I have taught torts, including defamation for over 30 years, but I have never seen the like of the Hunter Biden defamation case. The defendant made defamatory statements and then just refused to appear. That led to an equally bizarre $1.7 million award by U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson of the Central District of California to Biden, consisting of just $1 in nominal damages and the rest in punitive damages.
Here is the most interesting line of the opinion: “the damage to Plaintiff’s reputation is difficult to calculate.” It may be the single greatest understatement in the history of judicial opinions.
However, the court also noted “Plaintiff does not seek actual damages above a nominal amount.”
That means that Hunter Biden’s counsel, in a default case, elected not to argue for compensatory damages due to loss of reputation. Why would he do that?
It might be that he has little reputation to lose and that opening up that part of the case was fraught with perils. However, it also created a potential major appellate issue. His counsel was making it clear that they were litigating purely for punitives.
For Hunter Biden, this is a much-needed windfall. His art sales notably collapsed with the value of currying favor to the Bidens. He is reportedly being pursued by creditors, including former counsel.
The question is whether the award will stand.
For many critics, Hunter Biden is virtually ‘libel proof” as an individual who has no reputation to lose. However, as we have previously discussed, that status is reserved for the most reviled personalities who cannot be defamed due to the lack of any positive reputation.
Judge Wilson, a Reagan appointee, admits in his opinion that determining reputational harm to someone like Biden is difficult to do and further recognizes the argument that “prior tarnishing of Plaintiff’s reputation may reduce the reprehensibility of Defendant’s conduct.”
The case involves a claim by former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne that Biden took part in an $800 million bribery scheme involving Iran and failed to defend his claims in court.
Hunter Biden has long been accused of influence peddling that generated millions for him and his family. I have been one of his longest critics as part of a corrupt family enterprise.
However, this claim was not one of those that his critics, and Congress, focused on during the Biden years. There is no evidence that he took a bribe or payment in a quid pro quo for releasing the money to Iran.
The lawsuit was part of a flurry of such actions brought against Biden’s critics. Most were later dismissed, but played a part in the scorched-earth campaign of Biden. I was even threatened with such an action after criticizing his counsel and financial backer, Kevin Morris.
As Biden dropped the other lawsuits, this one continued to be litigated. It was an easy kill. Byrne simply did not defend himself and defaulted. That left the matter to Judge Wilson, who was clearly irate.
The opinion recounts an extraordinary pile-up as Byrne sought to replace lawyers:
“Defendant initially attempted to replace Mr. Murphy with three new lawyers: Eric Neff, Tom Yu, and Stefanie Lynn Lambert Junttila. ECF Nos. 290, 291, 292. Ms. Lambert was not a member of the California Bar, and her application to appear pro hac vice was denied2 due to her recent history of unethical conduct, which gave the Court reason to doubt she would abide by the Court’s rules and practices. ECF No. 295. When Defendant learned that Ms. Lambert was not qualified to represent him in this case, Defendant also instructed Mr. Neff and Mr. Yu to remove themselves.
Moreover, Defendant himself, now unrepresented, still failed to appear at trial. Accordingly, the Court issued an order to show cause why it should not enter default judgment against Defendant and ordered the parties to return the following day. At that hearing, on July 30, 2025, Defendant again failed to appear. Mr. Yu, who was not authorized to represent Defendant at trial, argued on Defendant’s behalf for a continuance, in lieu of default judgment.”
The defendant would miss a series of filing and appearance dates, including orders that he appear in person.
Wilson, 85, ruled in his opinion that Byrne acted with “intentional misrepresentation” and “conscious disregard” for Hunter’s rights. Making things worse, Byrne was found to have continued making the false claims after the lawsuit, and said Byrne continued to amplify the false allegations even after Hunter filed the lawsuit against him.
Accordingly, the court found that the “defamation went far beyond mere negligence,” and that Byrne actively sought to spread the false claim on social media and to make the story go viral.
The problem is that the actual harm from Byrne’s comments was likely minimal given the widespread influence peddling detailed by Congress and Biden’s federal convictions on other offenses.
