Below is my column in The Messenger on the new evidence supplied by Hunter Biden’s close friend and former business associate Devon Archer. The effort of Rep. Dan Goldman to spin the damaging testimony spiraled out of control as it did in his prior effort to question IRS whistleblowers. Goldman is demanding that any further investigations stop immediately after a key witness showed that President Biden has been lying for years in denying that he had any knowledge of his son’s foreign dealings. Archer discussed over 20 calls from Joe Biden and the use of the calls to “sell the brand.” The second Trump impeachment was launched on the basis for a single phone call, but Goldman insists that the millions that were received by the Bidens, the countervailing whistleblower testimony, the proven false statements, and the allegation of bribery are all insufficient to ask any further questions.
Here is the column:
“There were niceties.” That description by Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) of calls between President Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and Hunter’s foreign business associates may, strangely, be the most accurate thing the freshman congressman has ever said.
The almost-two-dozen calls — detailed by Hunter Biden’s close friend and former business partner, Devon Archer, during a closed-door interview Monday with House Oversight Committee investigators — were indeed “the niceties” of influence-peddling. The calls presumably were intended to show that Hunter Biden could deliver his father and to support what Archer called “the brand.” Hunter had no relevant experience or appreciable business skills, but he had the vice president of the United States on speed-dial.
The selection of Goldman as the only committee Democrat in the interview was ironic. Goldman was a Democratic staff attorney when the House impeached Donald Trump in 2019 largely on the basis of a single telephone call to the president of Ukraine. Now, however, Goldman is calling for an immediate cessation of any further investigation, in an almost comical display of denial and deflection.
Goldman helped demolish Biden’s long-standing defense in another hearing just a week earlier. In an effort to defuse the testimony of two IRS whistleblowers, who said Hunter received special protection from their criminal investigation, Goldman tripped the wire and elicited testimony that Joe Biden may in fact have spoken with his son about foreign dealings — something the president has denied for years.
Goldman said that “Joe Biden came to say hello at the Four Seasons hotel to a lunch that he [Hunter Biden] was having” with Chinese energy company executives. He then read from the record how another Hunter associate, Rob Walker, described the origins of that meeting with the Chinese to get his father to stop by: “Hunter told his dad that ‘I may be trying to start a company or try to do something with these guys.’” As with the twenty-some phone calls, Goldman dismissed Joe Biden’s sudden appearance as a fatherly drive-by.
On Monday, Goldman tried to dismiss a trusted Hunter Biden partner who was detailing how the then-vice president was critical to selling “the brand.” The new spin was to admit that the senior Biden did speak with Hunter’s business associates but only to exchange “niceties” when he was put on speakerphone at meetings and dinners. Goldman noted that Archer testified the elder Biden did not discuss “any business dealings or transactions” and said it would be a “preposterous premise to think that a father should not say hello to people that the son is at dinner with.”
What is truly preposterous is Goldman’s suggestion that these figures would have discussed corrupt deliverables on a speakerphone in restaurants. That was not the point of the calls. The point would have been that Hunter and his team were selling access, and the calls with his vice president/father confirmed that he was deliverable.
In Washington, influence-peddling is an art form, and the Bidens appear to be political Rembrandts. Demands are conveyed through as few people as possible. For example, Archer reportedly detailed how, in 2015, Mykola Zlochevsky and Vadym Pozharski, two executives of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, pressed Hunter to “get help from D.C.” to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma for corruption. Archer reportedly said that Hunter, Zlochevsky and Pozharski stepped away to make a call.
That is how it is done — not on a speakerphone in a popular restaurant filled with political and media figures while ordering more breadsticks.
Then-Vice President Biden, who oversaw U.S. support for Ukraine, later made a billion-dollar aid package dependent on the prosecutor’s firing. The prosecutor was promptly fired, as Joe Biden himself later bragged.
That is why Hunter allegedly could tell Chinese business associates that “The Bidens are the best at doing exactly what the Chairman wants.” What that corporate chairman wanted, of course, was influence.
It increasingly appears to have been no idle boast. The very things that Rep. Goldman and others are citing is what has long made the Bidens — in the minds of many — the first family of influence-peddling. Business associates were told to use code names for Joe Biden like “the big guy,” according to reports, and used a labyrinth of accounts to transfer money to family members, according to House investigators.
Democrats have demanded to see evidence of direct payments to Joe Biden, which would be an amateur-hour move. The accounts of the president and vice president are some of the most scrutinized in the world, subject to reporting requirements and vulnerable to congressional subpoenas.
