Criminal law

Will Hunter Take the Stand? He May Want to Think Twice Before Checking That Box

This weekend, the Hunter Biden team is reportedly debating whether to have him take the stand on Monday, a move rife with risk. Most criminal defendants avoid such appearances given the potential damage of a withering cross examination. Those risks were evident in the recent testimony of Hunter’s daughter, Naomi, which backfired badly on key points.

I have sometimes been in the minority among defense attorneys and legal commentators on this question. In celebrity trials, a jury can feel alienated or even disrespected by a defendant not taking the stand. That was the case, in my view, with Martha Stewart. When a defendant brings forth a host of others to speak for him or her, the refusal to testify can become more glaring and concerning.

Hunter Biden is in that position. He has had a host of relatives testify, including his daughter Naomi. When you put your daughter on the stand and subject her to a tough cross examination, many jurors can wonder how you can stay safely behind the defendant’s table.

Yet, Naomi’s testimony is precisely why defense counsel are risk adverse on the question. She gave moving testimony on her love for her father and his struggle with addiction. However, her attempt to establish that Hunter was not using drugs at the time of his gun purchase fell apart on cross examination.  She testified that she was thrilled during this period with how “healthy” and clean her father appeared: “He seemed like the clearest I had seen him since my uncle died…I told him I was so proud of him and I was proud to be able to introduce Peter to him.”

Prosecutors showed her text messages that told a different story. In some, Naomi appears alarmed by her father’s conduct and lack of responses. On October 18, for example, she texted “I’m sorry daddy, I can’t take this, I don’t know what to say.” That message coincides with messages from Hunter seeking to score drugs from a guy named Mookie and stating that he was doing crack in a car. In other messages, Naomi complains that he was not responding. She finally received a response when, at 2 a.m, Hunter asked her to have her boyfriend drop off keys to a truck for him in Manhattan. Naomi was asked if she saw the drug residue or paraphernalia in the truck.

Any cross examination would focus less on Naomi than it would on Mookie.

Any decision to put Hunter on the stand is obviously dependent on your defense strategy. As I have previously written, all of the defenses suggested by Abby Lowell in his opening argument collapsed within two days. That includes the suggestion that someone else checked the box on the form denying that Hunter was using drugs. These claims seem so unbelievable and unsupported that they might insult a jury. However, the real strategy in this open-and-shut case appears to be simple jury nullification. The defense is trying to get one or more jurors to ignore the law and the evidence to acquit Biden.

Nullification efforts in the case appear to be a combination of both political and social association. First and foremost, this is Bidentown. It is the hometown of President Joe Biden and voted overwhelmingly for him in past elections. It is the opposite of the Manhattan trial of former President Donald Trump. This is the best possible jury pool for a Biden.

Second, all of the jurors testified to knowing someone with drug problems. Hunter has written moving accounts of his struggle with addiction. Some jurors may resist convicting someone who has seemingly overcome the scourge of addiction.

So, if this is a nullification strategy, does Hunter testifying help or hurt? The answer is that it could seal the deal or shatter it with jurors. Hunter will make a good witness on his struggle to overcome drugs and alcohol abuse. He can claim little or no memory of the gun store purchase. Hearing from him directly can establish a connection, even a bond, with jurors that could reinforce a nullification vote.

However, it will also subject him to cross examination by prosecutors who have been lethal in their well-planned and well-executed case. They can delve into his texts and the later intervention by his family to deal with his self-destructive lifestyle. He also faces the potential of triggering new criminal offenses through perjury.

That latter concern is particularly real after the formal referral of three House committees to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Hunter is accused of lying to Congress in his recent testimony on key issues under investigation. While many expect Garland to ignore the referral to protect the President and his family, the allegations are compelling and the Justice Department has previously prosecuted individuals in cases with far less support. This would appear a relatively easy perjury prosecution, but the politics may be insurmountable for Garland.

Most attorneys would advise Hunter to remain behind the defense table and not take the stand. After all, this is a great jury rendering a verdict on a Biden in Bidentown with the First Lady seated behind him for much of the trial. They just need one. The risk of testimony is that Hunter could burst into flames on the stand and torch any chance to nullify the crime.

We will know soon. However, if Hunter checks this box and testifies, it is the one decision that he will not be able to blame on others.

 

396 thoughts on “Will Hunter Take the Stand? He May Want to Think Twice Before Checking That Box”

  2. If you investigate Hunter for possessing a gun while on drugs, then you have to investigate Don Junior.

    1. Ok then. I promise i wont investigate hunter for possessing a gun while on drugs.

  3. BREAKING:
    50 Cent Jokes About Not Catching Chlamydia After Lauren Boebert Photo Op

      1. We are just days away from the second anniversary of Lauren Boebert promising to file a lawsuit to prove that she didn’t meet Ted Cruz as a client when she was escorting.

  4. I traveled back in time and genetically engineered all the Trump jurors to find him guilty.

  5. JURY DUTY 

    The Hunter Biden JURY has a DUTY to apply the law and the facts and find Hunter Biden guilty, or be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for perjury. 

    The Hunter Biden JURY’S DUTY is to SLAM THAT DUNK or go to prison. 

    The Hunter Biden JURY has no power or DUTY to legislate or to usurp the power of a state or national legislative branch and rewrite or nullify law. 

    GUILTY AS CHARGED! 

    If Real President Donald J. Trump can be prosecuted and found guilty of 34 of 34 artificially conjured felonies, perjury charges against a Hunter Biden jury that finds him innocent may be similarly fabricated out of whole cloth and pursued rigorously to conviction. 

