Former Giuliani associate raises questions about Hunter Biden’s ‘hard drive from hell’

Lev Parnas is a Ukrainian-born businessman and former mud-raker for Rudy Giuliani , his claims cast doubt on the official narrative that Hunter Biden’s laptop and the alleged information retrieved from it originated from a computer repair shop in Delaware.

Parnas , who himself is facing campaign finance charges claims the information (or information similar to that being circulated) was first offered to Giuliani in May 2019 by a Ukrainian oligarch looking for help fending off any legal issues with the Justice Department.

But according to Parnas, Giuliani was first told about the existence of explicit photos — which he said included pictures of Hunter Biden with a crack pipe in his mouth and engaging in sexual acts — and private communications pertaining to Hunter and Joe Biden on May 30, 2019. The timing of the meeting also suggests Giuliani was made aware of these materials well before Mac Isaac first made contact with either the FBI in December 2019 or with Giuliani’s lawyer, who Mac Isaac gave the alleged hard drive on Aug. 29, 2020, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Giuliani did not return multiple requests for comment. On Friday night, he defended the authenticity of the harddrive and its content on his podcast, adding cryptically: "It's corroborated with me internally with secret information that I have about Hunter Biden that could only be on here. You think I don't have other witnesses?"

Parnas’ account also involves Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company that paid Hunter Biden to serve on its board while his father was vice president. Zlochevsky has long been pursued by Ukrainian authorities on corruption and money-laundering charges and was hoping to avoid additional scrutiny by the U.S., Parnas said.

It’s not clear how Zlochevsky would have gotten the Hunter Biden material he was allegedly trying to leverage, or whether the material is the same as what was first published by the Post. But Parnas says Pruss suggested Hunter Biden’s devices were compromised on a trip he took to Kazakhstan with Hunter Biden in 2014.

Pruss had been close with Hunter and his business partner Devon Archer in the past, Parnas said, helping them get the Burisma board seats and accompanying Biden on business trips. And he also served as Giuliani’s go-between for business in Ukraine for more than a decade.
Parnas further alleges that Pruss told Giuliani during the meeting that Zlochevsky was not the only one with the information — the Russian security services had it, too, he said.

POLITICO was unable to verify Parnas’ claims, though he provided text messages and documents he said showed that he helped set up and attended the May 30 meeting with Pruss, and subsequently served as a go-between for Giuliani, Pruss and Zlochevsky on issues related to Hunter Biden and Burisma. TIME Magazine reported earlier this week that at least two people were approached with offers to buy salacious Biden material in the spring and fall of 2019, raising similar questions about the original source of the photos and emails Giuliani gave to the New York Post.

Parnas said Giuliani was eager to get the information from Zlochevsky. He had Parnas send Pruss a series of questions for the oligarch with the goal of testing his knowledge and forthrightness about Hunter’s work for Burisma, and whether Zlochevsky ever met with Joe Biden while he was vice president.

The questions and Zlochevsky’s answers were included in a Microsoft Word document Parnas turned over to the House Intelligence Committee as part of the panel’s impeachment probe of Trump, which stemmed directly from Giuliani’s activities in Ukraine.

A GOP aide told POLITICO earlier this year that the document portrayed an “innocuous meeting with Ukrainian oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky.” But the truth, Parnas said, was more insidious — the exchange was part of an effort to gauge Zlochevsky’s willingness to cooperate with Giuliani’s dirt-digging mission.

Giuliani was furious, Parnas recalled. “At that point, after seeing the answers, Rudy started pounding the table and saying, ‘We just need to get this information,’” he recalled. Giuliani then tasked Parnas with forging a relationship with Ukrainian billionaire Dmitry Firtash, who said he was willing to help in the search for Biden dirt, Parnas said.

In that same May 30 meeting, according to Parnas, Pruss mentioned that the “chief financial officer of Burisma” might also be willing to help, likely a reference to Alexander Gorbunenko, who served as CFO while Hunter Biden was on the board. Giuliani met with a relative of Gorbunenko, Denis Gorbunenko, in June 2019 in London, The Washington Post has previously reported.
www.politico.com...

