Biden–Ukraine Conspiracy Theory
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The Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory is a series of false allegations that
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
, while he was
vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...
, improperly withheld a loan guarantee and took a bribe to pressure
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
into firing
prosecutor general Public Prosecutor General or Prosecutor General may refer to: * Prosecutor General of Lithuania * Prosecutors General of Azerbaijan * Prosecutor General (Albania) * Prosecutor General of Armenia * Prosecutor General of the Republic (Brazil) * Pros ...
Viktor Shokin Viktor Mykolayovych Shokin (; born 4 November 1952) is a former Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Having previously worked as an investigator for the Prosecutor General Office, he served as Prosecutor General for one year between 2015 and 2016. ...
to prevent a corruption investigation of Ukrainian gas company
Burisma Burisma Holdings Limited () was a holding company based in Kyiv, Ukraine, for a group of energy exploration and production companies. It was founded in 2002 and registered in Limassol, Cyprus, until being dissolved in 2023. It was one of the lar ...
and to protect his son
Hunter Biden Robert Hunter Biden (born February4, 1970) is an American attorney and businessman. He is the second son of former president Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden was a founding board member of BHR Partners, a Chine ...
, who was on the Burisma
board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...
.Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As part of efforts by
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and his campaign in the Trump–Ukraine scandal, which led to Trump's first impeachment, these falsehoods were spread in an attempt to damage Joe Biden's reputation and chances during the 2020 presidential campaign, and later in an effort to impeach him. Joe Biden followed State Department intentions when he withheld the loan guarantee to pressure Ukraine into removing the prosecutor, who was seen as corrupt and failing to clean up Ukrainian corruption, in accordance with the official and bipartisan policy of the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
and the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
. A confidential informant told the FBI that Burisma's owner said he was coerced to pay bribes to both Bidens to ensure Shokin was fired, though the informant was indicted in 2024 on charges he had fabricated the account.
United States intelligence community The United States Intelligence Community (IC) is a group of separate US federal government, U.S. federal government intelligence agencies and subordinate organizations that work to conduct Intelligence assessment, intelligence activities which ...
analysis released in March 2021 found that proxies of Russian intelligence promoted and laundered misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about the Bidens "to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration." ''
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'' reported in May 2021 that a federal criminal investigation was examining a possible role by current and former Ukrainian officials, including whether they used former Trump personal attorney
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...
, who was the subject of a separate but related federal investigation, to spread unsubstantiated claims. A joint investigation by two Republican Senate committees released in September 2020 found no evidence of wrongdoing by Joe Biden. A sweeping Republican House committee investigation of the Biden family has found no wrongdoing by December 2023. House Speaker
Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...
directed three committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry in September 2023, and on December 2 his successor
Mike Johnson James Michael Johnson (born January 30, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 56th speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2023. A member ...
said he believed Republicans had enough votes in the House to initiate impeachment proceedings. The three committees released a report in August 2024 asserting Biden had "engaged in impeachable conduct," but they did not recommend proceeding to impeachment.


Background

Since the Independence of
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
following the collapse of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, Russia has had a history of running direct and active measures to undermine the sovereignty of Ukraine. This included placing operatives in the government, influencing elections, and encouraging corruption. After the start of the
Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
, when Russia invaded Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, Russia began to take active measures to influence presidential elections in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Beginning in 2014, this included efforts to discredit
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
. The series of false allegations about Joe Biden and Burisma emerged at a convergence of interest between Russian efforts to help Trump's candidacy, operatives and supporters of the Trump campaign, and media in the United States. The thesis of the false conspiracy theory asserts that Joe Biden sought the dismissal of a Ukrainian prosecutor to protect his son, and that he did it in a ''
quid pro quo ''Quid pro quo'' (Latin: "something for something") is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: " ...
'' manner by trading loan guarantees for the personal favor. This is in contrast to the attempted ''quid pro quo'' by President Trump, who unsuccessfully tried to pressure
Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...
Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...
in a ''quid pro quo'' manner to start a publicly announced investigation of Burisma and the Bidens in exchange for military aid and a visit to the White House. Trump's effort resulted in his first impeachment. In January 2018, a videotaping by the
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...
shows Biden taking credit for withholding the loan guarantees to have the prosecutor fired. His actions were implementations of bipartisan US policy rather than done for any of the reasons alleged in the conspiracy theory.


