a confidential human source

“ Shortly after the 2016 US election and during President Trump's transition period, a conference call with Ostapenko and Zlochevsky. CHS inquired whether Zlochevsky was happy with the US election results. Zlochevsky replied that he was not happy Trump won the election. CHS asked Zlochevsky whether he was concerned about Burisma's involvement with the Bidens. Zlochevsky stated he didn't want to pay the Bidens and he was "pushed to pay" them. ”

“ Regarding the seemingly open and unsolicited admissions by Pojarskii and Zlochevsky about the purpose for their retention of Hunter Biden, and the "forced payments Zlochevsky made to the Bidcns, CHS explained it is very common for business men in post-Soviet countries to brag or show-off. Additionally, it is extremely common for businesses in Russia and Ukraine to make "bribe" payments to various government officials. ”

“ CHS noted that in corporate budgets for other Russian and Ukrainian businesses which CHS has inspected in the past, CHS observed budget-line-items in Russian called "Podmazat" (transliterated by CHS) , which literally translates to "oil, lubricate, or make things run smoothly," which companies routinely use to account for anticipated bribe payments. ”