Former President Donald Trump called President Joe Biden “slow on the draw” in responding to Russian threats on Tuesday, questioning why his family received a multi-million-dollar sum from the wife of a top Russian official in response to the Kremlin announcing sanctions Tuesday on the president, son Hunter Biden, and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“Breaking News: Russia just sanctioned Joe Biden,” Trump stated. “While that is a terrible thing, in so many ways, perhaps it will now be explained why the Biden family received 3.5 million dollars from the very wealthy former Mayor of Moscow’s wife.”
Hunter received a $3.5 million wire transfer from Elena Baturina, one of the richest women in Russia and former wife of Yury Luzhkov, the former mayor of Moscow, a Senate report revealed in September of 2020 about the Biden family’s work in Ukraine.
The 2020 Senate report revealed that the Biden family’s work in Ukraine included “significant” and consistent” financial relationships in Ukraine while Joe Biden was vice president. The New York Post reported:
Their investigative work found that in 2015, two Obama administration officials voiced concerns to White House officials about the possibility that the younger Biden serving on the board of Burisma could create the appearance of a conflict of interest, as his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, oversaw Ukraine policy.
The report states that the Obama White House knew that Hunter’s position prevented “the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine,” but that attempts by officials to raise alarms fell “on deaf ears.”
It also alleged that Hunter “formed significant and consistent financial relationships” with the founder of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, and that his and his business partner Devon Archer’s firms “made millions of dollars from that association” while his father was vice president.
“I have not taken a penny from any foreign source, ever, in my life,” Biden defended his family during the presidential debate. “Nothing was unethical.”
Trump then slammed former Fox News moderator Chris Wallace for opposing Trump’s effort to expose the transaction during a 2020 debate with Biden.
“During our Presidential Debate [sic], ‘moderator’ Chris Wallace, then of Fox, would not let me ask that question,” Trump continued. “He said it was inappropriate.”
“Perhaps that’s why Biden has been so ‘slow on the draw’ with Russia,” Trump added. “This is a really bad conflict of interest that will, perhaps now, be fully and finally revealed!”
Joe Biden on Hunter Biden’s work: “Nothing was unethical.” #Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/JbKTeU6f6n
— The Hill (@thehill) October 23, 2020
On Tuesday, the Russian government announced sanctions on several Democrats and Biden administration affiliates – including Clinton, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.
The sanctions, which are largely symbolic but block the Americans from traveling to Russia, are a response to similar measures from the White House in response to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.