A confidential FBI record indicates that Ukrainian oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of Burisma, referred to President Joe Biden as the “big guy.”
According to sources familiar with the FBI record, Zlochevsky discussed an alleged bribe of $5 million to Joe Biden and an additional $5 million to Hunter Biden. The conversation took place years before the date of the FBI form, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
The sources further stated that Zlochevsky believed that unraveling the alleged bribery scheme would be challenging due to the involvement of multiple bank accounts, potentially taking up to 10 years.
It is worth noting that Zlochevsky’s reference to Joe Biden as the “big guy” in this context is unrelated to the mention of the same term by a business associate of Hunter Biden during negotiations with Chinese individuals with links to intelligence agencies. This reference surfaced in a previously undisclosed May 2017 email that became public in October 2020.
The existence of the FD-1023 document related to Ukraine came to light in 2022 when whistleblowers revealed it to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA). In October, Grassley urged the Justice Department and FBI to provide all relevant records, including those referencing Mykola Zlochevsky, Hunter Biden, James Biden, and Joe Biden.
To address concerns over non-compliance with a subpoena, FBI Director Christopher Wray permitted committee members to review the FD-1023 on Thursday.
House Republicans have claimed that the alleged bribery scheme is connected to Joe Biden’s efforts as vice president to pressure the Ukrainian government to dismiss Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin. Republicans contend that the FBI form suggests the bribes aimed to hinder a corruption investigation.
In October, Grassley asserted that the FBI possessed “voluminous evidence” of potential criminal conduct by Hunter Biden in relation to his business dealings in China and Ukraine. Whistleblower disclosures on these matters were sent to Wray, Delaware federal prosecutor David Weiss, and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The whistleblower allegations involve Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings with the Chinese government-linked energy conglomerate CEFC China Energy, as well as his involvement with Burisma. Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy giant, in 2014 and reportedly received monthly payments of $50,000 or more.
In 2020, Grassley and Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) released a joint report that focused on then-Vice President Joe Biden’s role in shaping the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy while Hunter Biden served on the Burisma board.
President Donald Trump mentioned Burisma in a July 2019 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, leading to a whistleblower complaint and subsequent Democratic-led impeachment proceedings in the House. Democrats argued that Shokin was not genuinely investigating Burisma, while Republicans claimed otherwise.
President Biden dismissed the bribery allegations as “a bunch of malarkey” when asked about them and jokingly said, “Where’s the money? I’m joking.”
Ukrainian officials reported in June 2020 that they were offered $5 million in bribes to halt criminal investigations into Burisma and allow Zlochevsky, who resides abroad, to return to Ukraine. They stated that this was unrelated to Joe and Hunter Biden.
In 2019, Hunter Biden stated that he had discussed his position on the Burisma board with his father only once, and his father told him, “I hope you know what you are doing.” Hunter Biden responded, “I do.”
During the grand jury proceedings in Delaware involving Hunter Biden, a witness was reportedly asked about the identity of the “big guy” in relation to the president’s son’s business dealings with Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC.
The infamous “big guy” email, which emerged in October 2020, detailed a proposed business deal between Hunter Biden and the Chinese company. The email referenced “10 held by H [Hunter] for the big guy.”
The email, dated May 13, 2017, and sent by businessman James Gilliar to Hunter Biden and others, outlined the expectations of the potential deal and its remuneration packages. It stated that Hunter would receive $850,000 and be listed as “Chair/Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC.”
The email mentioned that the equity would be distributed, with 20% allocated to Hunter, and also referred to “10” for “Jim” (James Biden).
Tony Bobulinski, a former Navy lieutenant and Hunter Biden’s business partner, confirmed that the “big guy” referred to Joe Biden. Bobulinski stated that Hunter Biden often referred to his father as “the Big Guy” or “my chairman” and frequently sought his advice and approval for potential deals.
Joe Biden’s spokesman, Andrew Bates, denied that the president has held any stock in such business arrangements, and neither has any family member or any other person on his behalf.
CEFC was a now-defunct multibillion-dollar Chinese company founded by Ye Jianming, with whom Hunter and James Biden sought various deals and from whom they ultimately received millions of dollars.
Text messages from Bobulinski suggest that Joe Biden met with him, Hunter, and James while the president’s son and brother pursued a lucrative deal with CEFC. The meeting reportedly took place on the night of May 2, 2017, in Los Angeles.