  6. I often get invited to cocaine-fueled Republican orgies – if there was anything like the Deep State I assure you I’d know about it.

    1. I bet you do get a lot of invites, with that fine pink sphincter of yours. Those maga morons just cant resist shoving their abnormally large cocks in your abnormally swollen shit pipe!!!

      Your mommy must be proud.

  7. I fully expected Trump’s civil damages and felony convictions in NYC’s kangaroo courts, and I’m equally pessimistic about the “cousins” in any Delaware court. It will be a hung jury.

    I’m not a lawyer, but it seems a legal education blinds some of us to what’s happening. The Constitution is dead in some parts of the country.

    In my wildest nightmares, I never expected America would turn into this, but now I know better.

    Would being a younger man help me to cope with what’s coming or would it condemn me to longer suffering? I honestly don’t know.

  8. I work for T-Mobile and I have seen the text messages between Judge Cannon and Donald Trump. She is going to push his trials as far as possible and will request to be seated in the Supreme Court when Clarence Thomas retires.

    1. I work for the cartel and if you don’t pay your crack bill, you gonna be with da fishes!

    2. Lighteredknot to Anon You are one stupid individual established with this said posting.

    3. I work for Verizon, and they tell me that you live with your mother, and spend your Friday nights with her on her Gloryhole gig at the pool hall.

    4. She is even incompetent at being a bias judge. A smarter judge would manufacturer a mistrial after the jury is seated in a way that triggers double jeopardy.

      1. The public needs to know if she’s getting outside help, Alito or Thomas ? Most likely the Federalist Society, then again, isn’t Alito and Thomas and the other right-wing justices all from the federalist Society?

    1. As soon as Trump gets that 1 billion from oil and gas you can forget any renewable energy. He already said so.

      1. As the dollar slides out of the global fiat currency that billion can buy a loaf of bread you clueless dumbass.

  10. OT: As Russia kicks out of our own military base in Niger and sends a naval fleet that includes a nuclear sub my conservative friends and allies, people I agree with 95% of the time, still argue that we have no interest in Ukraine.

    Russia is aligned heavily with China, our gravest threat, and Iran, our biggest threat in the ME, and yet my fellow conservatives see no reason to try to weaken them militarily and financially in Europe??

    I know that Russia isn’t the Soviet Union, but having them aligned with China, a much more serious financial/military threat, makes weakening them a vital interest.

    Biden is a weak and ineffective president and this is why Russia invaded when they did. Biden also slow walked arms when he should have built Ukraine up BEFORE the invasion and then if still invaded shortly thereafter. Don’t give up the high ground to Biden on this issue. He caused it, or at least his weakness enabled it, and we must stand firm.

    All of us conservatives are supporting Trump in November so remember that Trump is the guy that cajoled NATO into increasing their expenditures on defense which is the kind of thing that would deter a Russia. If Trump had gotten more support from liberal Dems and NATO allies maybe we wouldn’t be here right now. But what we got was the elite here and in Europe mocking Trump for his “militaristic” demands. NATO mocked Trump and now Macron is advocating NATO troops in the war.

    One last thing: What would Reagan do?

    1. Bobby – I don’t see the present situation as sufficiently comparable to the Cold War that Reagan was dealing with to make the argument work.

      1. Oldman, with all due respect, and I do agree with you almost all the time, please think about the threat that China is today compared to the Soviet threat 40 years ago. The Soviets were more aggressive in trying to increase their hegemony and they were extremely powerful militarily, but they were not friends with China and they never had a strong economy. Today we have China growing militarily VERY RAPIDLY with an economy that is also approaching ours. Once you factor in that today, thanks to Biden and Democrats, Russia and China are militarily aligned for the first time in 50 years…that is a serious threat.

        Also, China is encroaching on our influence EVERYWHERE and now Russia is even coming out of their hole by evicting us from Niger and sending a fleet to Cuba.

        Sorry Oldman, we may not be exactly in Cold War times yet, but the future isn’t bright.

        1. The Russians and the Chinese have a certain amount of time left. If they don’t do anything soon, militarily that is, they won’t be able to. These are dieing countries. If they wait until the 2030’s they will not be strong enough to wage major war. They are both dieing demographies.

          1. Independent, I see your point with Russia but not China, with 1.4 billion people. Off the top of my head, China has about 1.4 billion people and probably has a similar number of women able to conceive as the total US population.

            1. S. Meyer, China’s fertility rate is now down to 1.2 children per woman.
              Well below replacement rate.
              I believe that only South Korea’s is lower.

              3. David, that is true mainly due to their former policies. However, looking at the second-level demographics deeply, you will find that almost 40% of the female population is close to childbearing age. China has 1.4 billion people. The rest is simple math, and though it seems the population will decline, they have an awfully large buffer, giving them sufficient time to correct. Russia is a different story and is dying demographically.

                That decline in population and other problems within Russia should have made us understand that our enemy need not be Russia. No war was necessary in Ukraine. Russia will extinguish itself in a short time. Unfortunately, what we did with our policies caused by Democrat dimwits was to cause friction between our nation and theirs. That pushed them into an alliance with our real enemy, China. It was Stupid, but then we are talking about the Stupidest Democrat, Joe Biden and the most malignant, Barack Obama.

