"Caesar's wife must be above suspicion."
Julius Caesar, regarding Pompeia, whom he divorced when she came under suspicion.Face it: Hunter Biden is a mess.
Democrats should stop minimizing or defending the indefensible. Joe Biden should announce that an investigation of Hunter Biden is underway and he is not interfering with it in any way. Say he expects investigators to do their work fully, fairly, and impartially, and they should appoint a special prosecutor if necessary. Let justice be done.
Joe Biden should continue, saying that if tried and found guilty he should be treated like everyone else. Say he would not be issuing any pardons.
I don't know if Hunter Biden is guilty of crimes. I know he said he abused drugs and alcohol. I know he transacted business with U.S. and foreign companies. Maybe he broke some laws in doing these or other things. "Influence peddling" by family members of American politicians looks sleazy and corrupt, even if it isn't exactly illegal. Prosecute him if it was illegal.
So, too, with Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka, and Jared Kushner. The Justice Department should call for a special prosecutor, if necessary. The three Trump children were "punished" for corruptly diverting charitable foundation money for personal use. They got the sweetest of deals, being required to give some of the money back, being forbidden to be on a foundation board, and being required to get some community service training on how not to steal from nonprofit boards in the future. Maybe they are criminally liable for tax or other fraud in their management of the Trump real estate. Jared Kushner's new hedge fund, against all industry practice, got a $2 billion start-up investment from the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia, based on no track record or industry expertise whatever. That is $25 million a year income to Kushner, plus a percentage of the profits. Ivanka got valuable trademark protection from the Chinese government for a variety of consumer products, for no clear reason. This, too, looks bad. Possibly it was illegal, and if so, prosecute it. It is probably legal, which is the problem. A lot of corrupt behavior is legal.
Biden needs to establish credibility. Whatever Hunter Biden did isn't a capital crime. If Hunter goes to prison, so be it. When he gets out he may be a better person for the experience. Biden can visit him in prison like hundreds of thousands of other family members visit their loved ones. If prison is too inhumane for a president's son--or a former president--it is too inhumane for anyone. That is an incentive for politicians to clean up the prison system. They risk going there.
Having shown that "no one is above the law" as regards Hunter Biden, the Justice Department has more credibility to prosecute Donald Trump for whatever crimes he committed. So, too, with the Trump children and Jared Kushner. Investigate and report. Maybe sunlight and transparency will reduce the nepotism and influence peddling that feeds the idea that "elites" play by different rules than everyone else. They do. The 99% have every reason to be unhappy.
Democrats should embrace an anti-corruption movement. This must start at the top, with Joe Biden. Hunter Biden has an important role to play in re-establishing trust in American government. He needs to face justice.
That sets the stage for more justice.
[Update: According to NY Times reporting, Kushner's fund receives a fee of 1.25% of assets or $25 million, plus incentives, not 1%, as I described in an early-morning version of this post.]
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14 comments:
I want to correct Peter Sage's comment about Jared Kushner. The Saudis did give Jared Kushner $2 billion dollars for his hedge fund in response to Donald Trump forgiving the Saudis for killing Jamal Khashoggi.
However, Kushner does not get 1% (or $20 million annually) as his management fee for this investment. KUSHNER ACTUALLY GETS 2.5% ANNUALLY AS HIS MANAGEMENT FEE, OR $50 MILLION ANNUALLY. $50 MILLION.
Kushner is set for life getting $50 million annually from a shady deal that rewards Saudi murderers. It's a dirty deal, and almost as dirty as the crap that both Hunter Biden and Nancy Pelosi pulled.
Hunter Biden and Nancy Pelosi both need to be prosecuted for public corruption, but then so does Jared Kushner, who is an absolute slimebag.
Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation since 2018. Republicans have been so obsessed over it, you’d think he was at least a mafia don, if not living proof that Democrats are Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic pedophiles. In fact, the latest reports indicate he didn’t report all of his income and lied about his drug use when purchasing a handgun. If true, he shouldn’t have done that. They should make him do public service. But first there should at least be an indictment and maybe even a trial.
"Public corruption"? Hunter Biden is not a public employee or public official and he never has been, as far as I know.
In September 2022,
the 3 oldest Trumpettes and their Pa were sued by the NY State Attorney General for financial misrepresentation and fraud.
Joe Biden cannot afford to permit an honest and complete appraisal of Hunter Biden for the very reason that investigations into Jared Kushner or the Trump Organization imperil Trump himself: Joe Biden is in it up to his ears.
