Below is my column in the Messenger on the curious role of Hunter Biden as the “designated defendant” of the Biden family. Throughout the years of influence peddling and millions in transfers to various Biden associates and family members, Hunter remained the frontman. He is now expected to face accountability for these dealings. He even complained to his daughter in 2019 that he was being sued. Telling her that “It’s really hard. But don’t worry, unlike Pop [Joe], I won’t make you give me half your salary.” While he will get off light, he will be expected to take 100 percent of any accountability as his father repeatedly says how “proud” he is of his son.
Here is the column:
The reported plea bargain for Hunter Biden was of little surprise to many of us. Indeed, a year ago, I described these very counts as a way to carry out a “controlled demolition” of this scandal.
Hunter Biden is, on many levels, a hapless figure of a man, devoured by destructive addictions and appetites. Yet the most tragic aspect of Hunter’s life may be his apparent role as the designated defendant of the Biden family. He allegedly became the conduit for what House Republican investigators say was potentially millions of dollars from influence-peddling, including possible payments to his uncle, the widow of his deceased brother, and even Biden grandchildren.
In the law, the “designated defendant” is often a chump who is given some impressive title, a good salary, and the authority to sign reports or filings for a corporation.
Hunter was clearly more than a simple dupe, but he never had much to offer beyond his name and access to his father.
Many have noted that Hunter Biden was an implausible business associate or board member to be working with various foreign companies. He had lived a life that was a toxic mix of nepotism and narcotics, by his own admission. According to his 2021 memoir, during the period when foreign companies were clamoring to give him millions of dollars, he was “drinking a quart of vodka a day” and “smoking crack around the clock.” He kept up that self-destructive lifestyle, he said, until his father’s 2020 presidential campaign began.
When Hunter’s world began to collapse financially, his uncle, James (who has been implicated in influence-peddling in news reports and by House investigators) rushed to assure him that he and his father were arranging a “safe harbor” for him, according to one media report. The alarm over Hunter cutting off contact was understandable as a family matter in dealing with a relative with a history of drug addiction. Yet Hunter also potentially represented something of a threat to a family that has long been accused of influence-peddling.
Hunter has relied on his family and his father’s political associates to protect him. He reportedly paid his delinquent taxes with the help of a wealthy friend; other unnamed individuals paid huge sums for his art work.
When Hunter’s gun disappeared near a school and local authorities were investigating, the Secret Service mysteriously showed up at a gun shop and asked for the paperwork tying him to the gun.
When Hunter lost a laptop reportedly filled with incriminating emails detailing criminal conduct with drugs, as well as alleged evidence of influence-peddling, national security experts rushed forward to declare it was likely to be Russian disinformation. Much of the media joined with an effective news blackout of the story. The FBI then allegedly sat on the laptop and did not appear to do a thing to investigate further.
At every juncture, the wayward son of Joe Biden seems to be snatched from the jaws of disaster.
Now, at the center of a swirling scandal of alleged influence-peddling, Hunter has emerged with a plea that brings a new meaning to the word “bargain.”
He will plead guilty to two minor misdemeanor tax counts and a phantom felony count that will go away in time.
Yet this may be the most vital role that Hunter has played for his family. He will declare himself guilty so the media and the political establishment can declare the scandal to be a closed matter: Nothing more to see here, other than a plea to a couple misdemeanors.
This is why betting against the Bidens in a corruption scandal is like betting for The Generals against the Harlem Globetrotters. The plea agreement already is being heralded by the Biden team as the final resolution of any Hunter Biden investigation.
The hope is that Hunter takes the hit for the family. He will avoid jail time, and his father can avoid a political scandal.
In his memoir, Promises to Keep, Joe Biden wrote about how he once asked Hunter, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Hunter responded, “I want to be important.”
Like much else about Hunter’s life, that statement now seems tragic on a Shakespearean level. Hunter allegedly was key to bringing in millions of dollars in exchange for influence with and access to his father. He is now taking a plea to tie off a scandal threatening his family. He is the designated defendant who will stand in the dock and take the hit. In that perfect Bidenesque moment, he will plead guilty to not paying taxes but avoid answering questions on how he made his money.