Bribery allegation

In June 2020, a confidential informant, later convicted for false statements to the FBI, Alexander Smirnov, lied to the FBI that Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky had said he had been coerced into paying Hunter Biden a $5 million bribe, as well as a $5 million bribe to "another Biden," to ensure Shokin would be fired. The FBI memorialized Smirnov's lies in an FD-1023 form, which read in part:
Zlochevsky said he had a total of "17 recordings" involving the Bidens; two of the recordings included Joe Biden, and the remaining 15 recordings only included Hunter Biden.
he informant He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
reiterated that, per Zlochevsky, these recordings evidence Zlochevsky was somehow coerced into paying the Bidens to ensure Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was fired.
Smirnov also told the FBI that Zlochevsky said Burisma had hired Hunter Biden to "protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems." The FD-1023 came to the attention of the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee investigation of the Biden family in 2023, leading to allegations of bribery that contributed to the Republican-controlled House voting to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Biden in December 2023. Republican committee member
Nancy Mace Nancy Ruth Mace (born December 4, 1977) is an American politician who has been the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district since 2021. She is a member of the Republican Party (U ...
asserted in a September 2023 public hearing, "We already know the president took bribes from Burisma." In February 2024, Smirnov was arrested by the FBI upon arriving in Las Vegas on a flight from an overseas location. He was indicted on charges that he had fabricated his account of conversations with Zlochevsky. The indictment asserted Smirnov appeared to have a political bias against Joe Biden, telling FBI handlers during the 2020 presidential campaign that he had evidence that would put Biden in jail. Days after the indictment, prosecutors said Smirnov had admitted Russian intelligence officials had passed a false story about Hunter Biden to him and Smirnov had been "actively peddling new lies that could impact US elections" since meeting with Russian agents in late 2023. Prosecutors also said Smirnov is a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen who should be detained pending trial; the presiding magistrate judge ordered him released provided he surrender his passports and wear a GPS monitor. In December 2024, Smirnov pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI and was sentenced to six years in prison the following month.


Conspirators

The falsehoods about Hunter Biden were spread by possible Russian operatives in the Ukrainian parliament, right-wing media supportive of Trump, and members of the Trump campaign, such as
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...
and
Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist for the first seven months of president Donald Trump's first ...
.


Russian involvement

Russian involvement was coordinated by Russian
GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...
lieutenant general Vladimir Alekseyevin, his deputy Oleksiy Savin, and Ihor Kolesnikov. They coordinated a network spreading the false allegations through Ukrainian lawmakers Oleksandr Dubinsky and Andrii Derkach, Prosecutor Kostiantyn Kulyk and businessmen
Dmytro Firtash Dmytro Vasylovych Firtash (; born 2 May 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman who heads the board of directors of Group DF. He was highly influential during the Yushchenko administration and the Yanukovych administration. As a middleman for the R ...
and Konstantin Kilimnik. The three were given ten million dollars and used corrupt access to the Ukrainian Parliament and connections to media and politicians in the United States to spread the falsehoods. Dubinsky, Derkach and Kulyk were sanctioned by the U.S. government in the closing days of the Trump administration, and in November 2023 Ukrainian authorities indicted them on treason charges.


Ihor Kolesnikov

Ihor Kolesnikov, a Soviet-era GRU officer, coordinated the election subversion network from Kyiv. Kolesnikov would organize Press Conferences for Oleksander Dubinsky and Andri Derkach. He was sentenced to fifteen years for treason in May 2022.


