step off Air Force One, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The Burisma executive sought the advice of the confidential source, a business professional, on gaining U.S. oil rights and getting involved with a U.S. oil company, the sources familiar with the document said. The Burisma executive was speaking with the confidential source to "get advice on the best way to go forward" in 2015 and 2016.
According to the FD-1023 form, the confidential human source said the Burisma executive discussed Hunter’s role on the board. The confidential human source questioned why the Burisma executive needed his or her advice in acquiring access to U.S. oil if he had Hunter Biden on the board. The Burisma executive answered by referring to Hunter Biden as "dumb."
The Burisma executive explained to the confidential source that Burisma had to "pay the Bidens" because Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin was investigating Burisma, and explained how difficult it would be to enter the U.S. market in the midst of that investigation.
The confidential source further detailed that conversation, suggesting to the Burisma executive that he "pay the Bidens $50,000 each," to which the Burisma executive replied, it is "not $50,000," it is "$5 million."
"$5 million for one Biden, $5 million for the other Biden," the Burisma executive told the confidential human source, according to a source familiar with the document.
A source familiar said according to the document, the $5 million payments appeared to reference a kind of "retainer" Burisma intended to pay the Bidens to deal with a number of issues, including the investigation led by Shokin. Another source referred to the arrangement as a "pay-to-play" scheme.
Sources familiar told Fox News Digital that the confidential human source believes that the $5 million payment to Joe Biden and the $5 million payment to Hunter Biden occurred, based on his or her conversations with the Burisma executive.
The confidential source said the Burisma executive told him he "paid" the Bidens in such a manner "through so many different bank accounts" that investigators would not be able to "unravel this for at least 10 years."
The document then makes reference to "the Big Guy," which, has been said to be a reference to Joe Biden.
The Burisma executive told the confidential source that he "didn’t pay the Big Guy directly."
President Joe Biden leaves following services at St. Edmond Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on April 15, 2023. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has learned that the confidential human source has been used by the FBI as a regular, reliable source of information since 2010 and has been paid approximately $200,000 by the bureau.
Sources said the Burisma executive appears to be at a "very, very high level" of the company. One source familiar suggested the confidential source could be referring to the head of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, but said the name of the Burisma executive is redacted in the document.
Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings, and at the time, Hunter had a highly-lucrative role on the board receiving thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.
"I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in,' I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’" Biden recalled telling then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Biden recollected the conversation during an event for the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018.
"Well, son of a bitch, he got fired," Biden said during the event. "And they put in place someone who was solid at the time."
Biden allies maintain the then-vice president pushed for Shokin's firing due to concerns the Ukrainian prosecutor went easy on corruption, and say that his firing, at the time, was the policy position of the U.S. and international community.
In 2019, then-President Donald Trump, pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine —specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings and Joe Biden’s successful effort to have Shokin ousted.
Trump's request was regarded by Democrats as a quid pro quo for millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen. Democrats also claimed Trump was meddling in the 2020 presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a Democratic political opponent.
President Biden, left, and his son Hunter Biden, right. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump was later impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress -- all stemming from the phone call and the question about the Bidens' dealings. The Senate voted for acquittal in February 2020.
The confidential source, according to the sources familiar with the FD-1023 form, told the Burisma executive he should "get away" from the Bidens and said the executive should "not want to be involved" with them.
A source familiar with the document told Fox News Digital that the confidential human source goes on to detail a later conversation with the Burisma executive following the 2016 presidential election. The confidential source asked the Burisma executive if he was "upset" that Donald Trump won.
The source said the Burisma executive told the confidential source that he was "an oracle," referring to his or her advice to "get away" from the Bidens due to fears of potential investigations into their dealings.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IO). (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The House Oversight Committee had subpoenaed the FBI for the FD-1023 document. After a back-and-forth between the committee and the bureau, and amid threats of holding FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress, the FBI allowed all committee members to view the document in a secure setting on Capitol Hill.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The revelations of the document came after a whistleblower approached GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., The whistleblower said the FBI was in possession of a document – the FD-1023 form dated June 30, 2020.
The White House has maintained that President Biden has never been involved in his son's business dealings and has never discussed them with him.
Hunter Biden is currently under federal investigations for his "tax affairs." The investigation began in 2018 and was prompted by suspicious foreign transactions.
The White House declined to comment, pointing to a statement by Joe Biden Thursday calling the allegations "a bunch of malarky."
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