In a major development in the investigation of allegations that President Biden and his troubled son, Hunter, each received a $5 million bribe during the Obama administration, two powerful congressional Republicans have released an FBI document that describes one individual’s multiple encounters with the Ukrainian businessman who allegedly paid the bribe. 

The FD-013 document contains a detailed account from a “confidential human source,” or CHS, detailing the efforts by a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, to break into the American energy market, allegedly paying the Bidens handsomely for access and good favor. A powerful Ukrainian businessman allegedly told the CHS that it “cost five million to pay one Biden, and five million to another Biden.” 

The document, which has been in the FBI’s hands for three years, recently became the object of dispute between the FBI director, Christopher Wray, and Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, who were demanding the document be released to them. It was only after the GOP lawmakers threatened to hold Mr. Wray in contempt of Congress that he allowed the representatives to view it in a secure facility on Capitol Hill. Yet now Senator Grassley, who obtained the document by other means, has released a partially redacted version.

The document, which is dated June 30, 2020, details two meetings an FBI agent had with the CHS. The first meeting occurred on June 26 of that year, and the second on June 29. 

The CHS told the agent that he had multiple phone calls and meetings with Ukrainian businessmen who were trying to buy an American energy company estimated to be worth as much as $30 million. One of those men, Mykola Zlochevsky, was the founder and chief executive of Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian gas company that paid the younger Mr. Biden $80,000 a month to sit on its board, despite his having no experience in the energy sector. 

In late 2015, the CHS traveled to Kyiv to meet with senior members of Burisma’s leadership team, including the company’s chief financial officer, Vadim Pojarskii, along with Mr. Zlochevky’s daughter and her husband. The CHS was introduced to the group by his associate, Alexander Ostapenko. At one point, Mr. Pojarskii told the CHS that they had hired the younger Mr. Biden to “protect” Burisma “through his dad, from all kinds of problems.”

The CHS met Mr. Zlochevsky for the first time in early 2016 when he and Mr. Ostapenko traveled to Vienna. 

When the Ukrainian prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, began his investigation of Burisma for corruption, the CHS suggested  that Mr. Zlochevsky should simply start a new gas company in America rather than try to purchase an existing one. The CHS claims to have said the specter of Mr. Shokin’s investigation would make it difficult to make an acquisition. “Hunter will take care of all of those issues through his dad,” Mr. Zlochevsky responded. 

When the CHS insisted that the Burisma founder should hire a legitimate attorney to help deal with the corruption investigation rather than rely on Mr. Biden, Mr. Zlochevsky is said to have remarked that the first son was “stupid” and that his “dog was smarter” than him. 

Following the 2016 presidential election, the CHS was contacted by Mr. Zlochevsky again, this time via telephone. The source asked the Ukrainian if he was concerned about his involvement with the younger Mr. Biden. At this point, Mr. Zlochevsky told the CHS for the first time that he had been “pushed to pay” or “coerced” to pay the Bidens in the first place. 

In 2019, the two men spoke again, once again via telephone. The source and Mr. Ostapenko were dining at London when they connected with Mr. Zlochevsky during a call. The CHS asked the Ukrainian if he was concerned about having his alleged bribes discovered by American officials. It “would take them 10 years to find the records,” Mr. Zlochevsky reportedly said, referring to his vast network of bank accounts and shell companies. 

The CHS, who has experience working in Russian and Ukrainian industries, said he has seen companies pay bribes to government officials many times. On their accounting records, these businesses write off certain expenses as “podmazat,” which from Russian translates as “oil, lubricate, or make things run smoothly.” In other words, a bribe. 

Republican lawmakers have been demanding for weeks to know why the FBI was not investigating the allegations in the document more aggressively, with FBI and justice department officials merely replying that the investigation was “ongoing.” The Oversight Committee’s ranking minority member, Democrat Jamie Raskin, said by contrast that the claims in the document had been investigated and found to be without substance.

For their part, GOP lawmakers have said they are determined to get to the bottom of the matter and are discussing impeaching Attorney General Garland for his inaction or slow-walking of the various Hunter Biden matters.