On Monday, Senator Chuck Grassley said that the Burisma executive who allegedly paid Hunter and Joe Biden kept 17 audio recordings of his conversations with them as an “insurance policy” and cited the FBI FD-1023 form that the bureau briefed lawmakers in Congress on.
Republican Senator Grassley of Iowa revealed on the Senate floor what was said to be a redacted reference in the FD-1023 form that was generated by the FBI alleging a criminal bribery scheme between then-President Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national that involved influence over making U.S. policy decisions.
The FD-1023 form is dated June 30, 2020. It is the agency’s interview with a “highly credible” confidential source who detailed several conversations and meetings she or he had with a top Burisma executive over the course of several years, beginning in 2015.
Senator Grassley said the FD-1023 has a redacted reference that the executive from Burisma possesses fifteen audio recordings of phone calls between the individual and Hunter Biden.
According to Grassley, the form also states that the executive also has two audio recordings of phone calls between himself and then Vice-President Joe Biden.
From the Senate floor, Grassley slammed the FBI for not complying with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena and said Congress “still lacks a full and complete picture with respect to what that document really says.”
“That’s why it’s important that the document be made public without unnecessary redactions for the American people to see,” said Grassley. “Let me assist for purposes of transparency.”
Grassley continued, “The 1023 produced to that House Committee redacted reference that the foreign national who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden allegedly has audio recordings of his conversations with them. 17 total recordings.”
“According to the 1023, the foreign national possesses 15 audio recordings of phone calls between him and Hunter Biden,” said Grassley, “According to the 1023, the foreign national possesses two audio recordings of phone calls between him and then-Vice President Joe Biden.”
Grassley asked, “What, if anything, has the Justice Department and FBI done to investigate?”
“The Justice Department and FBI must show their work,” said Grassley. “They no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt.”
Following last month’s subpoena from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, the FBI brought the document to the Capitol last week. The FBI briefed committee Democrat Ranking Member Jamie Rasking of Maryland and Comer on the form in a SCIF on Capitol Hill but didn’t turn over the document. Comer threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress.
The FBI made another accommodation and later brought the form to a secure setting on Capitol Hill for all members of the Oversight Committee to view; however, the document is still not in the committee’s possession.
Form discussed Hunter Biden’s position, paying the Bidens
According to the FD-1023 form, the source said the Burisma executive discussed Hunter Biden’s role on the board. The source questioned why the executive needed her or his advice in acquiring access to U.S. oil if he had Hunter Biden on the board. The Burisma executive referred to the younger Biden as “dumb.”
The executive continued to explain to the source that the company needed to “pay the Bidens” because Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin was investigating Burisma and explained it would be difficult to enter the United States market in the middle of an investigation.
The confidential source detailed the conversation further, suggesting to the Burisma executive that he “pay the Bidens $50,000 each,” to which the executive replied, it is “not $50,000,” it is “$5 million.”
“$5 million for one Biden, $5 million for the other Biden,” the executive from Burisma told the confidential source, according to a source familiar with the document.
According to the document, the $5 million payments appeared to reference a kind of “retainer” Burisma intended to pay the Bidens to deal with several issues, including the investigation led by Shokin. A different source referred to the arrangement as a “pay-to-play scheme.”
Sources familiar with the document say that the confidential source believes the $5 million payment to Joe Biden and the $5 million payment to his son Hunter occurred, based on her or his conversations with the Burisma executive.
The source said the executive was told he “paid” the Bidens in a manner “through so many different bank accounts” that investigators wouldn’t be able to “unravel this for at least ten years.”
The document also references “the Big Guy,” which is said to be a reference to Joe Biden.
Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, he was investigating Burisma holdings, where Hunter Biden had a lucrative role on the board where he received thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold critical U.S. aid amounting to $1 billion if Shokin was not fired.
According to the sources familiar with the FD-1023 form, the confidential source told the Burisma executive he should “get away” from the Bidens. It said the executive should “not want to be involved” with them.
The White House refused to comment, pointing to a statement by Joe Biden Thursday where he called the allegations “a bunch of malarky.”