Oleksander Dubinsky

Oleksandr Dubinsky is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament who four years ago helped Rudy Giuliani in his attempts to find information in support of the false Biden-Ukraine conspiracy. Dubinsky is accused of treason for allegedly working to help Russia in its war against Ukraine. Dubinsky held Press Conference with Andrii Derkach to spread the false rumors. He also met with
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...
in 2019 for the production of a falsified film about the conspiracy. In May 2021 Dubinsky was sanctioned by the US Government, his assets frozen, and his
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel shutdown. In November 2023 Oleksander Dubinsky was charged for carrying out subversive informational activities by publishing "fakes about the alleged interference of Ukrainian high-ranking officials" in the U.S. 2020 presidential elections.


Andrii Derkach

Andrii Derkach is a former Ukrainian politician, now stripped of citizenship, who is believed to have been an agent or asset of Russia. He played a central role in spreading falsehoods about Biden and Ukraine. Derkach released snippets of a supposed conversation between Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Poroshenko, in which Biden linked loan guarantees to the ouster of Viktor Shokin, the country's corrupt and ineffective prosecutor general. The recordings, which were not verified as authentic and appeared to be heavily edited, did not provide evidence to support the ongoing conspiracy theory that Biden wanted the prosecutor fired to protect his son. In June 2020, Poroshenko denied that Joe Biden ever approached him about Burisma and characterized the recordings as fake. In September 2020, the
United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...
sanctioned Derkach, stating he "has been an active Russian agent for over a decade, maintaining close connections with the Russian Intelligence Services". The Treasury Department added that Derkach "waged a covert influence campaign centered on cultivating false and unsubstantiated narratives concerning U.S. officials in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election," including by the release of "edited audio tapes and other unsupported information with the intent to discredit U.S. officials".


Kostiantyn Kulyk

In 2019, as deputy prosecutor general. Mr Kulyk wrote a 2019 memo calling for an investigation into Hunter Biden's role on Burisma's board. Later that year he had plans to meet Mr Giuliani to discuss the allegations in order to spread the false conspiracy. Kulyk has been indicted on multiple corruption charges. Kulyk, though, fled Ukraine after Russia's invasion in 2022 and is also sanctioned by the United States for his role in the subversive activities.


Dmytro Firtash

Dmytro Firtash Dmytro Vasylovych Firtash (; born 2 May 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman who heads the board of directors of Group DF. He was highly influential during the Yushchenko administration and the Yanukovych administration. As a middleman for the R ...
was a middleman for
Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...
and connected to the Ukrainian government. He has acknowledged that he was installed as a middleman by
Russian mob The Russian mafia ( or ), also known as Bratva ( ; ) less as Obshchak (Общак) or Brigades (Бригады) , is a collective of various organized crime related elements originating or/and operating in Russia. In December 2009, Timur ...
boss
Semion Mogilevich Semion Yudkovich Mogilevich (, ; , ; born June 30, 1946) is a Ukrainian-born Russian organized crime boss. He is described by agencies in the European Union and United States as the " boss of all bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates in th ...
. Since 2014 Firtash has faced bribery charges and fought extradition to the United States while he has been released on bail in Austria. He wired one million dollars to the wife of
Lev Parnas Lev Parnas (born February 6, 1972) is a Soviet-born American businessman and former associate of Rudy Giuliani. Parnas, Giuliani, Igor Fruman, John Solomon, Yuriy Lutsenko, Dmytro Firtash and his allies, Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenov ...
, a former associate of Giuliani. He provided a now-discredited affidavit from Kulyk accusing Biden of wrongdoing. Trump and Giuliani associates Joe DiGenova and Victoria Toensing attempted to persuade Attorney General
William Barr William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as United States Attorney General, United States attorney general in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and again in the first adminis ...
to drop charges against Firtash but failed.


Konstantin Kilimnik

Konstantin Kilimnik oversaw a network of people working on behalf of the Russian
Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...
(FSB) to influence the 2020 elections. Kilimnik had the single strongest ties, authorized by President Putin, to the Trump administration in both 2016 and 2020 elections. He organized Russia's media outreach campaigns to spread lies about Biden and corruption in Ukraine as part of Russia's efforts to help Trump.