The plea deal also avoids the charge that the White House most feared: a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Despite the striking similarities with the past FARA cases, like that of Paul Manafort, there is no allegation that Hunter was an illegal foreign agent. If this is the final “resolution” as claimed by Hunter’s counsel, it also is the ideal resolution for the Biden family.
Hunter has finally achieved his childhood dream. There is a host of people, from his family to foreign officials around the world, who will bear witness to that. Hunter Biden finally is important.
Jonathan Turley, an attorney, constitutional law scholar and legal analyst, is the Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law at The George Washington University Law School.
Jonathan: Your post mortem about the end of the Hunter Biden saga is pretty pathetic. So now Hunter is the “designated defendant”–the guy who took a fall for his dad? Gee, I thought the real “designated defendant” is Allen Weisselberg, the CFO for the Trump organization, who took the fall for his crime boss? But, no, you bizarrely think Hunter took the heat for the “corrupt” Biden family.
Hunter walked away with a couple of misdemeanors because Andrew Weiss couldn’t find anything else. Those are the cold, hard facts. Despite a 4 year investigation, Weiss couldn’t find any FARA violations or what you allege were “years of influence peddling and millions in transfers to various Biden associates and family members”. David Weiss is a Republican, appointed by Donald Trump. If anyone might have a motive to find other “crimes” it is Weiss. But he couldn’t find anything to substantiate you allegations. And there is no evidence Weiss was told by AG Garland or anyone else in the DOJ to go easy on Hunter. He had all the resources he needed to pursue his investigation of Hunter. And that is what he will say if he is called to testify before Comer or Jim Jordan’s witch hunt House Committees.
I say take your lumps and move on. If Hunter is part of some “Shakespearean” tragedy maybe Macbeth is the better comparison–where the character said “full of fury, but signifying nothing”. That’s the perfect description of all your efforts to try to discredit the Biden family!
Hunter walked away with a couple of misdemeanors because Andrew Weiss couldn’t find anything else.
What a liar.
Contemporaneous emails prove, Wiess was severely limited, by Garland, about limiting his charges, and limiting what he could do concerning subpoenas, and warrants.
Iowan2
Thank you for bringing facts to the table.
Something our leftist friends are failing to do and their comments reflect that.
iowan2: Sorry, but I’m not the “liar”. If Weiss was “severely limited” in his investigation of Hunter where is your proof? Read Turley’s column carefully. Does he claim Weiss’s investigation was limited in any way? Nope. Weiss has never claimed his investigation was limited in any way. Look at his letter to the House Committee. Get your facts straight before you accuse others of your own offense!
According to the WB, Weiss said on Oct 7, 2022:
1. He was not the decision maker about bringing charges;
2. He was rejected by the USA in D.C. when he sought to bring charges there;
3. He applied to main DOJ to become a special counsel, to get the authority he needed, but was rejected; and
4. He applied to the USA in California to bring charges there (this was rejected in January 2023).
If Weiss had been granted special authority to bring charges in other districts that he was ordinarily not authorised to do, where is the order from Garland to the USAs throughout the country granting Weiss that authority?
“I’m not the deciding official.”
“Those five words, allegedly from Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, shocked IRS and FBI investigators in a meeting on October 22, 2022. This is because, in refusing to appoint a special counsel, Attorney Garland Merrick Garland had repeatedly assured the public and Congress that Weiss had total authority over his investigation.
IRS supervisory agent Gary A. Shapley Jr. told Congress he was so dismayed by Weiss’s statement and other admissions that he memorialized them in a communication to other team members.
Shapley and another whistleblower detail what they describe as a pattern of interference with their investigation of Hunter Biden, including the denial of searches, lines of questioning, and even attempted indictments.”
https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/4065497-who-is-lying-merrick-garland-or-the-whistleblowers/
According to whistleblowers’ lawyer in a public statement on Friday, the meeting in question took place in US Attorney’s Weiss’ office with six FBI/IRS agent present (see exhibit 10, p 148 of report). The reason why Weiss’ scheduled this meeting is not specified..
Could Huner be striking out at his father for what being the Biden family scapegoat?
The Left sure does have a schizophrenic view of HB.
First, he’s an infinitely capable financial wizard, negotiating complex “business” deals around the world.
