Below is my column in The Hill on the recent discovery of a $200,000 payment to Joe Biden from his brother James Biden. The investigation into the massive influence peddling operation of the Bidens has revealed a consistent pattern of corruption. Frank, James, and Hunter all were in financial distress at different points with few discernible skills or success to offer the market. What they had was access to Joe Biden and all three are accused of cashing in on that access. Few deny that the Bidens engaged in open influence peddling. It is also undeniable that Joe Biden knew that they were influence peddling given the coverage and contacts over the years. Now, the House is pursuing the personal financial records of the Bidens after a taunting invitation of Joe Biden to show him the money.
Here is the column:
“Where’s the money?” That laughing quip from President Joe Biden was his surprising reaction to the disclosure that a trusted FBI informant had conveyed an alleged bribe worth millions, paid to Joe Biden by a Ukrainian businessman.
Biden seemed almost to morph into the Cuba Gooding Jr. character in “Jerry Maguire,” getting Tom Cruise’s character to chant “show me the money” over and over again. Much like in the movie, the pundits and politicians picked up the refrain, insisting that nothing matters unless critics can show a direct payment to Jill or Joe Biden among the millions sent to Biden family members. At the same time, they opposed any investigation by the House.
Now, the House Oversight Committee committee has released evidence of one such transfer that might even satisfy Cuba Gooding, Jr.
The payment occurred in 2018, after the president’s brother, James Biden, received $200,000 from a company called Americore. James has long been criticized for raw influence peddling, and Americore was one of the companies where he had reportedly suggested access to sell to his brother.
On March 1, 2018, Americore wired James the money to his personal rather than his business account. On the very same day, James wrote a check in that same amount to the personal bank account of his brother Joe, who had left office as Vice President and was widely discussed as a possible candidate for the presidency.
James listed the money as a “loan repayment.”
“Loans” have long been a source of controversy with the Bidens. IRS whistleblowers, for example, detailed how Hunter took massive payments from corrupt foreign sources and listed them as “loans,” despite no evidence of repayment or any standard loan agreement. He allegedly neither paid them back nor paid taxes on the money.
Even if Joe Biden did loan almost a quarter of a million dollars to his brother, it would raise concerns over whether this disbursement came while he was vice president. The payments could have given Joe Biden an interest in not just the influence peddling of his brother but also the viability of this company.
The White House has insisted that it was a loan to his brother that was repaid. But if there is no evidence of an actual loan, it would constitute a payment from an influence-seekling company to Joe Biden.
At a minimum, the payment shows the fluidity of the accounts and finances of the Biden influence-peddling operation. While I have long criticized influence peddling by both Republicans and Democrats for decades, the Bidens constitute a class to themselves. The House committees have now traced millions of dollars passing through a labyrinth of shell companies and accounts to Biden family members, even grandchildren.
This operation has become undeniable in recent months. Devan Archer admitted under oath that they were selling the “Biden Brand” and suggested that these companies were seeking influence and access to Joe Biden.
While the media long dismissed this corruption scandal, it recently adopted a final line of defense that acknowledged that Hunter and his associates were selling influence, but it was a mere “illusion” of influence.
That is why the president and his allies in the media began to channel Cuba Gooding Jr.
It is important to note that it is not necessary for Joe Biden to directly receive money to constitute either a crime or an impeachable offense. As I stated in my testimony at the first Biden impeachment hearing, payments to Joe Biden’s family would be considered a “benefit” to him under standard criminal case law.
Nevertheless, Biden’s taunt to show him the money would ordinarily send the media into a frenzy — much like Gary Hart’s invitation for reporters to follow him to see if he was philanderer. They followed him directly to a ship called “Monkey Business,” and that ended with a career-ending photo of Hart with Donna Rice on his lap.
Few in the media were eager to follow the money after Joe’s taunt for the very reason that they were eager to follow Hart — they are fairly certain what they would find.
There have long been allegations of cross-benefits and payments involving Joe Biden. That includes a deal with the Chinese to pay for an expensive office for the use of Joe and Jill Biden, as well as use of shared accounts and credit cards (including one card used by Hunter to pay for a prostitute). There were also references to taxes and house costs being paid out of these accounts for Joe and Jill Biden. Indeed, Hunter Biden complained that he was being forced to fork out half of his earnings to his father.