The FBI has sat for years on testimony and documents linking Joe—his claimed ignorance notwithstanding—to Hunter’s lucrative overseas business dealings (read: influence peddling), with “the big guy” per Hunter getting 10 percent,
Those investigations were left dead in the water by a D.C. field supervisor, Thibault, who recently resigned from the FBI amid charges of political bias. All these roads lead to the Big Guy….unless Hunter falls on a diversionary sword.
The same legacy media which is now forced to concede that the NY Post, Fox News et al were correct all along about the authenticity of the Hunter Biden evidence will undergo all manner of journalistic gymnastics to insulate his dad.
Will dirtbag Hunty, the man Joe calls “the smartest man I know”?, help insulate as well? Grab the popcorn.
"Tone at the top" is a term that originated in the field of accountancy and is used to describe an organization's general ethical climate (as established by its board of directors, audit committee and senior management in the private sector). President Jimmy Carter practiced what he preached. He set a fine example for anyone who appreciates public officials who follow the same rules and laws that private citizens are expected to follow.
I try to avoid ridiculing or humiliating sick people. The photo selected is less than flattering. Hunter Biden has not been convicted of anything at this point. He is a private citizen with a complex, chronic brain disorder and a very famous father, who is an elected official. I am not claiming that Hunter Biden has led the life of a saint.
According to the NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), addiction is a brain disorder. For more information visit their website
niaaa.nih.gov
I do wish LD would attach proof of his/her contention that President Biden is corrupt. The accusation that he is involved in something for money sounds like the 3 Dolts on a Divan, morning's on FOX would throw out, and I guess I slept through Hunter Bidens indictment, trial and conviction on charges of corrupt lyrics using his Father's connections and position to gain wealth. Best as I can determine, nepotism, while unseemly and Smelly, is not really illegal, and this Country is supposed to offer a presumption of innocence, a trial and judgment on the evidence before virtually hanging a person.
Additional resources for anyone suffering from drug addiction, as well as their family and friends:
* Narcotics Anonymous
* Nar-Anon (for the family and friends of addicts)
* NIDA (National Institute on Drug Addiction)
na.org
naranon.org
nida.nih.gov
The mainstream media/social media suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story in October 2020 finished the job of destroying the last vestiges of trust anyone could have in the Standard Narrative promoted by the establishment.
Ed—
Biden family business partner Tony Bobulinski is on record at length with the FBI and properly subject to prosecution if he is lying. He has submitted copious corroborative documentation. Google is your partisan friend. Coupled with Hunty’s laptop, there is colorable if not conclusive proof that Joe—and his brother—are compromised. Shall we all find out for sure? Likely we’ll never know unless/until Joe drops from relevance for 2024.
To Ed Cooper:
It sounds like LD is referring to the Biden-Ukraine conspiracy theory, which needs no proof because we saw it on the internet so it must be true, and no less an authority than Trump confirmed it. Like the fake moon landing and the flying saucer in Area 51, it can’t be proven because the government is hiding the evidence.
Notge to commenters
Please do not refer to other commenters directly unless it is to compliment them for their insight.
Peter Sage
Mr. Sage—
I understand the general reasoning behind your groundrules. In practical terms, however, as presently applied, anyway, I can only congratulate leftist automatons here on their (false) legacy media-aided conclusion that the Bobulinski-Biden material at issue is no more than fabricated Russian disinformation. Like the laptop itself. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Either the blog itself takes on the responsibility to separate the wheat from the chaff where legitimately colorable, if not yet conclusive arguments, are concerned, or else uninformed or bad-faith actors take over .
My compliments to LD for his perspicacious insights. The only question it raises is how Bobulinski’s FBI testimony was accessed. It isn't available on Google, although he did give public testimony on the Tucker Carlson show. As far as more reliable sources are concerned, however, there’s no credible evidence that Joe Biden played a role in his family’s business activities:
https://twitter.com/politifact/status/1321925777764614147?lang=en
Another thing to keep in mind is that, in general, addicts and alcoholics are notorious, expert liars and manipulators.
Perhaps the facts will all come out, but just because an addict/alcoholic says, for example, that the "big guy" (Joe Biden) is involved does not make it true. A/A are known for saying and doing whatever it takes to get what they want. They USE other people, including close family, relatives and friends. They put family and friends in all kinds of difficult and no-win situations.
I tend to take what they say with a grain of salt or try to verify it independently.
Hunter may have used and exploited his family name and relationship with his father. It still remains to be seen if Joe Biden was actually and knowingly involved with his son's junkie shenanigans. I tend to doubt it, but we shall see.
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