Hunter Biden says it was a 'absolutely a mistake' to join board of Burisma

Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, said in a new podcast interview that it was "absolutely a mistake" to join the board of directors of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma in 2014.

During an appearance on "The Shawn Ryan Show," Hunter Biden told the host that he regretted his controversial decision to join the board because of the "political situation" it landed him and his family in.

"Was it a mistake to go on the board? Yeah, it was absolutely a mistake - not because of anything that I did that I am embarrassed about or in any way whatsoever feel conflicted about as it relates to what I did for Burisma, but because of the political position that it put us all in," he told Ryan.

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Hunter Biden joined Burisma in April 2014 and, at the time, reportedly connected the firm with consulting firm Blue Star Strategies to help the natural gas company fight corruption charges in Ukraine. During the time Hunter Biden was on the board of the company, Joe Biden was vice president and was running U.S.-Ukraine relations and policy for the Obama administration.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., released a report in September 2020 saying that Obama administration officials "knew" that Hunter Biden's position on the board of Burisma was "problematic" and that it interfered "in the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine."

According to Hunter Biden, his position on the board was used as "the toe in the door to call my family 'the Biden crime family' without any evidence."

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"The person that said that Joe Biden took a bribe to protect Burisma is sitting in a jail cell," he added. "Sitting in a jail cell for lying to the FBI. And meanwhile, there still is this lingering question that people have about Burisma."

A representative for Joe Biden did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.

The former FBI informant who prosecutors said fabricated a phony story of Joe Biden and Hunter Biden accepting $10 million in bribes from Burisma was sentenced to six years in federal prison in January. 

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Alexander Smirnov, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, has been behind bars since he was arrested last February on charges of making false statements to the FBI. 

The indictment came in connection with special counsel David Weiss' investigation into Hunter. Weiss later indicted Hunter on tax and gun-related charges, but President Biden, breaking a previous pledge he wouldn't do so, granted him a sweeping pardon in December before his son was to be sentenced. 

Smirnov was accused of falsely telling his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million each around 2015. Smirnov's explosive claim in 2020 came after he expressed "bias" about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, according to prosecutors. 

Fox News' Brooke Singman and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.