That brings us back to the latest transfer. At a minimum, the payments show that Joe Biden was aware that his brothers and his son were in dire need of funds throughout these years. Frank Biden, the president’s younger brother, evaded efforts to force him to pay damages for his involvement in a reckless driving death in California. The surviving daughters of the victim in that crash wrote repeatedly to then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) to ask for his help in getting Frank to accept responsibility and pay up. Just before running for Vice President, Biden coolly responded: “As you are aware…Frank has no assets with which to satisfy the judgment. The senator regrets that this is where matters stand and that he cannot be more helpful.”
In Hunter’s case, he was so financially desperate that he threatened a Chinese figure to send him money or else his father would take action. In one message, Hunter told a Chinese businessman that his father was sitting next to him to make sure the payment came through.
Hunter’s financial woes were so bad that James was dispatched (after allegedly speaking with Joe Biden) to offer Hunter a “safe harbor” to avoid disaster.
Now Joe Biden is claiming that he had to give James almost a quarter of a million dollars.
During this entire period, there was a steady stream of coverage about the influence peddling of James, Frank, and Hunter Biden. According to the Oversight Committee, it now appears that James received $600,000 in loans from Americore despite the company’s own financial struggles.
The evidence of money transferred from one of these companies through James to Joe Biden’s personal accounts will likely produce one immediate change: the media is likely to move the goal posts yet again.
Of course, influence-peddling is itself corrupt, and benefits to one’s family are already sufficient for criminal charges (including as with the charges brought against Sen. Bob Menendez). However, now, even money received by Joe and Jill Biden will be deemed insufficient to justify further investigation.
Now, they will argue, there must be a money trail directly from one of the companies, preferably marked down on the books as a “bribe” and not as a “loan repayment.” And even pictures of Joe sitting with Hunter’s clients in restaurants and offices will be insufficient to establish knowledge or involvement.
When it comes to the Biden “Monkey Business,” even a picture of a Burisma executive on the president’s lap would not do. The new demand will be somewhere between an envelope of cash and an outright confession.
Jonathan Turley is the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law George Washington University Law School.
Family Matters: Biggest developments in the Biden finances story this year
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/recap-big-developments-biden-story-2020-election
Wow, Turley is still focused on this small potatoes Hunter Biden stuff, when we are reading about an Australian Billionaire paying millions in Mar-a-Lago memberships, hotel rooms and Christmas party fees for access to Trump. And he got nuclear secrets from Trump which he passed around to others.
Do you read what you write before posting ?
While Trump denies sharing information – that is irrelevant.
What is relevant is that Trump was president at the time.
If the president shares classified information – it is declassified.
This has happened DOZENS of times in the past. It has happened deliberately, it has happened by accident.
In fact Obama both deliberately and accidentally revealed classified information.
It is not a crime. That is LONG established law.
What JW. V NARA established is that it is also not a crime for EX-PRESIDENTS.
We already know that memberships, rooms and parties at MAL are expensive.
Prior to 2015 – the year Trump announced his run for the presidency – MAL revenue was $10M/year – that alone BTW should have Tanked James lawsuit in NY.
One way of valuing property is between 10-20 times its gross revenue. Currently MAL revenue is $25M/yr which is fully consistent with rising rents and real estate costs since 2015.
Trump has ALWAYS traded value for value – absolutely MAL is a luxury good and people are paying a luxury premium. Just as they do at other high value locations.
The JW marriot on Central park has one room that costs 89K/night, and many that cost 22K/night.
Are you claiming that guests at the JW Marriot are engaged in political corruption ?
We KNOW exactly what Trump is selling, and that he is selling it at market prices.
Joe Biden is not selling hotel rooms or christmas venues.
Joe Biden is selling out the United States.
Even the MSM which considers the tiniest nit involving Trump evidence of massive corruption has not taken this story very seriously.
I doubt Smith will manage to get this into a courtroom. The allegation is denied, and worse yet the conduct alleged is not illegal.
It’s a remarkably graceful dance through the tulips, in and around the statutes, land mines everywhere, but emerging unharmed and completely legal, laughing all the way.
