MEMORANDUM

July 24, 2023

To: Democratic Members of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability

Fr: Democratic Staff

Re: Chairman Comer and Senator Grassley’s Decision to Publicly Release FBI Form
FD-1023

On July 20, 2023, Chairman Comer and Senator Charles Grassley publicly released a
copy of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Form FD-1023 memorializing the second-hand
allegations of Mykola Zlochevsky, a Ukrainian oligarch and the owner of the energy company
Burisma, as relayed to the FBI by a confidential human source (CHS) years after the fact.1 The
FBI had already made the form available to Members of the Committee for in camera review in
early June, and warned that public disclosure of the document “could eliminate or chill important
collection, undermine the FBI’s confidential human source program, jeopardize investigations,
and result in significant risk of physical harm to sources based on their historic and ongoing
collection.” Chairman Comer’s and Senator Grassley’s decision to release this document further
amplifies conspiracy theories at the cost of endangering the safety of FBI sources.2 Furthermore,
the allegations in the form have been debunked repeatedly, including by Donald Trump’s own
Justice Department and Rudy Giuliani’s failed campaign to collect dirt on President Biden in
Ukraine.

The CHS himself, senior Republican leaders, and even Donald Trump’s Justice
Department have repeatedly undercut the allegations contained in the document. Those

1 Senator Grassley, Press Release: Grassley Obtains & Releases FBI Record Alleging VP Biden Foreign
Bribery Scheme (July 20, 2023) (online at www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-obtains-and-
releases-fbi-record-alleging-vp-biden-foreign-bribery-scheme).
2 Letter from Acting Assistant Director Christopher Dunham, Federal Bureau of Investigation, to Chairman
James Comer, Committee on Oversight and Accountability (June 5, 2023) (online at
https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/FBI.230605.Response%20to%20Co
mer%20re%20Subpoena%20Form%201023.pdf); See also Letter from Acting Assistant Director Christopher
Dunham, Federal Bureau of Investigation, to Chairman James Comer, Committee on Oversight and Accountability
(June 9, 2023) (online at
https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/FBI.230609.Response%20to%20Co
mer%20re%20Subpoena%20-%20Form%201023.pdf).
allegations, attributed to Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of Burisma, include an account of an
effort to pay Hunter Biden and “another Biden” in order to “deal” with the Ukrainian Prosecutor
General Viktor Shokin. Mr. Zlochevsky explicitly and directly contradicted the allegations, as
did Lev Parnas, a central participant in Mr. Giuliani’s campaign to procure damaging
information about the Bidens from dubious Ukrainian sources in 2019 and 2020.

I. FORMER GIULIANI ASSOCIATE LEV PARNAS’S FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT

CONFIRMS ALLEGATIONS IN FORM FD-1023 ECHO CONSPIRACY
THEORY PEDDLED BY GIULIANI

In a new firsthand account, described in a detailed, ten-page, July 18, 2023, letter to
Chairman Comer, Lev Parnas explained that the Form FD-1023 reiterated false allegations
peddled as part of a “campaign orchestrated by Giuliani and Trump to dig up dirt on the Bidens,
and to spread misinformation about them through various networks including government
officials, journalists, and FOX News personnel.” In the letter, Mr. Parnas recounted his key role
in Mr. Giuliani’s attempts to pressure Ukrainian individuals, including government officials, to
provide false evidence that President Biden’s 2016 call for Mr. Shokin’s ouster was part of a
corrupt deal. This campaign included offers to exchange political or legal support from the
Trump Administration for false statements regarding President Biden. Mr. Parnas stated that
“throughout all these months of work, the extensive campaigns and networking done by Trump
allies and Giuliani associates, including the enormously thorough interviews and assignments
that I undertook, there has never been any evidence that Hunter or Joe Biden committed any
crimes related to Ukrainian politics.”3

