'Biden Ukraine Scandal Rekindled'... Trump 'Furious' Over Facebook Link Blockade

New York Post Secures Laptop Allegedly Owned by Joe Biden's Son
Trump: "It's Horrible That 'Smoking Gun' Email Content Was Deleted"

▲Democratic Party presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] In the final intense phase of the U.S. presidential election, President Donald Trump has attempted to reignite the 'Ukraine scandal' involving his opponent, Democratic candidate Joe Biden, and Biden's son Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden, the son of candidate Biden, introduced an associate from the Ukrainian energy company 'Burisma Holdings,' where he was involved in 2015, to his father, Joe Biden. This became the trigger for the New York Post's report calling it the 'smoking gun' of the Ukraine scandal.

The New York Post reported that it obtained emails from a computer believed to belong to Hunter Biden, showing correspondence between Hunter Biden and Vadym Pozharskyi, an associate from Burisma who served as a board member.

This computer was reportedly passed to the New York Post through an associate of the Trump camp.

On the 14th, the New York Post revealed the contents of an email sent on April 7, 2015, by Pozharskyi, who served as an advisor on Burisma's board, to Hunter Biden, who was then a board member of Burisma.

According to the email, Pozharskyi expressed gratitude, saying, "Thank you for inviting me to Washington DC and giving me the opportunity to meet your father (Joe Biden) and spend time together."

The New York Post emphasized that this email shows how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessmen to his father, Joe Biden.

However, AFP news agency pointed out that the exact timing of the meeting and whether the meeting actually took place are not clearly specified.

Additionally, the New York Post reported that on May 12, 2014, shortly after Hunter Biden joined Burisma, Pozharskyi sent an email to Hunter Biden's business partner stating that Ukrainian authorities were "aggressively approaching" for bribes and sought advice from Hunter Biden on how to exert influence.

▲Donald Trump, President of the United States (left), and Joe Biden, Democratic presidential candidate (right) [Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, the Trump campaign claimed that Biden pressured the Ukrainian prosecutor to halt an investigation into Burisma, where his son was involved, during Biden's vice presidency in 2016.

The New York Post reported, "As widely known, less than eight months after Pozharskyi expressed gratitude to Hunter Biden, candidate Biden pressured then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to dismiss Viktor Shokin, the prosecutor leading the Burisma investigation, using a $1 billion loan to Ukraine as leverage." Shokin was dismissed in March 2016.

According to the New York Post, Biden publicly stated at a 2018 Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) event, "If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money (loan)." However, Biden explained that the reason for demanding the dismissal was concerns about corruption shared by the European Union (EU).

The computer obtained by the New York Post was reportedly left at a computer repair shop in Delaware in April last year. When the owner did not claim it, the repair shop owner copied the hardware and handed it over to Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor and close associate of President Trump. The original was reportedly seized by the FBI.

Steve Bannon, a former Trump strategist and far-right figure, informed the New York Post about the existence of this hardware at the end of last month, and on the 11th, Giuliani handed the hardware to the New York Post.

While the identity of the person who left the computer is unclear, the computer reportedly had a sticker of the 'Beau Biden Foundation,' named after Joe Biden’s son Beau Biden, who died of a brain tumor in 2015.

In response, the Biden campaign denied the meeting with Pozharskyi, stating, "We reviewed Biden’s schedule at the time. There was no such meeting as claimed by the New York Post."

Biden has consistently denied the Ukraine scandal, saying, "I have never discussed my son’s overseas business with him."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

In response to this report, Facebook and Twitter blocked links to the New York Post article, citing concerns about transparency and the source of the report.

The Trump administration and Republicans strongly opposed this. President Trump tweeted, "It is terrible that Facebook and Twitter removed the New York Post’s 'smoking gun' email content about Joe Biden and his son Hunter."

Republican Senator Josh Hawley (Missouri), a Trump ally, sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, claiming that the report showed "possible unethical activities of the presidential candidate (Biden)" and that Facebook’s blocking of the report demonstrated "partisanship."

Republican Senator Ted Cruz (Texas) also sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, criticizing Twitter’s censorship as "very hypocritical" given that Twitter has allowed reports critical of other candidates despite weak sources.

The New York Post also attacked Facebook and Twitter’s actions in an editorial, stating, "No one has disputed the objectivity of the article," and called Facebook and Twitter "propaganda tools, not media platforms."

Following the backlash, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acknowledged in a tweet, "It is unacceptable to block link sharing without explanation," and admitted, "Our communication around the actions taken on the New York Post article was not great."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.