Below is my column on Fox.com on the most recent WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to foreign contacts. It is an insight into the shady world of influence peddling and the Biden family.
Here is the column:
“The Bidens are the best at doing exactly what Chairman wants.” The latest WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to a Chinese businessman may be the perfect epitaph for the entire Biden corruption scandal. Indeed, it may be the most accurate statement ever made by Hunter Biden. This is precisely what the Bidens are the best at: selling access and influence.
Years ago, I wrote how the Biden family has long distinguished itself in all things corrupt from nepotism to sweetheart deals to influence peddling. Bidens like Hunter’s uncle James have been repeatedly criticized for cashing in on claims of access to his brother.
In one column, I noted that “The Biden family has long been associated with influence peddling to the degree that they could add an access key to their family crest.” While this has long been the favorite form of corruption in Washington, the Bidens are in a class of their own.
The last week has shown just how good the Bidens are at this. I previously wrote that there appeared to be an effort in the works to implode the scandal. Not only was the Justice Department allowing the statute of limitations to run on some offenses, but they would likely cut a plea deal for a couple of misdemeanors without any jail time. That is precisely what they did with the help of an enabling media that has largely blacked out the corruption scandal.
Recently, political and media pundits have tried to excuse the raw influence peddling by dismissing messages as the ravings of a drug addict. However, the message to Gongwen (“Kevin”) Dong, a CEFC China Energy executive, is neither muddled nor manic. Indeed, it has all of the directness and clarity that the Bidens have denied to the American people:
“I’m tired of this Kevin,” Hunter said. “I can make $5 million in salary from any law firm in America. If you think it’s about money, it’s not. The Biden’s [sic] are the best at doing exactly what Chairman wants from this partnership. Please let’s not quibble over peanuts.”
The “peanuts” are an apt reference. The Bidens were promising a windfall for the Chinese in purchasing access. A few millions truly is a quibble in the great scheme of things.
Hunter was equally clear in these messages about what he was selling. In another WhatsApp message, he reportedly stated:
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”
If any further proof is needed of how good the Bidens really are at this, the Chinese reportedly sent the money after receiving that threat.
When President Biden was asked about whether he was involved in the message, he angrily yelled “No!” but offered nothing else. The Bidens are far more forthcoming with customers than they are voters. In this form of corruption, elections are a means for acquiring power, but the ends are sales of that influence. That is where real money is to be made.
The other measure of how good the Bidens are at this is found in the dozens of LLC corporations and bank accounts used to funnel money to Hunter and his associates. The labyrinth of transfers seem designed to evade detection and investigation. The recent allegations of bribery from a Ukrainian figure included reported references to how the Bidens created this complex system to shield payments — no payments were to go directly to Joe Biden.
Then there is the experience shown in the use of code names for Joe Biden. These emails include references to Joe Biden getting a 10 percent cut of one Chinese deal. It also shows Biden associates warning not to use Joe Biden’s name but to employ code names like “the Big Guy.”
This is why many people missed the point of Hunter Biden showing up after his criminal plea at a state dinner. It was shocking for many to see Hunter wining and dining with the Washington elite. However, that is precisely the point. It was a collective celebration for a city where influence peddling is a cottage industry. Despite overwhelming evidence of corruption, Hunter was back in circulation.
That is no minor league stuff. When it comes to corruption the Biden family is the 1961 Yankees and 1975 Reds combined. They are the GOATs of influence peddling and the rest is, well, peanuts.
Hunter Biden formed at least fifteen shell companies to receive funds from foreign businesses. Scroll to page seven to see the list. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Bank-Memorandum-5.10.23.pdf. There is a lot of innuendo on this blog but the facts speak for themselves. This is a common practice used by all crime families to spread out the payments to attract less attention. Joe taught the boy well. His only slip up is when he didn’t keep the crack pipe from Hunter’s lips. Because of a crack pipe the whole dirty business has come to light. In the crime families one of the unforgivable sins is to taste the product because they know that strung out family members will eventually reveal the evidence to the Feds. Joe allowed Hunter to break the rule and now we know that Joe is just a second class mob boss who believes he is among the untouchables.