Finally, Hunter’s laptop emails detail a variety of alleged benefits to the Biden family. One referenced a 10% cut on a deal for the “big guy.” Other arrangements included free offices for Joe and Jill Biden and donations to foundations linked to the Bidens.
Devon Archer’s new evidence apparently brings this picture further into focus: As Hunter and his partners pitched “the brand,” Joe Biden apparently supplied the bona fides by stopping by lunches or calling into dinners.
That would be all that was needed to net millions of dollars.
In weeks to come, Congress is expected to release information on additional foreign payments going to the Biden family from additional sources. That’s the value of branding. As Starbucks founder Howard Schultz once observed, “If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.” It appears that the Bidens shared some values with the foreign oligarchs and operatives who embraced their brand. The rest was — well, in the words of Rep. Goldman, just “niceties.”
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.
One has to ask… what did Obama know and when?
After all, how did Joe get put in charge of things in China, Ukraine, etc … he is VP sure, but POTUS had sign off on things.
So much for the ‘scandal free’ WH under Obama.
-G
Remember when Obama shipped plane loads of cash to Iran? Have always wondered how much of that wound up in accounts for Obama.
@boerwinkle
None.
The monies were frozen under the old Iranian regime. (Shah)
What was paid was due including the interest.
That said, Obama could have taken out the funds used to pay the families and victims of the bombing in Beirut. (They were compensated from other US funds)
He didn’t do that.
Obama capitulated to Iran and those funds ended up in the Kuds force and went to sponsor Hezbollah’s terrorism. (Iran’s Proxy War against Israel)
Just keeping it real.
-G
Whitey Bulger is in the Oval office.
And he owns Merrick Garland.
“When I take a red pen through material that is protected by the First Amendment, it reduces much of this to a haiku. Many of the things that the prosecutor is charging here is protected speech. It repeats a lot of the allegations in the various states, it’s unfair at points. It quotes Trump in his speech about encouraging people to go to the Capitol Hill, but like the January 6th committee, it omits where he says, ‘you should go peacefully.’”
– Professor Turley
A haiku . . . Brutal!
Irrelevant because the charge of incitement was not included.
Why focus on this one irrelevant thing?
Has Turley ever got to the bottom of “Toilet Gate”?
No not talking about Trump flushing classified notes down the toilet while in foreign nations or the White House toilet here in the USA.
Talking about Jared Kushner and Ivanka not allowing Secret Service agents to use the toilet in his DC home – the brave guys and gals that risk their lives to protect them.
Apparently Jared and Ivanka’s Secret Service detail had to use taxpayer dollars to rent a basement apartment nearby just to use the toilet while protecting them. Some of these federal agents walked down to Obama’s house since the Obama’s were pro law enforcement, unlike the Trumps.
How much did we taxpayers pay for Toilet Gate?
“Has Turley ever got to the bottom of “Toilet Gate?”
I just want to let you know your icon looks like Mickey Mouse on Drugs. Your dialogue is no better.
More deflection.
You seem to be desperate to change the subject.
“Deflection”?
The day after the biggest indictment in over 200 years of American history – a president engineering a coup attempt, then being indicted for it (a form of treason).
Why isn’t this the top story on this legal blog or at Fox News? Deflection indeed!
Yes. Deflection.
It was not a coup.
As the good professor pointed out, after red penning out all the parts of the indictment that is protected free speech, nothing is left but a haiku.
Smith is well known for his zeal to win a case but short on facts when the SC unanimously ruled in the McDonnell case.
The Fitch dropping the US from AAA to AA+ is a bigger story. Fitch also predicting a recession later this year is also a bigger story.
However, many Americans would argue the recession is already here due to Bidenflation.
Is this that same crazy icon again? It looks different in email. Crazy icon, you spew a lot of craziness. What is the cause? Drugs? Alcohol? Or is it innate?
Al Gore Jr. in 2000 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 made concerted efforts to prevent the cerfication of opposing candidates: Gore by using friendly judges to force endless recounts, where there was not the slightest evidence of malfunctions in the voting machines; and Clinton by trying to persuade committed electors to abandon their legal duties to vote for Trump. Neither of these worthy personages were criminally charged or even criticized by the MSM.
