Biden's Ukraine: Legal Or Illegal?

In 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint alleging that Joe Biden, while serving as vice president, withheld a loan guarantee and took a bribe to pressure Ukraine into firing prosecutor general Viktor Shokin. This was purportedly done to prevent a corruption investigation of Ukrainian gas company Burisma, which employed Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and to protect him. The complaint also alleged that Biden engaged in a quid pro quo by trading loan guarantees for personal favours. These allegations were spread by right-wing media, including Sean Hannity's program on Fox News, and members of the Trump campaign, such as Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon, in an attempt to damage Joe Biden's reputation and political chances. However, investigations by Republican Senate and House committees found no evidence of wrongdoing by Joe Biden, and the allegations were deemed to be false.

Biden withheld $1 billion in US aid to Ukraine

In 2019, while serving as vice president, Joe Biden withheld $1 billion in US aid to Ukraine. This occurred in conjunction with his son Hunter Biden's work for a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings. Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma in 2014, and the company was owned by a minister in the Russia-friendly administration of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

At the time, there were various corruption investigations into Burisma and its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky. In 2015, Ukraine's newly appointed prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, inherited some of these investigations. Joe Biden urged Ukraine to fire Shokin, threatening to withhold US aid if they did not comply. This position was supported by the wider US government and other international institutions.

In March 2016, Shokin was ousted by a wide margin in the Ukrainian legislature. Biden recounted this event during a 2018 event, stating that he had told Ukrainian officials: "I'm leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money."

Experts and Ukraine policy specialists have criticised the Bidens, saying that Hunter Biden's position at Burisma presented a serious conflict of interest. However, there is no evidence that Joe Biden advocated for his son's interests, and it is unclear if the company benefited from Shokin's removal. Additionally, there was widespread agreement in the West that Shokin was ineffective in pursuing corruption cases.

Biden's son, Hunter Biden, was a director of Ukraine's largest private gas producer

Hunter Biden, son of former US President Joe Biden, was a director of Burisma Holdings, one of Ukraine's largest private natural gas producers, from 2014 to April 2019.

Hunter Biden's role at Burisma came under scrutiny following accusations by then-US President Donald Trump that Joe Biden had improperly tried to help his son's business interests in Ukraine. Trump alleged that Joe Biden pushed for the firing of Ukraine's top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, to end an investigation into Burisma and its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, in order to protect his son. These accusations were unsupported and widely discredited.

There is no evidence that Joe Biden acted corruptly or advocated for his son's interests. In fact, the push to remove Shokin was in line with the position of the wider US government and other international institutions, who argued that Shokin was ineffective in tackling corruption in Ukraine. Additionally, there is no clear indication that Burisma benefited from Shokin's removal, as the investigations into the company were dormant at the time.

Hunter Biden's decision to join the board of Burisma Holdings while his father was vice president was criticized as a potential conflict of interest. However, no evidence of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden in Ukraine has been found.

Biden pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin

In 2015, Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, joined the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company owned by Mykola Zlochevsky, who faced a variety of corruption-related investigations involving his business. In March 2016, Ukraine's top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, was fired after less than 14 months in the post. Shokin had inherited some of the investigations into Zlochevsky and Burisma.

Joe Biden pushed for Shokin's removal, threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees to Ukraine. Biden recounted the incident during an event in 2018:

> "I said, 'We're leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money.' [...] Well, son of a bitch. He got fired."

Biden's actions were consistent with bipartisan U.S. policy and the interests of European Union allies, who also sought Shokin's removal because he was perceived as being soft on corruption. In early 2016, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde stated that "it's hard to see how the I.M.F.-supported program can continue" unless corruption prosecutions accelerated.

However, some have accused Biden of using his position as vice president to help Burisma avoid damage from a criminal investigation. They claim that Shokin was overseeing an active criminal investigation into Burisma, and Biden pressured Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to fire him.

Ukrainian prosecutors and anti-corruption activists dispute this narrative, arguing that the timeline of the Burisma case and Shokin's tenure as chief prosecutor do not align. They claim that the investigation into Burisma had been dormant long before Biden's demand and that Shokin himself was the biggest obstacle to the investigation.

No evidence has been found to suggest that Joe Biden personally benefited from his son's business dealings or that he advocated for his son's interests.

The Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory

In reality, Biden's pressure on Ukraine to fire Shokin reflected the position of the wider U.S. government and other international institutions, who argued that Shokin was not aggressively pursuing corruption cases. There is also no clear evidence that Hunter Biden's company, Burisma Holdings, benefited from Shokin's removal, as investigations into the company had been dormant.

The conspiracy theory gained traction in 2020 when the New York Post published a story based on emails allegedly obtained from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden. The laptop was provided to the Post by Rudy Giuliani, personal attorney to then-incumbent president Donald Trump, who sought to use the story to hurt Biden's presidential campaign. The story alleged that the emails showed corruption by Joe Biden in Ukraine, related to his son's business dealings.

Despite forensic authentication of some of the emails, the veracity of the Post's reporting was strongly questioned by mainstream media outlets and analysts due to concerns about the origin and chain of custody of the laptop, as well as the provenance of its contents. There were suspicions of Russian disinformation, given previous Russian influence campaigns during the 2016 election. Additionally, Giuliani's meeting with Andrii Derkach, a confirmed Russian agent, while conducting opposition research against Biden in Ukraine further fuelled these suspicions.

While experts agree that Hunter Biden's position with Burisma Holdings created a conflict of interest for his father, they found no evidence to support the idea that Joe Biden advocated with his son's interests in mind. The Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory, therefore, remains unsubstantiated.

Whistleblower complaint claims violation of federal donation laws

In 2025, a whistleblower complaint accused US President Joe Biden of violating federal donation laws in relation to his son Hunter Biden's involvement with a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings. The complaint alleged that Biden withheld $1 billion in US aid to Ukraine to protect his son's interests.

The facts of the case are as follows:

Hunter Biden held a directorship with Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company, beginning in the spring of 2014. At the same time, his father, Joe Biden, was serving as Vice President and was a key figure in US policy on Ukraine. This created a conflict of interest, as it appeared that Hunter Biden's position with Burisma Holdings could influence his father's policies. In 2015, the New York Times published an article suggesting that "the credibility of the vice president's anti-corruption message may have been undermined" by Hunter Biden's dealings with the company.

In 2016, Ukraine's top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, was overseeing investigations into Burisma Holdings' owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, for corruption. Vice President Joe Biden urged Ukraine to fire Shokin, threatening to withhold $1 billion in US aid if they did not comply. This threat was successful, and Shokin was ousted in March 2016.

However, there is no evidence that Joe Biden advocated for Shokin's removal to protect his son's interests. The wider US government and other international institutions also supported Shokin's removal, arguing that he was not pursuing corruption cases aggressively. Additionally, it is unclear if Burisma Holdings benefited from Shokin's ouster, as there is evidence that the investigations into the company had been dormant.

While experts criticized the Bidens for their arrangement, stating that it could have been a significant conflict of interest, they also noted that Hunter Biden's position with Burisma Holdings likely had no impact on his father's policies.

In conclusion, while the whistleblower complaint alleged a violation of federal donation laws, there is no clear evidence that Joe Biden broke the law. The case highlights the complex ethical issues that can arise when the family members of government officials engage in international business dealings.

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