TIT, the hand is quicker than the eye.
The millions the biden clan has raked in and is still raking in selling us out to our enemies is just the tip of the corruption of these apparatchik appointed tools. Incredible when the system and it’s controlled virus like D brand party are absolutely trying to destroy and block RFK jr getting any message out and totally ignoring him. The apparatchik borg will not tolerate their plans being upset by truth tellers from their side of the bench.
TIT, I sincerely hope that You do realize that all this goes away when it comes out that Hunter is a CIA Agent, and all his doings were Contra Asset activities Authorized by his Case Manager. The identity of CIA Agents are rarely revealed.
You may have to wait for Hunter to retire. Retired CIA agents are bound by certain non-disclosure agreements which prohibit them from discussing classified information or revealing their former status without prior authorization. In general, a retired CIA agent must seek permission from the CIA’s Publications Review Board before publicly disclosing any information about their work or employment with the agency. This includes writing books, giving speeches, or participating in media interviews. Additionally, retired CIA agents are required to submit any writings or other materials that they wish to publish to the CIA for pre-publication review. The agency will then determine whether or not any classified information is included and whether or not it can be released to the public.
Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC
Bohai: What is the meaning of Bohai? noun. a large inlet of the Yellow Sea on the coast of NE China
Right next to Beijing China.
Why is Doubler Dealer Joe Biden Smarter than the Government that Pays him?
When I read your tweet
“Chief Justice Roberts continues to refuse to check with me on schedule, I have a long scheduled speech on the courts at Brookings Institution this morning.” [1]
I remembered the article, “What Happened to Jonathan Turley, Really?” published in “Slate”, a web daily, that attracts a (far) left audience. Why should Chief Justice the usual SCOTUS opinion role call adjust to a legal scholar’s schedule?
Equally unclear: Which roles plays our host when he writes his tremendous oeuvre of commissioned columns?
* a pundit,
* an opinion contributor, or
* a legal analyst?
Maybe he serves all concurrently. And in the end, readers are left perplexed and wonders what story he wanted to tell us.
Look at this column: Influence (9), peddling (7), corruption (6 ) and access (5) are among most used terms.
There is Money Laundering Control Act, IMLPO and many other federal agencies that observe these matters, FBI has unlimited recourses to investigate those potential crimes they have on their “purview” (a bunch of agents flew to Rome to meet Christopher Steele): Why didn’t anyone notice?
Mainly between 2014 and 2017, funds were transferred to the Biden clan from several foreign accounts at the same time. It’s vague by whom the contact with these LLCs was initiated and what services these persons provided. However, SAR’s were filed, but those responsible for it have neither observed the “Oath of Office” nor “Hatch Act” and have not intervened. Good that we have GOP, the party for “law and order” as last line of law defence: Unfortunately USDT Secretary Mnuchin, AG Sessons/Barr, Speaker Ryan, Majority Leader Senator McConnell didn’t have those matters under their “purview”.
Prior to ’16 and ’20 elections, the uneven seriousness of national security concerns can be seen:
* CIA Director Brennan [3] ran to FBI Director Comey who immediately opened “Crossfire Hurrican” that Mr. Durham was puzzled that he was that quick seven years later.
* “Despite overwhelming evidence of corruption”, neither AG Barr (R) nor FBI Director Wray (R) opened a criminal investigation after the former Senator from MBNA announced his run on 4/25/19.
All this could be a topic for a no-frills column: No recycling of recent passages taken out of context and beaten a dead horse over and over again.
In the same time, MSM moved forward: Concerns about the president’s state of health are mounting: A CPAP machine to treat sleep apnea helped Biden to be “fine” as his doctors’ commented. Question is: How long will his puppet masters see it sync?