Mr. Parnas also described an effort to pressure Mr. Zlochevsky to make false allegations
about President Biden by telling him he could be “an enemy or a friend of Trump.” Mr. Giuliani
transmitted a list of “12-14 questions about the Bidens” for Mr. Zlochevsky. 4 Mr. Zlochevsky’s
written responses explicitly contradicted the Republicans’ theory and the statements attributed to
him in the Form FD-1023. Specifically, Mr. Zlochevsky denied (1) that anyone at Burisma had
“any contacts” with then former Vice President Biden or his representatives while Hunter Biden
served on the Burisma board, and (2) that former Vice President Biden or his staff “in any way”
assisted Mr. Zlochevsky or Burisma. 5 In response to Mr. Zlochevsky’s written responses, Mr.
Giuliani “turned red and yelled, ‘What is this shit? This is bullshit. Make sure nobody sees this.
Bury this.’”

3 Letter from Lev Parnas to Chairman James Comer, Committee on Oversight and Accountability (July 18,

2023) (online at
https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/Parnas%2C%20COA%20Letter%2C
%20July%2018%2C%202023.pdf).
4 Id.
5 Mr. Zlochevsky’s responses are contained in a document that was produced to Congress in January 2020
during the first impeachment inquiry involving former President Trump and has been available to both Republic ans
and Democrats since that time. Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Press Release: Ranking Member
Raskin Shares Key Evidence Directly Contradicting Bribery Allegations Touted by Giuliani and Oversight
Chairman Comer (June 29, 2023) (online at https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-
member-raskin-shares-key-evidence-directly-contradicting-bribery).

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 In response to Mr. Giuliani, even Mr. Shokin “conceded that there was no evidence of
either Hunter or Joe Biden doing anything that interfered with Ukrainian law.” Mr. Parnas
concluded:

Never, during any of my communications with Ukrainian officials or

connections to Burisma, did any of them confirm or provide concrete facts
linking the Bidens to illegal activities. In fact, they asked me multiple
times why our team was so concerned with this idea. The truth is that
everyone [involved in this effort to discredit the Bidens] knew that these
allegations against the Bidens were false. There has never been any actual
evidence, only conspiracy theories spread by people who knew exactly
what they were doing.

II. THE UNVERIFIED, SECONDHAND ALLEGATIONS IN THE FORM FD-1023

HAVE BEEN REPEATEDLY DEBUNKED BY MANY OTHERS

In addition to Mr. Parnas, many others, including the CHS himself, senior Republican
leaders, and even Donald Trump’s Justice Department have undermined the truthfulness of the
allegations described in the Form FD-1023. In the form itself, the CHS noted that he could not
provide any “opinion as to the veracity of Zlochevsky’s statements.” He further explained that
“it is extremely common for businessmen in post-Soviet countries to brag or show off.” 6 In
2020, Attorney General Barr warned that “[t]here are a lot of agendas in the Ukraine, there are a
lot of cross-currents, and we can’t take anything we receive from the Ukraine at face value.” 7
Last month, Senator Johnson, who led Senate Republicans’ 2020 investigation into the
allegations involving Burisma, conceded the issues with the Form FD-1023: “That’s what this
person says, but again, take that with a grain of salt. This could be coming from a very corrupt
oligarch who could be making this stuff up.” 8 Senator Grassley also tacitly questioned the
truthfulness of the allegations in the Form FD-1023 when he admitted he was “not interested” in
whether the accusations in the form “are accurate or not.” 9

The FBI confirmed to Chairman Comer and Ranking Member Raskin during a June 5,
2023, briefing on the Form FD-1023 that the statements about purported corruption in the FD-
1023 are substantially the same allegations originally made by Rudy Giuliani. 10 After Mr.

