Exposed: How Russia’s bioweapons claims thrust Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian ties back into the spotlight

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Hunter Biden is accused of using his father’s position as a senator, vice president and president for financial gain by various US politicians, media outlets, and Russia. (Democratic National Convention/AFP file photo)
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Hunter Biden is accused of using his father’s position as a senator, vice president and president for financial gain by various US politicians, media outlets, and Russia. (AFP)
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Updated 27 March 2022
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Exposed: How Russia’s bioweapons claims thrust Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian ties back into the spotlight

  • Russia alleges Joe Biden’s second son was directly involved in US plans to deploy weapons of mass destruction
  • Poll finds 66% of likely voters believe the questions raised by Hunter Biden’s leaked emails are “important”

CHICAGO: When US President Joe Biden accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday of preparing to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, he inadvertently lifted the lid on a long-simmering scandal involving his son, Hunter Biden.

At a White House briefing on March 21, President Biden said Putin’s “back is against the wall” in Ukraine and that he may orchestrate a “false flag” operation to justify the use of outlawed weapons against civilian and military targets.

“We’ve seen it before,” said President Biden. “He’s run a lot of false-flag operations. Whenever he starts talking about something he thinks NATO, Ukraine, or the United States is about to do, it means he’s getting ready to do it.”

The Kremlin responded to Joe Biden’s statements by accusing his son of helping to facilitate a biological weapons program in Ukraine, thus putting Hunter Biden’s scandalous business dealings when his father was the US vice president back in the public limelight. But more on that, later.

Conservative critics allege the president’s second son partnered with his uncle James Biden to exploit Joe Biden’s political influence, first as a long-serving Delaware senator and later as a two-term vice president to Barack Obama, to gain lucrative contracts in Ukraine — allegations that both deny.

Few in the mainstream media ran the story when it first emerged. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter even blocked posts referencing the allegations, including stories by the conservative-leaning New York Post, prior to the 2020 election.

The controversy first went public after Hunter Biden took his personal laptop to a Delaware computer repair store in April 2019 — the same month his father officially launched his bid for the presidency — but forgot to pick it up.

Legally, the laptop became the property of the store’s owner, who took its contents, including thousands of Hunter Biden’s personal emails, and turned them over to Republican activists.

Those emails, according to several published accounts, include lurid details of a decadent lifestyle, as well as information pertaining to Hunter Biden’s multi-million-dollar foreign contracts with China and Ukraine.

In 2014, Hunter Biden joined Ukraine’s state-owned natural gas company Burisma as a $1 million-per-year consultant. Less than a month after his then-vice president father visited Ukraine and met Burisma executives in April that year, the lucrative contracts began rolling in.




Then-US Vice President, Joe Biden gestures as he delivers on July 22, 2009 an address to the people of Ukraine in Kyiv, a speech to reaffirm US support for the country’s ambitions to integrate more with the West. (AFP/File Photo)

Burisma itself has been plagued by allegations of corruption. Furthermore, critics claim Hunter Biden lacked the necessary qualifications to consult for the firm — except for the fact that his father was vice president and involved in developing Ukraine policy.

A top US diplomat, stationed in Kiev in a classified email sent to the State Department in 2016, warned that Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine while his father was still vice president “undercut” anti-corruption efforts in the country.

The email, dated Nov. 22, 2016, was written by George Kent, who was at the time the deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Ukraine.

He detailed a discussion about a “saga” surrounding the case against Mykola Zlochevsky, a former Ukrainian natural resources minister and founder of Burisma Holdings, according to the email.

A New York Post report of Oct. 4, 2020, quoting Hunter Biden’s laptop emails, claimed Zlochevsky “introduced Vice President Joe Biden to a top executive at Burisma less than a year before the elder Biden pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor who was investigating the company.”

The meeting is mentioned in a message of appreciation that Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Burisma, allegedly sent Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015, about a year after Hunter joined the Burisma board.

In 2017, Hunter also joined the board of the China-based private equity fund Bohai Harvest RST of Shanghai Equity Investment Fund Management Co. with a 10 percent stake.

BHR was founded in 2013 by Bohai Industrial Investment Fund Management Co., which is controlled by the Bank of China. Its founders included Hunter Biden’s investment firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners.

It is not unusual for the children of powerful US politicians to end up in top jobs or to be accused of profiting from their parents’ political clout.

FASTFACT

* “Beautiful Things,” a memoir by Hunter Biden published in 2021 by Gallery Books, has been described as equal parts family saga, grief narrative and addict’s howl.