[1] The DEM think tank with very close connections to State department (Victoria Nuland, Jonathan Winer), Clinton allies (Charles Dolan, John Podesta, Robby Mook), and DNC (Tom Perez) played a doubtful role in fabricated “Steele Dossier”. Primary source was Igor Danchenko (relied mainly on Olga Galinka) who worked (with Fiona Hill) at Brookings’ Foreign Policy Studies Program from ’05 to ’10. From 3/17 to ’20 he worked for FBI as CHS.
[2] https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/what-happened-to-jonathan-turley-really.html
[3] What would have happened differently if his predecessor hadn’t left his “all-in” biographer with his unsecured computer and she had kept her jealousy to herself?
When Joe Biden was vice president he went to Romania to talk foreign policy and foreign aid promises. Two weeks after he came back Romanian Nationals wired his family bribery payments.
Yawn, everyone knows what they did, everyone knows what Hillary, Obama , DOJ, FBI CIA etc…..did, but I bet they have done a lot more we do not know about, yet.
Meanwhile they keep going after anyone who worked for Trump and JT has not mentioned this at all.
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Farizonasuntimes.com%2Fjustice%2Ffirst-week-of-disbarment-trial-of-trump-attorney-john-eastman-by-judge-who-contributes-to-democrats-concludes%2Fralexander%2F2023%2F06%2F25%2F
Right wing conspiracyists argue that we have a dual system of justice.
I say that is not so, that we have one system of justice which prosecutes crimes for which there is documentary or eye witness evidence.
Criminal allegations against DemocRats since LBJ, the Clintons, Obama and the Bidens are mere Fake Crimes. They never happened! The allegations lack evidentiary support. The documents, if any, have gone missing, and the witnesses, if any, died or can’t remember or changed their observations.
Finally, the media is the first responder of investigations, the first prosecutor of criminality, and the court of last resort as to crimes by public figures, and since the Days of Wine and Nixon, the media have reported, investigated, prosecuted and decided only crimes by right wing conspiracyists.
Nothing to see here by DemocRats! Stop whining and grow a pair.
“Merrick Garland is a person with unimpeachable ethics and integrity.” (8/16/22)
I guess the point of this article is that it was Biden skill that produced the current situation and not any flaw in Garland. A good man was simply outplayed by the President and the smartest man he knows.
This article which claims the Bidens are the most corrupt influence peddlers in history without mentioning the Trump family is like saying Mac Jones is the best Patriots quarterback in history without any mention or discussion of Tom Brady.
I mean, it requires an extraordinary level of ignoring the obvious.
Trump did none of these things the Biden’s are accused of, and evidence seems to implicate them. You can’t charge Trump with stuff that was made up by the DNC, the FBI, and all the Allie’s of those groups. So far everything he has been charged with has been fabricated. And if the FBI wants to mail him for keeping Presidential documents, perhaps it’s because he has evidence of the entire child trafficking that goes on throughout politics, and Hollywood. And that is how they get everyone in lockstep. They expose them to these disgusting practices that is a 34 billion dollar a year business, and now they are compromised. They all vote as one because they are compromised and Trump was trying expose this world wide epidemic of child torture and abuse.
“And if the FBI wants to mail him for keeping Presidential documents, perhaps it’s because he has evidence of the entire child trafficking that goes on throughout politics, and Hollywood. And that is how they get everyone in lockstep.”
Not surprising the QAnon perspective is so well represented in Turley’s comment section.
Well, if what you say is true, then that means his views ((a”QAnon perspective?” Do you even know what that means?)) must have more “attendance” than your under-represented lectures? Not to worry. You’re still welcome.
Trump lost billions while President.
So you’re another partisan hack, huh.
Hugh, with people like you it’s always but what about Trump. It turns out that Trump did not collude with the Russians but Biden has colluded with the Chinese in order to enrich his family. There is physical evidence of the transfer of funds from the Chinese to various members of the Biden clan. If your going to come on this blog you should first graduate from the commenters junior league which requires a knowledge of all the evidence that is readily available. Short of gaining this knowledge you only expose yourself to be known as just another uninformed shill. Maybe you are just innocent or you are instead malevolent. It’s up to the readers to decide the obvious answer.