In these well-documented dealings, there were gifts such as diamonds, lavish expense accounts, and a sports car, in addition to massive payments that Hunter claimed were “loans.” There are messages like the one to a Chinese businessman, openly threatening Joe Biden’s displeasure if money is not sent to them immediately. In the WhatsApp message, Hunter stated:
“I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the Chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”
So, accusing Hunter Biden of influence peddling would hardly seem a material blow to his reputation.
Wilson awarded just $1 in nominal damages to Biden but then ordered $1.7 million in punitive damages. Byrne was also ordered to pay nearly $35,000 in previously imposed court sanctions within two weeks or face an additional $1,000 penalty for each day payment is delayed after the deadline.
That 1:1,700,000 ratio is a bit startling. The general rule is that a ratio of greater than 1:10 in compensatory to punitive damages can raise serious constitutional concerns. What makes this case different is the contempt and default elements.
In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case, BMW of North America v. Gore, striking down a punitive damage award. The case involved the practice of the company to repair and repaint cars damaged in transit without telling the customers. The jury in the original trial awarded $4,000 in compensatory damages for the lost value to the car in not having a factory paint job and other damage; it then imposed $4 million in punitive damages for the company’s dishonesty.
The Court stated three factors in crafting punitive awards: (1) the degree of reprehensibility of the nondisclosure; (2) the disparity between the harm or potential harm suffered by plaintiff and the punitive damages award; (3) and the difference between this remedy and the civil penalties authorized or imposed in comparable cases.
Even though the Alabama Supreme Court previously reduced the punitive award by half, the U.S. Supreme Court still found that the award violated the Due Process Clause as “grossly excessive.”
The fact that this case involves nominal damages may allow for greater leeway in the ratio. See Arizona v. ASARCO LLC, 773 F.3d 1050, 1058 (9th Cir. 2014). That is clearly a critical part of the decision of counsel to ask for only nominal damages while litigating for punitive damages. However, this ratio is astronomical.
Judge Wilson addresses BMW v. Gore but effectively untethers the ratio analysis from this case, precisely what Biden’s counsel had hoped in seeking only nominal damages. It is an approach that would effectively gut BMW v Gore. Any litigants with a bad reputation or insufficient reputational harm could simply ask for nominal damages and then ask for the moon in punitive damages. Moreover, it relieves the obligation to determine how many people actually read or were likely influenced by Byrne, particularly given the focus of the influence peddling scheme on Biden’s dealings in Ukraine, China, and other countries.
However, it gets weirder. I was curious how, without any record on harm, the Court could come up with $1.7 million. It turns out that the Court used the damages awarded by a Canadian court against Byrne in a similar defamation case. That case in a foreign jurisdiction awarded $1.134 million. Wilson blithely declares that, since Byrne continues such conduct, “a $1.134 million award would be inadequate to deter this particular Defendant. The Court therefore calculates a punitive damages award of $1.7 million, approximately 50% greater than the total judgment in the prior case.”
That is it. The court simply used the damage award in a foreign torts case and elected to increase it by 50%. However, that earlier judgment only included $250,000 in punitive damages.
I think that the court is dead wrong on the punitive damages analysis. The only question is whether the extent of Byrne’s contempt and default will work to quiet the concerns of appellate judges.
It is a case worthy of appeal.
It is a fascinating car wreck of a case with a scandal-plagued plaintiff, a defaulting plaintiff, the use of a foreign judgment as the basis for a damages award, and a 1:1,700,000 ratio in damages. We will be watching if an appeal is filed by Byrne.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
“I have taught torts, including defamation for over 30 years”
But were you any good at it? More importantly, did the students benefit from it or was it a case where a short booklet would have done the same?
I’m quite certain Jonathan is crushed every time you express your outrageous jealousy for his innumerable accomplishments. O wait. That’s right. You were just published in the paper back edition of the Boys Scout’s Manual.
Judge Calls Out Trump’s Bogus Settlement
A federal judge Monday blasted President Trump’s settlement with the IRS, finding that the lawsuit that served as the hook for the $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund amounted to collusion as the two parties were never truly averse.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams also sanctions Trump’s attorneys on the case while suggesting Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche should also be disciplined.
