Politics

Fire Sale: Could the Burning of “Millions” in Hunter’s Art Prove a Windfall?

There is an interesting New York Post report that roughly 200 of Hunter Biden’s art pieces were destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires. The value of the art stored near the home of Hunter’s patron and lawyer, Kevin Morris, is being claimed in the “millions of dollars.” The question is whether, with reports of a collapse in the value of Hunter’s art with the departure of his father from office, the fire might prove the ultimate windfall for Hunter and his “clients.”

Georges Bergès, Hunter Biden’s art gallerist, contradicted claims of the White House on the handling of the art. Hunter reportedly knew who purchased roughly 70% of the value of his art, including Democrat donors Morris and Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali.

While Biden allies hyped the sales to show that Hunter was a legitimate artist, Bergès admitted that Morris actually purchased most of the art. Morris has reportedly given Hunter millions to cover unpaid taxes and expenses. Hunter only sold paintings to ten people for $1.5 million, according to congressional testimony from 2024. Morris bought 11 works for $875,000 in total.

The drop in the value of art reflects not only the volatile art market but also the fluctuating influence-peddling market. The Bidens are finally cashing out of Washington.

In the meantime, Hunter is facing a bizarre claim from one of his debt holders that, in return for allegedly walking out on over a year of rent, Hunter sent him art made with his own feces to sell. Shaun Maguire claims that Hunter rented his $4.25 million home in California in 2019. When Hunter’s lawyers denied the story, he posted pictures on social media.

If insured, the fire could prove the next best thing to . . . well . . . talent.

This is not to suggest some Goodfellas fire-and-file insurance scam. However, the story raises an intriguing question of whether the art was insured and, if so, at what price. The collapse of the influence-peddling market was expected to collapse the value of Hunter’s art. However, this fire came just before Joe Biden left office and the drop in value was expected to occur.

If insured, the art could bring the full influence-peddled value and Biden art holders could be saved by an act of nature. Once again, it is not clear from the coverage if this is art that has been sold to or stored by third parties or whether this is only a storage area for unsold art.

Once again, it is unclear if there was insurance and, if so, what the insured value might be. However, the art was purchased at what many viewed as ridiculously inflated prices. (It would be interesting to see what value an insurance company would assign to these pieces). Even a partial insured value would exceed the value of the work over the long term. Some of Hunter’s work was previously pulling as much as a Picasso. It also allowed for money to flow to Hunter from allies under the alleged pretext of art sales.

There is also the possibility of writing off the losses on taxes. There could be the ultimate irony in such a claim if it could be made.  Generally, to claim a casualty loss as deductible, there must be a federally declared disaster. On January 8, Joe Biden declared a federal disaster. If this art is covered (and I am no expert), Hunter and his allies could seek deductions for art tied to an alleged influence-peddling scandal by citing a declaration of the very person who was the subject of that influence peddling.

Hunter and his allies could find the ultimate truth in the insurance slogan “Your Safety Net in a World of Change.” Faced with a warehouse of mediocre, over-prized art with diminishing value, this could prove the best return on investment since the Bamboo Lounge went up in flames.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”

128 thoughts on “Fire Sale: Could the Burning of “Millions” in Hunter’s Art Prove a Windfall?”

  1. Jonathan: By your own admission you are not an art expert. So why pile speculation upon speculation about the value of Hunter Biden’s art work lost in the LA fires? Your obsession with all things Hunter now borders on abnormal.

    And you are still peddling the false claim that “Hunter and his allies could seek deductions for art tied to an alleged influence-peddling scandal citing a declaration of the very person [Joe Biden] who was the subject of that influence peddling”. What does Hunter’s art work have to do with the claims made by you and Jim Comer about the “Biden family corruption scandal”? Nothing.

    Remember Alexander Smirnov? Jim Comer claimed Smirnov was “highly credible” informant and would prove Burisma paid $5 million in bribes to both Hunter and his father. Turns out Smirnov was, in fact, a Russian agent who lied to the FBI. A week ago Smirnov was sentenced to 6 years in prison. With that Comer’s and your case against the Biden’s was completely debunked.

    So why do you keep dumping on Hunter? What’s the point? Hunter was not the only one to lose art work in the fires? In fact, thousands of Angelenos have lost everything–their homes and personal possessions. Many celebrities in the Palisades and Malibu lost not only their expensive homes but valuable art work. Will they claim deductions for their losses. Probably. So how is that different than Hunter’s situation? Nothing. Do you show any sympathy for all those who lost every? Nope. It has to be all about Hunter. Pretty pathetic!

    1. Why do you keep dumping on Hunter? He is just providing Hunter with art supplies obviously.

  2. Is con men buying and selling from con men to launder money and gain influence considered incest?

  3. Yes, Hunter Biden can deduct the fair market value of the paintings lost in the fire officially declared to be caused by a natural disaster. The issue is: How do you determine the fair market value of those lost Hunter Biden paintings?