Hugh – Please detail the money wired to the Trump children while Trump was President.
Dang hugh , read the tea leaves before you post. Fo 50 years FIFTY YEARS mind you lord senile darth biden has lied , manipulated plagiarized , influence peddled , laundered money , molested female staffers , made his son chief bagman for the family bizz. At the same time Donald Trump ran businesses and PAID huge amounts of taxes. Apparently lefrtists like you endorse the biden crime syndicate – you did Hillary’s too. Eyes wide shut your lot is.
You obviously want to play whataboutism.
Trump is corrupt in that he refused the offer he couldn’t refuse.
Trump upset the “Globalist Deep Deep State Swamp” because he refused to be bought by it.
Trump was busy making America great again; Trump didn’t have the time, the need or the inclination to take the “Globalist Deep Deep State Swamp’s” money like the Biden Crime Family did.
It’s been argued here by one who is anonymous that “Influence peddling is legal” and that “It’s certainly wrong, but still legal.” The legality of doing something that is “certainly wrong” is an issue worthy of debate, but it is not the issue or even an issue that holds our attention in the matter of the David Weiss investigation. The issue that holds our interest plainly and simply is that with what has come to light about the questionable handling of the investigation, why was it that Weiss did not have what Merrick Garland said he had; that “Weiss had in fact more authority than a special counsel” and that “he had and has complete authority to bring a case, as I said, anywhere he wants in his discretion.”
Well, I think the fullness of Garland’s testimony was “The U.S. attorney has full authority over the case, but he doesn’t actually have full authority over the case.”
I believe I can make that sound consistent.
“The U.S. attorney has full authority over the case including the ability to ask prosecutors in other districts to look into charges in their jurisdictions.”
Let’s fine-tune that a little: “The U.S. attorney has full authority over the case including bringing in other prosecutors from other jurisdictions to try charges there.
Let’s fine-tune that a little. “The U.S. attorney has full authority over the case including bringing in other jurisdictions to try cases there.” That’s about how he responded to Grassly.
So there you go.
But at the end of the day, Garland used the phrase “full authority.” And so he mislead and needs to be held accountable for that, no matter how many rationalized qualifications he will claim he made.
Also get ready for this one. “All he needed to do was contact me if he needed anything else, and he would have been given it.”
Of course, if he has “full authority” he doesn’t need to contact you. There might also be a “Let me clarify what I said” attempt, and a “My remarks were always consistent” attempt. Things like that.
I say that Garland’s real testimony was never reported, that what was reported was a Trump fabrication, and that what Garland testified has been misquoted and taken out of context by people who were not in the room when he didn’t say it.
It was public testimony: Here’s one of the quotes:
“The U.S. attorney has been advised that he has full authority to make kind of those referrals you’re talking about or to bring cases in other jurisdictions if he feels it is necessary, and I will assure that if he does, then he will be able to do that.”
He kept doing that kind of thing all the time. In this particular quote it says: the U.S. attorney has full authority — to make referrals. The statement makes no sense. It’s like saying you have full authority to ask somebody else.
Here’s the context of it:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/hunter-biden-investigation-merrick-garland-revealed-as-senior-official-in-whistleblower-claim/ar-AA1a7BKn
JOKE!!!
If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.
Paladin,
I read it as you were channeling Harris and word salad.
Good one!
I just couldn’t help adding the quote: There’s no end to the absurdity of it.
@paladin
There’s more gossips going on @ DOJ than grandma’s sewing circle.
*don’t believe word you hear and only 1/2 of what you see.
I know nothing of, by or from DOJ except what’s in WAPO, which is dying in darkness ever since Bezos turned out the lights.
“If you don’t get it, you don’t get it,” as WAPO once bragged (why???)
(And lucky you are ’cause there’s nothing in it.)
