Newly declassified State Department emails and records show former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch received repeated information about Burisma Holdings, Hunter Biden, and the Ukrainian energy company’s campaign to improve its standing. The material conflicts with the limited recollection she gave congressional investigators during the 2019 impeachment drive against President Donald Trump.

Records released Friday by the White House Government Transparency Task Force show Yovanovitch and her aides were informed about corruption concerns surrounding Burisma and its founder, Mykola Zlochevsky. They also received information about efforts to rehabilitate the company’s reputation, gain American favor, and obtain a U.S. visa for Zlochevsky.

The records stand in sharp contrast with Yovanovitch’s testimony that the Biden and Burisma issue “just wasn’t a big deal” during her time as ambassador. She said she did not recall staff briefing her beyond material prepared for her 2016 Senate confirmation and information she encountered through news coverage.

Documents released by the task force, along with records obtained by Just the News through open records litigation, show Yovanovitch and senior aides participated in dozens of communications between 2016 and 2019. Those exchanges concerned Burisma, Hunter Biden, Zlochevsky, and work by lawyers and lobbyists to address investigations or win favor for the company.

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One declassified email between Yovanovitch and her top deputy in Kyiv, George Kent, also challenges the Democratic argument that Hunter Biden’s position with Burisma did not affect U.S. policy. Kent wrote the email to Yovanovitch on Nov. 22, 2016.

“The real issue to my mind was that someone in Washington needed to engage VP Biden quietly and say that his son Hunter's presence on the Burisma board undercut the anti-corruption message the VP and we were advancing in Ukraine b/c Ukrainians heard one message from us and then saw another set of behavior with the family association with a known corrupt figure whose company was known for not playing by the rules,” Kent wrote.

Burisma employed Hunter Biden as a member of its board of directors. The company became central to allegations that then Vice President Joe Biden used his influence over U.S. policy in Ukraine to protect Burisma from a Ukrainian corruption investigation involving Zlochevsky.

During testimony on Oct. 11, 2019, Yovanovitch was asked whether embassy staff briefed her after she arrived in Ukraine. “No, it was — it was not. I don't recall that I was briefed on that,” she answered before later saying the matter “just wasn’t a big deal.”

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Yovanovitch was removed from her position by Trump in May 2019 and later retired from the Foreign Service. Records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request showed that her embassy, including Yovanovitch herself, participated in discussions and meetings about Burisma while the company sought to settle a Ukrainian investigation and polish its public image.

SOLOMON REVEALS CLASSIFIED EMAIL THAT COULD UPEND TRUMP'S FIRST IMPEACHMENT NARRATIVE!

@jsolomonReports says newly obtained documents show Obama-era diplomat George Kent warned that Hunter Biden had UNDERCUT U.S. anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine. “That is a bombshell!” Solomon argues the records contradict key impeachment testimony. — Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) October 16, 2026

In September 2016, Kent warned Yovanovitch that Burisma had hired Blue Star Strategies, an American firm with deep Democratic connections, to “rehabilitate the reputation” of the company. His message also noted that Burisma had placed “Hunter Biden on its board.”

Photographs obtained by Just the News from an archived version of Burisma’s defunct website showed Yovanovitch meeting Burisma executive Vadim Pozharskyi on at least two occasions. In February 2017, Kent also told Yovanovitch that “the Burisma campaign of engagement continues.”

Kent’s message followed outreach from Cofer Black, a former CIA and State Department official who had joined Burisma’s board. Black requested a meeting with Yovanovitch while planning a March visit to Kyiv.

In August 2017, an embassy employee forwarded a briefing regarding the criminal case against Zlochevsky. The memo described a joint British and American attempt to seize $23 million belonging to the former Ukrainian minister and said FBI investigative assistance identified nearly $13 million moving through U.S. financial institutions.

Ukrainian authorities alleged that Zlochevsky awarded oil and natural gas permits and rights to companies he controlled while serving in government. The briefing said authorities alleged he kept $23 million in kickbacks in a U.K. bank account.

Another exchange concerned a February 2017 proposal under which Burisma would fund a McCain Institute program for Ukrainian prosecutors. After Yovanovitch sought Kent’s assistance drafting a response, he replied, “A company which has been previously investigated by the [Ukrainian prosecutors office] providing funding for training to [the prosecutors] by US organization? Oi-yoi-yoi.”

Kent added, “[The] below idea would not pass the Washington Post sniff test.” The response reflected State Department concerns about Burisma and corruption allegations involving Zlochevsky.

In January 2018, Kent forwarded Yovanovitch a request from Blue Star Strategies seeking a meeting that included discussion of “a visa situation.” By February, Kent told her that Ukrainian chief prosecutor Yuri Lutsenko “has fully cleared Burisma of all cases,” while later communications showed Kent continued raising the matter through September 2018.

Kent testified in 2019 that Hunter Biden’s position created the appearance of a conflict but did not influence U.S. policy. The newly declassified 2016 message shows Kent privately believed Hunter Biden’s Burisma role undercut the anti-corruption message promoted by American officials in Ukraine.

John Solomon is serving without pay as a Special Government Employee and chairman of the White House Government Transparency Task Force. He took a leave of absence as Editor-in-Chief of Just the News while serving in that position.

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