Recently released government records indicate that a well-known attorney, who advocated for the supposedly corrupt Ukrainian energy company Burisma, underwent an investigation by the Justice Department and was compelled to declare as a foreign agent.
Moreover, the conservative organization that acquired the documents firmly believes that Hunter Biden, who served on Burisma’s board between 2014 and 2019, escaped scrutiny in the investigation due to his family name.
The files were released this week under the Freedom of Information Act to conservative nonprofit The Oversight Project.
During an exclusive conversation with DailyMail.com, the president of the think tank, Mike Howell, criticized the DOJ for its alleged failure to acknowledge that Hunter might have been operating as a foreign agent.
‘This document return shows this lawyer, John Buretta, was doing the same activity the [Hunter]was doing, and he had to register,’ Howell said.
He added that he believes the only reason Hunter wasn’t forced to register as a foreign agent too is ‘because he was the President’s son, and it would be a massive embarrassment if the First Family had to register as foreign agents.’
The newly released documents show the DOJ determined as far back as 2022 that Burisma’s former US lawyer, John Buretta of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, should have registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), because he was having meetings with top US government officials in 2016 trying to sway them in Burisma’s favor.
FARA is designed to keep tabs on anyone attempting to influence US government officials or the American public on behalf of foreign governments or organizations.
Hunter Biden has faced renewed scrutiny over his role with Ukrainian energy firm BurismaÂ
John D. Buretta, former U.S. prosecutor and legal counsel to Burisma, was later required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) following his work with the Ukrainian energy firm
Howell claims that the DOJ knew Hunter had been doing the same thing as Buretta – but failed to pursue him due to his last name.
‘Special Counsel David Weiss tried to basically pardon Hunter by a plea deal, refusing to look at the obvious, that Hunter was a foreign agent,’ Howell said.
‘The government, to include the intelligence community, federal law enforcement, prosecutors and the White House, twisted itself into pretzels over a long period of time to avoid the obvious with the Biden family.’
The documents newly released by the DOJ include a June 1 2023 letter from the department’s FARA Unit chief Jennifer Gellie to Buretta’s attorneys, laying out why he was meant to register as a foreign agent.
Gellie’s letter detailed how Buretta and his law firm Cravath were hired by Burisma in January 2016 ‘in connection with a possible investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and/or other United States governmental authorities’.
The letter said Buretta had ‘three meetings with U.S. government officials in March 2016’: Catherine Novelli, the Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment; Bruce Swartz, a Justice Department’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General; and Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs.
According to Gellie, at each of the meetings Buretta encouraged the officials to take a more positive view of Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky, who had been the subject of a US and UK corruption investigation.
Emails turned over to the Oversight Project along with the bombshell letter show that the Justice Department was investigating Buretta’s failure to file under FARA from at least December 2022.
Pictured: Evidence from U.S. v. Smirnov: On March 1, 2017, Smirnov sent a photo of a Burisma official’s business card
Buretta and Cravath were eventually forced to file, more than eight years after their meetings, in January 2024. In their filing they disclosed that Burisma paid them nearly $350,000 between March 2016 and August 2017.
Oversight Project president Howell told DailyMail.com that Hunter had done the same thing for Burisma as Buretta – that he was hired by the company and then met with US government officials, including his father, who was Vice President at the time, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
But despite what Howell described as the ‘apples to apples’ comparison, the DOJ did not ask Hunter to file as they did Buretta.
Emails from Hunter’s abandoned laptop obtained by the FBI in 2019 show he orchestrated a meeting between Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi and Joe Biden at a 2015 dinner at Cafe Milano in Washington DC.
Other emails show Hunter arranged a meeting with Secretary Blinken in May 2015, while Hunter served on the board of Burisma.
Blinken denied emailing Hunter in a 2020 interview with Senate investigators. But messages from Blinken’s personal email account show him telling Hunter on July 22 2015 it was ‘Great to see you and catch up’.
Hunter also emailed Blinken’s wife Evan Ryan in July 2016 in an attempt to connect Blinken with Burisma-hired lobbyist Blue Star Strategies.
Hunter Biden arrives at federal court in Wilmington after being indicted on gun charges tied to a 2018 firearm purchase while allegedly using drugsÂ
Former Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Hunter Biden in 2015 while Hunter was serving on Burisma’s board – a connection later scrutinized amid questions about foreign influence
In April 2015, Hunter Biden arranged a dinner at Café Milano in Washington, D.C., where Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi was introduced to then – Vice President Joe Biden, according to emails from Hunter’s laptop
Blue Star, a Democrat lobby shop hired by Burisma at Hunter’s behest, was run by Karen Tramontano and Sally Painter, who joined Buretta in two of his meetings with US officials in 2016.
Tramontano and Painter were also forced by the DOJ in 2022 to belatedly file under FARA over their work for Burisma after a law enforcement probe.
Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi detailed in a November 2015 email on Hunter’s laptop, how he wanted ‘a list of deliverables’ from Blue Star, including ‘high-ranking US officials in Ukraine (US Ambassador) and in US publicly or in private communication/comment expressing their ‘positive opinion’ and support of [company owner] Nikolay/Burisma’.
In sworn testimony to Congress, Blue Star CEO Karen Tramontano said Hunter did not direct any of her firm’s work for Burisma and played down her relationship with him.
But emails from Hunter’s laptop previously uncovered by DailyMail.com show he was the point man for Blue Star’s hiring by Burisma in 2015, and he had been close with Tramontano for years.
She even discussed registering her investment banking license with Hunter’s firm in 2014.
A lawyer for fellow Burisma board member Devon Archer told DailyMail.com that his client has testified to a grand jury about Burisma, confirming Delaware prosecutors did obtain evidence about Hunter’s dealings with the Ukrainian firm from first-hand witnesses.
Archer also had a meeting with Joe Biden at the White House in April 2014, days before he joined Burisma’s board.
Despite emails showing Hunter Biden helped Burisma engage with U.S. officials, he was never required to register as a foreign agent. (Pictured: Then-Vice President Joe Biden and son Hunter at a hockey game in Vancouver on Feb. 14, 2010)Â
Hunter Biden attends a Town & Country philanthropy event in New York City on May 28, 2014 – during the same year he joined the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma
The DOJ were forced to admit in a dramatic Delaware court hearing in July 2023 that Hunter could be liable for FARA charges.
Federal judge Maryellen Noreika questioned prosecutors on what Republican lawmakers called a ‘sweetheart’ deal cut with the then-President’s son over gun crime and tax charges. The deal fell apart when prosecutors said they could later charge Hunter for FARA violations.
The former First Son was ultimately convicted of both the gun and tax crimes and faced up to 17 years in prison, but was given a ‘full and unconditional’ pardon before Joe Biden left office in December, preventing prosecution for any crimes dating back to 2014.
Two IRS whistleblowers who ran the five-year criminal tax probe into Hunter testified to Congress that there were potential FARA violations arising from Hunter’s work with Burisma in 2014 and 2015.
But IRS Criminal Investigation Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and his subordinate Joseph Ziegler claimed investigators were blocked from pursuing those leads by DOJ officials.
‘It’s critically important that we, this country, come to terms with the fact that we had a very corrupt period in American history, and the result of that corruption was a lot of terrible things happened,’ Howell told DailyMail.com.
‘If you don’t solve these things, things will get worse. That’s why we’ve done more than anybody else on this. We know there’s so much more out there that needs to be put out.
‘The American people deserve the truth.’
Buretta, Blinken and Biden did not respond to requests for comment.
