RELEASED: Bombshell FBI document detailing alleged $10M Biden bribery scheme: Burisma CEO said Hunter was 'stupid' but necessary to keep on board because 'his dad' could 'protect' them from 'problems'
Included in the damning form is the claim that 'it costs 5 (million) to pay one Biden, and 5 (million) to another Biden. Payments were allegedly made in exchange for the then-Vice President's influence in getting a senior Ukrainian prosecutor fired
By Kelly Laco
Daily Mail
July 29, 2023
The FD-1023 form details a $10 million total 'arrangement' for an
exchange of money for policy decisions between then-Vice President Joe
Biden, Hunter Biden and a Ukrainian oil executiveA highly-anticipated internal FBI document - obtained by DailyMail.com - includes bombshell claims that Joe Biden and his son Hunter forced a Ukrainian oil executive to pay them $10 million in exchange for the then-Vice President's influence in getting a senior prosecutor fired.
According to the conversation between a confidential source and Burisma CFO Vadim Pojarski in 2015, Hunter Biden was hired onto the company's board to 'protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems.'
Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky told the source: 'It costs 5 (million) to pay one Biden, and 5 (million) to another Biden.'
Zlochevsky added that, although Hunter 'was stupid,' and his (Zlochevsky's) dog was smarter, he was needed on the board 'so everything will be okay.'
According to the blockbuster FD-1023 form - some of which is redacted - the Confidential Human Source (CHS) met with the high-ranking Burisma executives between 2015 and 2016
Burisma was looking to spend up to $30 million on a US based oil and gas company. However, at the time, it was also the subject of a criminal investigation by Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, which the company knew 'would have a substantial negative impact on Burisma's prospective IPO in the United States.'
When asked about the investigation, the form states that Zlochevsky replied: 'Don't worry Hunter will take care of all of those issues through his dad.'
Later, then-Vice President Joe Biden made a public statement that Shokin was 'corrupt, and that he should be fired/removed from office.'
The damning form also reveals:
- ZIochevsky 'didn't want to pay the Bidens and says he was "pushed to pay" them.'
- Asked whether Hunter or Joe told him to retain Hunter on the board, Zlochevsky replied: 'They both did.'
- The source asked why Burisma didn't just 'pay some attorney $50,000' to fight Shokin's investigation in Ukraine, to which Zlochevsky replied that 'he/Burisma would likely lose the trial because he could not show that Burisma was innocent.'
- When asked how he would 'explain suspicious wire transfers', he responded that he 'did not send any funds directly to the "Big Guy" (which CHS understood was a reference to Joe Biden).'
- He added that it would take '10 years to find the records (ie illicit payments to Joe Biden).'
- In a follow-up call, Zlochevsky boasted that Shokin had been fired, there was no longer an investigation into Burisma, and 'nobody would find out about his financial dealings with the Bidens.'
- He added that, as back-up to his claims, 'he has many text messages and a total of 17 "recordings" that show he was coerced to make the payments.'
DailyMail.com previously reported that the 17 audio recordings of phone calls - two of Joe Biden and 15 of Hunter Biden - were kept as an 'insurance policy.'
The FBI FD-1023 form was created on June 30, 2020 based on information from a highly-paid informant and brought to the attention of Republicans by a whistleblower.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, obtained and published the document after a months-long back-and-forth between the top Republican and the FBI through 'legally protected disclosures' by Department of Justice (DOJ) whistleblowers.The document contains a limited number of redactions to protect the confidential human source, the handling agents, DOJ whistleblower names and references to connect ongoing investigations, according to a Senate aide.
'While the FBI sought to obfuscate and redact, the American people can now read this document for themselves, without the filter of politicians or bureaucrats, thanks to brave and heroic whistleblowers.'
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., added that the FBI's memo 'tracks closely with the evidence uncovered by the Oversight Committee's Biden family influence peddling investigation.'
