Jim Jordan: Documents tie 'whistleblower' Eric Ciaramella to Hunter Biden

Joe Biden on the campaign trail Monday, March 2, 2020 (video screenshot)

Declassified documents will show the purported whistleblower who triggered the impeachment of President Trump helped facilitate the Obama-Biden administration's interactions with the Ukrainian government related to Hunter Biden and the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, according to Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Jordan, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday to turn over the documents, reported Sara Carter.

The lawmaker made the request after the release of redacted documentation he believes will show Democratic Party connections to Burisma and its founder, Mykola Zlochevsky.

According to Jordan, the State Department documents will reveal that the alleged impeachment "whistleblower," Eric Ciaramella, "also played a role in facilitating the Obama-Biden Administration's interactions with the Ukrainian government relating to Burisma and Hunter Biden."

Hunter Biden collected some $3 million as a member of Bursima's board despite having no experience in the natural gas industry. The arrangement was made when Biden's father, Vice President Joe Biden, was President Obama's point man for Ukraine policy.

Burisma at the time was facing a corruption investigation by Ukraine's top prosecutor, the counterpart to the U.S. attorney general. Joe Biden was captured on video in a panel discussion boasting that he threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid from Ukraine if the prosecutor who happened to be probing Burisma was not fired. Ukraine complied.

Jordan requested that the documents be delivered to the intelligence committee by May 28.

Jordan told Pompeo the documents show the "whistleblower," as a National Security Council detailee, hosted a White House meeting with Ukrainian prosecutors in January 2016 regarding a concern that Hunter Biden's role with Burisma could complicate a potential prosecution of the company.

Would you classify the so-called 'whistleblower' against Trump as corrupt?

The congressman said "contemporaneous visitor logs confirm that numerous Ukrainian officials were present at the White House on the day of the meeting."

Jordan said the documents also reference former Secretary of State John Kerry's step son, Christopher Heinz, and Devon Archer, who helped connect prominent Democrats and Burisma. Archer was also a member of the Burisma board. Heinz partnered with Hunter Biden to form the Rosemont Seneca investment firm, but they parted ways in 2014 when Biden joined the Burisma board.

Jordan cited a Wall Street Journal story saying Hunter Biden, Heinz and Archer may have been part "of a broad effort by Burisma to bring in well-connect Democrats during a period when the company was facing investigations backed not just by domestic Ukrainian forces but by officials in the Obama Administration."

The Ohio Republican noted that during the House Democrats' partisan impeachment inquiry, several State Department officials said they raised concerns that Hunter Biden's role with Burisma while his father oversaw Ukraine policy had the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent said the issue of Hunter Biden's paid role was raised directly with Vice President Biden's office.

Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch testified that the Obama-Biden administration prepared her to answer questions about Hunter Biden's relationship with Burisma as part of her Senate confirmation process in 2016.

She claimed she didn't know much about the subject.

However, Jordan pointed out in his letter to Pompeo that State Department documents show U.S. Embassy staff in Ukraine "emailed Yovanovitch a news article about Burisma's political bribes and flagged for her that Hunter Biden sat on its board."

"The Embassy’s Deputy Economic Counselor confirmed to Ambassador Yovanovitch that nefarious allegations about Burisma in the article were 'true,' telling her '[y]ou can't make this stuff up,'" Jordan wrote.

The ambassador also was notified Sept. 15, 2016, in a letter from Burisma's attorneys at Cravath, Swaine and Moore in New York City that Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko was dropping the corruption investigation into Burisma.

Within seven days of receiving the letter, Yovanovitch received a briefing at Kent's request about "Zlochevsky, Burisma, Cravath, and image rehab campaigns" and the "past crimes" surrounding Burisma and Zlochevsky.

"Ambassador Yovanovitch testified during her impeachment deposition that she could not recall a briefing about issues relating to Burisma," Jordan wrote.