Overview

• A newly released February 10, 2016 email from a Presidential Daily Brief briefer records that the vice president’s office would strongly prefer a CIA report not be disseminated.
• The 2016 assessment relayed that senior Ukrainian officials were disappointed by Joe Biden’s December 2015 Kyiv visit and viewed his family’s alleged ties in Ukraine as a double standard on corruption.
• Career CIA reviewers said the report met dissemination criteria at the time but was kept inside the agency based on the vice president’s office’s preference.
• A senior CIA official described such intervention by non‑intelligence officials as extremely rare and unusual, while noting the released documents are heavily redacted to protect sources and methods.
• The materials were identified during a late‑2024 records review, and Republicans, including House Oversight Chair James Comer, are pressing for further inquiry.