American media involvement

American media organizations with ties to the Trump campaign were involved in the spread of the false allegations. Specifically
Peter Schweizer Peter Franz Schweizer (born November 24, 1964) is an American political consultant and writer. He is the president of the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), senior editor-at-large of far-right media organization '' Breitbart News'', and ...
, John Solomon,
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
, and
One America News Network One America News Network (OANN), also known as One America News (OAN), is a far-right, pro-Trump news and political commentary television channel and website founded by Robert Herring Sr. and owned by Herring Networks, Inc., that launched ...
were essential in creating and disseminating the lies that built the background for this conspiracy theory.


Peter Schweizer

Peter Schweizer Peter Franz Schweizer (born November 24, 1964) is an American political consultant and writer. He is the president of the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), senior editor-at-large of far-right media organization '' Breitbart News'', and ...
, editor-at-large at ''
Breitbart News ''Breitbart News Network'' (; known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an Radical right (United States), American far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * syndicated news, opinion, and commentar ...
'' and president of the conservative
Government Accountability Institute The Government Accountability Institute (GAI) is a conservative think tank located in Tallahassee, Florida. GAI was founded in 2012 by Peter Schweizer and Steve Bannon with funding from Robert Mercer and family. Schweizer serves as the group's ...
, was the first person to spread the falsehoods about Joe Biden and Burisma in his book "Secret Empires". The plagiarized book included a false story that on January 12, 2017, Joe Biden, who was then the vice-president, sought to end an investigation into Burisma to protect Hunter Biden, who had a profitable post on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company run by a shady oligarch. Schweizer launched a media blitz in 2019 to help the conspiracy spread and appeared and wrote editorials repeating his lie in multiple news outlets. This, in turn, helped to lead Trump allies in Ukraine and Congress to promote the lie.


John Solomon

''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' attributes John Solomon, formerly of '' The Hill'', the most responsibility for the spread of the untrue claims in U.S. media. Beginning in the spring of 2019, Solomon published a series of editorials which ''The Hill'' notes are now part of Congressional inquiries due to their connection to the spreading of lies. Solomon relied heavily on Schweizer's book. The story being pushed by Solomon had significant flaws, including relying on a corrupt source who would not substantiate the claims. In testimony before Congress, Alexander Vindman said Solomon's claims were "entirely made up in full cloth".
Media Matters Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a non-profit left-leaning watchdog journalism organization. It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center. It seeks to ...
reported in September 2023 that the previous month Solomon published a State Department briefing memo prepared for Joe Biden's December 2015 trip to Ukraine. The memo read, in part:


Fox News

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
was also involved in the spread of the falsehoods. Fox ran at least twelve broadcasts about John Solomon's report about the Burisma probe. The false conspiracy theory was mentioned on
Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...
's program, with him claiming Solomon had caught Joe Biden in an "international corruption scandal".


One America News Network

One America News Network One America News Network (OANN), also known as One America News (OAN), is a far-right, pro-Trump news and political commentary television channel and website founded by Robert Herring Sr. and owned by Herring Networks, Inc., that launched ...
(OANN) is a
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
, pro-Trump news outlet with reporters who also work for Russian news agencies, and the network was essential to spreading lies about Biden and Burisma. OANN produced a "documentary series intended to debunk the impeachment case", and an OANN crew traveled with Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to gather information. OANN later aired a misleading documentary about Biden and Burisma called " The Ukraine Hoax: Impeachment, Biden Cash, and Mass Murder" produced by
Michael Caputo Michael Raymon Caputo (born March 24, 1962) is an American political strategist and lobbyist. In April 2020, Caputo was appointed as assistant secretary of public affairs in the Department of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration ...
, a member of the Trump campaign, and Sergey Petrushin, a Russian living in Florida. The documentary used fake documents provided to Giuliani by Parnas on behalf of Andrii Derkach and Konstantin Kilimnik. Following Caputo's work in spreading the falsehoods through OANN, Donald Trump made Caputo the assistant secretary of public affairs for the
Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
.


