Hunter Biden admits 'poor judgement' over Ukraine dealings as he speaks out for first time

Hunter Biden has admitted he exercised "poor judgement" over his foreign business dealings in his first public comments since he became a focal point in the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump.

However Hunter, the son of Joe Biden, the former vice president, denied he had done anything wrong by taking a paid position with a Ukrainian gas company while his father was responsible for enforcing US policy in the region.

In an interview with ABC News, the younger Mr Biden said in the grand scheme of things it was probably a mistake to accept the role, but insisted he had never discussed his work for the company with his father.

“In retrospect, look, I think that it was poor judgment on my part,” he said. “I know I did nothing wrong at all. However, was it poor judgment to be in the middle of something that is... a swamp in many ways? Yeah.”

The 49 year old has largely kept out of public view since the launch of the impeachment investigation into whether Mr Trump attempted to push Ukraine to help his re-election campaign.

The US president has repeatedly questioned why Hunter was appointed to a high-paying board position in Ukraine, and made unsubstantiated claims that he and his father corruptly made substantial amounts of money in business dealings. The Bidens have always denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Trump used a July 25 phone call with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to urge him to launch an official investigation into Hunter’s business activities in the country.

That phone call triggered the impeachment investigation into whether Mr Trump was abusing his power to push for a probe into a political rival, at a time when Mr Biden is the leading Democratic candidate to take him on in the 2020 election.

Since the impeachment inquiry began, Mr Trump has repeatedly hit out at Hunter, taunting him with tweets like: "WHERE'S HUNTER?"

In a wide-ranging interview, Hunter said he did not regret taking the roles but admitted he had failed to anticipate how it could become fodder for his father's critics.

"That's where I made the mistake. So I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way," he added.   He also dismissed Mr Trump's claim that he made $1.5 billion from his work on a Chinese investment company, saying he had not made "one cent" from it.

Asked how much money he had made from serving on the Ukrainian gas company's board, Hunter said: "I'm a private citizen. One thing that I don't have to do is sit here and open my kimono as it relates to how much money I make or make or did or didn't.”   But he defended his credentials for his high-paying role, saying he had held multiple prominent board positions previously as well as working for a prestigious law firm.

When pushed on whether his last name had helped him secure the position, he responded: "I don't think there's a lot of things that would have happened in my life if my last name wasn't Biden".

The interview was aired on Tuesday morning, just hours before the forth Democratic debate in Ohio. It appears to be part of a proactive media strategy by the Bidens to put an end to Mr Trump's conspiracy theories regarding Hunter's foreign business work.

On Sunday, Hunter announced he was stepping down from the board of the Chinese investment company and would not serve on the boards of any foreign companies if his father becomes president.

Meanwhile the senior Mr Biden made a dig at Mr Trump by saying none of his family would "have an office in the White House" if he became president. Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner both have senior roles in the West Wing.

Mr Trump responded to the interview later on Tuesday, saying in a tweet: "Hunter Biden was really bad on @GMA. Now Sleepy Joe has real problems! Reminds me of Crooked Hillary and her 33,000 deleted Emails, not recoverable!"