                1. S. Meyer – we blew a chance to bring Russia into the fold of a free, capitalist West. Had we not treated them like an enemy post-USSR-collapse, we could have done that; they were inclined that way and likely would have done so had we made the waters warmer for them. Now, not only is what you say true diplomatically and militarily, but the sanctions scheme imposed by this most incompetent of administrations has caused them to shift from 70% of their transactions in US dollars, to around 20%. In that sense it is hastening the move by the world away from the US dollar as the reserve currency . . . which spells economic collapse for America.

                  1. “S. Meyer – we blew a chance to bring Russia into the fold of a free, capitalist West. ”

                    Indeed, Oldman. I remember the peace dividend, saying it then, and many times later: there is no peace dividend. We had to keep our eye on the ball, watching for many smaller hotspots that would invariably create hostilities. We also had to watch Russia, our natural ally, while easing them into the West. If we were strong, the world would settle down naturally without American involvement other than our navy.

                    1. Oldman, I have to add that Trump’s policies were on target. He treated nations as nations and looked toward American interests, making deals along the way. I remember significant disagreements with many of his generals. He followed his method, and we had peace instead of war.

                      A war ends when it ends. There are no ifs and buts. That is Biden’s mistake in the Middle East. He caused the war, promoted instability, and, by his actions, lengthened the war, causing more deaths for the Palestinians. He is not done causing harm. I expect a war on Israel’s northern front shortly that will lead to many more deaths and more destruction, with a good chance of the war spreading. We already see Yemen targeting ships and Russians moving armaments to the Syrian-Israeli border. We already saw Iran attack Israel, and though I think it is of lower probability, we may see a full-scale war.

                      Biden has no control over the Middle East because he placates Arab terrorists and doesn’t understand that what is happening is an existential threat to Israel’s existence. From the river to the sea means the desire to take over Israel and kill all the Jews. Therefore, with or without American support, Israel will do what it has to do to survive. That means no two-state solution (we already have Israel and Jordan) and an end to the threats in northern Israel.

                      The UN is worthless and helps terrorists. The last deal Israel made with the UN was that they would end the Lebanon War, which was to protect their northern border, and there would be no hostile Hezbollah troops within 7 miles of the border. The UN never followed through with their guarantees like they haven’t in numerous other situations. I hope Biden is out of office before he creates the environment for WW3, before or after he leaves.

                    2. The “two state solution” is a canard. In reality they are talking about a 24-state solution (there are already 22 Arab states). All the Jews ask is is a tiny strip of desert with no oil to speak of. Arabs have all the oil and 100x as much land.

                2. S. Meyer, the war in Ukraine is entirely because the Ukrainians want to be free of Russian domination.

    2. Hullbobby – Reagan reportedly promised Gorbachev that if he let the Warsaw Pact die, we would not expand NATO to include those ex-Warsaw Pact countries. This claim has been made several times by people like Jeffrey Sachs and I have not heard it denied. If it is true, we have violated a commitment we made to Russia in the late 1980’s. It is the prospect of a “creeping” NATO that was one of the motives for Putin to attack Ukraine.

      1. From Gorbachev himself, the issue was NATO is the so-to-be former Eastern Germany. Nothing was said about other countries.

        2. David B. Benson said: “From Gorbachev himself, the issue was NATO is the so-to-be former Eastern Germany. Nothing was said about other countries.”

          Totally false narrative (although I have no doubt that the US national security apparatchiks have heavily promoted it). Where are your cites? Here are mine:
          National Security Archive: NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard
          https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early
          “The documents show that multiple national leaders were considering and rejecting Central and Eastern European membership in NATO as of early 1990 and through 1991, that discussions of NATO in the context of German unification negotiations in 1990 were not at all narrowly limited to the status of East German territory, and that subsequent Soviet and Russian complaints about being misled about NATO expansion were founded in written contemporaneous memcons and telcons at the highest levels. “

            1. David Benson – here is another source. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early
              “Washington D.C., December 12, 2017 – U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s famous “not one inch eastward” assurance about NATO expansion in his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on February 9, 1990, was part of a cascade of assurances about Soviet security given by Western leaders to Gorbachev and other Soviet officials throughout the process of German unification in 1990 and on into 1991, according to declassified U.S., Soviet, German, British and French documents posted today by the National Security Archive at George Washington University (http://nsarchive.gwu.edu).
              The documents show that multiple national leaders were considering and rejecting Central and Eastern European membership in NATO as of early 1990 and through 1991, that discussions of NATO in the context of German unification negotiations in 1990 were not at all narrowly limited to the status of East German territory, and that subsequent Soviet and Russian complaints about being misled about NATO expansion were founded in written contemporaneous memcons and telcons at the highest levels.
              The documents reinforce former CIA Director Robert Gates’s criticism of “pressing ahead with expansion of NATO eastward [in the 1990s], when Gorbachev and others were led to believe that wouldn’t happen.”[1] The key phrase, buttressed by the documents, is “led to believe.”
              Even if such assurances were not given Russian leaders, the folly of moving an armed alliance to the borders of Russia should be obvious. How would we react if Russia put nuclear missiles in Cuba? {Irony, obviously]

              1. edwardmahl said : “David Benson – here is another source”

                That is the very cite I used in the post to which David B Benson replied, and that he cavilierly dismissed without so much as the most cursory examination or thought. I don’t think a second cite will give him better acumen (or even second sight 🙂

  11. At this point, I don’t care about ANY of them. These people are sick

  13. Breaking news not from The New York Post but believe it or not from Politico Magazine. The article concerns the intertwining of Joe’s associates with Hunter and Jim Biden and their Chinese friends. I had to look twice to make sure that I was reading an article published by Politico. Maybe this is the first sign that the left is in the process of replacing Joe on the ballot. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/08/joe-biden-aides-family-business-dealings-00161476

    1. I hear everything on the Internet is fake unless it’s posted on the Truth Social

    2. Yeah, I had the same reaction. Hunter will very likely be acquitted, but Biden is toast.

    3. Perhaps this will be how they unload Joe. Quit running cover up for him and allow the facts of his corruption to come to light. They know Trump will thrash him and when Trump wins it is lights out for the head of the snake. Problem is they don’t have a single Democrat that’s a winner due to their platform is insanity.