Trump, who sued his own administration in January over the leak of his tax returns, struck an agreement with the IRS in late May to create an “anti-weaponization” fund to provide payments to those who claim to have been wronged by the government.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5966060-trump-irs-settlement-voided-federal-judge/
So what if the judge is an Obama appointee. Even Republicans know this settlement stinks. Republicans are still not sure if they want to confirm Todd Blanche as Attorney General.
Republicans “know” no such thing. The plain fact is that the IRS committed a serious crime against Trump, and he is entitled to compensation. And the people the settlement is intended to benefit are also the victims of serious violations of their rights by the US government, and deserve compensation.
MIhouse, Todd Blanche is Trump’s personal lawyer. That’s what stinks! Legally there has to be a check and balance process here. And you must know that Blanche had NOT been confirmed. Republicans don’t want to defend this settlement to the voters this fall.
Why does the settlement stink ?
Trump is not getting the money. It is HIS rights that were violated, yet instead of a big settlement for Himself – he is essentially giving the money to other victims of govenrment malfeasance.
There is no more conflict here than left wing nut groups suinging Obama and Biden to get those administrations to “settle” by agreeing to do what they really wanted to anyway.
If you want to say Govenrment can not settle claims against it – thats fine – then you must require the appointment of layers to defend the government who will fight everything to the death – even when everyone wishes they would settle.
Sorry I have far more problems with this than Biden and Obama coordinating with left wing nut groups, getting themto sue and then entering into onsent decrees that commit the govenrment to do what the adinistration could not do anyway.
This is just handing over Money Trump is entitled to, to others who got screwed.
John Say, you’re correct with this paragraph.
“If you want to say Govenrment can not settle claims against it – thats fine – then you must require the appointment of layers to defend the government who will fight everything to the death – even when everyone wishes they would settle”.
………………………..
Yes, there has to be someone defending the government here. That’s a legal requirement.
Then why is it never a requirement with all these “consent decrees” that have been made for the last 40-50 years that still shackle us, where the government and the plaintiff were clearly colluding? All the times the environmentalists “sued” the EPA, and “settled” for what they both wanted.
Milhouse, those cases were adjudicated under court supervision. Trump’s settlement was simply between him and his ‘former’ lawyer, Todd Blanche, without any court hearing.
ATS – while the cases were court cases – Settlements are almost entirely outside the domain of judges and the courts.
“Trump’s settlement was simply between him and his ‘former’ lawyer, Todd Blanche, without any court hearing.”
Correct – all settlements are between one party and the other independent of any court hearing.
I am presuming you have never settled anything.
Usually the parties to a settlement are adversarial – but not always. That is an assumption – not a requirement.
Regardless YOU created this scenario – Trump did not.
YOU used the IRS to violate the rights of someone who the people later made president – with authority over the iRS.
The left could have avoided this entirely by not violating Trump’s rights.
ATS
“Yes, there has to be someone defending the government here.”
Correct,
“That’s a legal requirement.”
Incorrect.
That SHOULD be true – but the courts are bound to what IS not what SHOULD BE you are litterally running afoul of Hume’s Guillotine. Fallacy.
You can not reason from what ought to what is.
There are myriads oif examples of Government settling lawsuits against them – often to Acheive fiscal and political purposes to get arround the law.
Biden has done that Obama has done that and they are not the first.
If you wish to change the law – in principle I can support you.
I would be curious how you know what “Republicans know”, and similarly how you know what “they want” ?
Judges have very little latitude with respect to settlements – this is just more left wing nut judicial idiocy.
You do not like the DOJ settling with Trump – do not violate the law and leak his taxes.
Do you think that the left wing nuts government employees have carte Blanche to violate the law just because Trump is president ?
Regardless, the violations occured in the past – Trump is entitled to compensation.
Again do not leak someones tax return
First it violates the law, and next – it is a Tort and that person is entitled to damages.
You do not like the Anti-Weaponization fund ? Fine – just give the money to Trump and he can do with it what he pleases.
Regardless, if you do not want to pay the price do not commit the crime.