    The most common method is to compare the prices of similar art works sold by the artist. Now, Hunter may point to his previous sales as support for the fair market value, but the sale to only one or two parties doesn’t constitute a “market” in determining the fair market value. Otherwise, it would be relatively easy for an artist to create inflated sales of his works by simply round-tripping the revenues from sales to just one or two purported “buyers.” Let me illustrate how this fraud scheme would work in practice. An artist separately loans $100,500 to an art buyer who is in on the scheme. The art buyer then uses $100,000 to buy a painting from the artist, gives the $100,000 back to the artist, and the art buyer keeps the remaining $500 as payment for his help. Documents are drawn up to support the “sale” of the painting to the art buyer for $100,000.

    However, should the IRS challenge Hunter Biden’s attempts to cash-in on the fire disaster in California with his fake “fair-market-value” transactional “support,” Hunter has announced that he has the world’s leading expert on all matters concerning valuation of any kind of property to back up his claims. Hunter has no less an esteemed valuation authority as Arthur “The Moron” Engoron. Engoron is so skilled at valuations that he hardly needs to know any facts whatsoever about a given property to determine its value with absolute precision. And Engoron is already on record stating that he considers Hunter Biden’s paintings to be priceless works of art. “While Trump falsely claimed that his Mar a Lago property was worth more than $18 million, Hunter Bidens paintings reflect such a sweeping mastery of style and visual insight that they will easily be worth $25 million in the year 2040. Discounting the painting to the net present fair market value using a reasonable capitalization rate, I conservativgely estimate each Hunter Biden painting to be worth in excess of $250,000,” Engoron opined on the matter.

    Hunter has also stated that if anyone dares question Engoron’s intellectual prowess and independence on the valuations of his art, no less a legal authority as Juan “The Con” Merchan has offered to opine that Authur “The Moron” Engoron is the most qualified expert living today on all matters of valuation. With such heavyweight experts as Arthur “The Moron” Engoron and Juan “The Con” Merchan in Hunter’s corner, it would seem that the IRS would have no choice but to accede to Hunter Biden’s tax return claims. But if the IRS persists in questioning Hunter’s valuations of his lost paintings on his tax returns, Hunter also claims that more that 50 former senior U.S. intelligence officials have signed a document stating that “Hunter Biden’s paintings have all the earmarks of being priceless works of art that will ultimately sell for millions of dollars in the near future, and that any disagreement with this sound conclusion has all the earmarks of Russian disinformation.”

    1. What a heap of delusional malarky. where do people come up with stuff? A delusional mind …

  4. That’s okay, all he needs is a paint ball gun and some paper. He should make short work of this, maybe two to three days.

  5. OT: Hey everyone, today the Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of election interference charges against Trump for allegedly “pressuring” Raffensberger “to find 11,780 votes.” I’m hoping that some of our more colorful commenters will now cease to bring this up in every comment, irrespective of substantive topic….

    2. BREAKING: CBS is considering settling the $10 billion lawsuit by President Trump for election interference
      (Re: altering Kamala’s 60 Minutes interview and refusing to release edited transcript)

    3. * Yes, and State SENATOR Colton Moore was barred from chambers after requesting a special session to impeach fani willis. Moore was put in Fulton county jail no less.

      What a place.

  6. The answer is No, Hunter will not collect on the “art” destroyed in the fires. The insurance policy rules that to collect on high price items like jewelry, art, sculptures, etc., you need to have an addendum on your policy with certified appraisals for each piece to be insured. Hunter never sold his art at a public auction, so if he tried to get appraisals for a special addendum, he would have a hard time.

  7. Poor babies. Their money laundering lost another of its legs to stand on. Boo hoo. The Biden, but controlled by Obama and his minions, administration we have had to endure since 2020 – just let it burn and let’s move on, already. I didn’t realize just how bad Obama was for the world until his second term; forgive me – I woke up eventually.

    Hunter can cry his crocodile tears, knowing his money and connections were not enough to make him a good person worthy of anything resembling acknowledgement, even from his aristocratic family. Good riddance to the administration that was basically practicing to become a mix of Al Capone and Karl Marx had they won. No, Kamala, free speech is not a ‘privilege’, to be revoked at any time by the aristocracy. Go to effing h***.

          1. You spend your days trolling Turley’s site slinging insults and attacks and you call Floyd pathetic? How utterly unaware you are of your behaviors.

  9. I am guessing that if there was insurance, there would be a Fine Arts rider to the policy. At first glance, it costs 1% to 5% of the art’s value, paid annually. Sooo, if Hunter valued his “art” at $5 million, that would cost $50,000 to $250,000 each year. I don’t see him paying that.

      2. Yes, I do. So do you, if you read JT’s article! $875,000 divided by 11 paintings, is about $80,000 each. Hunter lost 200 pieces of art, or about $16 million. I GUESSED about $25,000 each, to be conservative. What a painting by a famous artist might reasonably go for, without the “buying influence” added value.

