Stephen Miller’s America First Legal filed a complaint with the Justice Department on Friday accusing President Joe Biden’s son Hunter of having violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by failing to register as a foreign agent.
The complaint is based on Obama administration emails showing that, following Hunter’s appointment to the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma’s board in 2014, he advised his father’s office on what to say to the press about the appointment.
“Burisma is a ‘foreign principal’ under FARA. Hunter Biden is Burisma’s agent and subject to FARA registration because he was an officer of Burisma and represented Burisma’s interests to the Office of the Vice President in addition to advising on a public relations matter. As an officer, Hunter Biden acted ‘at the order, request, or under the direction or control, of a foreign principal,'” the complaint reads.
“In advising the Office of the Vice President how to respond to press inquiries about his appointment, Hunter Biden ‘represent[ed] the interests of [a] foreign principal before any agency or official of the Government of the United States,’” it continues.
BREAKING: America First Legal filed a complaint with the DOJ against Hunter Biden for failing to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act during his time as a board member of the Ukrainian oil and natural gas company, Burisma.https://t.co/Rgy5y1kBK2
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) March 3, 2023
The lofty charge is buttressed by a string of emails showing Hunter Biden advising his father’s then-press secretary, Kendra Barkoff, on how to deal with press inquiries about his appointment to Burisma’s board of directors.
In one email dated May 13th, 2014, he advised Barkoff to refer the media to Burisma’s office.
“For the time being I’d just refer them to my office. FYI I joined the board of Burisma Holdings Ltd. (Burisma.com) an independent/private natural gas producer in Ukraine along with the former president of Poland. I think the press release is on their web site,” he wrote.
In another email sent about 30 minutes later, he provided more information.
“Burisma is completely independent of Ukrainian government with an independent board of directors. NZ served as Minister of Ecology and resigned in 2010. I joined the board as legal adviser and Burisma also engaged he law firm I am of counsel to Boies Schiller Flexner on matters pertaining to corporate governance, transparency and expansion. Alana Apter former head of Morgan Stanley Europe is chairman of the board,” this email reads.
In a third email, this one sent by Barkoff on June 26th of 2014, she directly emailed him the statement that the Office of the Vice President was doling out to the media.
“Been giving out this statement: ‘Hunter Biden is a private citizen and a lawyer. The Vice President does not endorse any particular company and has no involvement with this company. For any additional questions, I refer you to Hunter’s office,” the email reads.
Separate emails obtained by America First Legal show that officials within the Obama administration and even the National Security Council had raised concerns about Hunter’s appointment to Burisma’s board, alleging that it may constitute a conflict of interest.
“Russian state media is loving this press release, supposedly from a Cypriot-held Ukrainian natural gas company, claiming that the Vice President’s son has joined its board of directors,” one email written on May 13th of 2014 reads.
“The news seems rather odd on its face and, if true, would present a fairly glaring conflict of interest given the VP’s role on Ukraine policy — particularly since the company is controlled by Nikolai Zlochevsky, who was energy minister and deputy NSC chief under Yanukovych,” it continues.
As previously reported, America First Legal is a law firm launched by Miller following the end of the Trump administration.
In a statement to the New York Post, Miller compared the severe sentence that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort had received for violating FARA with the lack of prosecution that Hunter has and continues to face.
Paul Manafort was put in solitary confinement for FARA violations.
HUNTER BIDEN is a walking talking FARA VIOLATION and he’s summering in Malibu.
Tell me again how nobody is above the law.
— Dr. Willie J. Montague (@WillieJMontague) July 22, 2022
“Leftist prosecutors gave Paul Manafort the functional equivalent of a life sentence for providing real counsel to the Ukrainian government based on decades of experience as a top political adviser. Hunter Biden was acting as a foreign agent, peddling his family name, with no legitimate experience whatsoever, and yet DOJ apparently couldn’t care less,” he said.
“Corruption piled on top of corruption. The documents we obtained from the National Archives make clear that Hunter violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act and therefore must be held fully accountable under the law. America First Legal has filed a formal FARA complaint with DOJ to initiate that process. It is also essential that DOJ investigate Joe Biden’s collusive scheme with his son and the pay-for-play scandals that have enriched the Biden family,” he added.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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