President Donald Trump’s sons and daughter were constantly in the news for what opponents called “influence peddling” while he was in office and since.

Several investigations are ongoing into the dealings of Trump’s children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., including one launched this January by the New York attorney general.

In their turn, Republicans in Congress introduced a resolution on Oct. 15, 2019, that provided specific details culled from the laptop and demanded an investigation into Hunter Biden’s Ukraine dealings.

In the final weeks before the November 2020 presidential election, President Biden dismissed the allegations against his son, branding them nothing more than “Russian disinformation” and “a last-ditch effort to smear me and my family.”

However, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa of California’s 50th District, who has led the charge to expose Hunter Biden’s role in Ukraine and China, told Arab News there was more than enough evidence to warrant a Congressional probe.

Issa said the exposé could be bigger than Watergate, the scandal that brought down former President Richard Nixon in 1974.




At a White House briefing on March 21, President Biden said Putin’s “back is against the wall” in Ukraine and that he may orchestrate a “false flag” operation to justify the use of outlawed weapons against civilian and military targets. (AFP/File Photo)

“This is the scandal that Big Tech and the Democrat industrial complex wish would go away,” said Issa. “They know what they did, and of course they think they’ve gotten away with it. That’s why it’s critical that we not squander the opportunity for accountability.

“What I can’t live with is the fact that Facebook and Twitter and the most major media players shut down the truth with the help of more than 50 of the most informed people in the intelligence world all saying they concluded this was false information.

“That is a conspiracy of monumental size. This is the most consequential political scandal since Watergate, and it deserves an investigation in Congress no less robust and no less bipartisan than that one.”

When Joe Biden accused Moscow this week of preparing to use biological or chemical weapons, the Russians entered the Hunter Biden fray, leveraging the corruption allegations to accuse the US president’s son of funding the production of biological weapons in Ukraine.

Igor Kirillov, head of radiation, chemical and biological defenses at the Russian defense ministry, said on Thursday that Hunter Biden was directly involved in US plans to deploy weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine.

Kirillov accused him of bankrolling “the Pentagon’s biological weapons program in Ukraine” through an investment fund, the Kremlin-backed Sputnik International news agency reported.

“Incoming materials have allowed us to trace the scheme of interaction between US government bodies and Ukraine’s biolabs,” Kirillov told a media briefing.

“The involvement in the financing of these activities by structures close to the current US leadership, in particular the Rosemont Seneca investment fund managed by Hunter Biden, draws attention to itself. The scale of the program is impressive.”




Liberal media quickly came to President Biden’s defense following the Russian allegation USAID and the CDC, with the backing of liberal philanthropist George Soros, were responsible for the establishment of 31 laboratories at 14 locations across Ukraine. (AFP/File Photo)

Citing a common conspiracy theory deployed by Russian state-backed media outlets, Kirillov reportedly said USAID and the CDC, with the backing of liberal philanthropist George Soros, were responsible for the establishment of 31 laboratories at 14 locations across Ukraine.

There is no credible evidence to justify the claim.

Liberal media quickly came to President Biden’s defense following the Russian allegation. Julia Davis, a columnist for the Daily Beast, tweeted: “If you thought Russian propaganda was ever ‘sophisticated,’ I hate to break it to you: it was always quite stupid. Still is. Here is their latest gem: Hunter Biden funded bio-labs in Ukraine. Handcrafted for Fox News.”

However, Russia’s accusations have fueled public interest in Hunter Biden’s Ukraine dealings. A Rasmussen poll released this week reported 66 percent of likely US voters believe the questions raised by Hunter Biden’s leaked emails are “important.”

The allegations have also renewed Republican resolve to push for an investigation, which is likely to cost the Democrats in November’s midterm elections.




Republican Congressman Darrell Issa of California’s 50th District, who has led the charge to expose Hunter Biden’s role in Ukraine and China. (Supplied)

“Big Tech, the mainstream media and the Democrats’ deep state intelligence community want to either rewrite the history of their collusion — or erase it entirely,” Issa told Arab News.

“We’re not going to let them do that. These letters are putting everyone on notice: Real accountability is going to happen. And we won’t rest until the full truth is known.

“We already know for a fact that Big Tech colluded with some of the nation’s most powerful media and most influential Democrat partisan in the intelligence community to suppress the truth, stop the public access to fact-based journalism, and cover up Biden family scandals.”

The White House did not respond to requests from Arab News for comment.