    4. Thinkitthrough said: “Breaking news not from The New York Post but believe it or not from Politico Magazine… Maybe this is the first sign that the left is in the process of replacing Joe on the ballot.”

      Schreckinger seems to be a fairly honest reporter, at least in the context of Politico. He also wrote a book on the Biden family’s rise to power, and apparently he confirmed the validity of some of the HB laptop emails early on. Of course, it remains valid speculation about why the very biased Politico would turn him loose on this story and puiblish it. The question remains, who would they try to replace him with at this late date? It is a bit over two months until the Demon convention; almost exactly five months until Election Day. I see nobody they could viably run who isn’t either currently an unknown nationally, or such tainted political poison of one kind or another as to be unelectable. Considering the apparent Demon reliance on early voting methods, the time is even shorter. What I suspect they might do is try their best to get Biden reelected by hook or crook, slip something in his daily dosage to either kill him or put him into a permanant coma shortly after his inauguration, and then use the VP to do their bidding for the following four years. I’m not convinced they would consider Kum@10t n H3r@$$ to be reliable enough for that. Let’s see if they dump her at the convention in favor of someone who would not be electable in Biden’s place, but who could be more easily controlled. I don’t see Newsom as electable, but he might be a possibility in that hypothetical VP-successor role. Possibly Little Adam Schitt, as well. Biden stroking out shortly after being sworn in for his second term could also be used to justify such an MSM coverage storm as to obscure any questions about the legitimacy of the election.

    5. You’re reading tea leaves because the DCC is as inscrutable as the CCP.

  14. Wow! Given Turley’s obsession with the “Hunter Biden Scandal” —this case must have some serious national implications. But, sadly, it doesn’t. Turley harps about this case because the MAGA media he works for uses it as a deflection away from Trump’s 34 convictions, endless lying and threats to jail his enemies, plus the conflicts Alito and Thomas have and their refusal to recuse themselves.

    If there are any national implications for this case it’s that it highlights the stark contrast between Trump and his promise to abuse the legal system to prosecute perceived enemies and pardon himself for crimes against America, like stealing classified documents and starting an insurrection, and Biden’s respect for the rule of law. Biden hasn’t pardoned his son promises not to. Biden is a man of integrity. Trump is a craven liar who is hungry for power, attention and adulation.

    Hunter Biden is a man who coped with the distress of witnessing the violent deaths of his mother and sister and the death of his brother by developing a substance abuse problem. He has turned around his life. He paid his back taxes. He possessed a gun for 11 days. He never used the gun to threaten anyone. Yet, Turley devotes massive effort to highlight this case because when you’re harping about Hunter you’re not talking about Trump and the danger he poses to America or the story about Alito and Thomas refusing to recuse themselves from cases involving Trump despite clear conflicts of interest.

    Meanwhile, in stories that DO have national implications-Alex Jones is apparently taking down Info Wars as part of the settlement with Sandy Hook families he lied about when he called it a hoax. And, Salem Media Group has ceased selling “2,000 Mules” and apologized for defaming a man who was falsely accused of stuffing ballot boxes with fake ballots. These are just 2 MAGA media sources put out of business for lying. That’s way more important than Hunter Biden.

    2. @Gigi

      There is no longer any doubt remaining for me that you in particular are paid to sow discord. Hope they have AC in the troll farm, gonna be hot this summer.

    3. Gig is the idiot-non-savant who has been spastically posting long strings of posts the last couple of days. “She” outed herself a couple of nights ago when she posted in the middle, accidentally logging under Gigi. Today “she” posted as Perry Mason, who we all know is her favorite lawyer (no one had the heart to tell her its fiction).

    4. No Gigi, you’re wrong. Professor Turley continues to focus on this case because it DOES have national implications, those of a two tiered justice system, nothing more.

      1. Explain to me how or why MAGA media are promoting the trope of a 2 tiered legal system. Trump and Hunter both were tried by a jury of their peers. Both had the benefit of counsel and the presumption of innocence. Both were given notice of the charges and an opportunity to be heard. These are the requirements for due process.

        We don’t know what the jury’s verdict will be in Hunter’s case, but no one was harmed by the conduct complained of—unlike Trump who falsified records to cover up the truth about his sexual misconduct to mislead the American people—AND after getting caught bragging about sexually assaulting women. You can’t really argue that it was unimportant after Hick’s testimony proving that he knew he was in trouble with women voters after the Access Hollywood tape.

        1. “Explain to me . . .”

          Sure.

          Right after I figure out how to get that horse to drink the water I led it to.

    5. ‘Gigi’ is one of the most obsessed people here.
      It’s called projection. She drinks the blue kool-aid.
      She’s shown she’s wrong every day but the TDS is fierce.