'In the FBI's record, the Burisma executive claims that he didn't pay the 'big guy' directly but that he used several bank accounts to conceal the money. That sounds an awful lot like how the Bidens conduct business: using multiple bank accounts to hide the source and total amount of the money.'
The Republicans expressed their continued commitment to uncovering the truth regarding the Biden family business scheme.
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Over $17MILLION has been funneled from foreign sources to the Biden family, confirms IRS whistleblower
IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler showed his face for the first time Wednesday after blowing the whistle on preferential treatment in the Hunter Biden case – and previously only being identified as Whistleblower X
Whistleblower X - unmasked as the lead IRS investigator on the Hunter Biden probe Joseph Ziegler - confirmed that the Biden family has accepted over $17 million in foreign payments, with over half going to Hunter Biden.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., asked Ziegler during Wednesday's hearing to confirm the total amount of foreign income obtained by the Biden family.
'This brings the total amount of foreign income streams received to approximately $17 million, correct?' asked Comer.
'That is correct,' replied the whistleblower.
'The purpose of documenting the foreign sources is part of a normal international tax investigation,' Ziegler added. 'We have to figure out where the money is coming from.'
Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings LLC paid Hunter and his associates $6.5 million – but their total came to $7.3 million when a PR firm and law firm payments were taken into account.
Ziegler and IRS Supervisory Agent Gary Shapley testified before the House Oversight Committee that their investigation 'supported felony and misdemeanor tax charges,' which were ultimately not brought against the president's son Hunter due to political pressures.
Ziegler, a 13-year veteran of the IRS who was the main case agent on the Hunter probe, claimed the federal tax investigation into the president's son 'supported felony and misdemeanor tax charges' - rather than just the misdemeanor tax charges Hunter is scheduled to plead guilty to next week as part of a deal that allows him to and avoid prosecution for a separate gun charge.
The agents said under oath that U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the lead Hunter Biden prosecutor, asked Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves to bring those charges. But after Graves refused, Weiss threw out the potential felony charges and struck a plea deal with the president's son.
'I watched U.S. Attorney [David] Weiss tell a room full of senior FBI and IRS senior leaders on October 7, 2022, that he was not the deciding person on whether charges were filed,' Shapley said, contradicting Weiss' previous public statements.
'If the Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss followed DOJ policy as he stated in his most recent letter, Hunter Biden should have been charged with a tax felony, and not only the tax misdemeanor charge,' said Ziegler. 'We need to treat each taxpayer the same under the law.'
Members of the Biden family may have accepted more than $40 million from foreign nationals in return for forming favorable policy decisions, Comer has previously claimed.
The countries giving the money include China, Romania and Ukraine.
'This was organized crime - there's no other way to define it,' Kentucky Republican James Comer alleged in an interview last month.
He said the committee had identified 'six specific policy decisions' where President Joe Biden acted where the committee 'can't come to any other conclusion' other than that the president was 'compromised.'
Comer said then that he was confident his investigation would find proof of 'at least $17 million' from overseas payments, but that he would not be surprised if 'transactions exceed $40 million plus.'
The Oversight Committee chairman also said that his panel had obtained further banking statements and Treasury suspicious activity reports showing 'more bank accounts, more shell companies and more Bidens being involved in an alleged policy pedaling scheme.
The committee is expected to release those bank statements in coming weeks.
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Breakdown of the biggest bombshells in the IRS whistleblower hearing on Hunter Biden special treatment
IRS Special Agents Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley appeared before the House Oversight panel for six hours on Wednesday to share bombshell testimony. The whistleblowers detailed why they feel Hunter received special treatment
By Katelyn Caralle
IRS Special Agents Joseph Ziegler (left) and Gary Shapley (right) appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday to share bombshell testimony on why they are blowing the whistle on the case against Hunter Biden
The Oversight Committee's hearing with two IRS whistleblowers yielded plenty of buzz-worthy moments as the two men coming forward presented their case for why they believe Hunter Biden received special treatment.