Anonymous, please provide a source for you toilet-gate and Secret Service claims. The Huffington Post won’t do. I am seriously curious. Please provide a source that does not make an anonymous claim. They say it and you repeat it like a marionette on a string. Are you ever going to grow up to be a real boy? I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again. Source please. When you refuse to back up your statements with a source you reveal yourself to be naught but a rusty clanging cymbal. Baraang, baraang barrang. With you toilet-gate thing you compare the unproven possibility that Trump flushed documents down the toilet to the proven facts that Hunter and Joe extorted millions from the Chinese and the Hungarians. Surely this is not the best that you can do. Then again, it probably is.
“Classified notes”? This is more proof that leftsts are willing to say anything.
Per the Daily Mail:
“The images published by Axios on Monday purportedly show two sets of notes in the toilets, one of which is said to be located in a White House bathroom, and the other in an undisclosed location abroad during a foreign presidential trip – though the papers appeared to be handwritten rather than official documents.
One of the ripped up papers on top of a stack in the toilet shows what appears to be lawmakers names scrawled down in all capital letters in black sharpie.
Two names can be seen clearly on the paper – Rogers and Stefanik – although the rest of the torn up papers are mostly illegible.
It’s likely the names are referencing Republican Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama and GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, a Trump defender.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11091457/Photographs-Donald-Trumps-toilets-apparently-clogged-torn-paper-emerge.html
Apparently the names of two Republican Congressmen is now highly classified.
The content of the phone calls is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if all they talked about is the weather. What is important is that Hunter was able to get the Vice President on the phone on a moment’s notice. The phone call itself demonstrates access to The Big Guy, which is what Hunter was selling. Joe was acquiescing in Hunter’s influence peddling every time he got on the phone during one of Hunter’s meetings. Getting $5 million for a few phone calls is a pretty good gig. Too bad you have to be a Democrat VP or President to get it.
The MSM continues to shill that we are to believe that years of innocent “fatherly drive bys” got the Chinese to invest $1.5 Billion in Hunter’s boutique investment firm with John Kerry’s stepson ? All for the love of a father ???
And just like that no one is talking about Obama’s chef or Devin Archer’s testimony…
or the Big Guy relaxing on the beach….again.
Jonathan: I think you should switch subjects. You have run out of gas on the alleged Biden “corruption scandal”. Maybe if Chair Comer will release the entire testimony of Devon Archer so we can see exactly what he said. Dan Goldman was the only Dem allowed in the deposition. He says, and no GOP House Committee member has contradicted him, that Archer never said Hunter Biden was “selling access” to his father. So your allegations are simply unwarranted speculation–something you frequently engage when it comes to the Biden family.
Unlike Comer/Jordan, there is one person that has the goods–audio tapes, emails, photos and witness testimony. It’s SC Jack Smith and last night he dropped the big hammer on DJT with the new 45-page criminal indictment of the former president over Jan. 6. The four count indictment names only DJT. But there are six other co-conspirators in the indictment and we probably know who they are: Rudy Giuliani, Disney Powell, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman and Ken Chesebro. The 6th Co-conspirator is only listed as “a political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding”. There are a lot of people who might fit that definition–even Ginni Thomas.
And who is the supervising DC judge randomly assigned to this case? It’s Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee who already has some experience with DJT. She previously rejected an effort by DJT to block the release of WH docs sought by the House Select Jan. 6 Committee. Chutkan is a no nonsense judge who handed down some of the most severe sentences to Jan. 6 insurrectionists. She is definitely not in the mold of Judge Eileen Cannon who is supervising the Mar-a-Lago docs case in S. Florida. As a Trump appointee Cannon has bent over backwards to help DJT in her rulings–that were rebuked by the 11th Circuit. There is no doubt Judge Chutkan will put her Jan. 6 case on a fast track for a trial. With Chutkan in charge, DJT’s lawyers won’t be able to resort to their usual tactics of delay, delay and delay some more.
What caught my attention in reading the indictment was a description of an interchange between DJT and Mike Pence on Jan. 1, 2021. DJT called Pence and berated him for not going along with the criminal scheme to stop the counting of electoral votes. When Pence insisted he had no power to do that DJT told him: “You’re too honest”. Those three words demonstrate more than anything else DJT’s mens rea. In reaction to the latest criminal indictment DJT said Jack Smith was “piling on”. You betcha, Donald, and not a moment too soon!
Two words for Denny:
Grover Cleveland
Dennis: I think you should switch names. Your current name/moniker/alias is so polluted with silliness that most persons herein rather skim past it without even considering it.
Who do you write your comments for? Others? or to see your name on the billboard? Honest question, thanks.
