Hunter Biden notified Burisma colleague of planned Blinken meet: emails By Josh Christenson
https://nypost.com/2023/04/25/hunter-biden-told-burisma-colleague-of-blinken-meet-emails/
First son Hunter Biden kept his business partners apprised of at least two scheduled one-on-one meetings with Antony Blinken, emails reviewed by The Post show.
The decade-plus-long relationship between Blinken and Hunter made headlines last week after the House Judiciary Committee revealed that former CIA acting director Michael Morell testified in private that Blinken — then a Biden 2020 campaign adviser — “triggered” a letter from 51 ex-intelligence officials that sought to discredit The Post’s reporting on bombshell emails from the first son’s abandoned laptop.
The Post’s initial scoop detailed Hunter’s role on the board of Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma, a position he attained in April 2014 despite no previous industry experience.
On May 22, 2015, 13 months after joining the Burisma board, Hunter Biden emailed Blinken, then President Barack Obama’s deputy secretary of state, with a request.
“Have a few minutes next week to grab a cup of coffee? I know you are impossibly busy, but would like to get your advice on a couple of things. Best, Hunter.”
Hunter Biden forwarded Blinken’s reply without comment to Devon Archer, a fellow member of Burisma’s board.
“Roger,” Archer responded.
When Blinken’s personal assistant, Linda Landers, reached out telling Hunter to “advise on best times for you next week and we’ll try to accommodate,” the then-second son forwarded that email to Archer as well, adding: “FYI.”A meeting was eventually set for May 27, 2015, but reportedly did not take place. Three days later, Hunter’s older brother, Beau Biden, succumbed to brain cancer at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Hunter and Blinken did get together for lunch on July 22, 2015, exactly three months after the younger Biden initially reached out. Joan Mayer, a top staffer at the now-defunct Rosemont Seneca Partners investment firm, sent an email to Hunter that morning reminding him of the meeting and cc’d another business partner, Eric Schwerin.
“12:00-1:30pm- Lunch with Tony Blinken (State Department),” Mayer wrote. “Enter at main entrance (‘Diplomatic Entrance’), 22nd & C St, NW. Proceed to receptionist area where Kenny Matthews will be waiting to escort you to Tony’s office.”
Schwerin visited the White House and vice presidential residence more than two dozen times during the Obama-Biden administration and Hunter’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, wrote in her recently published memoir that Schwerin had “managed almost every aspect” of her family’s finances.
It’s unclear why Archer and Schwerin were made aware of Hunter’s meetings with Blinken.
Following the lunch meeting, Blinken wrote to Hunter that it had been great to “catch up.”
“You will love this: after you left, Marjorie, the wonderful african american [sic] woman who sits in my outer office (and used to be Colin Powell’s assistant) said to me: ‘He sure is pleasant on the eyes.’ Tell you [sic] wife,” Blinken also wrote.
The now-secretary of state conducted this correspondence with the Biden scion entirely from his private AOL email account rather than an official State Department address.
The ties between Blinken and Hunter Biden appeared to deepen on June 16, 2010, when Hunter emailed Blinken’s wife, Evan Ryan.
“Can I get Toni’s non-govt email? I wanted to send him something. Thanks,” wrote Hunter, referring to his dad’s then-national security adviser.
After Ryan provided the email, Hunter asked in a follow-up email: “[W]hat’s new with you? Do you want to get coffee some time next week?”
“Yes, sounds great – let me know what works,” Ryan replied.
The two also exchanged emails later that year to organize attendance for White House events — and Blinken, Ryan and Hunter may once have sat down together for a 2010 dinner in Washington, DC.
The ties between Hunter and key members of his father’s administration have drawn the attention of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), who is leading the investigation into the first son’s overseas business interests.
“[National security adviser] Jake Sullivan’s in a lot of trouble,” Comer told “Fox & Friends First” Tuesday. “I would make the argument that Antony Blinken’s in a lot of trouble … We have a national security crisis on our hands, and the information that I’ve seen … It’s very concerning.”
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