USA 2020 Elections: Thread

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News: US Attorney General Bill Barr proven to be a Corrupt Election Meddler



Biden's "Absolute" Defense Of Hunter Leaves Media & Justice Department
In A Muddle

https://jonathanturley.org/2022/04/04/bidens-absolute-defense-of-hunter-leaves-media-and-justice-department-in-a-muddle/
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3257164-bidens-absolute-defense-of-hunter-leaves-media-and-justice-department-in-a-muddle/

Below is my column in The Hill on President Joe Biden doubling down on
his absolute defense of his son Hunter Biden. The comments only
magnify the concerns over Attorney General Merrick Garland refusing to
appoint a special counsel despite the clear basis for such an
appointment.  It is clear that the President “absolutely” stands by
his son and that the media absolutely stands by the President. The
question is whether Garland will stand by justice and appoint a
special counsel.

Here is the column:

“We absolutely stand by the president’s comment.” With those words,
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield reaffirmed that
President Biden maintains his son Hunter Biden did “nothing [that] was
unethical” and never “made money” in China.

Those claims appear demonstrably false - and they make the positions
of both the media and Attorney General Merrick Garland absolutely
untenable.

For the media, the ongoing investigation of Hunter Biden by U.S.
Attorney David Weiss in Delaware has presented a growing danger of
self-indictment over its prior coverage (or noncoverage). Weiss has
called a long line of witnesses before a grand jury, and there is
growing expectation of criminal charges against Hunter Biden.

Nothing concentrates the mind as much as a looming indictment.

Thus, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other media
faced the embarrassing prospect of an indictment based on a story they
previously suggested was either a nonstory or Russian disinformation.
Suddenly, in recent days, they all rushed to declare the story
legitimate, 18 months after the New York Post reported it in October
2020.

What quickly emerged, though, was a new narrative: None of this
implicates President Biden. On CNN, White House correspondent John
Harwood declared, “There is zero evidence that Vice President Biden,
or President Biden, has done anything wrong in connection with what
Hunter Biden has done.” Anchor Brianna Keilar then added for emphasis
that Harwood was making “an important distinction.”

It was important, but not because it was true. While many media
figures now willingly admit the legitimacy of Hunter Biden’s
abandoned-laptop story, they are avoiding what the emails found on
that laptop actually contain. Hundreds of emails appear to detail a
multimillion-dollar influence-peddling enterprise by the Biden family,
including Hunter Biden and his uncle James Biden.

Influence peddling has long been the way Washington’s elite enriches
itself. This common source of political corruption involves the
relatives of powerful government figures who shake down corporations
or countries for access and influence.

The Bidens would seem to be standouts in this common practice,
engaging in a virtual family business. James Biden has been accused of
marketing his connection to his brother. And in the emails discovered
on his abandoned laptop, Hunter Biden practically sold timeshares of
his father by dangling meetings and dinners for investors.

The key in any influence peddling scheme is to protect the principal.
People apparently were told to avoid directly referring to President
Biden. In one email, Tony Bobulinski, then a business partner of
Hunter’s, was instructed by Biden associate James Gilliar not to speak
of the former veep’s connection to any transactions: “Don’t mention
Joe being involved, it’s only when u [sic] are face to face, I know u
[sic] know that but they are paranoid.”

Instead, the emails apparently refer to President Biden with code
names such as “Celtic” or “the big guy.” In one, “the big guy” is
discussed as possibly receiving a 10 percent cut on a deal with a
Chinese energy firm; other emails reportedly refer to Hunter Biden
paying portions of his father’s expenses and taxes.

Despite President Biden’s repeated claims he knew nothing about these
dealings, Bobulinski has said he personally met with the senior Biden
to discuss Hunter Biden’s business activities. Bobulinski had been
selected by the family to handle these deals.

As vice president, Joe Biden flew to China on Air Force Two with
Hunter Biden, who arranged for his father to meet some of his business
interests. Hunter Biden’s financial interest in a Chinese-backed
investment firm, BHR Partners, was registered within weeks of that
2013 trip. Yet, President Biden repeatedly insisted that he never
discussed such dealings with his son, a claim Hunter Biden has
contradicted.

There are emails of Ukrainian and other foreign clients thanking
Hunter Biden for arranging meetings with his father. There are photos
from dinners and meetings that tie President Biden to these figures,
including a 2015 dinner with a group of Hunter Biden’s Russian and
Kazakh clients.

It is important to note that when these foreign interests were
clamoring to give Hunter Biden millions of dollars, he was, by his own
admission, a hopeless addict. In his 2021 memoir, Hunter Biden admits
he was “drinking a quart of vodka a day” and “smoking crack around the
clock,” up until his father’s 2020 presidential campaign began. So why
would Russian, Chinese and other foreign figures give Hunter Biden all
of this money, if not to influence his father?

The new narrative suggests that, while Hunter Biden maintained one of
the largest influence-peddling schemes in recent history, it did not
involve the object of that scheme — his father.

Even if President Biden was not influenced by all of this, it’s hard
to believe he didn’t know his son was selling access. In his book,
Hunter Biden claims his father repeatedly intervened due to his
addictions — and yet we are to believe that Joe Biden did not express
curiosity about how his addicted son was raking in millions from
foreign sources?

The point is that President Biden really did not have to ask: Hunter
Biden had nothing to sell but influence. All President Biden had to do
to facilitate such schemes was to be accessible — to allow his family
to deliver face-to-face meetings and photo ops.

And that brings us to the untenable position of Garland.

It is hard to imagine a stronger case for a special counsel. Any
effort to investigate Hunter Biden’s dealings will lead investigators
to encounter repeated references to the president and how he may have
benefited from those schemes. At the same time, the president is
“absolutely” standing by his denial that his son did anything wrong or
made any money from China.

The White House statement this week serves as a reminder to
investigators that the president is heavily invested in this narrative
and his denial of now-established facts.

This is not to say that Weiss, the U.S. Attorney investigating Hunter
Biden, will not be independent in his efforts. However, the concern is
the appearance of how a conflict might affect the investigation or
limit the scope of any potential charges. Moreover, absent a special
counsel, there is unlikely to be a report on these apparent influence
peddling schemes.

Garland pledged to protect the Justice Department from such conflicts
and to avoid even the appearance of political influence. He now has a
president stating that alleged wrongdoing by his son is “absolutely”
untrue, including dealings possibly impacting the president personally
and financially. If Garland declines to appoint a special counsel, he
will absolutely fail on his pledge.