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and IRS Criminal Investigator with the International Tax and Financial Crimes Division Joseph Ziegler testified publicly to the House Oversight and Reform Committee for six hours on Wednesday.
Both agents claim President Joe Biden's son Hunter, 52, was treated differently than other taxpayers and the case was handled in a special manner – leading them to feel compelled to come forward.
DailyMail.com breaks down some of the most important and shocking moments from the lengthy hearing.
The whistleblowers claim that Hunter, 52, received special and preferential treatment from federal authorities in the investigation into his tax fraud crimes
WHISTLEBLOWERS CLAIM HUNTER BIDEN SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH A FELONY
It appears one of the major gripes that IRS agents had with Hunter Biden's case is that the Department of Justice (DOJ) did not go forward with charging the president's son with a felony.
They claim that any other American who committed the same tax crimes as Hunter Biden would be charged with felonies.
Hunter Biden reached a plea deal last month with the Justice Department that allowed him to plead guilty to two tax fraud misdemeanors. A deal that also allowed the president's son to avoid jail time for his tax crimes.
'In the Criminal Tax Manual Chapter 10, found on the DOJ website, Tax Division policy states that cases involving individuals who fail to file tax returns or pay a tax, but who also commit acts of evasion or obstruction, should be charged as felonies to avoid inequitable treatment,' Special Agent Ziegler said in his opening remarks before the Oversight panel.
'In early August of 2022, federal prosecutors from the Department of Justice Tax Division drafted a 99-page memorandum. In so, they were recommending for approval felony and misdemeanor charges for 2017, '18 and '19 tax years,' he said. 'That did not happen here and I'm not sure why.'
'As the special agent on this case, I thought the felony cases were well supported,' he added.
As Ziegler and Shapley came forward, Hunter (pictured in Malibu, California earlier this month) was reaching a 'sweetheart plea deal' where he was only charged with two misdemeanor tax fraud charges and was able to avoid jail time. The whistleblowers say that all evidence in the case should have led to felony charges against the president's adult son
Ziegler, who was revealed to the public as the second whistleblower for the first time on Wednesday, identifies himself as a 'gay Democrat married to a man,' and said he is coming forward to do the 'right thing.'
He insists that his decision to blow the whistle in the Hunter Biden case is not politically motivated.
In the plea deal last month, Hunter also was able to avoid facing the full consequences for lying on a federal form to purchase a firearm – claiming that he was not taking or addicted to any illicit substance.
Shapley said that the 'optics' is what stopped Weiss from carrying out felony charges, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Wolf from carrying out a search warrant against Hunter.
Rep. Clay Higgins asked during the hearing: 'You told Congress that Assistant U.S. Attorney Wolf also said, 'That the question is whether the juice is worth the squeeze,' that's a quote. And that 'optics' were a driving factor in the decision for whether to execute a search warrant. Optics? Have you ever run into that Mr. Shapley?'
'I have not,' Shapley responded.
'Now why do you think the Department of Justice might be concerned about optics in a search of the President's son's residence during the course of a criminal investigation?' Higgins asked.
'Just the sensitivities involved with that search warrant,' Shapley said.
AGENTS CONFIRM THE BIDENS AND ASSOCIATES RECEIVED $17 MILLION FROM FOREIGN ENTITIES
Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-KY., asked Special Agent Ziegler about the amounts of money Hunter and his business associates received from foreign businesses and income streams, including from Romania and Ukraine.
One company paid out $3.1 million, another $3.7 million and another $3 million.
Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings LLC paid Hunter and his associates $6.5 million – but their total came to $7.3 million when a PR firm and law firm payments were taken into account.
Comer asked Ziegler to confirm the total amount of foreign income obtained by the Biden family: 'Between 2014-2019, this brings the total amount of foreign income streams received to approximately $17 million, correct?'
'That is correct,' replied the whistleblower.
Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, invited to the hearing by Comer, said it was obvious from his 15 hours of interviews with Ziegler and Shapley that tax law was not being applied equally to all Americans.