There goes that TDS vomit again. Let’s stick to the fact of lord senile darth Biden & his clan’s absolute corruption and lies – which are known and proven to all but the close minded blind.
JOKE!
If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.
Not sarcastic enough for you?
No matter how jaded I get I just can’t keep up.
Stay with the video clip to the end when Garland says, “Weiss had in fact more authority than a special counsel” and that “he had and has complete authority to bring a case, as I said, anywhere he wants in his discretion.” That is a conferral of special counsel status in all but name. Weiss had “more authority than a special counsel” until he didn’t.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5075852/ag-garland-maintains-david-weiss-full-authority-hunter-biden-case
Thanks for that excellent clip. Although he was not under oath.
How about this: “The U.S. Attorney in Delaware has more authority over his case in Delaware than a special counsel. Should he need to expand the case in Delaware, over which he has more authority than a special counsel, he will be able to do that.”
Would you let him get away with that kind of “clarification?”
I would not. It would not square with what he is on record for having said at the press conference that Weiss “had and has complete authority to bring a case, as I said, anywhere he wants in his discretion.”
I suppose David Weiss might come up with this: “I was given full authority. However, I decided it best to follow Justice Department protocol.”
I think in essence he already has. He does have a career to protect.
Only for those who want to sharpen their observation of how AG Barr/USA Weiss led “Sportsman”
1) Supervisory special agent Sharpley testified (p 13): As early as March 6th, 2020, I sent a sensitive case report up through my chain of command at IRS reporting that by mid-March the IRS would be ready to seek approval for physical search warrants in California, Arkansas, New York, and Washington, D.C.
2) AG Barr decided in 1/20 that a CHS information retained by FBI results in 2017(!!) to USA Brady, Pittsburgh, PA (a member of AG’s Advisory Committee, that regularly consult on policy and management issues) though an investigation in Willington, DL is ongoing. USA Brady’s team interviewed a CHS resource and created a “1023” on 6/30/20, closed the investigation and sent it back to AG Barr.Barr claimed he sent it to USA Weiss for further investigation. It’s a pity that Shapley never heard of a “1023” (p 52). In the meantime House members informed the general public that CHS “story” circled about payments to Biden family members
3) Before the election, Tony Bobulinski reached out to USA Weiss Office to testify about a potential business deal with CEFC in ’17 was never materialized. Such a testimony could have brought up allegations about his father.
4) On 12/8/20 “SSA Gordon and I waited in the car outside of Hunter Biden’s California residence” (p 19)
5) On 12/20/20, AG Barr in his last presser before his departure: “I think to the extent that there’s an investigation, I think that it’s being handled responsibly and professionally, currently within the department. To this point, I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave. [1] At this time, then AG neither know about the accusations Sharpley will make (pp 11-21) nor that general content of “1023” created on 6/30/20 will publicly known.
It’s up to everyone judgement about the time that USA Weiss jurisdiction to DL limits his prosecution authority and did AG Barr and USA Weiss
* had ever the intention to run an investigation by the book?
* sandbagging the investigation they were pretending to run?
* intend to protect presidential candidate Joe Biden?
[1] https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/bill-barr-press-conference-transcript-no-special-counsels-needed-to-investigate-election-or-hunter-biden
Without registering as foreign agents, Joe and Hunter entered into arrangements with foreign political and business leaders to lobby or otherwise affect decisions of the United States government. By not registering as foreign agents, Joe and Hunter violated federal law. Depending on the details, they could be subject to fines or time in prison.
The issue is evidence. Clear and convincing evidence. Weiss had none of that. Circumstantial evidence or hearsay is not enough to file the charges everyone wants. They know that. Biden critics don’t. That’s the problem.
Allegations and insinuations are not admissible as evidence either. Then there’s the issue of proving intent.
As a first time offender Hunter Biden got what is normal for anyone charged with those crimes as a first time offender and having really good lawyers.
