The Justice Department is investigating a Democratic consulting firm that worked with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma while Hunter Biden sat on its board, Politico reports.
Investigators are looking at whether Blue Star Strategies illegally lobbied without registering as a foreign agent, according to the report. The firm took on Burisma as a client while Biden sat on its board of directors.
The report said there is no indication that Hunter Biden is a target of the investigation. Karen Tramontano, one of Blue Star's co-founders, testified that Biden did not direct any of the firm’s work for Burisma.
But the report also noted that the probe involves the Delaware US Attorney’s Office, which is also investigating Hunter Biden for possible tax violations.
Blue Star is a major firm:
Blue Star is a major lobbying and consulting firm based in Washington with offices in Brussels, Buenos Aires, Paris, and Vienna. It is run by alums of the Clinton administration.
The company has worked on various efforts, including working to normalize trade relations between the US and China. They’ve also worked for clients in Bangladesh and Azerbaijan.
But the company did not disclose its work with Burisma to the federal government after taking it on as a client in 2015.
Corruption probe:
Blue Star took on Burisma as the company faced allegations of corruption.
At the time, British law enforcement officials seized $23 million from Mykola Zlochevsky, the former Ukraine resources minister who had controlled Burisma.
But a British judge ruled in 2015 that the government must return the money. Then-Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt accused the company of corruption and criticized the Ukrainian prosecutor who helped Zlochevsky recover the funds.
Burisma hired Blue Star on the advice of Devon Archer, who co-founded an investment firm with Hunter Biden and served on Burisma’s board with him.