Trump campaign involvement

The Trump campaign's actions in spreading the conspiracy, especially the active engagement of
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...
with possible Russian agents, were highlighted during Donald Trump's first impeachment.


Trump's first impeachment

Trump's first impeachment charge of
abuse of power Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an Crime, unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasan ...
was triggered by a July 2019 phone call with
Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...
Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...
, in which then-President Trump unsuccessfully tried to pressure Zelenskyy in a ''
quid pro quo ''Quid pro quo'' (Latin: "something for something") is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: " ...
'' manner to start a publicly announced investigation of Burisma and the Bidens in exchange for the release of congressionally mandated financial and military aid to Ukraine and the promise of a Trump–Zelenskyy meeting at the White House. During the hearings and impeachment trial of President Trump in 2019–20, he and his allies repeatedly alleged that Joe Biden and his son had engaged in corrupt activities in Ukraine. Trump said he planned to make it a major issue during the
2020 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala H ...
, while a Republican-controlled Senate committee carried out an investigation into the allegations in spring 2020. The investigation by the Republican-controlled Senate
Homeland Security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" to ...
and Finance Committees concluded in September 2020 that Hunter Biden "cashed in' on his father's name to close lucrative business deals around the world", but that there was no evidence of improper influence or wrongdoing by Joe Biden.


Rudy Giuliani

Working together with Andrii Derkach (an active Russian agent),
Dmytro Firtash Dmytro Vasylovych Firtash (; born 2 May 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman who heads the board of directors of Group DF. He was highly influential during the Yushchenko administration and the Yanukovych administration. As a middleman for the R ...
, and other individuals linked to Russian intelligence and organized crime, Trump's personal attorney,
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...
, and his associates spearheaded an effort to gather information in Ukraine to advance the allegations, and Attorney General
William Barr William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as United States Attorney General, United States attorney general in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and again in the first adminis ...
confirmed that the Justice Department had created an "intake process" to review Giuliani's findings. In late 2019, it was revealed that the
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States attorney for the Southern District of New York is the United States Attorney, chief federal law enforcement officer in eight contiguous New York counties: the counties (coextensive boroughs of New York City) of New York County, ...
, which Giuliani had once led, was investigating him for multiple felonies relating to his activities in Ukraine. Intelligence officials warned
Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Rep ...
, the chairman of the Senate committee investigating the Bidens, that he risked spreading Russian disinformation. ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' reported in October 2020 that American intelligence agencies warned the White House in 2019 that Giuliani was the target of a Russian influence operation, and National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien warned President Trump about accepting what Giuliani told him. While monitoring Russian assets, U.S. intelligence recorded Giuliani communicating with them. According to officials interviewed by ''
The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...
,'' then-National Security Advisor
John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...
told his staff not to meet with Giuliani, as did his successor Robert C. O'Brien, because Bolton had been informed that Giuliani was spreading conspiracy theories that aligned with Russian interests in disrupting the 2020 election. These officials were also concerned that Giuliani would be used as a conduit for disinformation, including "leaks" of emails that would mix genuine with forged material to implicate Hunter Biden in corrupt dealings. Interviewed by ''The Daily Beast,'' Giuliani would later declare that Derkach's being sanctioned was the result of a conspiracy led by
George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...
and that "the chance that Derkach is a Russian spy is no better than 50/50". In October 2020, during the last weeks of the presidential campaign, the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' published an article, with the involvement of Donald Trump's personal attorney Giuliani and former chief strategist
Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist for the first seven months of president Donald Trump's first ...
, about a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden. The laptop contained an email, the authenticity of which was later verified by ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' in 2022, showing what the ''New York Post'' characterized as a "meeting" between Joe Biden and Vadym Pozharskyi, a Burisma advisor, in 2015, though that characterization was disputed by witnesses. The article's veracity was strongly questioned by most
mainstream media In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large Mass media, mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Noam Chomsky, Choms ...
outlets, analysts and intelligence officials, due to the chain of custody of the laptop and its contents, and suspicion that it may have been part of a disinformation campaign. A Republican activist delivered a portable drive to the ''Washington Post'' and stated that the device contained data copied from the laptop. The ''Post'' confirmed that some of the materials provided to them were genuine, but could not confirm that the materials on the portable drive came from the purported laptop; the ''Post'' also concluded that most of the data could not be verified and fake material may have been mixed in with it. Hunter Biden said that it is possible the laptop could be his. Ukrainian businessman Hares Youssef told ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' that an associate of Dmytro Firtash asked Youssef to lie about Hunter Biden's business dealings to damage Joe Biden's presidential campaign, in exchange for a United States visa.