Like years of clan Biden’s odd foreign banking deposits , crazy insane red flagged hunter biden IRS deductions when he did manage to file tax forms…then the laptop with undeniably filthy lucre corruption in their own words. Nothing circumstantial or fake here , just laws purposely ignored and crimes allowed to stand as the court aims to protect it’s rotten puppet king.
“Anonymous”, if they shut down the investigation there is no evidence. Get it?
After 5 years and no clear and convincing evidence has been produced any hope of “real” evidence is moot. It becomes a fishing expedition and that is what is like the reason they shut down the investigation. Otherwise it becomes an endless investigation looking for anything to support assumptions and insinuations.
There comes a point where the effort to dig up evidence after years of pointless circumstantial evidence it becomes an obsession not a genuine investigation.
It all reminds me of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox GOAT baseball scandal which turned Prof. Turley’s whole extended family into Cubs fans for at least a century.
Biden’s cognitive impairment has gone way beyond the realm of being personal opinion. His staff is famous for giving him little notes on when to stand, when to sit, and where to turn in order to prevent another one of those shaking-hands-with-thin-air episodes. Maybe giving Joe little notes is how Hunter managed to get Joe through their meetings where they shook down foreign enemies for cash.
“Maybe giving Joe little notes…”
(Maybe more and more, they need to give BIG notes to Little Joe…)
Specos,
The other day he said, “End of Quote,” again.
I am pulling for RFK Jr. to be the Democrat candidate.
I feel the same way about RFK Jr.. The main things I disagree with him on are abortion and climate change. After Dobbs, he can’t do much about abortion, since it is highly unlikely there would be a federal law on the topic. On climate change, it seems he is against subsidies for wind and solar and EVs and whatnot. But he might support a carbon tax, which wouldn’t be much better. One thing RFK might accept as a compromise with Republicans on the environment would be doing something about toxic chemicals (real pollution) in the rivers and streams and oceans as well as on land in toxic waste dumps. I doubt there is an urban river in America, even in the red states, where it is safe to eat the fish.
I admit it: I’m drawn to the meretricious lure of Bobby Jr. He is much smarter than your average DemocRat. He seems honest, too, which is new, and he was bold and out front on China Virus vaccines.
BUT HE’S A KENNEDY.
HE ADMIRED UNCLE TED, EVEN BEFORE THE LION OF THE SENATE FINALLY DID SOMETHING WELL AND DIED.
AND HE’S A LIFELONG FOURTH GENERATION DEMOCRAT IN A LIFELONG FAMILY OF LIFELONG DEMOCRATS AND THEIR LIFELONG RELATIVES, FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS.
AND HE’S PROUD OF HIS PARTY, HIS FAMILY, ITS FRIENDS AND THEIR PAST.
One must really hold him liable for his Party’s history, his political forefathers and ancestors, and his friends.
Unless Bobby Jr. renounces them, which a statesman would do.
And seek forgiveness and pay reparations!
Specos,
Well said.
Yeah, those subsidies for wind and solar really skew in favor of the whole “green” agenda.
That and I would like to see the total, from raw rare earth minerals/metals extraction to end of life, recycling costs in terms of both carbon foot print and $$$$.
Real environmental changes I can get behind.
If RFK can survive his own party apparatus trying to snuff him out…. he would need to attack the rotten swamp of alcoholics that are buying strangers drinks by the barrel on our dimes thinking they are making certain friends when it’s all about corruption in reality. I am sure he is aware how horrible it is in govt as much as Trump knows it is.The apparatchik system is very threatened by Trump and RFK….. and they aim to throw the weight of a weaponized DOJ at trump as long as they have those agencies under their thumb. They are trying to starve RFK’s campaign of all media and funding…. it’s their controlled party and they aim to kill off any dissent.
Upstate, they’re going to try to lump RFK jr. in with Donald Trump.
Specos, I fear the big guy will get reelected. On a good day he knows how to cheat and steal. On a bad day he defies gravity and fails upstairs.