    6. What happened to no one is above the law Goo Goo? You’re a good comedian!

  15. I find it interesting that no one has commented on the optics of Biden being acquitted vs. Trump’s conviction. Biden is charged with an open and shut case, while most somewhat objective legal observers figuratively have shaken their heads at the tortured way Bragg came up with a felony charge against Trump. This was FOLLOWED by the case hinging on the only (supposed) witness to the recording of the financial/accounting coverup laid at Trump’s feet, Michael Cohen, who the only thing we know to be true about anything he’s said under oath these last years was when asked to state his name.

    If Biden gets off and Trump’s campaign gets hampered by his sentencing guidelines….there will be NO WAY to pretend equal justice under the law. We have Bannion and Navarro serving time for refusing to testify to Congress, Trump convicted of a trumped-up (pardon the pun)charge, while Biden goes free….

    Actually, in the bigger picture, I think that scenario would help Trump because even the mostly willfully blind will have to see what’s going on…Just my .02

    1. You are correct.
      However, MSNBC viewers are severely Trump-deranged, brainwashed, propagandized and being lied to at such extent they would cheer the murder of not only Trump, but every member of his family, and every single Trump supporter in this country. Think of Rwanda’s genocide and what happened there. That is the extent to which this corrupt lying fake news media is riling up Trump derangement in America for anyone stupid enough to still listen to “the lying fake news” or “deranged CIA FBI criminal/analysts” like John Brennan, James Comey, Andy McCabe, etc. all over TV “programming” –especially the psychopaths on MSNBC. It is sick and dangerous hate-programming.

    2. Your reasoning is faulty-beginning with the implications: Trump cheated the American people by deceiving them about his character to get power. His own Hope Hicks testified that another sex scandal may have ended his candidacy. Trump committed his crimes for the sake of his ego. Hunter Biden is a vulnerable man who coped with deaths of his mother, sister and brother by turning to substances.

      Hunter Biden is not a political candidate. He is a man arrested for crimes that would be pleaded down but for MAGA world. He is a man who paid his taxes and turned around his life. Trump continues to lie and attack the rule of law and justice system.

      There’s no such thing as an “open and shut” case. There are always nuances.

      Cohen’s testimony is backed up by documents from Trump’s own files and by testimony from Trump insiders. How do you explain away the “grossed up” notation of Weisselberg? It proves Cohen was telling the truth.

      The American people aren’t going to chuck the right to abortion, contraception, same sex marriage or tolerate cuts to Social Security and Medicare, or abolishing the Affordable Care Act and abolishing the Department of Education for the sake of helping Trump get vindication for the perceived injustice of being convicted for cheating the American people out of the truth about his character.

      1. Listen to yourself, you fvcking idiot? His morality???

        He is going to win in a landslide, as a pussy grabbing, sexual assaulting, defrauding, cheating, tax evading, porn star dorking, ass hole.

        You just dont get it, do you. Its the country, stupid.

        Oh, but if people had only known….idiot

        Morons like you are the ENTIRE reason that someone like Trump will win.

        1. You get that, goo goo, people like YOU are the reason Trump won.

          YOU are the reason people despise the left and all that they stand for.

          YOU created Trump, and yet you want to blame his “cultists”.

          YOU created the cult.

  16. Rep. Thomas Massie: Israel Lobbyists, the Cowards in Congress, and Living off the Grid
    U.S. Representative Thomas Massie entered Congress in November 2012 after serving as Lewis County Judge Executive. He represents Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District which stretches across Northern Kentucky and 280 miles of the Ohio River. – thomasmassie.com
    By: Tucker Carlson • The Tucker Carlson Show ~ June 7th, 2024
    https://tuckercarlson.com/tucker-show-thomas-massie

    Video: (2hr. 9.35 mins)
    https://iframe.cloudflarestream.com/405cc037a1f48fcdd80c7df3917a5271

    Note: A Good Interview – Well Worth It

  17. The dems ordering Bannon to jail for the same thing Hunter did, with a presser, no less, tells us all we need to know.

    At this point I think the DNC knows perfectly well how much they are reviled and disbelieved; their hubris and mendacity are such, they no longer care about that, either. They are the ‘Master *Class*’.

    Make no mistake: they already have the gears in place (some yet to be revealed) to make it very difficult indeed to change anything come November, and they know it. Our only hope is overwhelming the polls with numbers and demanding the strictest of adherence to the law. Even that might not be enough. They will stop at quite literally nothing to ensure a non-dem never holds the presidency ever again.

    1. James,
      I agree.
      James Carville’s recent call on MSM to slant news on Trump and in favor of Biden only goes to show how desperate they are, and how far they are willing to go and they are no longer even hiding it.

      1. @Upstate

        Unquestionably. I’m still holding out the tiniest hope the tide can be turned without anyone doing anything truly irreversibly stupid and damning us all.

        1. James,
          Oh, I am keeping watch on them getting us committed to another forever war or even worse, WWIII.

          1. See below, as Dennis McIntyre takes time out from cornholing his nephew and eating the peanuts from his own shit, to once again tell us that the pee tape is real.

            Warning, read his drivel at the expense of brain cells.

    2. Make no mistake: they already have the gears in place (some yet to be revealed) to make it very difficult indeed to change anything come November, and they know it.

      Yes James, at this point, that is their only play. All the pieces are in place for an electoral landslide in favor of Republicans, from top to bottom. Oh, wait, this is not 1980. Lawfare is Justice. Women are Men. Borders are optional. Our government funds child sex trafficking. Our government funds the world’s #1 state-sponsor of terrorism. Everything is racist, except actual racism. Student loan debt is the responsibility of taxpayers, not the actual students. The White House is an assisted-living facility. Paying an NDA is a federal election interference crime, but paying for a fake Russian-sourced dossier to spy on a presidential campaign is only a fine. A non-QPQ phone call to a corrupt government is impeachable, but an actual QPQ to the same corrupt government is applauded. Oh, there is so much more that defines our current state of insanity.