Next, he’s a victimized, pathetic weakling who can’t be trusted when he declares that his father (the “Big Guy”) is right next to him.
And, yet again, the Left’s basic premise: Concoct whatever is necessary to satisfy a desire.
Democrats didn’t NEED a fall guy. They’d definitely get away with not charging anyone at all…which is basically what happened with Hunter, anyway. Joke “charges” with no consequences.
A lot of theories are being presented here by comment that simply do not pass muster. 46 years of dealing daily with sick human beings and I never met one addict who claimed that were “forced to take the drugs”. I suppose in the infinite multiverse that is possible but I’ve never seen it. “Poor Hunter was done in by a malevolent and dysfunctional family”. That is possible but more likely things such as a personality disorder or even a bipolar disorder could be the culprit. Then there is the head injury as a child but those can very unpredictable in their effects. There are well brought up kids all through history who “go bad”. Usually it is some type of mental illness not previously seen in the family but sometimes other people have the same malady but to a more minor degree. There are sociopaths that don’t turn out to be horrible human beings or serial killers and sometimes are quite successful in “normal society”. Some with autism learn their behavior as they mimic other people to follow “good habits”. It often is a matter of degree.
I agree with the designated defendant but that is certainly a crass, unprincipled use by a father even if he “loves and supports you”.
N & N. A new catchphrase for Nepotism and Narcotics. I will have to remember that one.
Fall guy or designated defendant is so inadequate, I think.
I prefer the Japanese method Seppuku since it has more drama, flair, ceremony and can sometimes give the main participant more honor than the observer who maybe ordered it or was the main culprit.
G.E.B.
Great points, especially for one having nearly five decades of valuable clinical experience! Though, the key word in Seppuku is honor. 🙂
“Poor Hunter was done in by a malevolent and dysfunctional family”. That is possible but more likely things such as a personality disorder or even a bipolar disorder could be the culprit. ”
There is a lot of merit to what you say, but in this case, the situation involves the entire family throughout the life of Hunter. That changes the dynamics. This aberrancy is no longer a single individual as a matter of concern but the whole family.
It matters little, for they are all crooks playing their parts in fleecing the rest of us. I envision the Hunter affair as a play with all the family members as players while Joe Biden takes the lead. I imagine the end, with Joe Biden at Hunter’s funeral saying, “He was always the fool.”
Prof. Turley sounds like Dep. Barney Fife when he refers to crack cocaine as “narcotics”. (It might make your mouth numb, but it won’t put you to sleep.) A law professor should speak with more precision and call it contraband.
Professor, while MSM have heralded President Biden’s controlled withdrawal, you are still dealing with the role of Hunter Biden’s “influence peddling” in this column and in your FNN-appearance this morning.
It’s a pity to repeat over and over again that FBI knows since 2017 (!!) due to the proximity of the place and time $$$ flows between 2014 and 2018. This led to the suspicion that President Biden has been compromised and that his family has gained wealth. Although both his DEM puppet masters and REP’s Senate Minority Leader (what was his take about not so new developments?) support Biden’s re-election, they can hardly stop the avalanche that the former MBNA Senator himself set in motion ten years ago. The inability to hide what all these “1023” will show during sunlight is the point of no return.
For DEMs, “moderate” Biden was always seen as wilful puppet that brings the hidden “Biden-Sanders Manifesto” to life. Now he is seen more as a liability than an asset, [t]he Moor has done his duty – the Moor may go” [1]. Question is: How and when.
CARPE DIEM, Professor!
[1] Friedrich Schiller: Fiesco’s Conspiracy at Genoa, Act 3 4th Appearance.
Having done fraud. investigations for the US Government…..Rule One is quite simple….”Follow the Money!”.
It matters not which direction you go….from the original payor or the recipient….you get on the trail and track the money till you reach the other end.
During that process you identify the method and players and the conduit at each juncture.
The IRS was doing that until the DOJ shut them down.
Now why would that be one asks….or should ask anyway.
Ask yourself this one question…..if you….any one of you….had failed to report almost Ten Million Dollars in income, had filed patently bogus deductions, used almost twenty shell corporations to funnel money to up to a dozen of your extended family…..and no doubt failing to report those incomes to the Shell Corporations…..would you be riding around on Air Force One and attending State Dinners and have the US Secret Service, FBI, and DOJ running interference for you and when finally charged for farcical levels of crime….receive the least possible charges and be given the kind of Plea Bargain Hunter Biden received?
