Vedant Patel confirmed that the administration released the documents under the Public Information Act, which include a 2016 letter in which then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son asked the U.S. ambassador to Italy to contact an Italian region with its general manager where a Ukrainian energy company wanted to start extracting geothermal energy — as our newspaper previously reported.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer denied on Wednesday that his client had acted improperly, stating that, as a member of Burisma’s board of directors, he had contacted the American diplomat, among others, so that a personal meeting could be arranged with the Tuscan leader. According to Abbe Lowell, this was an “appropriate request” but no meeting or business took place, and the request was only to facilitate personal contact.
The White House claims that Joe Biden, who was vice president in 2016, was unaware of his son's request to the Italian ambassador.
Documents published by the New York Times on Tuesday reveal that the embassy's commercial official responded to the investigation reluctantly, saying, “I want to be careful about promising too much.”
Hunter Biden was a board member of a Ukrainian energy company from 2013 to 2018, which Republicans say covered up Joe Biden’s abuse of office, from which the Biden family gained a serious financial advantage. House Republicans launched a formal investigation into the Biden family’s business affairs last year.
Joe Biden was Vice President of the United States until January 2017 as part of the administration of President Barack Obama.
Cover photo: Valerie Biden, sister of US President Joe Biden, walks next to Owens and her son Hunter Biden (Photo: AFP)