Rules for democrats: Move on. There’s nothing to see here. Rules for conservatives and republicans: 700 years in jail
Let’s all be perfectly frank and honest, if this were any Republican president they would have been impeached and probably serving jail time by now. Reality is he may be re-elected which exemplifies the utter crisis we’re in. Our deficit spending and open borders are just the tip of the spear.
The left’s intentional blindness is sufficient for them to pretend they are telling the truth.
Shokin, the prosecutor biden got fired by leveraging a billion dollar bribe for investigating his son Hunter and Burisma testifies:
“The truth is I got fired because I was leading a wide ranging investigation into Burisma, and Joe biden’s son, Hunter, was on the board of directors. Several times president poroshenko asked me to look at winding down investigation of Burisma, but I refused. Therefore, I was forced to leave office under direct and intense pressure from Joe Biden and the US Administration. “
OT,
“Don’t Go To College”: Bill Maher Compares Universities To “North Korean Re-Education Camp”
“As an Ivy League graduate who knows the value of a liberal education, I have one piece of advice for the youth of America: Don’t go to college, and if you absolutely have to go, don’t go to an elite college, because, as recent events have shown, it just makes you stupid. There are few, if any, positives to come out of what happened in Israel, but one of them is opening America’s eyes to how higher education has become indoctrination into a stew of bad ideas, among them the simplistic notion that the world is a binary place where everyone either an oppressor or oppressed. In the case of Israel, oppressors being babies and bubbes. The same students who will tell you that words are violence, and silence is violence were very supportive when Hamas terrorists went on a rape and murder rampage worthy of the Vikings. They knew where to point the fingers, at the murdered. And then it was off to ethics class.”
HAHAHAHA!
….higher education has become indoctrination into a stew of bad ideas, among them the simplistic notion that the world is a binary place where everyone either an oppressor or oppressed.
Thanks for bringing this quote to our attention. I disagree with Maher. In that same light, at home we do not watch TV, our living room furniture pieces all face each other to facilitate face/face discussion, and we never put up with anything simplistic never mind binary in our home. I am this way because of my Catholic education provided by the Jesuits. John Adams, our second US president, had a few words about the education Catholics provided to our society:
From John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 22 June 1815
“Almost all the History of Europe, and a part of that of the East, from the Seven[th] Century, to the thirteenth, is in the Lives of Personages, to whom have been given the title of Saints. Every one may have remarked, that in reading history, there is no event of any importance, in civil order, in which, Some Bishop, Some Abby, Some Monk, or Some Saint, did not take a part. It is therefore, a great Service, rendered by the Jesuits, known under the name of the Bollandists, to those who would write History, to have formed the immense Collection, extended to Fifty two Volumes in folio, known under the title of The Acts of the Saints. The Service they have rendered to Litterature, is considerably augmented, by the insertion in their Acts of the Saints, a great number of Diplomas and dissertations, the greatest part of which, are Models of Criticism. There is no man, among the learned, who does not interest himself, in this great collection.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-08-02-0447
A Catholic education goes a very long way in opening the eyes of students to a truly classical liberal arts education, still achievable at Catholic schools. OTOH, John Adams was a veritable bigot towards Catholics, given the zeitgeist of his era:
Adams said:
“This society [Jesuits] has been a greater calamity to mankind than the French Revolution, or Napoleon’s despotism or ideology. It has obstructed the progress of reformation and the improvement of the human mind in society much longer and more fatally.” ….“Can a free government possibly exist with the Roman Catholic religion?”
https://thosecatholicmen.com/articles/lessons-from-the-jesuits/
So you see, if you are truly learned in a classical liberal arts education, you might even win the disdain of the likes of John Adams. Relativism was alive and well in the Founding Fathers.
John Adams was referring to Butler’s Lives of the Saints, which is still popular in Catholic circles and accessible on-line gratis:
Butler’s Lives of the Saints published between 1756 and 1759
https://sacred-texts.com/chr/lots/index.htm
𝐓𝐈𝐏-𝐎𝐅-𝐓𝐇𝐄-𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐆 Jonathan
𝐉𝐨𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 $𝟐.𝟕𝟓 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 ‘𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠’ 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 $𝟏𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥
Joe Biden bought his six-bedroom Rehoboth Beach house in June 2017 for $2,744,001 cash.
