“Pursuant To Guidance From Department of Justice” Hunter Biden Linked Firm Admits To Foreign Lobbying For Burisma
A Democratic consulting firm linked to Hunter Biden retroactively registered with the Department of Justice as a foreign agent of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings. Hunter had a role in introducing Blue Star Strategies to Burisma.
According to the Free Beacon: “The founders of Blue Star Strategies said in filings under the Foreign Agents Registration Act that they arranged two meetings in 2016 between State Department officials and an attorney of Burisma owner Nikolai Zlochevsky.
“The founders of the firm, Sally Painter and Karen Tramontano, sought to assess the government’s position towards Zlochevsky, who was under an international bribery investigation. They began working for Burisma in late 2015 after an introduction from Hunter Biden.”
Politico reporter Kenneth P. Vogel said:
“BLUE STAR STRATEGIES, the firm that represented BURISMA (in an arrangement brokered partly by HUNTER BIDEN), retroactively registered last week as foreign agent for work it did in 2016 on behalf of Burisma’s oligarch owner, MYKOLA ZLOCHEVSKY.
“Blue Star Strategies had repeatedly claimed it didn’t have to FARA register.
“But in the new filing, it says it is registering “for transparency, & pursuant to guidance from @TheJusticeDept personnel.”
“DOJ is investigating possible FARA violations by Blue Star & Hunter Biden.
From Politico last June:
The Justice Department is investigating the work of a consulting firm linked to the president’s son for potential illegal lobbying, four people familiar with the probe told POLITICO.
The firm, Blue Star Strategies, took on as a client the Ukrainian energy company Burisma while Hunter Biden served on its board. Republican operatives’ efforts to investigate Burisma and the alleged corruption that surrounded the firm were at the heart of the first Trump impeachment.
The probe comes as the Justice Department ramps up its scrutiny of foreign governments’ efforts to influence U.S. politics through covert lobbying operations.
Much of that enforcement work has focused on Republicans linked to former President Donald Trump, including an active probe of his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
The existence of the investigation into Blue Star, meanwhile, shows that DOJ’s torqued-up enforcement efforts may also create legal jeopardy for firms and operatives aligned with the Democratic Party.
The Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office is involved in the probe, and is coordinating with lawyers in the National Security Division at DOJ’s Washington headquarters, the sources said.
The Delaware office is also investigating Hunter Biden for potential tax violations.
NEW: BLUE STAR STRATEGIES, the firm that represented BURISMA (in an arrangement brokered partly by HUNTER BIDEN), retroactively registered last week as foreign agent for work it did in 2016 on behalf of Burisma's oligarch owner, MYKOLA ZLOCHEVSKY. https://t.co/CrB0lhs33B
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) May 17, 2022
NEW: Hunter Biden-linked consulting firm registers as a foreign agent of Burisma Holdings, a significant development in the federal probe of Biden and his cronies' foreign business dealings. https://t.co/n0nJA1UDCM
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) May 17, 2022