Subjects of the conspiracy

The false allegations asserted that Joe Biden asked for the dismissal of
Viktor Shokin Viktor Mykolayovych Shokin (; born 4 November 1952) is a former Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Having previously worked as an investigator for the Prosecutor General Office, he served as Prosecutor General for one year between 2015 and 2016. ...
to cover up crimes by his son Hunter Biden.


Viktor Shokin

Viktor Shokin was appointed to the position of
Prosecutor General of Ukraine The Prosecutor General of Ukraine (also ''Procurator General''; , ) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General (, or, before 2020, ). The prosecutor general is appointed and dismissed by th ...
by Ukrainian president
Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...
, to whom he was loyal. Due to his own corruption and failures to do his job to clean up corruption, representatives of the EU, the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
, and
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
, pressed Poroshenko for his removal. In March 2016 testimony to the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for authorizing and overseeing foreign a ...
, former ambassador to Ukraine
John E. Herbst John Edward Herbst (born August 12, 1952) is a retired American diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2000 to 2003 and United States Ambassador to Ukraine from September 2003 to May 2006. Education Herbst received a ...
stated, "By late fall of 2015, the EU and the United States joined the chorus of those seeking Mr. Shokin's removal" and that Joe Biden "spoke publicly about this before and during his December visit to Kyiv". During the same hearing, assistant secretary of state
Victoria Nuland Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2021 to 2024. A former member of the US Foreign Service, she served as Assistant Secretary of State for European an ...
stated, "we have pegged our next $1 billion loan guarantee, first and foremost, to having a rebooting of the reform coalition so that we know who we are working with, but secondarily, to ensuring that the prosecutor general's office gets cleaned up." An overwhelming majority vote in the
Ukrainian Parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...
in March 2016 led to Shokin's removal from office after an investigation into extortion of another company led to associates who were found in possession of diamonds, cash and other valuables, as well as documents and passports belonging to Shokin. In an August 2023 Fox News interview, Shokin said he was fired as prosecutor general "at the insistence of then-Vice President
iden Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a Trunked radio system, trunked radio and a mobile phone, cellular telephone. It was called ...
because I was investigating Burisma." One month later, Poroshenko was asked on Fox News for his reaction to Shokin's assertion. Poroshenko responded: The Fox News interviewer responded, "Okay, so that is not true. He didn't get fired because of Joe Biden." Poroshenko confirmed this, adding Shokin was fired by the Ukrainian parliament "for his own statement" and "he played a very dirty game unfortunately."