  18. Jonathan: Will Hunter take the stand? Only Hunter and his attorney, Abbe Lowell, know the answer to that question. But unlike DJT, Hunter would make a good witness. In contrast, DJT refused to testify in the Stormy Daniels “hush money” case. Why? Because he would have lied and have perjury added to the 34 criminal convictions. Hunter doesn’t have that problem because he has nothing to hide. Remember, Hunter offered to testify in open session before Comer’s Committee. Comer refused that offer–probably knowing Hunter would rebut all the spurious claims by Comer and his MAGA allies on the Committee. And Hunter’s testimony would have been broadcast live for the nation to see. Not something Comer wanted to contemplate.

    There is breaking news on another front. Remember the “Steele Dossier”? Christopher Steele and his company, Orbis Business Intelligence, put together a report in 2016 alleging DJT had participated in parties with sex workers in St. Petersburg–and Russian intelligence apparently had the goods on DJT with compromising videos. As a result of those allegations DJT sued Steele in the UK for defamation. DJT lost that lawsuit and a British judge ordered DJT to pay $300,000 pounds to Steele for court costs. That was in March. DJT has not paid the judgment and Steele is going back to court to enforcement the judgment. What is the likely outcome–that has obvious complicated factors?

    As a “convicted felon” DJT is barred from traveling to 38 countries–including the UK. If DJT wins the election in November the UK might lift the travel ban. But given the Steele judgment would DJT want to travel to to the UK with the $300,000 judgment unpaid? It would be a hay day for the British press and complicate diplomatic relations with our closest ally. But win or lose DJT faces serious problems in the UK. Steele will try to enforce the judgment by having a British court seize DJT’s golf resort in Scotland and auction it off.

    DJT is definitely in a bad situation. He still owes E. Jean Carroll $83 million, $10,000 in contempt fines and if he loses his appeal on the $450 million civil fraud judgment by Judge Engoron he will face a bill of about $500 million–unless the NY Appeals court reduces the amount of the judgment.

    So here is a guy who is a “convicted felon”, facing 55 more felony charges in 3 different jurisdictions and probably will never travel to the UK if he becomes our next President. DJT is so compromised. Is this the person who deserves to be our next President?

    2. Here, Dennis the Draft Dodger insists again that the Pee Tape is real.

    3. “Is this the person who deserves to be our next President?”

      Yes. And the country seems to agree.

      Sorry, pedophile.

    1. Well….here we go again. Anonymous rarely responds to JT’s articles using logic, reasoning, etc. Instead and typically, he often responds with sarcasm, or Ad hominem attacks on JT, or somehow pretends to know JT’s motives, or simply changes the subject. Does the issue of whether Comer is a thug or not have anything to do with the facts JT describes in the article about whether Hunter should or should not testify ?

      1. JT was in bed with Comer to get the Biden impeachment off and running. I suppose any day now the committee will come out with a recommendation to the House for an impeachment. And I am sure within a week the full house will vote post haste to send articles of impeachment to the Senate. And within the month Biden will be…

        Turns out the guy JT got in bed with is a bigger crook than Biden. Oh well, obfuscate, talk about the laptop, bring on the porn, oh look, there’s a gun over there, oooooh look, drugs. Anything but concentrate on the fascists that the republicans have become.

        How’s that impeachment of Biden going?

  20. For all those Americans who hate America, Hunter Biden, Jill Biden, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris and the white edjuhmahkayted limousine liberal, latte drinking sneering bigot, Andy Rooney answers them well.

    “If you think the world is selfish and rotten go to the cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer overlooking Omaha Beach. See what one group of men did for another on D-Day, June 6th, 1944.” – Andy Rooney

    America is a great nation. It would be a travesty to let narcissistic monsters like Hunter Biden and his Axis of Evil enablers, not feel the boot of justice on their lily white backs for committing crimes with impunity

    1. Estovir,
      Unfortunately, we got half of the country who down right hates America and want to tear it down.

      1. Yep, that describes trump supporters exactly. Rule of law? Are you kidding, kill those dam guards at the Capitol building. Respect for elections? Only if they win. trump supporters are as un American as they get.

        1. You live in opposite world. There’s a deal going on tickets to the real world. Buy one before they go offsale.

        2. ^^^^this idiot still thinks “guards” were killed at the capitol building.

          Bwahahahahaha

      2. Unfortunately, we got half of the country who down right hates America and want to tear it down.

        I may have posted it before you found this forum, but I have long argued that the Left is infertile. They do not reproduce, they do not promote life, they do not propagate. The Left is about violence, squashing, killing, ending, destroying, etc. The comments by the Media Matters paid DNC troll, who seems to have nothing but time on his hands 24/7 to spout manic driven, likely mentally ill, amphetamine drug induced commenting, demonstrates my point. It is reminiscent of David Brock, founder of Media Matters, who many on the Left characterized him as being bat sheet crazy… just like our trolls

        One of the joys of my career is that I spend much of my time doing research at the cellular and molecular level. I have often told friends that God is found in the molecules because there is so much beauty at the molecular level in how protein-proteins and protein-DNA interact. It’s like a ballet, a graceful waltz of movements, bending, sweeping, shuttling….truly breathtaking.

