Ex-ukrainian PM says investigate Biden’s son

MOSCOW >> Ukraine must investigate the activities of U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son to establish whether his role in a Ukrainian gas company complied with the country’s laws, Mykola Azarov, Ukraine’s former prime minister, said in an interview.

Azarov did not specify to which Ukrainian laws he was referring.

Hunter Biden’s role in the company, Burisma Holdings Limited, is in focus after the White House published a memo showing President Donald Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a July phone call to get prosecutors to look into his activities. Zelenskiy agreed.

“It’s a fact (his directorship and fees) and not made up. It should be investigated so that the ‘i’s can be dotted and the ‘t’s crossed,” Azarov told Reuters.

A spokesperson for Joe Biden’s campaign declined to comment on Azarov’s investigation call, and none of Hunter Biden’s critics has provided any evidence that he broke Ukrainian law.

Ukraine’s National Anti-corruption Bureau said Friday it was investigating activity at Burisma from 2010 to 2012 but that it was not looking into changes to its board in 2014, when Hunter Biden joined.

Azarov lives in Moscow but says he remains wellconnected with parts of Ukraine’s political establishment and would like to return one day. He did not provide further details.

Hunter Biden was a director on Burisma’s board from 2014 until at least 2018, according to documents filed by the company in Cyprus, where it is registered.