        Now, say that you are sorry, and that you apologize! 🙂

  10. After washing down a bottle of poison pills with the kool-aid, what are the odds that the Democrat party, the MSM and RINOs will survive ?

    1. They’ll just keep drinking the kool-aid. It works too! Biden just ratified the ERA only 42 years after the legal deadline🤣🤣🤣

  12. OT

    “L.A. Price Gouging”

    In bizarre fashion, authorities in L.A. have seized the power, sans any constitutional basis, to set prices, which is the sole dominion of the owner regarding private property.  No level of government has any power to deny constitutional rights and freedoms. 

    Certainly, moral people seek to be as charitable as is reasonable, but the officials involved have engaged in “power gouging” to compel philanthropy and arbitrarily and unconstitutionally amend the 5th Amendment right. 

    To wit,

    “[Private property is] that dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in exclusion of every other individual.”

    – James Madison

    1. * Yes, right now it’s popular to help out serving food and stuff. In about 2 weeks the newness will wear off and the people left homeless to fend for themselves.

      Donations should be sent to the red cross unless u just enjoy rip offs.

      Really tragic…

      1. One man’s “rip-off” is another man’s private property, comrade Asterisk.

        You’re in the United States of America.

        Please read the Constitution.

        One may engage in charity and philanthropy to one’s heart’s content in the free markets of the private sector; government has no power to compel those noble endeavors.

        Oh, and a good participant in freedom ensures that he insures every aspect of his life he has concern for—perhaps even transportation, room, and board.

  13. When he was on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly threatened to withhold disaster aid from California. “We’re going to take care of your water situation, and we’ll force it down his throat,” Trump said during a rally in Coachella, California, referring to California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. “And we’ll say: Gavin, if you don’t do it, we’re not giving you any of that fire money that we send you all the time for all the fire, forest fires that you have.”

    I don’t live in Florida, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, or Mississippi. Don’t you dare give a penny when the next hurricane hits one of those states.

    What comes around goes around Stop the BS and act like a grown up.

    1. You continue to miss out on the point that the fires are naturally occurring, homeless campfires or set intentionally as arson.That’s the CAUSE, the failure to CONTAIN and minimize the damage lie squarely on Newsom and Bass. Their incompetence and negligence have delivered California the fruits of their actions of cutting budgets, underemployment of firefighters and/or simply failing to prepare. Californias excessive obsession for a known seasonal occurrence. The leftist green and social justice agenda regarding homelessness, drug abuse, policing and environmental degradation have warped their sense of reality. Human health and Safety are the highest line items on the priorities list of public service. Trump is using the money as a stick to beat some sense into Newsom whose party policies have resulted in multiple billions of dollars in damages, thousands of homeless and 30 dead and counting. They both should be immediately fired, arrested and held criminally accountable for negligence. It was foreseeable as evidenced by the insurance companies withdrawals. I live in coastal Florida and our Governor and our local government have emergency action plans prepared that limit the damages and deaths through preparedness planning.

      1. And building on the Florida beaches is fine?
        Give me a break.
        A house on a gulf coast beach will be swept away, do not use my tax dollars to rebuild at all. ZERO.

        2. The government doesn’t pay to rebuild your house that I am aware of. People may get some relief funds in disaster situations but private insurance companies are the ones who pay.

          1. My SIL is getting funds to compensate for the loss of her house in Western NC directly from FEMA. Not full value, but a significant fraction of it.

            1. NFIP
              National Flood Insurance Program
              Is she getting an insurance claim check from her federally subsidized insurance policy for her property? Key word insurance.
              Albeit subsidized by taxpayers you still pay a premium like all insurance.

              1. Is it possible to have NFIP coverage while paying nothing at all? Like many or most homeowners in that area of NC, she declined to pay for flood insurance based on the perceived cost/risk ratio. So, she will receive money channeled through FEMA for which she paid no direct premium. I do not have enough direct knowledge of the minute details to go beyond that characterization. I am not going to give specific numbers on the chance, no matter how tiny, that someone might be able to correlate information to identities, but I would guesstimate that the compensation is on the order of 20 – 25% of total (house and property) market value.

                1. If her home was mortgaged she wouldn’t have a choice on the insurance. I don’t really know, I don’t believe the disaster funds build uninsured people new homes. Tough break for her and I am sorry for her loss. There’s a swath all the way up through Georgia that got hammered. Bright side is she’s alive, all else can be replaced.

                  1. No mortgage, it was paid off years ago. I do not know exactly how the FEMA grant was characterized; she has no intention of rebuilding on that site, but it was compensation for her loss in some way. She has also benefited from a “Go Fund Me” campaign started by a friend, so, while she will not be “made whole”, she will have her losses covered to a greater extent than many in her area. I do not now whether or not conditions on the FEMA grant or any other regulation will prevent future building of a residence on the property. In retrospect, there was a risk that was not cognizable to her, nor to most or all the other nearby residents: a 500 billion gallon water reservoir at a higher elevation on a nearby creek. When the intense rainfall from the hurricane hit, the dam gates for that reservoir were opened to prevent destruction of the dam, and that massive inundation was added to the effects of the rainfall downstream. A really unfortunate situation. It’s easy to be critical of those decisions in hindsight, but I’m not certain that I would have done anything differently in her place.

