In the middle of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, Donald Trump's priority on Tuesday was urging Vladimir Putin to hand over any documents he may have about Hunter Biden's dealings with Russian oligarchs.
The ex-president said he was particularly interested in an alleged $3.5 million payment from the former mayor of Moscow's widow to a company co-founded by Hunter Biden, according to an excerpt from a new interview with Just The News.
'Why did the mayor of Moscow's wife give the Bidens -- both of them -- $3.5 million? That's a lot of money,' Trump in a 30-second clip on the Voice of America program.
President #DonaldTrump calls on Putin to release info on Hunter Biden’s dealings with Russian oligarchs: “Why did the mayor of Moscow’s wife give the Bidens, both of them, three and a half million dollars?”
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) March 29, 2022
Read more: https://t.co/y4Y0ofC5CX pic.twitter.com/gbWzyifuEH
'She gave him $3.5 million. So now I would think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it. I think we should know that answer.'
Trump was referring to a 2020 report by Senate Republicans that claimed Yelena Baturina, one of Russia's billionaire oligarchs, gave the hefty sum to a company called Rosemont Seneca Thorton as part of a 'consultancy agreement.'
Earlier this month, Trump accused Biden of a 'conflict of interest' after the president was sanctioned by Moscow along with a host of other US officials, as well as his son Hunter and Hillary Clinton.
He suggested Biden failed to more strongly react to Putin's invasion of Ukraine because of the alleged payments from the late Moscow mayor's wife.
'Breaking News: Russia just sanctioned Joe Biden. While that is a terrible thing, in so many ways, perhaps it will now be explained why the Biden family received 3.5 million dollars from the very wealthy former Mayor of Moscow's wife,' Trump said in a March 15 statement.
Days later, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was grilled over why Baturina had not yet been sanctioned by the US over Russia's attack despite her apparent ties to the Kremlin -- and whether Biden indeed was conflicted.
Psaki replied that there was 'no confirmation' of Senate Republicans' allegations and pointed out that the president has 'continued to sanction oligarchs more than we've ever sanctioned in the past, so I'm not sure that's a conflict of interest.'
GOP lawmakers said the firm which received Baturina's money was co-founded by Hunter Biden. But an attorney for the president's son previously claimed he never received the funds and was not involved in the company.
Hunter Biden is the co-founder of Rosemont Seneca Advisors, and it's not clear what if any connection the two companies share.
The Russian oligarch's payment was reportedly made while Hunter's father was vice president.
The September 2020 Senate report, released just weeks before the presidential election, also found no wrongdoing on President Joe Biden's part.
But that hasn't stopped Trump from accusing his Democrat rival of being influenced by foreign powers.
And while Biden himself was not implicated, the report did argue that Hunter Biden's time working on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma did present a conflict of interest for the Obama administration, at a time when then-Vice President Biden was leading anti-corruption efforts in Kyiv.
However it notes 'the extent to which Hunter Biden’s role on Burisma’s board affected U.S. policy toward Ukraine is not clear.'
It also failed to support Trump's accusation that Biden pressured Ukraine's government to fire a corrupt top prosecutor in an effort to shield his son.
Hunter was on Burisma's board from 2014 to 2019 and received about $50,000 a month.
The new Trump interview comes as a federal probe into Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings in the country picks up speed.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that prosecutors from the US attorney's office in Delaware are interested in funds the first son received from the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma and how he used that money to pay debts.
A source also told the Journal that one person was extensively questioned in front of the grand jury in February on Hunter Biden's drug and alcohol use, spending habits and mental state.
That line of questioning suggests prosecutors are exploring whether the younger Biden could use his history of addiction as a defense against a potential criminal tax case.
'It doesn’t necessarily mean an indictment is imminent, but it is indicative of trying to lock in testimony with an eye towards a potential trial someday,' former federal tax prosecutor Matt Mueller told the Journal. Mueller isn't working on the case.
Sources talked to the Journal about some of the lines of questioning prosecutors have used when talking to a number of associates and witnesses before the grand jury.
Prosecutors are looking into whether Biden violated tax or other laws, including laws that guide working as a lobbyist for a foreign government, with his business dealings in Ukraine, China and Kazakhstan.
Trump asks Putin to release info on Hunter Biden business deal https://t.co/KIoKFCwO4K pic.twitter.com/nlOm9K1ZpT
— New York Post (@nypost) March 30, 2022
Prosecutors have particularly focused on payments Biden received from Burisma - which flowed into a company called Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC before being directed to Hunter Biden.
Trump's Tuesday interview is not the first time he's publicly called on the Kremlin to come up with dirt against a political opponent.
In a July 2016 press conference during his first presidential race, he infamously called on Moscow to hack then-opponent Hillary Clinton.
'Russia, if you’re listening -- I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens,' Trump told reporters.
He walked the comments back years later during a rally in Pennsylvania, insisting the comments were a 'joke.'
An October 2021 report alleges that Hunter Biden once offered to sell a major US company information and analysis on Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch currently under federal investigation, emails from his abandoned laptop show.
The president's son made the offer in 2011 to aluminum giant Alcoa, saying he could provide the company 'with statistical analysis of political and corporate risks, elite networks associated with Oleg Deripaska,' according to New York Post columnist Miranda Devine.
He wanted to charge Alcoa fees of $25,000 for 'phase one' of the project and another $55,000 for 'refined analysis', according to emails Devine cited from the laptop Hunter Biden abandoned in a Delaware repair shop in 2019.
Deripaska is the founder of Russian aluminum giant RUSAL, with which Alcoa had recently entered into a two-year metal supply agreement at the time of the emails.
Hunter Biden made the offer on behalf of Rosemont Seneca to an Alcoa executive, according to the Post.
His father was vice president of the United States at the time, a fact which Alcoa executives took note of in assessing the proposal, the emails reportedly show.
It's unclear whether a deal was ever reached to provide Alcoa the information on Deripaska, though the emails reportedly suggest that Rosemont Seneca lowered the proposed fee after hearing feedback from the prospective client.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