'Clearly the President only believes in making taxpayers pay their fair share if they don't share his last name,' Smith said.
'These two courageous whistleblowers provided my committee with devastating testimony showing that the government is not treating all taxpayers equally – and the DOJ and the IRS gave preferential treatment to the President's son during a criminal investigation into his taxes.'
JOE BIDEN SHOWED UP TO FBI OFFICES DURING THE IRS HUNTER INVESTIGATION
During the investigation into Hunter, his father showed up at an FBI office, Ziegler detailed in his prepared remarks for Congress.
He shared concerns with the case falling under the jurisdiction of Joe Biden's home state of Delaware because the family is 'well-known' throughout the state and might influence some of the agents' feelings toward the probe.
'There were definitely potential issues I saw with working this case in Delaware,' Ziegler claims.
In prepared remarks for Congress, Ziegler detailed a time when President Biden showed up to FBI offices during the investigation into his son for an unrelated matter, proving that having the case in Delaware contributed to muddying the waters of favorability shown toward Hunter
'We were working with a small [US Attorney's Office] who might not have ever worked a case of this caliber,' he added. 'Delaware was the state in which the subject's father lived in, and the family was extremely well known throughout the state, including people on the team.'
'This was later evident by the president, Joe Biden, having to come into the FBI office on an unrelated matter, and it being joked [about] with the team,' Ziegler said in detailing another example of the unequal treatment in Hunter Biden's case.
To further muddy the waters, Ziegler said that the whole case was delayed four months after a Delaware magistrate judge made inappropriate comments regarding a search warrant in the case.
The judge ultimately had to recuse themselves from the investigation.
'Another example was that a magistrate judge in Delaware made inappropriate comments at the signing of the first electronic search warrant that had caused her to recuse themself from the investigation, which set us back an additional 4 months as we had to draft new warrants and redo investigative steps,' Ziegler detailed.
IRS AGENTS ACCUSE DELAWARE ATTORNEY DAVID WEISS OF CONTRADICTING HIMSELF ON CHARGING AUTHORITY
Ziegler also brought into question during Wednesday's hearing the credibility of Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss.
He claimed that the federal prosecutor in charge of the case changed his story when it came to carrying out charges against Hunter Biden.
'In a recent letter to Congress, Mr. Weiss stated that he had been granted ultimate authority over the matter, but then later stated in the same letter that his charging authority is geographically limited – and that he would need a President Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney to partner with him in charging the case,' Ziegler lamented to the Oversight Committee.
'Mr. Weiss stated that he was making all decisions necessary to preserve the integrity of the prosecution consistent with federal law.'
Ziegler and Shapley said that Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss (pictured) has contradicted himself when it comes to charing authority. At times, they claim he said that his authority is geographically limited, but in a letter to Congress Weiss said he had 'ultimate authority' over the matter
Both Ziegler and Shapley claimed that the DOJ slow-played the five-year probe into the First Son's financial crimes.
Both Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland have denied the agents' claims.
Oversight Democrat Ranking Member Jaime Raskin pointed out that Weiss and Garland now maintain that the Delaware prosecutor had authority to bring whatever charges he saw fit.
'In a letter that he sent to Chairman Jordan in June, U.S. Attorney Weiss stated, and I quote: 'I have been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when and whether to file charges,' Raskin recited.
Raskin asked Shapley if it was a common occurrence that prosecutors would disagree with his recommended charges.
He conceded that it does happen.
INVESTIGATORS WERE PREVENTED FROM LOOKING INTO PRESIDENT BIDEN OR INTERVIEWING FAMILY
Whenever a question involving President Biden came up in the IRS case into the First Son, the investigators were told not to go there.
Ziegler, in a pre-recorded interview that coincided with his live testimony, told CBS News that he was often shooed away from looking into the president's potential involvement in his son's tax crimes.
'Did you uncover evidence that President Biden financially benefited from his son's deals?' interviewer Catherine Herridge asked.
'I don't feel comfortable answering that question,' Ziegler replied.