One would have to be as messed up on drugs and booze as is Hunter Biden to think that….except he knew the Big Guy was in his corner all the while these crimes were going on and for a very good reason…..Daddy-O was going to ensure that he himself was immune from prosecution.
So…exactly why was Joe Biden, James Biden, Hunter Biden, and the rest of the Biden Family able to benefit to the tune of tens of millions of dollars from a crimiinal conspiracy and escape any kind of meaninfgulcensure by the DOJ?
Could you have pulled off the exact same crime and eluded lengthy sentences in a Federal Prison?
The Democrats point to Republicans and insist they are a dire threat to American Democracy and ignore every crime committed by Democrats and the protection of such by the DOJ and the US Media.
No wonder the Democrats have moved on from “equality” and embraced “equity”…..a directed outcome that benefits Democrats.
The focus on Hunter Biden is misplaced. The issue is the corruption and mendacity of Joe Biden, and his protection by our intelligence and law enforcement institutions.
The investigators were thwarted at every turn when they sought to pursue leads that might implicate Joe Biden. The Form 1023 was never provided to them. Inquiries into the “big guy” were precluded. The laptop was withheld despite its having been verified in late 2019. Auten deep-sixed damaging information. Garland is alleged, on the basis of contemporaneous emails with confirmation, to have lied repeatedly about Weiss’s authority. The testimony and evidence are devastating.
Yet the Republicans appear to have no plan, and people continue to write about Hunter Biden and his personal difficulties.
This was a case for Victor Hugo’s “Javier’
Les Misérables is an enjoyable musical/movie (Russell Crowe playing Javert, the French policeman).
The whole thing goes its way, Garland worded his replies very carefully, for example: “Weiss didn’t ask me” which left room that subordinate blocked Special Counsel status.
Piece is from 2005: https://twitter.com/TruthNinja316/status/1672355433305219072/photo/1
Except for Wiess’ comments to the IRS that charging decissions were not his to make. And, he could not get approval for the warrants and subpoenas to advance his investigation.
On 12/10/20, a month AFTER the Presidential election, CNN reported [1] that Hunter Biden is under criminal investigation since two years:
““I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs. I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” Hunter Biden said in a statement.
Why did Weiss slow-walk the investigation BEFORE 2020 Presidential election?
“[Weiss] could not get approval for the warrants and subpoenas to advance his investigation.”
In summer 2020 [2], the probe had reached a point where prosecutors could have sought search warrants and issued a flurry of grand jury subpoenas. Why did Weiss need an approval and who rejected it?
[1] https://cnn.com/2020/12/09/politics/hunter-biden-tax-investigtation/
[2] https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/16/hunter-biden-probe-prosecutor-499782
The Bidens had a well organized scheme to shake down foreign nations and make millions. Hunter, as the point man, was always their weak link in the scheme with his seemingly unlimited budget, access to Air Force 2, and addiction to whores, booze, and drugs. The entire family (James, Joe, Jill, et al) knew EXACTLY what the plan was. No one is innocent here. And their desperate attempts to blame all of this problem on drugs is truly laughable. The passenger manifest on Air Force Two speaks otherwise……
Sky, I want to add one name to your list of Bidens in on the take…Obama. How is it possible that Obama didn’t know that his “point man” in Ukraine was taking bribes? How is it possible that Obama didn’t know that the firing of the guy investigating Burisma was part of a quid pro quo? Why would Obama have held back finding in order to get the investigator fired if he wasn’t in on the scam?
Ask the age old legal question “who benefits” when thinking about the shutting down of all of the Joe Biden cases. Of course the current president benefits by keeping his job and pretending to be clean, but Obama also benefits by shutting it all down because he is the gold standard the Dems use when they say there were no scandals during his time in office.
Many think it possible that Obama still has a hand in running the Biden puppet, see Rice, Susan et al, and therefore the Obama team is still powerful with the intelligence agencies. Remember during the last weeks of the Obama administration when on Jan 5, 2016 Susan Rice, Biden, the asst AG et al were plotting the attacks on Trump even after their time in office was going to be over. Why did Obama almost beg Biden NOT to run in 2020? He knew that all of this corruption might emerge and that if someone other than Biden was president it would be safer for them all.
