Hunter Biden Defends Foreign Business Ventures, But Admits Political “Mistake”

"I gave a hook to some very unethical people," he said.

Hunter and Joe Biden (Photo by Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images for World Food Program USA)
Hunter and Joe Biden (Photo by Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images for World Food Program USA)
Teresa Kroeger

Shortly after he announced he was stepping down from his position at Chinese-backed private equity firm Burisma Holdings Limited, Hunter Biden sat down for an interview with ABC News where he defended the ethics of his private business dealings but conceded that politically he may have made a “mistake.”

“In retrospect, look, I think that it was poor judgment on my part,” Biden said. “Is that I think that it was poor judgment because I don’t believe now, when I look back on it — I know that there was — did nothing wrong at all. However, was it poor judgment to be in the middle of something that is…a swamp in — in — in many ways? Yeah.”

“I gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father,” he continued. “That’s where I made the mistake. So I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever.”

The son of the former vice president and current Democratic presidential candidate maintained that he did nothing wrong ethically, and his only error in judgment he made was in not anticipating the political fallout from his ventures.

“Did I make a mistake? Well, maybe in the grand scheme of things, yeah,” he said. “But did I make a mistake based upon some ethical lapse? Absolutely not.”

“Did I do anything improper?” he asked. “No, and not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever. I joined a board, I served honorably. I focused on corporate governance. I didn’t have any discussions with my father before or after I joined the board as it related to it, other than that brief exchange that we had.”

You can watch the full interview below.

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