The US govt , the left wing dem party are borg. The system – aka swamp is a self perpetuating virus upon the citizens backs. It is all about power and control. The govt of for and by the people is long since vanished. The fed god is the lawnmower man we all feared would happen. The system will no longer tolerate competition for the power it sucks up like the almighty lord tick it has showed itself to be.
My experience gained from my working overseas for decades in many parts of the World….one thing seemed a certainty…..do business with a Chinese Businessman and you better be prepared to get the worse of the bargain ….guaranteed.
They are excellent in gaining an advantage over those they do business with….meaning they are hard nosed, shrewd, talented, and dedicated to winning at business.
What seems to be getting very little questioning. is exactly what did the Biden Syndicate do to earn all that money, diamonds, sports cars….and who knows what else?
The Chinese got something…what was it?
What was worth all of that money that flowed to the Biden Family?
What did JOE do for his cut of the proceeds? How about JIM, HUNTER, the guy who was getting a one third share for being the Bag Man?
It was not Hunter that was the Bag Man….the guy who splits all the proceeds and sent it to the many Shell Companies ultimately into the hands of the Biden extended family.
What did those family members do to earn that money?
What about their Income Tax Returns?
I think the ’84 Tigers really. Increasing parity, way harder to win 100 games by then and they did it with ease. Won division by 15 games. Swept divisional round. World Series 4-1.
wieseoldlawyer and Anonymous: With all due respect, I opine that Anonymous has broadened the scope and meaning of McDonnell to fit his/her argument. McDonnell’s purpose was merely to define what constitutes an “official act.”
I am inclined to lean toward wiseoldlawyer (the honest services argument) –although 18 USC 1346 is merely a definition.
I would suggest 18 USC 201, where both bribery and “gratuity” offenses are outlined, -particularly with regard to “influence,” see (b)(2). Thanks for considering my comment.
(I guess the only valid defense, in my mind, is that Joe was not a “public official” in 2017…so that limits SOME of his culpability…)
If you look up ‘public official’ in the dictionary there should be a picture of Joe Biden .. . grinning ear to ear like a possum.
*Joe Biden was born a public official and it’s all he’s ever done.
The president of the United States of America is cognitively impaired, prone to fits of uncontrollable rage, and the head of a multi-million dollar crime family. God help us.
So your opinion is he’s cognitively impaired, but….. he’s the head of a multi-million dollar crime family? You’re the kind of people that Turley loves to write his blog too.
Re: “So your opinion is he’s cognitively impaired, but….. he’s the head of a multi-million dollar crime family?”
That is a relevant and legitimate question. But Biden had been a lying political parasite for decades before he descended into a clouded cognitive haze. So doddering Uncle Joe has legacy momentum going for him. Also note that Joe’s wife, “Dr.Jill” is a rank opportunist who no doubt is a key player in steering the machinations of Biden Inc.
Influence peddling ain’t rocket science.
Either is stealing top-secret documents, and getting your daughter and son-in-law 2 billion dollars on the tax-payer dime.
And yet joey pinnochio had classified docs even in the penn biden center to which the chinese communists funded and had access too. Meanwhile biden Inc has gobbled up more money than you can imagine by selling US secrets and influence. Your TDS is strong and your eyes wide shut on dem party & dem potus corruption is legion.
Or should you say “God Save the Queen”?
These heinous and disgraceful attacks on the Bidens and our esteemed, sacred, and holy two-tiered system of justice are mean spirited and insensitive.
So there!
And that they’re true is no defense.
The History of the Imbecilic Age: (2020-2024), will be written of the ignorance of a class of people so confused to not know the truth, blinded by faith in their Utopian Dreams. Fools a many full of deceit and evil intent to destroy any semblance of order to gain and maintain power. (This is my reckoning of the Democrat’s motives)!
