Classified State Dept email: Hunter Biden undercut US anticorruption efforts in Ukraine

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A recently published email from U.S. State Department officials in Kyiv said Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine "undercut" American efforts to fight corruption within the country. 

The email, obtained by Just the News, dates from Nov. 22, 2016, when former U.S. embassy official George Kent raised concern over Hunter Biden’s Ukraine dealings. Kent remarked on the "saga" surrounding a case again former Ukrainian natural resources minister and Burisma Holdings founder Mykola Zlochevsky. Joe Biden was still vice president at the time Kent sent the email, but Donald Trump had won the presidential election. 

Kent later appeared before the House Intelligence Committee to testify during the impeachment inquiry against former President Donald Trump, during which he noted he had raised his concerns about the association between Hunter Biden and Burisma. 

Kent said in his email that the "real issue" was that someone in Washington needed to engage then-Vice President Biden and say his son’s presence on the board "undercut the anti-corruption message the VP and we were advancing in Ukraine." 

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The email, labeled "confidential" – the lowest level of secrecy – laid out how the department’s message and actions clashed when the Biden family associated with "a known corrupt figure whose company was known for not playing by the rules." 

Kent states that he understood Sally Painter to be working on due diligence on the issue to make the case to Hunter, but that he never heard back from her. Painter serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Washington, D.C. consultancy firm Blue Star Strategy. 

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Kent highlighted Burisma’s reputation for alleged corruption and bribery as chief reasons that Hunter Biden’s affiliation with the company could prove harmful to U.S. efforts. 

"Ukrainians heard one message from us and then saw another set of behavior," Kent wrote. 

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Another recipient on the email noted that another American board member, Devon Archer, had recently been indicted in a federal fraud case. He also laid out the various levels of corruption surrounding Zlochevsky, including the case against him, and the desire for Burisma to rehabilitate its image with help from the U.S.

"We have declined to get involved," the email said.

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The recipients of the email included Jorgan K. Andrews, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and then-U.S. Ambassador to Kyiv Marie Yovanovitch, who classified the email.  

The State Department did not respond to a Fox News request for comment.