Russian TV producer praised Hunter Biden to land interview with Joe: emails

A Russian TV producer gushed over Hunter Biden’s decision to join the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings in an apparent bid to get access to dad Joe, according to newly released emails.

NTV producer Natalya Usenko praised the appointment in an email to the then-vice president’s office in 2014.

“Mr. Hunter Biden has recently become a member of Committee of Directors of Burisma company. We would like to congratulate him and wish him good luck!” Usenko wrote.

“Would you be so kind to help us to organize an interview with Mr. Joseph Biden so that he could tell us his attitude towards and tell us if it will influence the foreign policy of the USA.”

Shailagh Murray, then-Vice President Biden’s communications director, fawned over the producer’s email, calling it a “charming letter” in comments to colleagues within the Obama White House — but no interview was ever granted.

Usenko’s missive and Murray’s remarks were released by the National Archive in response to a lawsuit filed by the right-wing nonprofit America First Legal Foundation started by former senior Trump aide Stephen Miller. Politico’s Playbook first reported on the emails Wednesday.

The flurry of emails suggests that Joe Biden’s VP office was blindsided by his son’s career move after being peppered with press inquiries about it.

Responding to a question from ABC’s Ann Compton about whether Hunter Biden consulted the White House counsel’s office before joining Burisma’s board of directors, Joe Biden’s then-spokesperson, Kendra Barkoff, replied off-the-record that “the lawyers weren’t consulted because Hunter is a private citizen and the VP has no association with this company.”

“OFF the record doesn’t help. I would however be willing to use this with or without quoting YOU,” Compton told Barkoff.

The National Archive released the full exchange because it does not recognize the “off-the-record” designation.

The cache of never-before-seen emails, a portion of which was reviewed by The Post, are part of a complaint filed with the Justice Department last week by America First Legal Foundation, accusing Hunter Biden of violating federal law by failing to register as a foreign agent.

Burisma announced that Hunter was joining its board of directors on May 12, 2014, offering him an annual salary of $1 million — despite his having no prior experience in the energy sector.

The next day, the lawsuit alleges, Barkoff emailed Hunter, saying: “Thanks for talking to me. [L]et me know who I should refer folks to.”

Barkoff forwarded to Hunter an email from BuzzFeed report Max Seddon asking if his new gig constituted a conflict of interest for his father, who at the time was leading President Obama’s Ukraine policy at a particularly sensitive time, with Russia having annexed Crimea less than two months prior.

“Interesting,” Hunter replied. “Burisma is completely independent of Ukrainian government with an independent board of directors….I joined the board as legal adviser and Burisma also engaged the law firm I am of counsel to Boies Schiller Flexner on matters pertaining to corporate governance, transparency and expansion.”

Miller’s nonprofit argues that Hunter’s communications with Barkoff showed that the president’s son “is Burisma’s agent and subject to FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938) registration because he was an officer of Burisma and represented Burisma’s interests to the Office of the Vice President in addition to advising on a public relations matter.”

Separately, Hunter Biden, 53, is reportedly being investigated by the US Attorney’s Office in Delaware on suspicion of tax fraud, illegal foreign lobbying, money laundering and lying about his drug use on a gun purchase form.