Ukraine to Review Investigations Into Firm Linked to Biden’s Son
Hunter Biden was a board member at gas company Burisma between 2014 and April 2019
KYIV—Ukraine’s general prosecutor’s office said Friday it is reviewing past investigations into a gas company linked to former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s son, raising the possibility of reopening them amid pressure from President Trump.
Any steps toward reopening the cases, or implicating Mr. Biden’s son in the process, would be the strongest signal yet from Kyiv that it will abide by Mr. Trump’s entreaties over the past several months to investigate the company.
The cases, closed in 2016, didn’t focus on Hunter Biden but rather tax irregularities at Burisma Group, one of Ukraine’s biggest private gas-production companies, as well as money-laundering and illegal-enrichment allegations related to the owner of the company, Mykola Zlochevsky.
Hunter Biden was a board member at Burisma between 2014 and April 2019.
Mr. Zlochevsky was never charged and a lawyer for his company said at the time that the cases were closed due to a lack of evidence, and that Mr. Zlochevsky, who he said cooperated on the cases, was exonerated from any allegations of wrongdoing.
The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
“Now we are conducting an audit of those proceedings that were previously carried out by the General Prosecutor’s Office,” Ruslan Ryaboshapka, the general prosecutor, said at a press conference in Kyiv. “We are reviewing all cases that were closed…to make a decision on whether this was illegal.”
Mr. Ryaboshapka said his office is auditing 15 cases in total.
During a July 25 phone call, Mr. Trump repeatedly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Mr. Biden’s son, urging him to work with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Mr. Zelensky said during the phone call that the prosecutor general “will look into the situation.” But no formal announcement was made.
Following the call, Mr. Zelensky has said that he wouldn’t abide by pressure from Mr. Trump and stressed the independence of Ukraine’s law-enforcement agencies. Mr. Ryaboshapka was appointed by the president at the end of August.
Democrats have called for the impeachment of Mr. Trump over pressure on his Ukrainian counterpart to launch an investigation into Hunter Biden’s role at Burisma to damage his father, one of Mr. Trump’s main political rivals.
Last week, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau said it was investigating activity at Burisma from 2010-12, before Hunter Biden’s involvement in the company. Parliamentarians have also said they want to look at the cases.