Being contemptuous of the oily, parasitic Biden clan is easy. That they are criminal grifters is an assumption that should be made by every rational person. However:
Re: “Hunter was equally clear in these messages about what he was selling. In another WhatsApp message, he reportedly stated”
“reportedly”:is a huge qualifier. Where are the actual screen caps of the WhatsApp messages? Am I missing something? And in prior interviews, Tony Bobulinski explicitly interpreted the codes used in emails and text messages to shield slimy Uncle Joe from the corrupt deals. So why hasn’t Bobulinski been called by the House committees to corroborate his previous interpretations under oath?
This legitimate investigation of the Biden Family RICO scam will go nowhere without connecting the dots of documented evidence.
One of the odd observations about this scandal is the lack of interest on the part of many Republican politicians. This looks like political gold. Why aren’t they rushing off with gold pan and pick? I conclude the only reasonable explanation is that anyone who has been in office for any length of time has, at a minimum, taken some inducements or reward for specific services. This seems to fit with the BlackRock operative bragging that 10K (U.S. Dollars presumably) can get you a senator. Now the Bidens taking 10 million is pretty big — combined with their other dishonesty this is the biggest political scandal of my lifetime. Watergate is dwarfed by it. Yet, to have a 10K bribe or something that looks like one exposed seems enough to shut people up — cheap to buy, cheap to fold.
It’s interesting to watch Sen. Grassley conduct himself in this. He obviously knows a lot — way more than he has revealed to this point. He holds facts in reserve because he knows the Democrats will provide distractions for everything he reveals. He needs one mortar shell after another landing on the media/political hack held intersection to keep everyone’s attention.
Ol’Joe from Scranton gets to play President for a season. His official schedule is virtually empty day after day. He’ll give an official speech and then spend the rest of taxpayer dollars fundraising. Legal? Yes. Ethical and forthright? No. Many years from now, historians will sift through the mountains of data and billions of documents that have been classified and discover that he was among the very worst presidents in this nation’s history. That will be his legacy.
What is the immediate effect of his incompetence? The world in greater turmoil and working families have less spending power when they go to the grocery store or wish to fill up their car and an administration full of highly educated people who cannot tell the difference between a woman and a man.
One of the hidden secrets of high level government business is that it is rife with corruption and incompetence. When a government agency screws up, all they have to do is hit the “Classified” button and the screwup is now locked up and hidden from public scrutiny. This happens every single day. That is why the government if famous for spending 52,000 for trashcans, finding billions of extra dollars from “accounting errors” and leaving tens of millions of dollars of military hardware behind in Afghanistan. That money will end up in a slush fund of some agency or persons within an agency. The corruption is I incalculable and disgusting.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/06/20/the-pentagons-52000-trash-can/
I find it interesting that Hunter purchase cellphone for his father when he was VP. The phone would allow Hunter to contact Joe no matter where he was in the world. Journalist John Solomon was able to get that phone number, he dialed it, and lo and behold Joe answered.
We need to subpoena those phone records if they still exist, since Joe always claims that he didn’t talk to Hunter about Hunter’s businesses
Exactly , the corruption is so blatant you do not even need a fake dossier to get an FBLIE investigation on this …..unless of course the whole system is corrupt too…and here we are.
New Normal: Don’t ask, don’t tell.
DemocRats can no longer be too corrupt for comfort.
The bigger the crime the more de minimis.
No law bridge too far to cross, no barrier of public decency to sneak around when DOJ/FBI are on your side, law enforcement works for the consigliere and the courts are captive. Just look at January 11!
Why obstruct? why try to cover up what if revealed will make no difference?
Why conceal from the press what the press will happily conceal from the public?
What the public should not know it will never learn, until such time as they can handle it.
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?”
“HAHAHAHA! Joe Biden knows.”
You aren’t saying anything that all but the most blinkered sheeple don’t already know – world wide – I would assume. It is so embarrassing for the memories of those who gave the ultimate for this nation to be represented by, not only this particularly well ensconced family of grifters, but the entire prog/left deep state that is surely eating away at this great nation like a sepsis destroying from within.