        3. I’m fine with ending (I do think a phase-out would be the only fair way to do it) all Federal disaster assistance. I somehow missed that one in the list of enumerated powers granted Fedgov.

          1. Article I, Section 8. Congress has the power to “provide for the…general welfare of the United States.” Disaster relief falls under this power if Congress chooses to provide it.

            1. General – All or The Whole

              Welfare – Well Proceed

              All Well Proceed

              All or The Whole, not some, one, or a few.
              ______________________________________________

              General Welfare, not Individual Welfare, Specific Welfare, Particular Welfare, Favor, or Charity.

              No disaster ever comes close to even a 100th of the national U.S. population, as in “general” or All or The Whole.

              The is no constitutional basis for “emergency powers” or “disaster relief.”

              The private insurance industry handles repairs, temporary shelter, and whatever else is in the contract.

              States and localities may fund emergency management.

              FEMA is unconstitutional as are most U.S. Agencies and Departments.

            2. BS. You could stretch that promise to cover any and every ambition that occurred in any Fedgov employee’s most fevered moist musing. Which an a$$hat like you would like to be reality, but not in this reality, bozo.

        4. If California was an independent country it would have the fourth largest economy in the world. If they are doing that good then they can pay their own bills.

          1. Fifth largest economy (after US, China, Japan, and Germany). In any event, California is a net contributor to the Federal budget so the country as a whole already benefits from the size of California’s economy. The only rational outcome of your sentiment is that every state should just pay its own way (why single out California to lose aid when it already pays Federal taxes based on the size of its economy), but that would undermine the fact we are one country and should help each other.

            1. They defunded their cops. They defunded their fire departments. They had no water in the lines for the fire hydrants. Florida communities didn’t defund any of their first responders and their fire hydrants produce water to fight fires. The basic infrastructure needs of their communities are met. And they seem to higher the most qualified applicants for jobs, not filled by unqualified DEI hires. California got what it voted for. The rest of us should not be on the hook for this.

    2. William Mulholland began the California Aqueduct in 1905.

      California officials must have constructed a water pipeline from Great Bear Lake, Canada, or more proximate source, some decades later.

      At a minimum, more of the 78 trillion gallons of recent rainfall must have been captured by an expanded reservoir system.

      Officials not only did not capture rainfall but they admitted 20 million more Mexicans et al. to consume whatever water was available.

  14. SCOTUS upholds TikTok forced divestiture law

    This is a very strong signal that the CCP cannot use the 1st Amendment as a cudgel to undermine U.S. national security interests. And 9-0.

    Who cares about Biden’s art? Boring topic when things of actual consequence are going on.

  15. Interesting point raised by Tyrus on Gufteld is that this is a scam. No “multimillion dollar” paintings burned but an attempt to cash in via insurance fraud on now utterly worthless pictures which he called “coupons” not art; coupons showing you now have favors and accss coming from corrupt Biden.

    1. Very good analogy he made, in that case. Those “coupons” have passed their expiration date…

  16. The word “hypocrite” appeared several times in this thread. You know what was a good example of that? Biden’s Farewell Speech warning about oligarchs, billionaires etc. – just a few days after he pinned a medal on Soros.

    1. You expected Biden to suddenly manifest a sense of self-awareness 3 days from the end of his term?

  17. And yes, the outrage and the anger in this country regarding Biden administration & Democrat criminality and corruption is overflowing.
    The years of lies about Russia collusion — all fabricated.
    The years of lies about J6 — the persecutions, denial of due process, stripped of defense, innocent people railroaded by government and DC courts. IT IS OUTRAGEOUS INJUSTICE that MUST BE CORRECTED and those in power who perpetrated these injustices MUST PAY.
    The targeting of MAGA and conservatives BY Joe Biden’s government is OUTRAGEOUS.
    There MUST be accountability, prosecutions and yes, PRISON TIME for big wigs — not just the low level sacrificial staffers.
    DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT THIS TIME you feeble, weak Republicans. DO YOUR DAM JOBS this time.
    PROSECUTIONS and PRISON TIME MUST HAPPEN for justice in this country to be restored to balance.

    1. And yes, PARDON *all* J6’ers. Every single one.
      F Pelosi and her POS Democrat sociopaths
      F the DC corrupt scumbag media-brainwashed judges
      F Liz Cheney – prosecute the shlit out of her – PRISON TIME
      F criminal POS Merrick Garland – prosecute his Contempt of Congress
      Prosecute Michael Graves
      ONE BY ONE PUT ALL OF THESE CRIMINAL LYING EVIL SCUM THRU THE RINGER
      MAKE THEM SQUIRM

      1. Pardon all non violent offenders, commute the sentences of violent offenders. Get them out of the gulag, those that have civil rights cases, expedite their grievances. DOJ attorneys that took Jack Smith’s abusive lead at prosecution, disbar them and remove their immunity. Prosecute Byrd or mitigate the murder by freeing Chauvin!