Those who enter into the world of drugs and addictions do not start out with that as a goal. It starts small and grows from there. In his case, the high octane lifestyle of money, drugs, alcohol and illicit sex were probably a desparate escape his bizarre world as the lead man of the Biden family operation, extorting and demand bribes from corrupt business people and politicians in countries for influence that were mostly off the radar and certainly difficult to scrutinize.
Leaving the laptop was either extremely careless or it was his way of wanting this madness to be discovered by a media outlet or law enforcement agency so that the demands on life would stop. This is something to consider as most licensed professionals would risk much to expose or to abandon unprotected information.
A good IRS forensic tax audit team could make short work of finding the truth of President Biden and all the members of his family’s lifestyles if they were allowed to their job. They use statistical norms for comparative analysis. How does Joe Biden and his family live the good life on a government salary? If everything is on the up and up, then all the Biden’s would be happy to have a thorough audit and it would dispel any doubt. Hunter made millions that he did not report on his taxes? Why would a person who makes that kind of money not have a team of tax lawyers and CPAs working to make sure that every i is dotted and every t crossed? What was he hiding?
There is way more to this story than the laptop. There is Hunter’s former business partners, two of which are serving time, the testimony, texts, and emails of Tony Bobulinski, the IRS whistleblowers, and business people and politicians from Ukraine and others who live in small countries that are under the radar.
Under all the usual babbling propaganda and noise are the facts. If they are in the form of numbers, that is good. Numbers do not lie. It only takes a skilled auditor to find and analyze them and the numbers will speak for themselves and tell the real story. In the meantime, like the recent smoke that descended on New York, there is a growing fire.
“Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
E.M.
Well said.
Based off the evidence we have seen, I think Hunter may have, in his drug/booze stupor, may have not realized he took the laptop to the repair shop and forgot it was even there.
“Leaving the laptop was either extremely careless or it was his way of wanting this madness to be discovered by a media outlet or law enforcement agency so that the demands on life would stop.”
That is an engaging question, one I have been asking myself. The family fits such a question.
There were two or three laptops that Hunter lost, not just the MacIsaac one. He was afraid Russian agents had taken one of the others.
“… whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
― John Adams
Maybe they forced Hunter Biden to take drugs so he’d have plausible deniability? The desperation to take the heat off Trump is getting stronger by the day. Perhaps we need a column about Billy Carter and how he took the heat for his corrupt brother?
Forced Hunter to take drugs?
To even suggest that it shows if anyone is getting desperate it is you. Next you will be telling us he was forced into having sex with prostitutes.
Take the heat off Trump? No. Hunter did this all by his own doing,
FBI validated Hunter Biden laptop months before experts claimed Russian disinformation
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/fbi-validated-hunter-biden-laptop-months-experts-falsely-claimed
I was inspired by Turley suggesting Hunter was the designated fall guy. He’s literally making things up to give people like you a distraction from Trump’s woes.
What Trump woes?
They are pushing to delay his court date till December.
Till then, he made a key note speech at the Faith and Freedom forum.
He leads Biden in polling by 6 points.
Both Hunter and Joe Bidens woes are in the top news.
UpstateFarmer, Keep believing Trump has no woes, and I’m just talking about the legal ones.
“Forced Hunter to take drugs?”
Whenever Enigma is around we always hear claims of victimhood.
@Enigma
Fighting with reality is always a losing proposition in one way or another, but by all means, keep on swinging. Additionally, even if that utter implausibility were true, that somehow makes it ‘better’? Pfft. This is easily the most blatantly corrupt administration in our nation’s history. If Trump (and I am no fan of his, I just don’t deny reality) were in actuality even half as crooked, he would still be POTUS today. Hillary’s loss at the hands of who were supposed to be the serfs and plebes was an unforgivable sin for the dem regime.
James,
Good point about reality.
Our leftists friends never seem to acknowledge all the whistleblowers evidence and testimony about the reality of the levels of corruption on going.