The transaction was within weeks of a questionable text that Hunter Biden sent to a Chinese associate demanding to seal a deal worth $10million a year.
‘I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,’ Hunter wrote on WhatsApp.
By: Josh Boswell For Dailymail.com ~ October,21st, 2023
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12649277/Joe-Biden-paid-nearly-2-75million-CASH-Rehoboth-Beach-house-weeks-Hunter-sending-threatening-text-Chinese-business-partner-demanding-close-10million-deal.html
𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝-𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡
Weiss has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018
By: Brooke Singman , Jake Gibson , David Spunt Fox News ~ October 19, 2023
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-biden-david-weiss-appear-closed-door-house-judiciary-interview-next-month
𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: Tuesday November 7th 2023 Atty. Weiss – House Judiciary Committee Hearing
CLOSED DOOR – the secret oversight cover up
When hunter threatens chinese CEFC energy man for the 10 million and joe is sitting next to him – we get the gritty detail – but guess what – response Hunter demanded is left hanging – we never know what happened !
Did Z , Zhang or The Chairman get back and confirm the deal and money sent… ?
This is what they have been doing to us forever – half the story. One could say 1/3 or 1/4 – where the money went, what company and who was paid with it – then WHAT WAS THE DEAL ABOUT, THE TERMS, and what did the big guy do for them ?
So we have like 1/5th or less in this reveal and it is damning even with that, but I thought the big thing was CLOSURE for all these people in high places … WHERE’S OUR FRIKKIN CLOSURE THEY ALWAYS DEMAND ?
When they “get to the bottom of it” the barrel is dry, the fish are dead, it went over Niagara two years ago, and no one has see it since.
Merrick Garland and Chris Wray’s S L O W – W A L K strategy forcing the House Oversight Committee to do the actual investigative work of the FBI has been absolutely genius. Just 13 months to go until Mr. Sniffer Whiffer is reelected. I can smell those pristine mail-in ballots already.
While Hunter had the 83,333.00 per month Burisma fossil fuel gas giant board no show gig:
Biden told reporters at a town hall in New Hampshire he wants to put fossil fuel executives in jail.
“Put them in jail. I’m not joking about this.”
Biden proclaimed if we don’t stop fossil fuels “We’re all dead!”
The day biden and the demoncrats stole the 2020 election, gasoline prices per gallon in the USA average over 18 months were $2.09
That same average has soared to over $4.00 since
One fifth of a million is almost a quarter, a quarter is almost a third, and one third is almost a half! Two Bidens is almost five. Ex-vice ergo propter Pres.
The corruption of the BCF continues to be on full display for all to see.
The complicit MSM will continue to ignore or gaslight the American public.
The corrupt DOJ will continue to cover, slow roll, or ignore their own agents if it means to protect the BCF.
We all see it.
Whomever the Republican candidate is in 2024, that is who I am voting for. Even if it is Trump in jail.
@Upstate
Same here, it’ll be another straight red ticket for me, my third in a row, and I am not a Conservative.
And you know things are seriously on fire when Bill Maher, who LOVES Obama, is broadcasting his disgust. Always seems to confirm liberal tone-deafness to me, which actually makes it even more meaningful. Wish more of these folks could see writing on the wall and run for a bucket when that would suffice and not later when even aerial firefighting might not do the job.
In 2018 Biden was not President, Vice President, and employee of any federal or state government, and not a candidate for any such office. There is nothing wrong with this payment.
“In 2018 Biden was not . . .”
Why do Leftists continue this fiction? Do they really believe that we do not grasp the concept of a “timeline?”
That “payment” (read “bribe”) was for “services rendered” (read “favorable political policy”) while JB was VP.
In 2018
Biden was not part of the government.
The question is what was he when this “loan” occured.
Further if this is a paper only lone repayment – it is tax fraud – whether Biden was in government or not.
Finally, an agreement to excercise public power for private benefit is criminally corrupt even if the payment is delayed until after leaving office.
The Biden’s have woven a complex fiscal house of cards that is intended to hide things and strongly resembles the money laundering of organized crime and drug cartels.
You are just going to have to accept that most of us do not beleive the Biden’s went to these elaborate efforts to obfuscate “money for nothin”.
This is not a smoking gun. It is more a hot coal burning the tongue of liars.