    3. When President Biden stands at his bully pulpit and calls voters like me a fascist?
      When Biden stands at his podium and calls voters like me a domestic extremist?
      And then Biden’s corrupt DOJ hunts MAGA “extremists” for 4 years with his weaponized government?
      Putting innocent citizens in prison — excessive prison time — defying the Supreme Court — because they are MAGA?

      And when Biden *mandates* experimental jabs on over 80 million workers before being reversed by Supreme Court?
      Calling the unvaccinated the problem? “Our patience is wearing thin with you”.
      And then mandates it on the military?
      Where his DEI Def Sec went AWOL not once, but twice, without notifying the proper chain of command?
      And all the media does is run cover for Biden’s corruption, outrageous scandals and nonstop lying?

      You better believe WE the People are angry.

      Biden is a despicable POS. And he will pay. One way or another he and his corrupt administration will pay for their crimes against citizens of this country.

  18. Biden was declared too feeble and senile to stand trial for his classified documents felony crimes.
    Yet he continued as president signing EO’s? WTF?
    Will Trump DOJ lawyers — or any lawyers — file legal challenges to ALL Executive Orders signed by President Biden?
    How can anything Biden signed be considered legally sound?
    They can’t.
    They MUST be challenged.

    Then PROSECUTE the shlt out of every Biden administration criminal scumbag including Merrick Garland.
    Prosecute every Biden Crime Family criminal degenerate scumbag.
    SEND OUT MASSIVE SUBPOENAS – no courtesy invitation — subpoenas first and only UNDER OATH.
    Put every Biden under oath and FORCE them to defend their f’n crimes.
    DO NOT LET BIDEN GO QUIETLY INTO HIS GOODNIGHT.
    He’s a POS criminal scum who needs to be held accountable alongside his disgusting POS family.

    1. Do you know how many subpoenas Democrats in Congress sent to Eric Trump?

      112 subpoenas.

      Why? He was being TARGETED by despicable crooked POS evil scumbag Democrats.

      Do NOT give these mf’ers an OUNCE of COURTESY.

      Their lies, crimes and corruption *must be exposed* under bright lights of public scrutiny.

      Put every one of these criminals under oath and grill the shlt out of them.

    2. Anonymous: I KNOW that the MAGA media you rely on didn’t cover President Biden’s farewell speech or the last interview he did with Lawrence O’Donnell, so let me fill you in–Biden was eloquent and, like Eisenhower warned of the “military-industrial complex”, “Biden first warned of an “oligarchy” forming in the upper echelons of America that is threatening democracy as we know it.

      “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” Biden said.

      The 46th president was most likely referring to Mark Zuckerberg, who has disbarred fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram and donated $1 million to Trump through his tech giant Meta, and X and Tesla mogul Elon Musk, who has made it abundantly clear he will stand as a huge point of influence through Trump’s upcoming term.

      Biden emphasized that “social media giving up on fact-checking” could pose a great danger to the freedom of information and the pursuit of truth in the U.S., adding that “the free press is crumbling” and giving way to an “avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power.”

      “The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit,” Biden said. “We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children and our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power.”

      Biden also took a slight jab at Trump during the address, demanding the constitution be amended so that “no president is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office.” Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies in March related to falsifying documents to cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.”*

      Now, WHERE do you get off claiming that “Biden was declared too feeble and senile to stand trial for his classified documents felony crimes.”? Hur is a Republican pundit–not a medical doctor. Biden has been one of the most-successful Presidents in recent history. He got a cease-fire deal worked out **, he pulled together NATO allies after Trump insulted them, and he got America back to work, back to school, got infrastructure passed, got COVID under control, and got our economy back on line.

      WHERE do you get off claiming that Biden or anyone else committed crimes? WHAT crimes? There weren’t any, but what isn’t speculative is that Trump IS A CONVICTED FELON.

      Your post is a perfect and clear example of the effect of MAGA media, the disinformation and misinformation it puts out, and the discipleship it manages to cultivate among the gullibles. WHY do you blindly accept the lie that Biden and Democrats are criminals? All of that is a push-back by MAGA media to the actual crimes Trump has committed.

      *Excerpted from “Variety”.

      **Trump is trying to take credit for this. Because Trump had so many ultra-wealthy Jewish donors, Netanyahu tried to delay the cease-fire until Trump took office to make Trump look good. The deal that went through is the same deal on the table last May. Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians were killed, as well as some of the hostages.