It's quite a long article but worth reading in its entirety , I placed it in the Political Issues forum because it is a Political Issue and hope members will treat it as such , it's just another thread in a tangled web that may call into question the provenance of the alleged materials.

Another witness coming forward to verify the authenticity of the Hunter/joe legacy of corruption. Where are all the alphabet agencies when you need them?

Like when they made the case for WMDs in Iraq our intelligence agencies are the laughing stock of the world due to incompetence or corruption.

When a washed-up politician/lawyer and a repair guy are able to provide verifiably and collaborated evidence of a candidate for president has not only been caught but have openly made themselves available to numerous countries in corruption and treason it says a lot about intelligence.


Wonder when the next 9/11 occurs because of intel incompetence or worse complicity.

originally posted by: tinktinktink
Another witness coming forward to verify the authenticity of the Hunter/joe legacy of corruption. Where are all the alphabet agencies when you need them?

Like when they made the case for WMDs in Iraq our intelligence agencies are the laughing stock of the world due to incompetence or corruption.

When a washed-up politician/lawyer and a repair guy are able to provide verifiably and collaborated evidence of a candidate for president has not only been caught but have openly made themselves available to numerous countries in corruption and treason it says a lot about intelligence.



Wonder when the next 9/11 occurs because of intel incompetence or worse complicity.

Too much ignorance , too little time.
Denying ignorance
Why ?
I LIKE doing it.

a reply to: gortex

Could it be possible that Hunter's laptop contained content that was potential blackmail material on both the Ukrainian *and* Chinese fronts?

Recall that Hunter allegedly brought *3* different laptops for repair to the Mac shop. One from his dealings in 3 different countries maybe?

There are numerous threads here describing an interview given in September by a CCP defector who described in detail the type of incriminating photos/videos that CCP leaders had arranged to be taken of Hunter, with sexual acts involving Chinese girls and even physical abuse/torture. The CCP defector accurately predicted, 1 month in advance, the kind of material that Giuliani would come forward with in October. This angle seems completely separate from the Burisma/Ukrainian one, involving high level players in CCP, perhaps relative to the alleged loans and funding that Hunter was said to be procuring in China.

Is there any shady country out there that DOESN'T have dirt on Hunter?? Wonder if he spent any time in N Korea or Iran.

a reply to: tinktinktink

Another witness coming forward to verify the authenticity of the Hunter/joe legacy of corruption.

How so ? ,this witness casts doubt on that narrative and the claim of the source of that narrative.

Parnas further alleges that Pruss told Giuliani during the meeting that Zlochevsky was not the only one with the information — the Russian security services had it, too, he said.

a reply to: gortex

So Gort, .... The videos and all the laptop crap are real or not?

Because that's all that matters now.

I re-read the OP, and I'm not seeing where any doubt is cast on this material, spanning questionable business (and private/sexual) dealings in at least 2 different countries (Ukraine and China), not to mention the awkward encounters with the late Beau Biden's wife and daughter found on Hunter's hard drive, which seemingly has no political connection.

My interpretation of that article is that some of the cornucopia of bad stuff in Hunter's possession had leaked/been intercepted (my guess is his careless control of his personal property lead to a data breach/hack) by some folks in the Ukraine/Russia, and that photos/docs involving Hunter were being sold there.

What about this story, if true, makes you feel it casts 'doubt on the narrative'?

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: gortex

So Gort, .... The videos and all the laptop crap are real or not?

Because that's all that matters now.

There have already been confirmations about authenticity of some email threads found on Hunter's laptop by other folks CC'd on the relevant email chain. At least for those emails, they are verified, and not in any way a fabrication.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

What about this story, if true, makes you feel it casts 'doubt on the narrative'?

The claim of origin , if that's a lie then who is to say what else is a lie.

A lot of information in there, and it's early. If I missed something specific, someone please correct me.

