Former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, refused to discuss the compensation he received from Burisma Holdings — the Ukrainian energy giant at the center of allegations of international corruption against him and his father —in an ABC News interview released Tuesday morning.
A partial transcript is as follows:
AMY ROBACH: What were your qualifications to be on the board of Burisma?
HUNTER BIDEN: I was vice-chairman of the board of Amtrak for five years. I was the chairman of the board of the U.N. World Food Programme. I was a lawyer for Boies Schiller Flexner, one of the most prestigious law firms in the world.
ROBACH: You didn’t have any extensive knowledge about natural gas or Ukraine itself, though.
BIDEN: No, but I think I had as much knowledge as anybody else that was on the board, if not more.
ROBACH: In the list of reasons why you were on that board, you didn’t list the fact that you were the son of the vice president. What role do you think that played?
BIDEN: I think it is impossible for me to be on the boards of any of the ones I mentioned without saying I’m the son of the vice president of the United States.
ROBACH: You were paid $50,000 a month for your position?
BIDEN: Look, I’m a private citizen. One thing I don’t have to do is sit here and open my kimono as it relates to how much money I make or made, or did or didn’t. It’s all been reported.