India brings home nearly 300 citizens rescued from Southeast Asian scam centers

Updated 6 sec ago
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India brings home nearly 300 citizens rescued from Southeast Asian scam centers

  • Thousands of people have been freed from cyber scam centers
  • Countries are working together to crack down on the criminal networks
NEW DELHI: India has brought home nearly 300 of its nationals who were lured to various southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, with fake job offers and made to engage in cybercrime and other fraudulent activities in scam compounds, the government said.
Thousands of people have been freed from cyber scam centers along the Thailand-Myanmar border this year as countries work together to crack down on the criminal networks.
China and Indonesia repatriated some of their citizens last month.
“Indian embassies in Myanmar and Thailand have coordinated with local authorities to secure the repatriation of 283 Indian nationals today by an IAF (Indian Air Force) aircraft from Mae Sot in Thailand,” India’s foreign ministry said late on Monday.
Thailand arrested 100 people last week as a part of its crackdown on the scam centers.
Criminal gangs have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people to the centers, which generate billions of dollars a year from illegal online schemes, according to the United Nations.
India also warned its citizens against the scams, advising them to “verify” the credentials of foreign employers and check the “antecedents” of recruiting agents and companies before taking up job offers.

WHO warns difficult decisions ‘unavoidable’ as it slims down recruitment

Updated 3 min 26 sec ago
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WHO warns difficult decisions ‘unavoidable’ as it slims down recruitment

  • The WHO has begun “prioritization” work to make the global health agency sustainable, the document says

GENEVA: The World Health Organization has warned that difficult decisions will be “unavoidable” in an internal memo seen by Reuters on Tuesday announcing a recruitment freeze and a one-year limit on new fixed-term contracts.
The WHO has begun “prioritization” work to make the global health agency sustainable, the document says, adding that staff are working to secure additional funding from countries, private donors and philanthropists.


UN migration agency in turmoil after US aid freeze

Updated 11 March 2025
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UN migration agency in turmoil after US aid freeze

  • The UN agency, which at the end of last year employed around 22,000 people, has already laid off thousands
  • The IOM announced on February 1 that it was scaling up its efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean

GENEVA: Hit hard by US aid funding cuts, the UN migration agency is battling claims from current and former staff of now pandering to Washington and providing cover for mass deportations.
Like many humanitarian agencies, the International Organization for Migration has been reeling since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, pushing an anti-migrant agenda and immediately freezing most US foreign aid funding.
“These funding cuts directly affect IOM’s ability to support some of the world’s most vulnerable people,” an IOM spokesperson said, warning this would “lead to more suffering, increased migration, and greater insecurity.”
The United Nations agency, which at the end of last year employed around 22,000 people, has already laid off thousands.
It has also been accused of allowing its assisted voluntary return (AVR) program to be used to “bluewash” — or give a UN stamp of approval — to Trump’s mass deportation scheme.
IOM announced on February 1 that it was scaling up its efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean “to help migrants return home, reintegrate and rebuild their lives.”
It said it had resumed its AVR programs in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, as well as Panama, which with Costa Rica has reached an agreement to take in migrants from other countries deported by the United States.
Describing its activities as “a lifeline for stranded migrants,” it said it aimed to provide “urgent support” to those “unable or unwilling to remain where they are and need help to return home safely and with dignity.”
“Without this vital support, conditions for the people impacted would be far worse,” the spokesperson insisted.
But one of the thousands of IOM employees who received notice last month warned it looked “like there is an effort to align ourselves with the administration.”
This was “very concerning,” she said, asking not to be named.
“It really looks very bad for IOM’s reputation,” agreed a former agency staff member, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
The criticisms come as the IOM seeks its footing after the threat that all US funding — accounting for around 40 percent of its total financing — could evaporate indefinitely.
“We have to make some really hard decisions about staff because we simply can’t afford to pay staff when we’re not actually being paid for our work,” IOM chief Amy Pope said recently.
The biggest impact so far has been seen in connection with the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), since the Trump administration has suspended all refugee entries into the country.
Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden embraced the program designed to facilitate legal resettlement of vetted refugees, resettling over 100,000 refugees in the United States last year.
Trump’s sudden about-face prompted the IOM last month to send pink slips to 3,000 staff, warning more “adjustments” were likely.
“It was quite a shock,” the dismissed staff member said.
Another former employee said staff were “appalled” by the swift pace of the layoffs.
Those at IOM headquarters in Geneva were especially bracing for more mass job cuts.
According to an internal memo from the IOM’s Global Staff Association Committee, seen by AFP, management last month ordered directors to slash a certain percentage of their department costs.
Word inside headquarters is that around one third of around 550 staff there will soon get the axe, the former employee said, with “managers under huge pressure to meet quotas.”
“People are terrified... They’ve got laser beams pointed at their heads.”
IOM staff and union representatives have sent complaints to management about the abrupt layoffs, warning of detrimental impacts on employees and on many of the tens of millions of migrants the organization serves.
Also sparking outrage was a report by the Devex news organization last month suggesting IOM had scrubbed its website of content that could be construed as promoting Trump’s bete noir — DEI (diversity, equality and inclusion).
IOM did not respond directly to that allegation but said it had “recently relaunched its global website following a year-long review, refining content to align with evolving contexts and in accordance with United Nations humanitarian principles.”
The laid-off employee said the Devex report “really hurt.”
“We can align ourselves with certain priorities of this (US) administration,” she said.
“But we shouldn’t lose our identity in the process.”


