Hunter Biden admits 'poor judgment' in taking Ukraine oil company role, but says he did nothing improper
Hunter Biden says that he used “poor judgement” in taking a board seat with a Ukrainian energy company, a posting that has been dredged up by Donald Trump to try and smear his father, Joe Biden.
The admission came during an interview with ABC News, the first from Mr Biden since the president began attacking his father for allegedly using his position as vice president to benefit his son — an allegation that has found no supporting evidence so far.
“In retrospect, look, I think that it was poor judgment on my part. Is that I think that it was poor judgment because I don't believe now, when I look back on it — I know that there was — did nothing wrong at all," Mr Biden said. “However, was it poor judgment to be in the middle of something that is...a swamp in—in—in many ways? Yeah.”
During the interview, the former vice president’s son remained largely defiant, and sought to move pressure away from himself and his father, and onto the president.
But, the very fact that Mr Biden has conducted an interview on national television shows that Mr Trump’s repetition of allegations of impropriety have left some mark and may be threatening the elder Mr Biden’s run for the Democratic nomination.
During the interview, Mr Biden defended taking the position with Burisma, a Ukrainian oil and gas company, while his father led US foreign policy towards Kyiv.
Responding to allegations that he was not qualified to join the board where he made $50,000 a month, Mr Biden acknowledged that he did not have particular experience with oil and gas but had served on major boards previously.
“I was vice chairman of the board of Amtrak for five years,” he said. “I was the chairman of the board of the UN World Food Programme. I was a lawyer for Boies Schiller Flexner, one of the most prestigious law firms in — in the world.”
“I think that I had as much knowledge as anybody else that was on that board — if not more,” he said of Burisma.
The interview comes just after the senior Biden’s presidential campaign released a detailed proposed government ethics plan, which indicated it is designed to “rein in executive branch financial conflicts of interest.”
It also comes after Mr Biden announced that he would leave a Chinese company, and pledged not to work for foreign companies should his father become president following the 2020 election.