      1. Gigi: I KNOW that the media you rely on didn’t cover Bernie Sanders quoting President Biden’s farewell speech when attempting to corner Treasury nominee Scott Bessent, so let me fill you in–
        “Sanders cited President Joe Biden’s statement made in his Wednesday farewell address that ‘an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence,’and questioned [Bessent] on whether he agrees that tech moguls Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos have overarching influence on the country…
        “’Look, the three billionaires who you listed, they all made the money themselves. Mr. Musk came to the country as an immigrant,’ Bessent said….”
        “Sanders said to forget how they made their money and suggested that a limited amount of people having significant political power creates an ‘oligarchic form of society.'”
        “’Well, I would note that President Biden gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two people who I think would qualify for ‘his oligarchs,’… Bessent cited that Biden recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Democratic mega donor George Soros and The Carlyle Group co-chairman David Rubenstein, who he referred to as the president’s ‘oligarchs,’ prompting Sanders to…move onto another question.”
        https://dailycaller.com/2025/01/16/trump-treasury-pick-bessent-bernie-sanders-biden-oligarch/

        2. The Harris campaign raised twice as much money as team Trump. And after the election was over they were 20 million in the hole. Trump had money left over and offered to pay the democrats deficit. So where did the dims get all this money from. And then they spent the money like drunken sailors.

          1. If that transpired anywhere else it would be called for what it is, money laundering. A Billion dollars and still in debt! Audit of everything that cackling crow spent, every dime, legal fees you say?

      2. We often hear this comment about politicians: “Do they think voters are stupid?”

        Yes, Democrats actually DO think their voters are stupid.
        Why? Because all they do is lie to them. Dem pols are incapable of telling the truth — about anything.
        Every accusation by a Democrat is a confession. Projection on steroids.
        All their propaganda media does is lie to voters on behalf of Democrats. MSM has no credibility. No better than Pravda.
        Do you actually believe Lawrence or Rachel are “informing” you? LOL. They are LYING to you. And they know it, too.

        So yes, Democrat pols KNOW their voters are stupid because they know how much they lie to them.
        Democrats lie to their voters in order to manipulate them and control them as useful idiots who vote D no matter who.
        It’s an abusive relationship. Democrats abuse their voters by lying to them. Their voters nhave NO idea what’s going on.

        What will it take for you to wake the F up?

        LA is burning down. But it’s climate change! It’s the wind! And over on MSNBC they are telling you that it’s not Democrats fault — No, it’s Trump’s fault because he’s a climate denier.
        How can they get away with this nonsense? BECAUSE THEY KNOW HOW STUPID DEMOCRAT VOTERS ARE.
        Brainwashed, brain dead, useless idiots = Democrat voter base.

        Biden is a congenital liar who has done nothing for 50 years but make himself and his crooked family filthy rich off his “public service” career and by selling out his country to our enemies. That’s a documented FACT.

        1. Democrat politicians hardly have a monopoly on lying to their constituents, but in recent years, they do seem to be pursuing that penchant with a great deal more enthusiasm than their competition.

          1. A jury just found that CNN is literally fake news.
            ABCs George Stephanopoulus would have been found to have defamed Trump by lying *with actual malice* if the case went to trial — which is why they settled before lil’ Georgie had to sit for an embarrassing and revealing deposition.
            The Pulitzer Prize committee refused to rescind the Pulitzers awarded to reporters who reported LIES to readers for years re Russia collusion — which was total fabrication from the start — and most in the media, like Jake Tapper for one, KNEW it was false information. But that didn’t stop them from “reporting” it for years.
            We can go on down the MSM line….and find lie after lie after lie…..
            The media actually are the Enemy of the People. They are the fake news.

            1. Another 4 year Democrat administration is coming to an end and the compliant media had nothing much to report by way of Biden lies or scandals. It’s truly remarkable that yet another Democrat admin has been deemed “scandal free”. Amazing.

      3. If Biden’s exact “deal” was presented to Israel and Hamas back in May, then why wasn’t the deal made 9 months ago?
        Or 6 months ago? Or 3 months ago?

        Why was it only made one week before Trump was inaugurated? And only after Trump’s envoy joined the negotiations? Where it was reported that Wykoff got Netanyahu to move more in ONE day than Biden/Blinken did in one year.

        Everyone in the world knows the answer.
        Biden and Blinken had little to do with brokering this deal. They were hindrances.

          1. I just read that the Houthis have committed to stopping the Red Sea attacks so long as the ceasefire holds, so one more positive to credit Trump with before his term even begins.

            1. “the Houthis have committed to stopping the Red Sea attacks so long as the ceasefire holds,”

              When Hamas attacks or kills Israeli civilians and Israel responds ,will the Houthis then say Israel is the reason they are resuming Red Sea attacks? But despite that it is good that calming is the direction being taken by countries in the region. As you say this is a result of Trump’s abilities and international honesty.

              1. ” it is good that calming is the direction”

                Exactly. At worst, there will be a period during which Red Sea shipping will be free from attacks or threats of same.