What I am seeing are reports that the information on the drive had been circulating for some time as various people tried to profit off it. That's not exactly surprising; I would characterize it as more expected. It explains why Guiliani was saying he had information on Hunter some time back: he probably knew of the information and was trying to get his hands on it without tainting the evidence. For instance, the report that Mykola Zlochevsky offered the information to "get out of a legal bind." Knowing what i know about Zlochevsky, that is pretty much in character for him; the guy's a slimeball and crooked as a dog's hind led. He's fled Ukraine more than once when the legal heat got too hot for him.

The thing is, had Guiliani helped him out of this "legal bind," Guiliani would have opened himself up to allegations of impropriety and made the evidence less believable. There are court rules for evidence submission, and as a lawyer Guiliani would be acutely aware of them. Not to mention, there are also known defense tactics that can sway a jury based on how evidence is obtained, even if it is technically obtained legally.

It is even likely that Guiliani had the information in his possession, but he was concerned about releasing it because it was either legally tainted or the acquisition could create difficulties from a jury. I would have little trouble believing that.

Hunter Biden is the son of the Vice President of the United States of America at the time, so it would be naive to even entertain the thought that any damaging information would not be highly sought out as potential blackmail material by other governments and power brokers. That's just how international operations work. The biggest amazement for me is that Hunter kept these files in the first place... maybe he just wasn't smart enough to understand the dangers of them existing.

I did notice one paragraph at the end of the article that makes me question the information in it, however:

The FBI is now actively investigating whether Russia was involved in the leak, or whether it is part of a broader malign influence operation, according to congressional aides briefed on the probe. The Senate Intelligence Committee is also actively involved in seeking clarity on the subject, the aides said.

The FBI has publicly stated that it was not investigating the information on the drive as Russian disinformation. So either the FBI is lying (and I cannot think of a legitimate reason for them to do so, as there is substantial political pressure to say the opposite), the article itself is lying, or the sources, identified only as "congressional aides briefed on the probe," were lying. I tend to believe the latter, and point out that dissemination of information obtained in confidential briefings to the press is a felony. There are almost as many Democrats as there are Republicans on all committees (more on House committees) and I have seen some pretty shady moves already in this election by Democrat leaders.

I also point out that the entire article is full of specific names, except for this one last paragraph and one corroborating source. Likely all these unidentified individuals spoke on condition of anonymity... this could have been to escape scrutiny or to escape repercussion from involved parties, but the latter excuse would not apply to congressional aides except to cover themselves from legal repercussions for illegally disseminating the information. So I discount that last paragraph. I'll believe the FBI over unnamed sources committing illegal acts in a Politico article any day.

I would believe the entire story more had Politico left out that last paragraph. As it is, I do not trust Politico but the information otherwise seems specific and believable.

TheRedneck

a reply to: gortex

How do you establish a claim of origin? The files that are on the laptop could have been there for years. I saw nothing that indicated the laptop was not the source of the claims in the article.

Is it so hard to believe that unscrupulous international characters would want to get and keep potential blackmail material on the US Vice President's son?

If anything, this article tends to verify that salacious information exists on Hunter Biden.

TheRedneck

a reply to: gortex

That is a fair point, but /what/ precisely among this trove of information is being challenged on the basis on its origin.

* photo/videos of Hunter Biden's sex acts Ukrainians allegedly have?
* Burisma emails/communictions Ukrainians allegedly have?
* photo/videos of Hunter Biden's sex & abuse acts with Chine se minors that the CCP allegedly have?
* emails/communications between Hunter and business interests in China?
* personal texts/emails between Joe and Hunter Biden?
* "selfies"/photos of Hunter using drugs or lying around stoned?

There is so much crap here from different naughty situations, involving /both/ Ukrainian and Chinese interests, that even IF some elements of this turned out to be inaccurate/untrue, there's no real thread to pull on that unravels ALL of this stuff. Is the claim that the Ukranians fabricated ALL the content here, including the phots/docs/emails pertinent to dealings in China? Mmmm sounds very very unlikely.