Hunter Biden

Hunter Biden Robert Hunter Biden (born February4, 1970) is an American attorney and businessman. He is the second son of former president Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden was a founding board member of BHR Partners, a Chine ...
is a lawyer whose career previously included a period as an executive vice president at
MBNA MBNA Corporation was a bank holding company and parent company of wholly owned subsidiary MBNA America Bank, N.A., headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, prior to being acquired by Bank of America in 2006. History The former Maryland National ...
and three years at the
United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...
. He then worked as a lobbyist until 2006, when
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
appointed him to the board of directors of
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
. Hunter Biden resigned from Amtrak in February 2009, shortly after the inauguration of
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
, when his father Joe Biden became vice-president. He resumed lobbying, and was counsel at the law firm
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP Boies Schiller Flexner LLP is an American law firm based in New York City. The firm was founded in 1997 by David Boies and Jonathan D. Schiller, who were joined in 1999 by Donald L. Flexner, a former partner with Crowell & Moring. The firm has ...
, until the Ukrainian oil and gas firm Burisma Holdings appointed him to its board of directors in April 2014. As Hunter Biden had no prior experience in Ukraine or the energy sector, some viewed this as a likely attempt to buy influence via his father, though Hunter Biden was hired to conduct general corporate consulting rather than to provide energy expertise. Hunter Biden's employment was described by some as a potential
conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...
, and advisors to the Obama administration considered the situation awkward. Former ''Politico'' reporter Marc Caputo said in January 2025 that in 2019 the campaign of a rival to Biden for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election gave him
opposition research In politics, opposition research (also called oppo research) is the practice of collecting information on a political opponent or other adversary that can be used to discredit or otherwise weaken them. The information can include biographical, l ...
on Burisma. "That story was killed by the editors, and they gave no explanation for that either", he recalled, citing it and orders to not report on the laptop as among examples of "dumb decisions of cowardly editors" regarding Hunter Biden.


Congressional investigations

After Republicans took control of the House in January 2023, three House committees initiated investigations into Joe Biden, his family, and the Justice Department. In September 2023, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy authorized the committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry, to be led by
James Comer James Richardson Comer Jr. ( ; born August 19, 1972) is an American politician from Kentucky who represents the state's Kentucky's 1st congressional district, 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. A member of ...
, chairman of the House investigation into the Biden family. McCarthy had days earlier said that he would hold a full House vote to authorize an inquiry. ''The Washington Post'' reported that during a November 7 luncheon with the
Republican Governance Group The Republican Governance Group, originally the Tuesday Lunch Bunch and then the Tuesday Group until 2020, is a group of moderate Republicans in the United States House of Representatives. It was founded in 1994 in the wake of the Republican ta ...
, McCarthy's successor
Mike Johnson James Michael Johnson (born January 30, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 56th speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2023. A member ...
indicated there was insufficient evidence to initiate formal impeachment proceedings. Johnson said on December 2 that he believed he had enough House votes to continue to impeachment proceedings, as Republicans said a vote might be held within days, though they acknowledged they had not found evidence of misconduct by the president.


Lev Parnas testimony

At the invitation of committee Democrats, on March 20, 2024, Parnas testified before the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee investigation into the Biden family that was pursuing the impeachment of President Joe Biden. Parnas stated he was tasked by Giuliani with "finding dirt on the Bidens" to "spread misinformation about them" but he was unable to find evidence of Biden corruption in Ukraine. He testified, in part:


See also

*
Impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden On September 12, 2023, Kevin McCarthy, then-speaker of the United States House of Representatives, announced an Impeachment inquiry in the United States, impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The inquiry was conducted by the House's Uni ...
*
Russia investigation origins conspiracy theory The Russia investigation origins conspiracy theory or Russia counter-narrative is a conspiracy theory narrative created by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Republican Party leaders, and right-wing conservatives. It attacks the legitimacy and conc ...
*
Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections was a matter of concern at the highest level of national security within the United States government, in addition to the computer and social media industries. In 2020, the RAND Corporat ...
* Trump–Ukraine scandal#Ukraine and the Bidens *
United States House Oversight Committee investigation into the Biden family The United States House Oversight Committee investigation into the Biden family is an ongoing investigation since January 2023 by the United States House of Representatives into U.S. President Joe Biden and his family. The investigation was initia ...
* Weiss special counsel investigation


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biden-Ukraine conspiracy theory Controversies of the 2020 United States presidential election Mass media-related controversies in the United States October 2020 in the United States Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign Politics of Ukraine 2020 in Ukraine 2019 Trump–Ukraine scandal Conspiracy theories involving presidents of the United States Conspiracy theories promoted by Donald Trump Conspiracy theories regarding Joe Biden Rudy Giuliani Conspiracy theories in the United States Hunter Biden Ukraine–United States relations Joe Biden Biden administration controversies Impeachment in the United States First presidency of Donald Trump Presidency of Joe Biden