      4. “Biden was eloquent”

        That tells you all you need to know about Girly-Girl’s intelligence and judgement.

      5. Gigi, many places covered it – including Fox, as well as left but not crazy sites.

        It was more meaningless demented drivel.

        Biden warned of an oligarchy – you mean when Politicians have their sons solicit bribes from foreign companies ?

        Do you mean the twice as many billions and billionaires that Democrats are beholding to ?

        Regaqrdless You and Biden are dunces.

        So long as government has power SOMEONE is going to rent it.

        As Lord Acton noted – power corrupts absolute power corrupts absolutely.

        You can thwart the influence of big business – maybe. But you can not stop influence peddling.
        What you can do is reduce it by limiting govenrmet.

        Regardless we will not and can not have an oligarchy.

        You have probably heard the term “rent seeking” – the point of it is that politicians do not ever Sell Power – they gather it to themselves and rent it out

        Regardless the power ALWAYS remains with the government even when politicians rent it out.
        UNLESS you remove it from govenrment and then it goes to the people.

        We talk about Russian Oligarchs – the implication being Russia is an oligarchy.
        But Putin is the near absolute power in Russia. and “Oligarchs” that challenge him end up dead or in prison.

        There has never been an actual oligarchy anywhere ever – they are impossible.

        But the political party that is vigorously renting out the lincoln bedroom is the Democrats, and it is massively hypocritical for Biden to talk – since he is for sale cheap.

        Regardless – it has been the left that keeps taking peoples freedom

        It is the left that censored Twitter and Facebook. It is the left that had govenrment pay contracotrs to censor by proxy.

        Please name a single freedom that faces any danger from Theil or Murdock or Musk ?

        While Sorros paid to increase peoples risks of violent crime.

        Regardless you left wing nuts constantly speak of great threats to democracy – but the Threat is YOU.

        “The 46th president was most likely referring to Mark Zuckerberg, who has disbarred fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram ”
        And that made us all MORE FREE.

        “Biden emphasized that “social media giving up on fact-checking” could pose a great danger to the freedom of information and the pursuit of truth in the U.S.”
        Exactly the opposite. It is the supression of information by idiot left wing nut fact checkers that has deprived us of the truth.

        Regardless – how has the loss of fact checkers reduced your freedom ?
        Your still going to shill the same left wing nonsense.
        You will be as free as ever to look for the truth youself
        and as always you will not do so.

        What you have lost is the power to silence others or call them liars – when all too often it is you that is lying.

        regardless, here is a modernized update of John Stuart Mill – one of the smartest humans that has ever lived’s opus “On Liberty” Published for free by the Heterodox acadmeny
        This will explain to you why censorship – even of false information is a VERY BAD IDEA.

        https://content.heterodoxacademy.org/uploads/1-Tools-Resources/All-Minus-One-2nd-Edition-PDF-1.pdf

        In 2008 when the financial markets were getting wobbly, SEC Chair Paulson suspended “short selling” because he beleived it was destablizing the market,
        Instantly the market got LESS stable and very rapidly things started failing.

        Whether it is in the stock market or in the marketplace of ideas and politics. Nay Sayers perform a critical function – they are what gives us confidence that the concensus is right,
        or pushes us to reject the consensus when it is wrong.
        Without the nay sayers – without those who are constantly telling us we are wrong. we are unable to trust whether we or anyone else is right or wrong.

        We test ideas in the fiery crucible of debate – not at the left wing nut fact checkers couch.

        “Those who won our independence by revolution were not cowards. They did not fear political change. They did not exalt order at the cost of liberty. To courageous, self-reliant men, with confidence in the power of free and fearless reasoning applied through the processes of popular government, no danger flowing from speech can be deemed clear and present unless the incidence of the evil apprehended is so imminent that it may befall before there is opportunity for full discussion. If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence. Only an emergency can justify repression. Such must be the rule if authority is to be reconciled with freedom. Such, in my opinion, is the command of the Constitution. It is therefore always open to Americans to challenge a law abridging free speech and assembly by showing that there was no emergency justifying it.
        Moreover, even imminent danger cannot justify resort to prohibition of these functions essential to effective democracy unless the evil apprehended is relatively serious. Prohibition of free speech and assembly is a measure so stringent that it would be inappropriate as the means for averting a relatively trivial harm to society. A police measure may be unconstitutional merely because the remedy, although effective as means of protection, is unduly harsh or oppressive. Thus, a State might, in the exercise of its police power, make any trespass upon the land of another a crime, regardless of the results or of the intent or purpose of the trespasser. It might, also, punish an attempt, a conspiracy, or an incitement to commit the trespass. But it is hardly conceivable that this Court would hold constitutional a statute which punished as a felony the mere voluntary assembly with a society formed to teach that pedestrians had the moral right to cross unenclosed, unposted, wastelands and to advocate their doing so, even if there was imminent danger that advocacy would lead to a trespass. The fact that speech is likely to result in some violence or in destruction of property is not enough to justify its suppression. There must be the probability of serious injury to the State. Among free men, the deterrents ordinarily to be applied to prevent crime are education and punishment for violations of the law, not abridgment of the rights of free speech and assembly.”