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Form FD-1023 (June 30, 2020) (online at

6

www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fd_1023_obtained_by_senator_grassley_ -_biden.pdf).
7Barr Confirms Justice Department Is Receiving Giuliani Information About Ukraine, CNN (Feb. 10,
2020) (online at www.cnn.com/2020/02/10/politics/justice-department-rudy-giuliani-ukraine/index.html).
8 Non-Men, The Vicki McKenna Show (June 14, 2022) (online at www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-vicki-

mckenna/the-vicki-mckenna-show-non-men-aqpGXnv4FsL).
9Sen. Chuck Grassley Rips FBI Handling of Biden Document: ‘Not good enough,’ Fox News (June 1,
2023) (online www.foxnews.com/video/6328608995112).
10 Letter from Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, Committee on Oversight and Accountability , to Director
Christopher Wray, Federal Bureau of Investigation (June 16, 2023) (online at
https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/2023 -06-16.JBR%20to%20Wray-
FBI%20re%20Subpoena%20Briefing%20FINAL.pdf).

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Giuliani passed these allegations along to the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ), former
President Trump’s Attorney General, William Barr, handpicked Scott Brady, then the U.S.
Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, to investigate Mr. Giuliani’s allegations.
Under U.S. Attorney Brady, the DOJ and FBI thoroughly investigated the allegations as part of
an eight-month formal assessment, which included interviewing Mr. Giuliani and the CHS, and
reviewing suspicious activity reports (SARs) from banks. The FBI also confirmed to Chairman
Comer and Ranking Member Raskin during the June 5, 2023, briefing that Mr. Brady’s
assessment was closed in August 2020 because his team found insufficient evidence to warrant
escalating the probe from an assessment to a preliminary or full investigation. 11

III. FACTS SURROUNDING SHOKIN DISMISSAL FURTHER REFUTE

REPUBLICAN CONSPIRACY THEORY

As part of Senate Republicans’ investigation into Mr. Giuliani’s allegations in 2020, State
Department officials made clear that the dismissal of Viktor Shokin by the Ukrainian Parliament
in 2016 was not based on any attempt to benefit Burisma. Rather, calls for Mr. Shokin’s
dismissal stemmed from his failure to pursue corruption in Ukraine rather than any investigation
of Burisma.12 Indeed, as has been widely reported, any probe by Ukrainian authorities into
Burisma actually became dormant once Mr. Shokin was appointed Prosecutor General in 2015. 13
Senior State Department officials also confirmed that U.S. policy in Ukraine was not influenced
by, and did not benefit, Hunter Biden.14

Furthermore, the Ukrainian Parliament dismissed Mr. Shokin in 2016 with the broad
support of U.S. and other Western nations, as well as international organizations such as the
International Monetary Fund, because he failed to prosecute corruption in Ukraine and continued
to protect Ukrainian oligarchs.15 At the time, Senator Johnson himself supported the U.S. policy
towards Ukraine that conditioned funds to Ukraine on the removal of Mr. Shokin. 16

11 Id.
12 Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Finance Committee
Minority Staff Report, Election Interference: Majority Investigation Amplifies Russian Attack on 2020 Election
(Sept. 23, 2020) (online at www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-
content/uploads/imo/media/doc/200923_FullReport_PetersHSGACWydenFinance.pdf ).
E.g., Was Ukrainian Prosecutor Viktor Shokin Prosecuting Burisma? , CNN (online at
13

www.cnn.com/factsfirst/politics/factcheck_3fae078e-8724-4c28-9340-2c154688af43) (accessed June 11, 2023);

FactCheck.Org, Trump Revives False Narrative on Biden and Ukraine (Oct. 15, 2020) (online at
www.factcheck.org/2020/10/trump-revives-false-narrative-on-biden-and-ukraine/).
14 Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senat e Finance Committee
Minority Staff Report, Election Interference: Majority Investigation Amplifies Russian Attack on 2020 Election
(Sept. 23, 2020) (online at www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-
content/uploads/imo/media/doc/200923_FullReport_PetersHSGACWydenFinance.pdf).
15Ukraine Ousts Viktor Shokin, Top Prosecutor, and Political Stability Hangs in the Balance , New York
Times (Mar. 29, 2016) (online at www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/world/europe/political-stability-in-the-balance-as-
ukraine-ousts-top-prosecutor.html).
16Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Finance Committee
Minority Staff Report, Election Interference: Majority Investigation Amplifies Russian Attack on 2020 Election

