State Department official George Kent told congressional investigators that he raised concerns about Hunter Biden’s board position at a Ukrainian energy firm in 2015 but was rebuffed by the Obama White House.
The deputy assistant secretary of state overseeing Ukrainian policy said in his Tuesday closed-door testimony that Hunter Biden, 49, the younger son of 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden, had caused concern with his involvement in Burisma Holdings in Ukraine, according to the Washington Post.
Kent’s testimony, which was subpoenaed as part of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Trump, claimed that his concern was that the younger Biden’s work oversees could muddle the strong U.S. position that conflicts of interest with Ukraine be avoided.
He claimed he was told that Biden, who was then vice president, did not have the “bandwidth” to consider Hunter Biden’s Ukraine dealings because his other son, Beau, was dying from brain cancer. He did not name the Biden official who dismissed his concerns in 2015.
Hunter Biden said in a Tuesday interview that it would have been “impossible for me to be on any of the boards … without saying that I am the son of the vice president of the United States.” Hunter also said that he was not guilty of any malfeasance during his time with Burisma but that joining the board might have reflected “poor judgment.” He was paid $50,000 a month by Burisma.
An anonymous Biden aide dismissed the notion that the vice president had been distracted by Beau Biden’s illness. “Day to day the vice president was at work and he was pretty focused,” the aide said. “Does that mean it’s inconceivable that someone said, ‘Hey look it’s not the time to raise a family issue?’ I guess it’s conceivable. But I never saw evidence he wasn’t capable of doing the VP role and dealing with his family at the same time.”
Joe Biden said last week, “In my White House, none of my children or family have offices at the White House.”
“They will not be invited to sit in significant meetings of a Cabinet-level post and they will have no foreign investment, and the reason to do that is not because of anything that went on in our administration,” he said. “It is because of what Donald Trump has done. He has so debased the standard of what constitutes ethical behavior that the next president has to make it absolutely clear — absolutely clear — this will not happen again.”