        If you want to see beauty in your home, pick up a medical science book at your level, and work upwards. At dinner time I find myself giving lectures to the family on what I have studied that way, usually on DNA/RNA / protein interactions, and for the life of me we are all taken up with the vastness of what we do not know.

        You might inspect the following book by Walter Isaacson, published recently, with rave reviews by readers, and see if it is something that will keep your attention

        The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
        https://www.amazon.com/Code-Breaker-Jennifer-Doudna-Editing/dp/1982115858/
        by Walter Isaacson (Author)
        4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 13,085 ratings

        Surround yourself with beauty!

        1. Estovir,
          I have noted before how our leftist friends are a rather hate filled, ugly bunch. And not by just their words, but their actions.
          I usually find my beauty in nature in the fields.

      3. It isn’t really half but it’s enough, and they’re loud enough, and enough people are willing to pander, and enough are just hardwired to vote “D” because . . . reasons . . . that they are a real threat.

      4. Come to your senses and put country over idiot. Your delusions are not reality.

    2. Thank you.

      I am presently looking at how the Western World forgot its values and now relishes the Fascism of the cultures of death trying to destroy it.

      1. It was Saint Pope John Paul II who first used the phrase “culture of death” in 1995 to describe our current world. He was not wrong!

        IOANNES PAULUS PP. II
        EVANGELIUM VITAE

        12. In fact, while the climate of widespread moral uncertainty can in some way be explained by the multiplicity and gravity of today’s social problems, and these can sometimes mitigate the subjective responsibility of individuals, it is no less true that we are confronted by an even larger reality, which can be described as a veritable structure of sin. This reality is characterized by the emergence of a culture which denies solidarity and in many cases takes the form of a veritable “culture of death”. This culture is actively fostered by powerful cultural, economic and political currents which encourage an idea of society excessively concerned with efficiency. Looking at the situation from this point of view, it is possible to speak in a certain sense of a war of the powerful against the weak: a life which would require greater acceptance, love and care is considered useless, or held to be an intolerable burden, and is therefore rejected in one way or another. A person who, because of illness, handicap or, more simply, just by existing, compromises the well-being or life-style of those who are more favoured tends to be looked upon as an enemy to be resisted or eliminated. In this way a kind of “conspiracy against life” is unleashed. This conspiracy involves not only individuals in their personal, family or group relationships, but goes far beyond, to the point of damaging and distorting, at the international level, relations between peoples and States.

        https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html

        1. Estovir,
          That was very interesting. Thank you for posting that.
          Seems to me, our so-called elite betters, see us as compromises their well-being or life-style by not blindly supporting them. We question them and their narrative.

          1. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agrees. They just overturned a circuit court which had mandated COVID vaccination in LA County Schools using Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905)

            The US Courts are bringing back the freedoms of Americans against decrees of the Obama-Biden Regime

            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

            HEALTH FREEDOM DEFENSE FUND, INC. vs ALBERTO CARVALHO, in his official capacity as Superintendent of the Los Angeles United School District; ….

            COVID-19/Mootness

            The panel vacated the district court’s order dismissing plaintiffs’ action alleging that the COVID-19 vaccination policy of the Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD”)—which, until twelve days after oral argument, required employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination or lose their jobs—interfered with their fundamental right to refuse medical treatment.

            The panel held that the voluntary cessation exception to mootness applied. LAUSD’s pattern of withdrawing and then reinstating its vaccination policies was enough to keep this case alive. The record supported a strong inference that LAUSD waited to see how the oral argument in this court proceeded before determining whether to maintain the Policy or to go forward with a pre-prepared repeal option. LAUSD expressly reserved the option to again consider imposing a vaccine mandate. Accordingly, LAUSD has not carried its heavy burden to show that there is no reasonable possibility that it will again revert to imposing a similar policy.

            Addressing the merits, the panel held that the district court misapplied the Supreme Court’s decision in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905), in concluding that the Policy survived rational basis review. Jacobson held that mandatory vaccinations were rationally related to preventing the spread of smallpox. Here, however, plaintiffs allege that the vaccine does not effectively prevent spread but only mitigates symptoms for the recipient and therefore is akin to a medical treatment, not a “traditional” vaccine. Taking plaintiffs’ allegations as true at this stage of litigation, plaintiffs plausibly alleged that the COVID-19 vaccine does not effectively “prevent the spread” of COVID-19. Thus, Jacobson does not apply.

            https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/06/07/22-55908.pdf

        2. Which Pope was it that called cornholing little boys a culture of “misguided” priests?

        3. “Pope John Paul II who first used the phrase “culture of death”

          Estovir, that is a brilliant phrase that says so much with so few words. It resonates with Pope John XXIII’s culture of life.

          Two weeks ago, Lev. 26:44-45 was part of the Torah reading, emphasizing God’s covenant with His people and the promise of redemption. This echoes Pope John XXIII’s call for a culture of life that respects and upholds the dignity of every human being, opposing the culture of death.

          You might be interested in some thoughts on Pope John XXIII and God’s covenant.

          https://rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/bechukotai/the-rejection-of-rejection/?utm_source=Office%20of%20Rabbi%20Sacks%20Subscriber%20List&utm_campaign=8807263858-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_5_22_2024_3_23_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3fee45c1ad-8807263858-71301035

          1. There is a lot I haven’t shared with you regarding my associations with Judaism because our topics usually revolve around Professor Turley’s articles and occasion OT themes.