Timothy Thibault, a former FBI assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office, allegedly ordered the closure of an avenue of derogatory Hunter Biden reporting in October 2020, despite the information being verified or verifiable through criminal search warrants.
Bobulinski is concerned that Thibault worked to suppress the information he provided to the FBI in October 2020.
Representative James Comer (R-KY) released a memo earlier this year, stating that two months after Joe Biden left the vice presidency, the CEFC-linked company State Energy HK Limited wired $3 million to an account belonging to Hunter Biden’s associate Rob Walker. According to Comer, Walker subsequently transferred $1,065,000 the next day to a company associated with Gilliar, the author of the “big guy” email.
Comer further claimed that Walker began sending funds to Biden family members and companies associated with Hunter and James Biden, with the total amounting to over $1 million over three months.
Joe Biden has consistently stated that he has never discussed his son’s overseas business dealings with Hunter. However, he left a voicemail reassuring Hunter that he was in the “clear” following the release of an article regarding his dealings with CEFC.
During the grand jury proceedings in Delaware involving Hunter Biden, a witness was reportedly asked about the identity of the “big guy” in relation to the president’s son’s business dealings with Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC.
The infamous “big guy” email, which emerged in October 2020, detailed a proposed business deal between Hunter Biden and the Chinese company. The email referenced “10 held by H [Hunter] for the big guy.”
The email, dated May 13, 2017, and sent by businessman James Gilliar to Hunter Biden and others, outlined the expectations of the potential deal and its remuneration packages. It stated that Hunter would receive $850,000 and be listed as “Chair/Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC.”
The email mentioned that the equity would be distributed, with 20% allocated to Hunter, and also referred to “10” for “Jim” (James Biden).
Tony Bobulinski, a former Navy lieutenant and Hunter Biden’s business partner, confirmed that the “big guy” referred to Joe Biden. Bobulinski stated that Hunter Biden often referred to his father as “the Big Guy” or “my chairman” and frequently sought his advice and approval for potential deals.
Joe Biden’s spokesman, Andrew Bates, denied that the president has held any stock in such business arrangements, and neither has any family member or any other person on his behalf.
CEFC was a now-defunct multibillion-dollar Chinese company founded by Ye Jianming, with whom Hunter and James Biden sought various deals and from whom they ultimately received millions of dollars.
Text messages from Bobulinski suggest that Joe Biden met with him, Hunter, and James while the president’s son and brother pursued a lucrative deal with CEFC. The meeting reportedly took place on the night of May 2, 2017, in Los Angeles.
Timothy Thibault, a former FBI assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office, allegedly ordered the closure of an avenue of derogatory Hunter Biden reporting in October 2020, despite the information being verified or verifiable through criminal search warrants.
Bobulinski is concerned that Thibault worked to suppress the information he provided to the FBI in October 2020.
Representative James Comer (R-KY) released a memo earlier this year, stating that two months after Joe Biden left the vice presidency, the CEFC-linked company State Energy HK Limited wired $3 million to an account belonging to Hunter Biden’s associate Rob Walker. According to Comer, Walker subsequently transferred $1,065,000 the next day to a company associated with Gilliar, the author of the “big guy” email.
Comer further claimed that Walker began sending funds to Biden family members and companies associated with Hunter and James Biden, with the total amounting to over $1 million over three months.
Joe Biden has consistently stated that he has never discussed his son’s overseas business dealings with Hunter. However, he left a voicemail reassuring Hunter that he was in the “clear” following the release of an article regarding his dealings with CEFC. During the October 2020 debate with Trump, Biden had incorrectly claimed that Hunter Biden had not made money in China.
The Bidens’ tax returns show $5.2 million more in taxable income than he reported on government transparency filings, the Daily Mail found in an analysis.
“But the president’s financial filings reveal that he declared almost $7 million more income on his tax returns than he did on his government transparency reports,” the U.K. publication reported.
“Some of that difference can be accounted for with salaries earned by First Lady Jill Biden and other sums not required on his reports – but still leaves $5.2 million earned by Joe’s company and not listed on his transparency reports,” the report added. “The ‘missing millions’ – combined with emails on Hunter’s abandoned laptop suggesting Joe would have a 10% share in Hunter’s blockbuster deal with the Chinese – raise a troubling question: did Joe Biden receive money from the foreign venture?”