Lin,
As soon as I see Dennis name I just scroll past. Nothing but TDS to read so no point. I do read the responding comments like yours. 😉
Upstate: sure you scroll past.. Nothing causes distress to a true Cult 45 disciple like actual facts, well-articulated by a smart individual who tells it like it is. You read this blog to read Turley’s spin and the daily and baseless “Hunter Biden Scandal” nonsense.
“Nothing causes distress to a true [left-wing Biden] disciple like actual facts, well-articulated by a smart individual [Turley] who tells it like it is. [Is that why] You [Gigi] read this blog to read Turley [every day]?”
Natasha,
I was scrolling past Dennis comment when I had to see your short comment after Lin.
As I have stated more than a few times I am a registered Independent. I did not vote for Trump in 2016 nor in 2020. So I am not a so-called disciple. S. Meyer and I had a great conversation about that, which I am sure you will ignore in your TDS fever.
Fact is, as an Independent, we see through the Biden Crime Family. We see through the weaponization of the DOJ, FBI, IRS. We will vote accordingly.
Hello there Upstate-have been thinking of you and the weather’s effect on your stock and hoping all is well..
(I usually read the first sentence of Dennis’s comments. That generally tells me where he is going (usually OT and your word, deflection). You will notice that I usually parrot/mimic his first sentence in a quick response, then I move on..)
Well howdy Lin!
Thank you for thinking about me and the livestock. We had a few days of hot but a nice cold front rolled in with a good amount of rain.
Wishing you well in your part of the country!
Same here Upstate and Lin. Scrolling past known bull shineola artists like Dennis, ATS, Enigma, ‘Giggles’ (or whatever this weeks avatar is) and many other trolls is good for the soul.
JAFO,
They do offer insight into their leftist thinking, wokeism and their TDS.
I have learned more about them from their comments when I choose to read them. It is a dark, disturbing place.
Insight, yes, UpState. Dark and disturbing? Not really. Far more like a room full of three and four year-olds. They’re somewhat self-aware but completely lack an adult view of reality and the way the world works outside their nursery.
correction: Whom, not who. sorry.
that Archer never said Hunter Biden was “selling access” to his father.
I know that Joe took payments arranged by Hunter. Like Archer, I lack evidence.
That’s an example of what the Testimony means. Archer just responds to the question, he was not informed…so no.
I think you should switch subjects.
Bwahahahahaha! I bet you do.
Joe Biden has much in common with another father – H.W. Bush – with his son George W. Bush’s earlier troubles with drugs and alcohol.
Maybe Hunter, like W, will be president some day?
“Joe Biden has much in common with another father – H.W. Bush – with his son George “
GWB drank too much but went dry. Not so for Hunter, it is likely he is still with his old habits. GWB didn’t deal with bribery, money laundering and tax fraud as an income enhancer as the Bidens did.
Your icon is noted as a source of misinformation and lies. The only thing we don’t know is whether you use lies in an attempt to hide your ignorance or you are plain ignorant.
Oh Yes – That would be Great !!!
“A Russian Chic-n to smoke Pot with; and a Chinese EV in every RV Car Port”
Adapted from:
“A chicken in every pot; a car in every garage” *
* Henry IV of France (Original) and Herbert Hoover (1928 Campaign Slogan)
The Bushes were generational “oil men.” Please, remind us, tell us again, how is it that Joe and “Dr.” Jill made their money? Please, Go back in time as far as you like in your answer…..
(BTW, not making excuses for, but just reminding: George W. was likely a college student who had no trouble paying for a product that was COMMON during that era,–and touted as non-addictive (marijuana/weed).
Please, remind us, tell us again, what were/are Hunter Biden’s “vices?”.)
Lets see, thirty million dollars divided by twenty phone calls equals one million five hundred dollars per call. Hunter even said that if you don’t give us the full ten million bucks my father who is right here on the red leather couch with me can make sure that very bad things will happen to you. We now know that Papa Joe was on the phone during the meeting with the Ukrainian oligarchs so why shouldn’t we believe that Joe was really in the room when Hunter was talking with the Chinese oligarchs. At first the leftist wanted to believe Hunter when he said that the laptop was not his and now they don’t want to believe Hunter when he says that his dad was in the room when he was shaking down the Chinese for five more million. In this instance I believe him. I don’t believe that he was making it up. Daddy Joe was right there in the room and Hunter used him to twist the arm of the Chinese as Daddy Joe watched from his perch on the red leather couch while he was doing it. The Chinese believed Hunter. Do you?