When prompted to explain why, he said: 'Anytime we potentially wanted to go down the road of asking questions related to the President, it was, 'That's going to take too much approvals. We can't ask those questions.' And, I mean, it created an environment that was very hard to deal with.'
'It's a politically sensitive case, wouldn't it require additional approvals?' she pressed.
He responded: 'Yes, I do understand that aspect. But it would be like, 'Well, let's think about it. Let's put it on the backburner.'
Additionally, at the hearing, Ziegler and Shapley said that they were stopped from interviewing family members of President Biden – including his adult children and grandchildren.
Shapley and Ziegler shared they were stopped from interviewing Biden and members of his family, including his adult grandchildren. 'I've never been told that we couldn't approach someone to interview them as a part of an investigation,' Ziegler said when asked if it's normal to be prevented from interviewing witnesses
'As a part of the investigation you want to interview people who might have received money, people who might have had deductions that were deducted on the tax returns,' Ziegler explained when asked why he wanted to talk with Biden's grandchildren.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, who joined the hearing on Wednesday, shared what was uncovered during interviews his panel had with Ziegler and Shapley.
He also says that the special agents were warned about interviewing Biden's family members.
'You also testified that Assistant United States Attorney Leslie Wolf to you that you would 'get into hot water' if you interviewed the President's grandchildren. In other cases that you've worked over your career, have you ever had a prosecutor tell you that you can't interview a relevant witness?' Ziegler asked.
'I've never been told that we couldn't approach someone to interview them as a part of an investigation,' he responded.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE DISPLAYS EXPLICIT IMAGES OF HUNTER WITH ESCORTS
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene held up poster boards with images of a naked Hunter Biden with women he allegedly flew in and paid for sex.
Greene warned those watching the hearing at home that 'parental discretion is advised' for her questioning. The shocking moment went out on the C-SPAN live stream as well as other cable network channels airing the hearing, including Fox News.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene held up posters at the hearing that displayed crude and explicit images of Hunter Biden in sex acts with escorts. She warned: 'Before we begin, I would like to let the committee and everyone watching at home that parental discretion is advised'
Hunter filed a business tax write-off claiming that the cost of flying the prostitutes from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. was a business expense for travel for a 'west coast assistant'
'Should we be displaying this?' Ranking Member Raskin asked at one point during crosstalk with other members of the panel.
The images from Hunter's laptop hard drive were printed on poster board that Rep. Greene held up at the hearing. The images showcased President Biden's son engaged in sex acts with prostitutes.
'Before we begin, I would like to let the committee and everyone watching at home that parental discretion is advised,' Greene said.
The reason for showing the images, other than to shock viewers, was for Greene to ask about Hunter Biden writing off taxes for costs related to escorts, prostitutes and sex clubs. She also presented evidence that Hunter Biden paid for tickets for the escort to come out from Los Angeles to meet him in Washington, D.C. in June 2018.
'If he was purchasing her a plane ticket for sex and traveling across state lines, do you believe that is a violation [of law]?' Greene questioned the two IRS whistleblowers.
She added that the 'west coast assistant' noted in Hunter Biden's tax filings was likely this person he allegedly flew out from Los Angeles for prostitution purposes.
'That's not what paralegals do,' Greene said to laughter from those watching the hearing in the room.
Ziegler, the lead agent on Hunter's case, said that he found in the investigation that Hunter did deduct from his taxes payments that he claimed were for a golf club membership, but were actually for a sex club, as well travel for escorts rather than assistants.
The explicit images were displayed on C-SPAN live stream and other networks airing the hearing. C-SPAN's highlight reel of the hearing warns of 'GRAPHIC IMAGES' when Rep. Greene asks about Hunter hiring prostitutes
2 comments:
IT'S ALL A LIE. THERE IS NO PROOF. JOE DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING. HUNTER WAS SO STONED HE DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING EITHER. IT IS ALL DONALD TRUMPS FAULT. NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG ASSHOLES.
Trump 2024!
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