In a surprising revelation, Rep. Elise Stefanik, House Republican Conference Chair, has brought attention to a controversial photograph that raises questions about the involvement of then-Vice President Biden in Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine.
The photograph, taken aboard Air Force Two during Biden’s trip to Ukraine in 2015, shows him talking to Amos Hochstein, who is currently serving as President Biden’s special presidential coordinator.
The photograph, taken by White House photographer David Lienemann, was captured on Dec. 6, 2015, while en route to Kiev. This was the same trip during which Biden allegedly threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid unless Ukraine fired its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin.
The timing and context of this photograph have raised eyebrows, particularly regarding Hochstein’s reported communication with Hunter Biden and his associates at Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian energy company where Hunter served on the board.
Top House Republican rips ‘damning picture’ of Biden with Hunter-linked adviser on 2015 Ukraine trip | Its official republicans in Washington are utter morons https://t.co/gvSw5ydeNj
— DemokkkRATS are racist (@DemokkkratsR) August 10, 2023
The saga began in the summer of 2014 when Hunter joined the board of Burisma.
Shortly after, he and his associates at Burisma and his now-defunct Rosemont Seneca Partners discussed reaching out to Hochstein for contacts who could help navigate a new tax in Ukraine on private energy companies.
This move came after the Ukrainian parliament voted in favor of raising the tax for private gas producers, causing concern among Burisma executives.
In November 2014, Hochstein attended a meeting at Biden’s Naval Observatory residence, according to White House visitor logs.
The following day, Eric Schwerin, then-president of Rosemont Seneca Partners, sent Hunter a link to Hochstein’s biography on the State Department’s website, further solidifying their connection.
In 2015, Hochstein reportedly expressed concerns to both Biden and Hunter that Hunter’s position on Burisma’s board enabled Russian disinformation efforts and risked undermining U.S. policy in Ukraine.
These concerns were raised during multiple meetings at the White House, as shown in the visitor logs.
“Hunter Biden and his business associates told Ukrainian energy firm Burisma to remove a picture of then-Vice President Joe Biden and Burisma board member Devon Archer from its website, emails from the Hunter Biden laptop archive show” https://t.co/FzkTkiF9v5
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) August 8, 2023
The controversy deepens with the revelation that on the same day Hunter introduced his father to Burisma executive Pozharskyi and other business associates from Kazakhstan and Russia during a dinner at Café Milano in Washington, D.C., Hochstein met with Biden.
The day after the dinner, Hunter received an email from Pozharskyi thanking him for the opportunity to meet his father.
The saga reached its peak in December 2015 when Biden visited Ukraine and threatened to withhold aid if Shokin, who was investigating Burisma, was not fired.
Three months later, Shokin was indeed fired, a move that Biden later boasted about, claiming it demonstrated his foreign policy skills.
This article appeared in Conservative Cardinal and has been published here with permission.
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