...As previously noted in Secret Empires, on April 16, 2014, Devon Archer made a private visit to the White House for a meeting with Joe Biden. The day prior, Burisma had deposited more than $112,000 into a Rosemont bank account marked “C/O Devon Archer.” Six days later, on April 22, it was announced that Archer was joining the board of directors of Burisma. In short succession, on May 13, it was announced that Hunter Biden would join the Burisma board, too. Neither one had any background or experience in the energy sector, or in Ukraine for that matter.76
We now know based on financial records that each man appears to have been paid $83,333.33 per month by Burisma, or a total of $1 million a year.77
The timing of their appointment to the Burisma board and the payments is more than interesting. The day before Archer’s official appointment, on April 21, Vice President Biden landed in Kyiv for meetings with Ukrainian officials, bringing with him terms for a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program to assist the Ukrainian natural gas industry.78
Even in a country abounding with corruption, Burisma stands out. Burisma founder Zlochevsky was in legal crosshairs when Biden and Archer joined the company board. By February 2016, Ukrainian authorities seized Zlochevsky’s property on suspicion that he was engaged in “illicit enrichment.”79 Zlochevsky found himself on Ukraine’s wanted list and fled the country.80
The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office seized Burisma’s gas wells. Tax authorities began investigating him for suspicion of tax evasion.81 Hunter Biden used his contacts in Washington to help Zlochevsky in his corruption case. Burisma hired a former Obama Department of Justice lawyer named John Buretta and Blue Star Strategies, a consulting firm run by former Clinton administration officials, to help.82
Buretta would later recount how he interacted directly with Ukrainian prosecutors with the expressed purpose of getting the charges dropped. According to Buretta, the charges were dismissed in September 2016.83
Under pressure from Joe Biden, Ukrainian officials fired the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma. Joe Biden later bragged that he had the prosecutor fired by threatening to withhold one billion dollars in U.S. aid assistance to Ukraine.84
On January 16, 2017, Air Force Two descended toward Boryspil International Airport, just southeast of Kyiv. It was Joe Biden’s last foreign trip as vice president. Under Biden’s direction, the Obama administration had poured some $3 billion into the country.85 Four days before Biden arrived, Burisma announced that the Ukrainian government prosecutors had ended the criminal investigations into the company and its founder Zlochevsky.86...
76. U.S.A. v. Galanis et al., Case No. 1:16-cr-00371, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Rosemont Seneca Bohai account statements from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, Gx301; Schweizer, Secret Empires, pp. 60–61.
77. U.S.A. v. Galanis et al., Case No. 1:16-cr-00371, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Rosemont Seneca Bohai account statements from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, Gx301.
78. “Fact Sheet: U.S. Crisis Support Package for Ukraine,” White House Office of the Press Secretary, April 21, 2014,
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/th ... e-ukraine; J. C. Finley, “Vice President Biden arrives in Kiev,” United Press International, April 21, 2014,
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/ ... 398098183/.
79. ACEU Staff, “GPO Seizes Property of Ex-Minister Zlochevsky,” American Center for a European Ukraine, February 5, 2016,
http://www.europeanukraine.org/home/201 ... zlochevsky.
80. James Stafford, “Bribery, back room dealing, and bullying in Ukraine: The origins of Burisma,” ProKaivos, October 14, 2015,
http://www.prokaivos.fi/2015/10/14/brib ... f-burisma/.
81. “The Court Repeatedly Seized Wells the Company Zlochevsky,” NEWS.ru, accessed March 1, 2017,
http://en.few-news.ru/the-court-repeate ... evsky.html.
82. Kenneth P. Vogel and IuIiia Mendel, “Biden Faces Conflict of Interest Questions That Are Being Promoted by Trump and Allies,” New York Times, May 1, 2019,
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/us/p ... raine.html.
83. Burisma Group, “John Buretta: For Us It Was Important to Close All Cases Against Burisma and Nikolay Zlochevskyi in a Legally Sound Manner,” Kyiv Post, February 1, 2017,
https://www.kyivpost.com/business-wire/ ... anner.html.
84. Michael Kranish and David L. Stern, “As Vice President, Biden Said Ukraine Should Increase Gas Production. Then His Son Got a Job with a Ukrainian Gas Company,” Washington Post, July 22, 2019,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... -86dd-11e9–98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html.
85. Pavel Polityuk and Alessandra Prentice, “U.S. Vice President Biden to Make Swansong Visit to Ukraine,” Reuters, January 12, 2017,
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukrai ... SKBN14W0QT.
86. Burisma Group, “All Cases Closed Against Burisma Group and Its President Nikolay Zlochevskyi in Ukraine. The Company Cooperated with Law Enforcement Agencies and Paid in Full All Outstanding Fees,” Kyiv Post, January 12, 2017,
https://www.kyivpost.com/business-wire/ ... -fees.html.
Schweizer, Peter. Profiles in Corruption (pp. 61-62) (end notes...pp. 270-271). Harper. Kindle Edition.