There might be one bright spot for some Trump supporters with this indictment.
The Trump supporters currently sitting in prison and those going to prison for the January 6 coup attempt, might have their prison sentences shortened or commuted if Trump gets convicted as the “architect” of the coup (a form of treason).
The defense attorneys for the coup participants could use this as mitigating circumstances. Trump as Commander-In-Chief or Cult Leader told us to do it.
If Trump is convicted, it proves that Trump engineered this not his supporters.
‘If Trump is convicted, it proves Democrats have thoroughly corrupted the DC jury pool making it impossible for Trump to get a fair trial and verdict.’
FIFY.
Dan “Legacy Admission” Goldman. Have you ever seen a more breathless, flushed, stammering fool come out of our top universities? Well, now that I think of it yes, it happens quite a bit lately.
How long before Biden has Trump poisoned?
Why was this hearing held behind closed doors?
This idiot writes, “Influence peddling is legal. Period.” Bug and Svelaz tout the same slogan repeatedly though it demonstrates a non-existent intellect. (It seems the post is already deleted.)
Influence peddling in the instance under discussion involves. bribery, money laundering and tax evasion. It involves more because the Biden use of power has stopped IRS personal from doing their job which shows how guilty is. They are not the only ones not doing their jobs and lying. Lying is Joe Biden’s trademark .
The idiot who will likely soon be deleted is again commenting but is too stupid to see that influence peddling involves other crimes such as bribery, money laundering and tax evasion. One has to wonder how anyone can be so stupid, but here we have it, a stupid fellow who doesn’t even know what he is.
“Bribery appears to be legal according to republicans.”
Another outlandish statement not backed up. Go to the bottle fool. It will give you more satisfaction than your posts that are deleted.
Anonymous your followup post didn’t get the point either. That is not unexpected.
“certain kinds of bribery legal.”
That is admitting that other kinds of bribery are illegal. You are too stupid to understand what the words, certain kinds of, means. That is also not unexpected.
“Influence peddling is separate from bribery or money laundering and tax evasion”
Illegal influence peddling leads to money laundering and tax evasion. Another dumb response by you which again is not unexpected.
” Influence peddling is still legal.”
If one is using influence peddling for the nation it is not illegal. However, if one is doing to get underserved money it is not legal. That is why influence peddling can lead to money laundering and tax evasion.
You need to find a venue where you are not held to your words. Then you can say all these stupid things without anyone commenting. But, even then your comments would be stupid.
If one understands the full implication of the following one realizes that Joe Biden is a financial idiot.
“Biden Administration Refuses to Refill Strategic Oil Reserve
Eric LendrumAugust 2, 2023
On Tuesday, the Biden Administration deliberately chose to not refill the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) after depleting it to combat a surge in gas prices last year.”
(True, but you left out the important part that he did this prior to the 2022 mid-term elections, in order to gain favor for lower gas prices.)
As humans, we often seek some reputable form of validation for our closely-held views.
Isn’t it nice when someone (JonathanTurley) as educated, objective, respected, well-known, and widely sought-after for his opinions, fearlessly “validates” what we have intuitively sensed/known/believed for years, despite our being discarded as “deplorables” by media, academicians, institutional leaders, and left-wing politicians. Bravo and thank you, Professor Turley!
I fully agree lin. Good comment.
Im not sure it is validation I seek by visiting this blog but more likely a sanity check. Ever since high school, I told Gringos that I saw communists behind every other tree and lamp post. They of course would mock me but I knew better. Since 2016, I have been seeing communists behind every tree and lamp post but I havent told many people. So when I read Turley’s articles I conclude, “yup, that was not a garbage can behind that lamp post in the park but a Commie”. It makes me feel so much better
😎
Does this seem familiar?
https://youtu.be/kHgI6um1BMc
What has America become when so many of its representatives and citizens think it is ok for our President to have influenced huge undeserved payments to their children or siblings, knowing full well that there had to be a quid pro quo and a large portion of the payments found a way back to him? Is gross corruption acceptable now as long as it is by someone we vote for?
Trump is very wealthy. Joe Biden is very wealthy. Trump took four dollars in pay over four years for his employment as President. How much is Joe Biden taking in salary. You can rest assured that he takes every penny while he keeps his hustle going on on the side. Riding to his defense are the other Washington mobsters and his sold out defenders on this blog. They are what they are. Calling them bootlickers is an affront to bootlickers.