Pres. Nixon called private actors, to make private payments for the defense of people accused of crimes.
Nixon did not receive a dollar. He did not have anything personally to do with watergate. But he privately arranged to have legal fees paid while he was president
and that was enough that both democrats and republicans wanted to impeach him.
The watergate standad has been exceeded for Biden long ago.
Well, well we can all see what is going on, Biden enrichment on taxpayer dimes. Since the MSM has zero credibility left, there is no expectation of truth. Sad.
Frank, James, and Hunter all were in financial distress at different points with few discernible skills or success to offer the market.
They are all white males (aka the patriarchy) with mountains of privilege. Democrats represent and defend white privilege, not to mention authoritarianism, corruption, denigration and assault of women, and moral depravity. It is time to expel both political parties from our body politic, assess people by the content of their character and conclude “we wont be fooled again”.
🎶 I’ll tip my hat to the new Constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again
Don’t get fooled again
No, no
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss 🎶
Estovir, I’d like to add to this.
They’ve got to get rid of Joe Biden (The Old Boss) in order to seat Gavin Newsom (The New Boss).
So dang much is wrong with this president and his administration, where do you begin to stop it? We have a GOP that is spineless and useless. We have a legislative body that is happy to close their eyes to corruption so they don’t get looked into. Is America fixable?
Under Trump, no news wars. Economy booming a whole roomful of regulations rescinded. The wages of the average American going up faster than any inflation for the 1st time in decades, same for the poor.
The entire msm media blabbering crew screamed at Trump with most of the republicans on board, but the whole nation got better.
It was too good to be true, so along came the government scandal of the century – covid and coronavirus
You left out the attempted coup.
Oh, sorry. The demoncrats stole the re-election of the first good POTUS we’ve had in some time, with millions of vote spikes in the middle of the night 100% for their candidate, the demented basement crippler, in the key swing states after sending all the watchdogs home and claiming they had to shut down for burst pipes or building repairs. Their corrupt control of power levers and intel top 51 ever officials meant the general public would never get the information. The nation has been in decline since that day, gasoline and nearly everything else doubling in price in a few years, crime rampant by design, the border invasion on constant spiking, and no one believing in the USA anymore.
He did – Hillary and her cronies and a conspiracy with the FBI and intelligence aparatus attempted to leverage fraudulent criminal claims into hoobbling and possibly removing a sitting president.
After that the DHS, FBI, CIA all conspired to censor the sitting president and his supporters speech exposing the TRUTH about the corruption of his political opponent – who as a consequence of that unconstitutional censorship won a rigged election.
Thanl you for reminding me of the numerous attempted and even successful democrat coups.
Turley likes quoting movies, so I’ll give him one from The Godfather when one mobster asks another if they can trust a bribed police officer to alert them. “When I buys ’em, they stay bought,” warns the first mobster to the second and so it is with the real mob. The reasoning is clear and convincing. Cross the mob and you pay dearly. In the Biden case, the threat of retaliation from a bumbling old man against those he bought is virtually nil, meaning those that he bought may be willing to talk and thereby get some revenge for what they thought they were buying. Remember, it wasn’t the skullduggery of the FBI or any law enforcement agency or the dogged digging of the Department of Justice and all its esteemed attorneys that got us to this point but, instead, the drug-infused antics of Hunter Biden and the abandonment of a tell-all laptop in a repair shop in Delaware. That, plus some old-fashioned gumshoe detective work by one or two journalists, and the persistence of some Republicans in the House to find the truth has led us to where we are. From the perspective of those who were bought, this carelessness on the part of the purchasers devalued their investments to a point where they just may be willing to spill the beans and bring this sorry charade to a close once and for all.
“’Loans’ have long been a source of controversy with the Bidens.” (JT)
The Afghanistan withdrawal was a “success.”
There is no inflation.
The genital mutilation of children is “gender-affirming care.”
We are not censors.
The southern border is “secure.”
The economy is fine.
Biden is fine.
Thus the Left’s fundamental MO: Our words have the power to alter reality.
Dems, which of course include their lackeys the press, do not have to admit what is clearly in front of them since their voters only care about what they can get free government or being assured that they are more virtuous than Republicans.
Kick this braindead traitor’s can out of the door BEFORE Iran uses its first nuclear weapon.