Hunter Biden Says Ukrainian Gas Company Involvement Was 'Poor Judgment'
In an interview with ABC News that aired Tuesday morning, Hunter Biden said his involvement in the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma was, in retrospect, "poor judgment on my part," although he said he did "nothing wrong at all." Biden asked, "was it poor judgment to be in the middle of something that is ... a swamp in many ways? Yeah."
Biden also reiterated that he will not work for any foreign companies should his father become president.
Biden added that while he doesn't regret being on the board, "what I regret is not taking into account that there would be a Rudy Giuliani and a president of the United States that would be listening to this ridiculous conspiracy idea which has been completely debunked by everybody."
Hunter Biden is the 49-year-old son of former Vice President Joe Biden. He spoke to ABC at his home in Los Angeles.
President Trump has attacked the senior Biden, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, charging without evidence that as vice president he pressured the government of Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who Trump claims was looking into Burisma.
Trump's call to the president of Ukraine last July asking him to look into the Bidens' dealings in Ukraine has become the focus of the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry.
Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has also been involved in the search for dirt on the Bidens.
Trump has also charged without evidence that Hunter Biden collected $1.5 billion from a Chinese investment firm he was involved with. Biden said he had made "not one cent."
Hunter Biden conceded that "I don't think that there's a lot of things that would have happened in my life if my last name wasn't Biden." Through his lawyer, he issued a statement Sunday in which he pledged "not to serve on boards of, or work on behalf of, foreign owned companies." He told ABC that he was taking such involvement "off the table. Lets see if anyone else makes that commitment but that's the commitment that I'm making."
Several of President Trump's children have had business dealings in foreign countries. His daughter Ivanka said she shut down her fashion brand in China last year after receiving several Chinese patents that had first been applied for earlier. In September, son Eric Trump announced an agreement that would allow his family's business to construct luxury homes near a Trump-owned golf course in Scotland.
Hunter Biden's interview aired the morning of a Democratic debate in Ohio. Former Vice President Biden's campaign has been put on defense, devoting time and energy to answer Trump's charges and explain his and his son's involvement in Ukraine. [Copyright 2019 NPR]
