Rep. Jim Jordan Asks State Department for Documents Related Hunter Biden’s Burisma Dealings

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) at a hearing with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein where he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee about Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russia's alleged election interference in 2016, in Washington on Dec. 13, 2017. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), became the latest republican lawmaker to push for an investigation into the Obama administration and their dealings with Burisma Holdings. 

Jordan, a ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, requested unredacted documents from the State Department on Thursday regarding former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s role in Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian state-run oil company.

“Former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden—along with former Secretary John Kerry’s step son, Christopher Heinz, and Devon Archer—were ‘part of a broad effort by Burisma to bring in well-connect Democrats during a period when the company was facing investigations backed not just by domestic Ukrainian forces but by officials in the Obama Administration,’” Jordan wrote in a letter (pdf) to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Jordan pointed to how the timing of Hunter Biden’s joining Burisma’s board lined up with the elder Biden’s diplomatic efforts in the Ukraine.

“During the House Democrats’ partisan impeachment inquiry in late 2019, several State Department officials described how they raised concerns during the Obama-Biden Administration about Hunter Biden’s role with Burisma,” Jordan wrote in the letter.

(L-R) Republican lawmakers Rep. Scott Perry, (R-Penn..), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Rep. Matt Gaetz, (R-Fla.), and Rep. Mark Meadows, (R-N.C.), speak to reporters after a closed door meeting with Ambassador Gordon Sondland was cancelled on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 8, 2019. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Republicans have been calling for an investigation into the role Joe Biden may have had in his son’s lucrative financial dealings with Burisma. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have both sought official documents related to the matter.

Jordan said documents obtained by the committee via a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was briefed on Hunter Biden’s role in Burisma and reports of corruption at the company, contrary to her testimony during the 2019 impeachment hearings.

The new documents show that Yovanovitch received a briefing about Burisma and issues tied to the Bidens on Sept. 21, 2016. The briefing was arranged in response to a hand-delivered letter from Burisma’s lawyer John Buretta.

In the letter, Buretta pointed to a Ukrainian court decision that considered Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky a witness rather than a suspect in a criminal case. After citing other evidence favorable to Burisma and Zlochevsky, Buretta implored Yovanovitch to take negative reports about the gas giant with a grain of salt.

The briefing was not the only encounter with Burisma that Yovanovitch omitted mentioning during the impeachment hearings. The documents show that she met with Burisma’s informal representative, Karen Tramontano from the Blue Star Strategies firm, on Dec. 8, 2016. The topline of the briefing checklist described Tramontano as an “Atlantic Council member and Washington veteran” who “informally represents Mykola Zlochevsky, the Burisma CEO who has long been the target of law enforcement proceedings in Ukraine.”

Jordan asked the State Department for “unredacted copies of all documents released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act relating to Burisma Holdings, Mykola Zlochevsky, or Hunter Biden; all documents and communications referring or relating to Burisma Holdings or Mykola Zlochevsky;  and all documents and communications referring or relating to Hunter Biden, Christopher Heinz, or Devon Archer for the period January 1, 2014, to January 20, 2017.”

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report