FBI validated Hunter Biden laptop months before experts claimed Russian disinformation
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/fbi-validated-hunter-biden-laptop-months-experts-falsely-claimed
Here is another bit of reality,
https://dailycaller.com/2023/06/24/new-york-city-lgbt-activists-chant-coming-for-your-kids/
Whatever do they mean by that?
I thought that was just a right wing conspiracy theory.
I was being sarcastic while Turley is playing to his audience.
Look how the media and the corrupt apparatchik state surround the biden corruption clan . They flat out ignore questions and obvious serious wrongs….so corrupt yet they just walk along not listening and pretending not to see. Imagine if Trump even had 1% of this load of corrupt filth in his family & govt, the dems and the govt would have had a public lynching already.
And what of Navy Joan? Is the irony that this story ends with her better off without being named Biden?
When I was in grad school studying, among other things, trauma, I learned that there is a term “presenting family member.” In other words, there is one member of a family who channels the family problems. Most people don’t think of it that way. They see an apparently happy and well adjusted family and one nutcase. That family member is considered the black sheep and every finger points at them. But in actuality, a very troubled family member often points to a very troubled family. Oftentimes that family member is simply the weak link in the facade. I have heard allegations that Hunter was himself a victim of abuse. I have no way of knowing whether that’s true; on the other hand, he could be a poster child of what trauma victims look like. The preferred term is “survivor” but in Hunter’s case, I don’t know if survivor is the right word. It seems to me that in all the ways that matter, he didn’t survive. His mother was killed in tragic circumstances and he was left in the hands of a man whose moral compass points consistently to the sewer. What happened to Hunter, I don’t know. I don’t know if we ever will know. But something happened to Hunter. People don’t get that messed up because they had a great childhood. And it seems to me that Hunter’s “accidentally” abandoning the incriminating laptop and Ashley’s “accidentally” leaving her diary behind speak to a desire for validation that every trauma survivor craves. Rudy Giuliani has always correctly pointed the finger of blame where it belongs: at the Big Guy. Rudy has always said he feels bad for Hunter because his father used him as the bag man. But who actually wants to know the truth? The left screams that it’s all a conspiracy. The right screams that Hunter is Satan. I personally would like to know what happened to Hunter.
Great points all. I hadn’t considered that aspect of this ugly saga, but it rings true.
Excellent points.
Another posting demonstrates superb insight into a family situation.
A look into the family makes one wonder, is Hunter the best of the lot?
Alot of Suspicions Activitey Reports, SAR… is evidence. ~20 shell companies that only have Bidens and Close associates as employees….is evidence. A demand for money, and within 72 hours $5 million arrives, at various shell companies….is evidence. Shutting down Wiese, and the IRS investigations and prosecutions….is evidence
Why hasn’t a so called “journalist’ asked the Bidens the most basic questions? For example, what exactly the Chinese expected to be delivered to them in exchange for $5 million? Why did the Bidens set up a maze of shell companies to launder the money?
It’s becoming a journalism scandal that questions like those go unasked.
Dear @JonathanTurley , you have lost all credibility when peddling conspiracy theories about dealing that there’s no evidence. And if there was any, it was lost by Rudy Stinky Gulliani behind the Four Seasons Landscaping Convention Center.
There is no conspiracy here…its all plain to see…the corruption of the biden clan and the govt is legion. You are just too bought into a partisan pov to let truth like sunlight into your window.
🤪
FBI validated Hunter Biden laptop months before experts claimed Russian disinformation
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/fbi-validated-hunter-biden-laptop-months-experts-falsely-claimed
Jose, learn to analyze, learn to think, learn to be honest and learn to look at your team and ask questions. You sound like a fool.
“A lot of “allegedly,” potential payments” -meaning (to Democrats) who have gotten lost in Hillary’s escapades…nothing to see here. What happened to “appearances of impropriety?”
Hunter is a big boy, he made the decisions. He is and was a beneficiary of those decisions. He is being given very special treatment by a corrupt justice department. He is not tragic. He is a criminal, like his father.
A lot of “allegedly”, “potential payments” -meaning you do not have the facts but assume the worst because he is a Democrat.
A lot of allegations of “influence peddling” – which is actually not a crime and what every Trump family member and hanger-on does all the time.
The payments are documented on the laptop and on bank reports.