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IV. REPUBLICANS’ RELEASE OF FORM FD-1023 COMPROMISES SAFETY OF
FBI SOURCES

Chairman Comer’s and Senator Grassley’s release of the Form FD-1023 into the public
domain revealed the names of several individuals in Ukraine whose identities the FBI had sought
to protect. The version of the Form FD-1023 they decided to make public contains the same
redactions as the version that the FBI made available to the Committee, except that it discloses
the names of the individuals in Ukraine named by the CHS, as well as certain minor additional
details such as specific locations, which were redacted in the FBI version. Chairman Comer and
Senator Grassley chose to expose those additional details despite repeated cautioning from the
FBI about the critical need to protect the safety of its human sources and its ability to conduct
investigations effectively.17

To justify the public release of the form, Senator Grassley and Chairman Comer claimed
that the DOJ and FBI engaged in “obstructive conduct” by refusing to produce an unredacted
version of the FD-1023 in response to Chairman Comer’s subpoena.18 Chairman Comer’s and
Senator Grassley’s accusation ignores that last month the FBI provided a minimally redacted
version of the form for in camera review by all Members of the Oversight Committee, following
a series of additional accommodations the FBI had made to balance the provision of responsive
information to the Committee with protecting its sources and the integrity of its investigations. 19
Even before the FBI made the redacted Form FD-1023 available to the Committee, a
whistleblower had made the document available to Senator Grassley and Chairman Comer and
appears to be the source of the version of the document released on Thursday.20

(Sept. 23, 2020) (online at www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-

content/uploads/imo/media/doc/200923_FullReport_PetersHSGACWydenFinance.pdf ).
17 Letter from Acting Assistant Director Christopher Dunham, Federal Bureau of Investigation, to

Chairman James Comer, Committee on Oversight and Accountability (June 5, 2023) (noting that the copy of the
Form FD-1023 made available for Chairman Comer and Ranking Member Raskin to review contained “minimal
redactions to protect information that could potentially identify t he confidential human source.”) (online at
https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/FBI.230605.Response%20to%20Co
mer%20re%20Subpoena%20Form%201023.pdf).
18 Letter from Chairman James Comer, Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and Ranking Member
Charles E. Grassley, Senate Committee on the Budget, to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Department of Justice,
and Director Christopher Wray, Federal Bureau of Investigation (July 20, 2023).
19 Those additional accommodations included providing two staff-level briefings on its CHS program on
May 15, 2023, and May 23, 2023, making a minimally redacted version of the Form available for in camera review
by all Members of the Committee, and providing Chairman Comer and Rankin g Member with a briefing on the
context surrounding the Form, which lasted more than an hour.
20 Rep. James Comer Plots Next Move with FBI in Biden Bribery Probe: 'Cut their budget', Fox News

(June 20, 2023) (online at www.foxnews.com/video/6329818390112); Grassley Reveals He Has Already Seen The
Bombshell Whistleblower Doc The FBI Is Hiding, The Federalist (June 2, 2023) (online at
https://thefederalist.com/2023/06/02/grassley-reveals-he-has-already-seen-the-bombshell-whistleblower-doc-the-fbi-
is-hiding/); Sen. Chuck Grassley Reveals He’s Read Biden Bribe Claim, Says FBI Offer ‘Not Good Enough,’ , New
York Post (June 1 2023) (online at https://nypost.com/2023/06/01/sen-grassley-slams-fbi-director-chris-wray-for-
not-making-biden-file-public/).

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V. CONCLUSION

Chairman Comer’s and Senator Grassley’s decision to publicly release the form is in
brazen disregard of the safety of FBI human sources and the integrity of its investigations.
Contrary to Republican messaging, the form provides no new or additional support for their
corruption allegations against the President or Hunter Biden. Instead, its release merely seeks to
breathe new life into years-old conspiracy theories, initially peddled by Rudy Giuliani, that have
been thoroughly debunked.