There is nothing in the laptop or elsewhere to show that... the “big guy” referenced in the email is in fact Joe Biden This sort of skepticism would make sense

There is nothing in the laptop or elsewhere to show that... the “big guy” referenced in the email is in fact Joe Biden This sort of skepticism would make sense in a court of law, but on an online forum it is risible. Hunter knows nothing about Ukrainian energy, nor does he speak any Slavic languages. Also he is an unstable drug addict. There is only one possible explanation for his lucrative employment by Burisma. There certainly was an attempt to influence Joe, and that was the topic considered by that email. Your other caveats might well be correct; one suspects Hunter may be too much of a fuck-up to successfully convey an attempted bribe to its intended target.