None of this changes the fact that it was allegedly Hunter who triggered everything by bringing HIS 3 laptops in for repair, so the bulk of this was recovered from HIS possession. Are you implying he is in on the gig, to concoct this "fake" material on him, and he just lugs this forged material around on his laptops for the heck of it?

a reply to: TheRedneck

How do you establish a claim of origin? The files that are on the laptop could have been there for years. I saw nothing that indicated the laptop was not the source of the claims in the article.

If the material was in the wild before it was alleged to have been handed to Giuliani from a repair shop the laptops were said to have been abandoned then that means there is no provenance for the information , if as is claimed the material is also in the hands of Russian security services then who's to say they are not the origin.

Is it so hard to believe that unscrupulous international characters would want to get and keep potential blackmail material on the US Vice President's son?

Not if it's in return for favours as is claimed although that could also be a lie.

If anything, this article tends to verify that salacious information exists on Hunter Biden.

Or that the salacious information could have been doctored by interested parties or state actors , as with anything of value provenance is important.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

What about this story, if true, makes you feel it casts 'doubt on the narrative'?

The claim of origin , if that's a lie then who is to say what else is a lie.

But it's not a lie.

Could care less about guilliani or his hard drive, hunters former buisness partner who gave legal access to the email account he used for buisness to an investigative reporter will be the one to bury hunter.

Guy says he was the junior partner in their little scheme and thats why he went to jail.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

None of this changes the fact that it was allegedly Hunter who triggered everything by bringing HIS 3 laptops in for repair,

Is there evidence that the alleged laptops given to the "legally blind" repairman were handed in by Hunter Biden , if this story is true the information was out there before that was supposed to have happened and the material appeared shortly after Joe Biden announced his intention to run for office.

unless the laptop isn't Hunter's, and the e-mail's aren't real, then nothing really matters at all.

If the recipients of the e-mails can verify they got them, produce copies of them, you have a chain of information. proof. And all the hand waving and accusations of Rudy being a Russian Agent, or having his hand in his pants, is irrelevant.
The only thing that matters is, what those- emails say, and how Joe Biden is going to explain his part in all this.

If he is being set up, he has it easy, "that stuff is fake!" But he hasn't said that at all.

Tell me Gortex, if all this is real, and Biden has been selling his influence all over the world, do you still think he's presidential material? if so, why?

a reply to: gortex

are you telling me that there are multiple instances of a crackhead acting like a crackhead? Im shocked.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: TheRedneck

How do you establish a claim of origin? The files that are on the laptop could have been there for years. I saw nothing that indicated the laptop was not the source of the claims in the article.

If the material was in the wild before it was alleged to have been handed to Giuliani from a repair shop the laptops were said to have been abandoned then that means there is no provenance for the information , if as is claimed the material is also in the hands of Russian security services then who's to say they is not the origin.

Is it so hard to believe that unscrupulous international characters would want to get and keep potential blackmail material on the US Vice President's son?

Not if it's in return for favours as is claimed although that could also be a lie.

If anything, this article tends to verify that salacious information exists on Hunter Biden.

Or that the salacious information could have been doctored by interested parties or state actors , as with anything of value provenance is important.

"All things being equal, the simplest explanation is likely the correct one"

What is more plausible:

* Hunter Biden had several different laptops on which he stored a wide array of different media, ranging from business documents, communications with coworkers/business partners to communications with family (texts to Father Joe) and even pics/videos of his sexual misadventures. Potentially, some of this material was leaked/stolen/hacked from his devices, and this was offered for sale by folks in the Ukraine.

OR

* Using very sophisticated tech, bad actors fabricated incriminating material ("deep fakes" is what you're intimating??) on Hunter, and after compromising his devices, planted the material onto Hunter's laptops. They did this in a way such that Hunter was unable to identify and destroy this fake material that cast him in a poor light, or....he is somehow in on this, and allowed fake material to be embedded on the devices he would later turn in for repair.

Has the Biden campaign yet issued a statement disavowing the authenticity of these hard drives and the information they supposedly contain? As far as I'm aware, they have not.