        Justice Brandeis Whitney V California.

        “the free press is crumbling”
        Absolutely absurd – The woke left MSM is crumbling – because they lost the search for the truth and have become ideological pupets.

        “avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power.”
        What false claims have been made that are this avalanche that Fact Checkers have protected us from ?
        The collusion delusion ?
        Nope they got that wrong.
        Spying on Trump
        Nope they got that wrong.

        I can go on and on – it is your “factcheckers who ARE the purveyors of lies

        “The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit,”
        Re-read Whitney V Calfornia above – Biden is demented – that is not how free speech actually works.

        “We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children and our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power.”
        Nope,

        “Now, WHERE do you get off claiming that “Biden was declared too feeble and senile to stand trial for his classified documents felony crimes.””
        In the very remarks you cite. He read prepared remarks by some woke idiot speech writer.
        The remarks were stupid and wrong, and had Biden been competent he would not have said anything so stupid.

        “Hur is a Republican pundit–not a medical doctor.”
        Hur is a lawyer – a US attorney, responsible for deciding who to prosecute.
        Regardless your caught between a rock and a hard place.
        If Competent as Hur noted, than Bidens actions were criminal.

        “Biden has been one of the most-successful Presidents in recent history.”
        ROFL

        “He got a cease-fire deal worked out”
        Nope Trump did. Even significant portions of left wing media grasps that this deal would not have happened but for Trump.

        “he pulled together NATO allies after Trump insulted them”
        Actually he caused multiple unnececary wars – that have letft Europe deeper in debt, short on energy. cold in the winter, paying 4-10 times as much for energy as in 2020, and rapidly deindustrializing. I would further note that left wing governments accross europe are collapsing.

        “he got America back to work”
        ROFL
        “back to school”
        ROFL
        “got infrastructure passed”
        That has built almost nothing and cost trillions and is a major part of the cause of our inflation.

        “got COVID under control”
        No nature did that
        Government had nothing to do with it.
        Covid mutated until it was no more than a mild head cold.
        It is still here – and that is left wing nuts fault.

        “and got our economy back on line”
        But it is not – growth after inflation may be lower than under Obama.

        “WHERE do you get off claiming that Biden or anyone else committed crimes?”
        I look at the facts.
        “WHAT crimes?”
        FAR violations, money laundering, bribery.

        “There weren’t any”
        ROFL
        ” but what isn’t speculative is that Trump IS A CONVICTED FELON.”
        Not for long. What will you say as the case gets tossed for judicial error ?

        Trump is not “trying to take credit for it – outside of the Biden administration those involve gave Trump credit for it.
        Even left wing sources like BreakingPoints say the deal would not have happened without trump.
        While speculating at what conspiracy Trump has going with Netenyahu to get him to take this deal.
        “Netanyahu tried to delay the cease-fire until Trump took office to make Trump look good. ”
        No Netenyahu tried to delay it because it is not a very good deal, and because he has a very divided coalition govenrment and had trouble getting the support needed.

        “The deal that went through is the same deal on the table last May. Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians were killed, as well as some of the hostages.”
        Yes, because Biden was too weak to make this deal happen.

        Had Biden gotten peace deals in Ukraine and Gaza in May – he would not have faced a coup in his own party and he would have been re-elected.

        You say this was the same deal – then why couldn’t Biden get it over the line in May – when it would have done him a huge amoutn of good politically ?

        He could not get the deal in May because he is weak impotent, and no one trusts him.

        I would note that Trump is more popular in Israel than Netenyahu.
        And more popular in Gaza than Biden.

        One of the reasons that Harris lost in Michigan was that Trump got a much larger than any prior republican portion of the arab/muslim vote.

        Trump is not loved by palestinians. but he is trusted – atleast more than Biden.

    3. Assuming that Trump can issue EO’s to countermand each of Biden’s, would there be any real point in those challenges? Which method would be quicker and more efficient? From a structural POV I can see the attraction in “making them never was” rather than having the entire assertion/negation mess “on the books”, but WRT the history of Executive Orders, it seems to be far too late for any elegant solutions.

  19. Normally, I would make a wisecrack about this, but sometimes it’s impossible to upstage reality. If HBO had any integrity (which they don’t), they’d make a miniseries about the Biden clan. It would be hilarious.

  20. Turls, the Hunter campaign has been so good to you that you have to cash out big, don’t you? No doubt you’ve reached your Murdoch mandate numbers with this one?

    Now you can turn your focus back over to Jared??? Ummm…wait, that’s right, 3.5 billy in trumpworld these days is like parking ticket money.

    You’re a mean man, Jonny. You’ve officially reached Roy Cohn status.

    1. I heard Hunter gave his landlord a portrait of you. This would be the first time the artist was in the nude.

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