Bidens 'coerced' Burisma CEO in bribery scheme to get Ukraine prosecutor fired: FBI document

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley released an unclassified FBI document on Thursday (July 21) that leveled grave allegations against US President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in relation to a criminal bribery scheme involving a Ukrainian company Burisma.

According to the released document, Burisma's CEO Mykola Zlochevsky was purportedly "coerced" into paying millions of dollars to the Bidens in exchange for their help in getting fired a Ukrainian prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was investigating the company for corruption.

The matter is related to the gas firm's executive who was facing challenges in accessing the US oil market due to a corruption investigation by Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin and was seeking favour from the Bidens.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Fox News earlier reported citing sources said that US President Joe Biden received a substantial payment of $5 million from the executive to curry favours.

Also Read | Fed fines Deutsche Bank $186 million for inefficient action to restrain money laundering

Grassley said that he released the document so that Americans can "read this document for themselves without the filter of politicians or bureaucrats."

It is important to note that Biden's son, Hunter Biden, served on the company's board at the time.

The document, the FBI FD-1023 form, was used by FBI agents to document unverified information provided by confidential human sources (CHS).

The form, dated 30 June 2020, reportedly describes an interviewed source as "highly credible."

As per the form, the confidential human source discussed multiple meetings held with a senior executive from Burisma over several years, starting in 2015. states that the contact with the source was made via a telephonic conversation.

In the form, Burisma's CEO Zlochevsky revealed to the source that he had evidence such as "many text messages and ‘recordings’ to "show he was coerced to make such payments" to the Bidens.

Also Read | Robots for sex? Expert warns AI can 'eliminate' the need for human partners

"CHS recalled this meeting took place around the time Joe Biden made a public statement about (former) Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin being corrupt, and that he should be fired/removed from office," the form states adding, "CHS told Zlochevsky that due to Shokin’s investigation into Burisma, which was made public at this time, it would have a substantial negative impact on Burisma’s prospective IPO in the United States."

Watch | Israel: Protesters demand complete withdrawal of judicial bill

Zlochevsky, in response, said something that insinuated, "Don’t worry Hunter will take care of those issues through his dad."

The form added that the source "did not ask any further questions about what that specifically meant."

"CHS advised Zlochevsky it would be problematic to raise capital in the US given Shokin’s investigation into Burisma as nobody in the US would invest in a company that was the subject of a criminal investigation," the form stated adding,"CHS suggested it would be best if Burisma simply litigate the matter in Ukraine, and pay some attorney $50,000," the form states, but Zlochevsky said Burisma "would likely lose the trial because he could not show that Burisma was innocent."

WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.