Joe Biden’s presidential campaign responded to a New York Post story that alleges Mr. Biden met with an adviser to the Ukrainian energy company associated with his son Hunter Biden.
The tabloid published the article based on unfounded claims of the material provided by Rudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer of President Donald Trump and a close Republican ally, who have spent months trying to use Mr. Biden’s son to tarnish his reputation.
Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said Mr. Biden’s official schedules showed no meeting between Mr. Biden and an adviser to the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
“We have reviewed Joe Biden’s official schedules from the time and no meeting, as alleged by the New York Post, ever took place,” Bates said.
The story was on the front page of the New York tabloid under the headline “Biden Secret E-mails,” accusing the then-vice president of meeting a top adviser to Burisma, Vadym Pozharskyi, whose board Mr. Biden’s son had joined at the time. Mr. Trump’s Republican allies quickly pounced on the claims to argue that it proved Mr. Biden had abused his position to intervene with the Ukrainian government on behalf of his son.
While there was no indication of Russian involvement, it does assert the fact U.S. intelligence agencies have described as part of active Russian disinformation efforts aimed at the 2020 election to cast doubt. Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealing has been a Republican talking point over the last year.
An investigation by Senate Republicans found no evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Biden, the former vice president, in his son’s business dealings.
“Investigations by the press, during impeachment, and even by two Republican-led Senate committees whose work was decried as ‘not legitimate’ and political by a GOP colleague have all reached the same conclusion: that Joe Biden carried out official U.S. policy toward Ukraine and engaged in no wrongdoing. Trump administration officials have attested to these facts under oath,” Bates said.
Both Facebook and Twitter would block links to the story and images of it from being posted on its platform. Republicans quickly criticized the move by the social networks. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, accusing the company of “partiality”.