UN migration agency says aid to Rohingya in Indonesia reinstated

Updated 11 March 2025
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UN migration agency says aid to Rohingya in Indonesia reinstated

  • Chief of mission, Jeff Labovitz, said there is no current planned reduction in services

JAKARTA: The United Nations’ migration agency has reinstated its humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees in Indonesia, its chief of mission in Jakarta told Reuters on Tuesday.
Chief of mission, Jeff Labovitz, said there is no current planned reduction in services.
A Reuters report last week cited the agency as saying it would slash aid to hundreds of Rohingya sheltering in the city of Pekanbaru on the island of Sumatra.


Dalai Lama says his successor to be born outside China

Updated 11 March 2025
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Dalai Lama says his successor to be born outside China

  • Tibetans worldwide want the institution of the Dalai Lama to continue after the 89-year-old’s death
  • Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death

NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama’s successor will be born outside China, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism says in a new book, raising the stakes in a dispute with Beijing over control of the Himalayan region he fled more than six decades ago.
Tibetans worldwide want the institution of the Dalai Lama to continue after the 89-year-old’s death, he writes in “Voice for the Voiceless,” which was reviewed by Reuters and is being released on Tuesday.
He had previously said the line of spiritual leaders might end with him. His book marks the first time the Dalai Lama has specified that his successor would be born in the “free world,” which he describes as outside China. He has previously said only that he could reincarnate outside Tibet, possibly in India where he lives in exile.
“Since the purpose of a reincarnation is to carry on the work of the predecessor, the new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world so that the traditional mission of the Dalai Lama – that is, to be the voice for universal compassion, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and the symbol of Tibet embodying the aspirations of the Tibetan people – will continue,” the Dalai Lama writes.
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled at the age of 23 to India with thousands of other Tibetans in 1959 after a failed uprising against the rule of Mao Zedong’s Communists.
Beijing insists it will choose his successor, but the Dalai Lama has said any successor named by China would not be respected.
China brands the Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for keeping alive the Tibetan cause, as a “separatist.”
When asked about the book at a press briefing on Monday, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said the Dalai Lama “is a political exile who is engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion.
“On the Tibet issue, China’s position is consistent and clear. What the Dalai Lama says and does cannot change the objective fact of Tibet’s prosperity and development.”
Supporters of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause include Richard Gere, a follower of Tibetan Buddhism, and Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the US House of Representatives. His followers have been worried about his health, especially after knee surgery last year. He said in December that he might live to be 110.
In his book, the Dalai Lama says he has received numerous petitions for more than a decade from a wide spectrum of Tibetan people, including senior monks and Tibetans living in Tibet and outside, “uniformly asking me to ensure that the Dalai Lama lineage be continued.”
Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. The current Dalai Lama was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor when he was two.
The book, which the Dalai Lama calls an account of his dealings with Chinese leaders over seven decades, is being published on Tuesday in the US by William Morrow and in Britain by HarperNonFiction, with HarperCollins publications to follow in India and other countries.
He expressed faith in the Tibetan government and parliament-in-exile, based with him in India’s Himalayan city of Dharamshala, to carry on the political work for the Tibetan cause.
“The right of the Tibetan people to be the custodians of their own homeland cannot be indefinitely denied, nor can their aspiration for freedom be crushed forever through oppression,” he writes. “One clear lesson we know from history is this: if you keep people permanently unhappy, you cannot have a stable society.”
Given his advanced age, he writes, his hopes of going back to Tibet look “increasingly unlikely.”