Biden claims Senate report about son getting $3.5 million 'discredited'

Hunter Biden (screenshot)

Joe Biden claimed at Tuesday's presidential debate that the conclusion of a Senate investigation that his son Hunter Biden received $3.5 million from a Russian oligarch has been "discredited."

It was discredited, the Democratic nominee said, "by the media, by our allies, the World Bank, everyone."

The issue arose when President Trump asked Biden what his son had done to get the money from the oligarch, the widow of the former mayor of Moscow. Trump also brought up the millions of dollars Hunter Biden was paid by the Ukrainian gas company Burisma while Joe Biden was overseeing U.S. Ukraine policy.

The $3.5 million payment was documented in an 87-page report released last week by committees chaired by Sens. Charles Grassley and Ron Johnson.

Biden cited nothing to support his claim the Senate report was "discredited."

The money came from Russia's richest woman, whose name was on a U.S. Treasury list of figures tied to the Kremlin who were under consideration for sanctions.

She is Elena Baturina, the widow of Yury Luzhkov, the former mayor of Moscow. Baturina became Russia's only female billionaire when her plastics company, Inteko, received a series of Moscow municipal contracts while her husband was mayor.

The Senate probe found Baturina sent 11 wire transfers between May and December 2015 to a bank account belonging to BAK USA, a tech startup that filed for bankruptcy in March 2019. Nine of the 11 wire transfers went to Rosemont Seneca Thornton, the investment firm founded by Hunter Biden and Chris Heinz, stepson of former Secretary of State John Kerry.

The report cited records showing "potential criminal activity relating to transactions among and between Hunter Biden, his family, and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals."

The records show some of the transactions are linked to what "appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring."

During the debate, President Trump asked: "Just out of curiosity, the mayor of Moscow's wife gave your son $3.5M. What did he do to deserve it?"

Biden refused to answer that, deflecting it with his claim the issue was "discredited."

"Just out of curiosity, the mayor of Moscow's wife gave your son $3.5M. What did he do to deserve it?"@realDonaldTrump hammers @JoeBiden over the reported financial payments made to his son Hunter while abroad. pic.twitter.com/CRVn8YHXhB

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 30, 2020

On Twitter, Ann Coulter commented: "'Totally discredited' + 'Rachel Maddow not convinced.'"

Chuck Ross of the Daily Caller wrote: "The story about the $3.5 million wire transfer to Hunter Biden has not been 'totally discredited,' as Biden claims. Hunter hasn't said a thing about it in the week since it came out in the Senate reported."

Mark Hemingway noted on Twitter the evidence was in documents from the U.S. Treasury.

The Senate report also concluded the Obama White House was aware that Hunter Biden's position on the Burisma board prevented "the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine."

The investigation found Burisma's owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, paid a $7 million bribe to prosecutors after Hunter Biden took his seat on the board.

The investigation was conducted by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Finance committees.

Democrats say the Senate investigation was political.