Burisma Holdings paid the Biden family business $7.3 million over the course of many years, including when President Joe Biden was vice president, IRS agent Joseph Ziegler told Congress.
While speaking before House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY), Ziegler confirmed the Biden business received a total of $7.3 million starting in 2014.
IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler is sworn in during a House Oversight Committee hearing on July 19, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“How much money did Hunter Biden and his business associates receive from the Ukrainian company Burisma?” Comer asked Ziegler.
“Burisma paid to everyone involved 6.5 million,” he replied.
“Burisma also paid Blue Star strategies and a law firm hundreds of hundreds of thousands of dollars bringing the total Burisma payments to over $7 million. Is that correct?” Comer asked.
“That is correct. 7.3 million,” Ziegler said.
“Between 2014 and 2019, this brings the total amount of foreign income streams received to approximately $17 million,” Comer stated, after which Ziegler confirmed.
In April 2014, Hunter joined the board of Burisma, just two years before Joe Biden stated he forced the firing of Ukraine prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who investigated Burisma. Despite Hunter’s lack of experience in Ukraine or the energy sector, he was paid $83,000 per month by the energy company, or $1 million per year — just weeks after his father was announced “point person” on U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine.
According to an FBI informant file reviewed by the committee, Joe and Hunter Biden each received $5 million from Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of Burisma, after Joe Biden threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine until President Poroshenko fired the prosecutor.
Comer also asked the witness how much the family business made from other deals in Romania and China.
“How much money did Hunter Biden and his associates receive from the Romanian company you identified?” Comer asked.
“The approximate total transfers from the Romania company would have been $3.1 million to everyone,” he said.
Shell companies linked to the Biden business received millions from entities in Romania. One of the largest payouts came in 2015 from Gabriel Popoviciu, who worked with CEFC.
The House Oversight Committee revealed in March that CEFC controlled State Energy HK Limited, a company linked to the $1.3 million collective payments to the Biden family members.
Through the Biden family’s suspicious activity reports (SARs), the committee discovered a Biden associate, Rob Walker, received a $3 million wire transfer. In turn, four Biden family members — Hunter, James, Hallie, and an unidentified “Biden” — received a collective $1.3 million cut from the $3 million wire transfer.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.