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Join Telegram ChannelHunter Biden reportedly sought U.S. government help for a lucrative energy project in Italy when President Biden was vice president, underscoring allegations that he used his father's political position as leverage for his overseas business interests.
The younger Biden wrote at least one letter to the U.S. ambassador to Italy in 2016 asking for help from Ukrainian gas company Burisma, where he was a board member, according to newly released documents and interviews cited by The New York Times.
The response was lukewarm, with officials somewhat hesitant to respond to a request from the son of a sitting vice president on behalf of a foreign company.
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Hunter Biden has been accused in the past of using his father's political influence to further his business interests. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
“This is a Ukrainian company and, just to protect ourselves, USG should not actively advocate with the Italian government without the company going through the DOC’s advocacy center,” one official wrote.
These acronyms refer to the United States government and a Commerce Department program that supports American companies seeking to do business with foreign governments.
“I want to be careful not to overpromise,” wrote a Commerce Department official based at the U.S. Embassy in Rome who responded.
Hunter Biden asked several people if they could set up an introduction between Burisma and the president of Italy's Tuscany region, where Burisma was pursuing a geothermal project, said Abbe Lowell, Biden's attorney.
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The headquarters of Burisma Holdings is seen in kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Researchers at Area 1, a security firm run by a former National Security Agency official, said Russian hackers sent phishing emails to Burisma Holdings subsidiaries in an attempt to penetrate the Ukrainian energy company. (Photographer: Evgeniy Maloletka/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He said no meeting took place.
“No meetings took place, no projects were finalized, no requests were made to the United States and only a presentation in Italy was requested,”
In a statement to the Times, Lowell said Biden's move was an “appropriate request.”
President Biden was not aware that his son had contacted the U.S. Embassy in Italy on behalf of Myanmar when he was vice president, the White House said.
Hunter Biden has not been charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, which requires people to disclose when they lobby the U.S. government on behalf of foreign interests.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden arrive at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 6, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. Hunter Biden's gun trial continues today with additional witnesses. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital has contacted the State Department and the White House.