            My father had a retail business in North Miami Beach, 1970-1980s when the city was predominantly Jews. Most of my father’s clients were Jews, knew no Spanish, and he know no English. I was the bridge between both cultures. I would sneak into a synagogue on NE 167 St and about 12 Ave (Im not sure it is still there) and catch a glimpse inside. The Rabbi caught me, was kind and gave me a tour. He knew my father. We went to all of the Jewish Delis and it was extraordinary. Again, my parents knew no English so my brother and I would translate as children. It was an incredible education for me

            In college I befriended the college staff librarian, educated at Princeton, a fallen away Jew. I encouraged him to attend Temple since he kept commenting on my involvement with campus ministry and the Jesuits, and my being a campus leader. He got married and became a Rabbi.

            Another friend, a Mt Sinai Medical Center ER physician, was a devout Orthodox Jew and we became best of friends. He said my practice of Catholicism showed him the similarities with Judaism. He later left his temple, the congregants would not accept his Gentile wife and children, and abandoned Judaism out of anger. I tried to encourage him many times to return. No success

            Pope John XXIII most face encyclical speaks much about life.

            Shalom.

            PACEM IN TERRIS

            ENCYCLICAL OF POPE JOHN XXIII
            ON ESTABLISHING UNIVERSAL PEACE IN TRUTH, JUSTICE, CHARITY, AND LIBERTY

            APRIL 11, 1963

            I. ORDER BETWEEN MEN

            8. We must devote our attention first of all to that order which should prevail among men.

            9. Any well-regulated and productive association of men in society demands the acceptance of one fundamental principle: that each individual man is truly a person. His is a nature, that is, endowed with intelligence and free will. As such he has rights and duties, which together flow as a direct consequence from his nature. These rights and duties are universal and inviolable, and therefore altogether inalienable. (7)

            10. When, furthermore, we consider man’s personal dignity from the standpoint of divine revelation, inevitably our estimate of it is incomparably increased. Men have been ransomed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace has made them sons and friends of God, and heirs to eternal glory.

            Rights

            11. But first We must speak of man’s rights. Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of illhealth; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood. (8)

            Rights Pertaining to Moral and Cultural Values

            12. Moreover, man has a natural right to be respected. He has a right to his good name. He has a right to freedom in investigating the truth, and—within the limits of the moral order and the common good—to freedom of speech and publication, and to freedom to pursue whatever profession he may choose. He has the right, also, to be accurately informed about public events.

            13. He has the natural right to share in the benefits of culture, and hence to receive a good general education, and a technical or professional training consistent with the degree of educational development in his own country. Furthermore, a system must be devised for affording gifted members of society the opportunity of engaging in more advanced studies, with a view to their occupying, as far as possible, positions of responsibility in society in keeping with their natural talent and acquired skill. (9)

            The Right to Worship God According to One’s Conscience

            14. Also among man’s rights is that of being able to worship God in accordance with the right dictates of his own conscience, and to profess his religion both in private and in public. According to the clear teaching of Lactantius, “this is the very condition of our birth, that we render to the God who made us that just homage which is His due; that we acknowledge Him alone as God, and follow Him. It is from this ligature of piety, which binds us and joins us to God, that religion derives its name.” (l0)

            Hence, too, Pope Leo XIII declared that “true freedom, freedom worthy of the sons of God, is that freedom which most truly safeguards the dignity of the human person. It is stronger than any violence or injustice. Such is the freedom which has always been desired by the Church, and which she holds most dear. It is the sort of freedom which the Apostles resolutely claimed for themselves. The apologists defended it in their writings; thousands of martyrs consecrated it with their blood.”(11)

            The Right to Choose Freely One’s State in Life

            15. Human beings have also the right to choose for themselves the kind of life which appeals to them: whether it is to found a family—in the founding of which both the man and the woman enjoy equal rights and duties—or to embrace the priesthood or the religious life (12)

            16. The family, founded upon marriage freely contracted, one and indissoluble, must be regarded as the natural, primary cell of human society. The interests of the family, therefore, must be taken very specially into consideration in social and economic affairs, as well as in the spheres of faith and morals. For all of these have to do with strengthening the family and assisting it in the fulfilment of its mission.

            17. Of course, the support and education of children is a right which belongs primarily to the parents. (13)

            21. As a further consequence of man’s nature, he has the right to the private ownership of property, including that of productive goods. This, as We have said elsewhere, is “a right which constitutes so efficacious a means of asserting one’s personality and exercising responsibility in every field, and an element of solidity and security for family life, and of greater peace and prosperity in the State.”(18)

            https://www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_11041963_pacem.html

            1. Estovir, thank you for your commentary.

              Permit me to relate what my father told me of his childhood. Born poor, he lived in the lower East Side of NYC (Manhattan) in a poor and dangerous neighborhood. His street was all Jewish, and the adjoining street was Italian Catholics. They would fight and sometimes kill one another. He saw gangsters killed in the street and watched a friend fall to his death while jumping roofs.

              Many of the Italians and Jews, if they made it off the streets, went to college, and many became doctors, lawyers and judges. Their juvenile hatred disappeared as they partnered with their former “enemies.” Then, they intermarried.

              I recognize the history and things like the Spanish Inquisition, but Catholics and Jews are too similar to abandon one another. Pope John XXIII did what should have been done long ago.

              I hope you enjoyed the Rabbi Sacks video.

              Though Rabbi Sacks died a couple of years ago, his short videos matching the weekly Torah readings are available by email.

              שָׁלוֹם

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