A lawyer who used to represent the corrupt Ukrainian energy company Burisma, which provided Hunter Biden with a seat on its board of directors, recently registered as a foreign agent for the energy company.
The attorney, John Buretta, revealed the work he did on behalf of the former head of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, in recent documents filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which forces Americans representing foreign companies of interest to the U.S. to disclose their work to the department.
Former Burisma Lawyer Files Retroactive FARA Disclosure As Biden Impeachment Inquiry Progresseshttps://t.co/BGqBMTPz1Q
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 6, 2024
The filing, coming more than seven years after Buretta began working for Burisma, has sparked questions about why Hunter, who actively worked with the corrupt energy company, has not registered under FARA.
Buretta’s work included him representing Zlochevsky as a defense lawyer while the former Burisma chief underwent a corruption investigation from the Ukrainian government.
“In January 2016, Mr. Buretta was retained to represent Mykola Zlochevsky in connection with possible investigations by governmental authorities in the United States,” Buretta’s law firm said in forms filed with the DOJ.
“The representation thereafter broadened to include Burisma Holdings Limited, as well as governmental investigations in Ukraine, and continued until April 2017,” the firm continued.
In March 2016, according to documents, Buretta met with three senior officials in then-President Barack Obama’s administration. At the time, Ukraine’s then-prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, was fired on orders of then-Vice President Joe Biden. Shokin had been leading the investigation of Burisma.
A spokesperson for Buretta’s law firm, Cravath, Swaine, & Moore, pointed out that the recent filing came after discussions with the DOJ.
“After discussions with the Department of Justice regarding FARA’s scope, Cravath has filed a retroactive registration covering legal services provided to two former clients in March and September 2016, and a supplemental statement terminating the registration as of September 2016,” the spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
The DOJ’s enforcement of FARA violations came under former President Donald Trump’s administration when the department prosecuted the then-president’s ex-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who failed to register as a foreign agent for work he had conducted in Ukraine.
Hunter has undergone investigations for violating FARA but has not been criminally charged. The first son was described as a “top lawyer” for Burisma in 2014.