Frankly the anti-weaponization fund should make you happy. Again Trump could just take the money for himself.
I will always remember Lindsey Graham for singing Judy Moonlight.
You have a lot of substantial facts incorrect in your article. The Defendant did not remove his lawyers from the case, Judge Wilson decided not to recognize them. Judge Wilson also had granted Byrne permission to appear remotely due to a medical condition that he was hospitalized for several hundred miles away, and then revoked the permission at the last minute, not giving him ample time to adjust.
I believe Byrne is already in an appeals process based upon these gross irregularities.
This is all in the court records, so don’t take my word for it.
Bulldust. Prof T quoted the court record: “When Defendant learned that Ms. Lambert was not qualified to represent him in this case, Defendant also instructed Mr. Neff and Mr. Yu to remove themselves.” You can claim the judge is a brazen liar and blatantly lied on the record; I wouldn’t believe you, but at least it’s a claim. But you can’t claim that’s not what the record says, because it clearly does say it. Unless you’re accusing Prof T of making up that quote.
What you believe judges do not lie on or otherwise doctor the record ?
I beleive what you are quoting above is the JUDGES remarks on the records.
Court records are of what people SAY, and what is admitted into evidence.
Judges say things that are incorrect or partly correct all the time. Sometimes they even correct themselves. Sometimes they are corrected on apeal.
Upstate Farmer and John Say turn blind eyes to all evidence you present them.
They are no better than flat-earthers.
What evidence ?
You are constantly spraying the forum with claims that are nonsense – or are perfectly legal conduct.
As an example you Rant about All fo Trump’s marketing.
So DO NOT BUY FROM HIM. No one held a gun to the head of people buying Trump bibles or steaks or going to Trump U, or Trump Cyrpto.
or …
You litterally want to take peoples freedom to make their own choices from them because you do not like Trump,
and then you call that corruption.
You wonder why no one likes you ? Why it is YOU that people think are tyrants ?
You claim Trump is the authoritarian – but it is YOU who are litterally arguing to deprive others of the right to make their own choices because you do not like them.
You have been asked for evidence – all you have done is produce evidence of your own tyranical nature and of your own abuse of the law.
I do not like everything Trump does. I do not like everything any president does. I do not like everything any other person does.
The fact that I do not find others perfect does not give me the right to control their lives.
You come here and post total nonsense – that is your RIGHT – no one here is trying to take that from you.
But we are doing as Justice Brandeis dictate and responding to bad speech with more speech.
You are an idiot and being called out for it.
It is your right to be an idiot and speak idiocy.
It is everyone elses right to call you out.
If I were to construct my perfect president he would be nothing like Trump. But he would not be like Obama or Biden or Bush or Clinton or …
Unlike you I grasp that I am not going to get perfection.
Trump is far from perfect.
He is however the best president in the 21st century – that unfortunately is not saying much.
But your TDS is boring.
You have burned your credibility.
While I have paid far more attention to your “evidence” than you deserve
You are a liar. You have been caught lying over and over and over again. That BTW is not an insult – it is just the truth.
Wise people – most people do not trust ACTUAL liars.
We all prefer people keep their promises – as politicians go Trump is far better than most there.
But there is a difference between a claim about the future that most everyone knows is not to be taken literally,
And misrepresenting the facts, the law, or the constitution.
You lied about the collusion delusion.
You lied about censoring conservatives on the internet.
You lied about the Hunter Biden laptop.
You lied about Biden’s competence,
You lied repeatedly about Covid.
These are just a FEW of your LIES
These were not promises you failed to keep, they were either knowing or knowable false claims about reality.
When someone shows you who they are – belive the the first time.
Maya Angelou
Why are you entitled to have anyone pay the slightest attention to anything you say ?
Have you corrected your lies ? Have you apologized ?
Your still spraying us all with New lies, False claims or misrepresenting legal conduct as criminal.
Because you do not like it.
Elsewhere an anonymous – maybe you claimed Trump was trying to nationalize elections by firing two election board members.
What you think people have no brain ?
The election commission makes recomendations to the states – the only power they have is over certifying equipment and that continues regardless of the firings. Further only an idiot would claim that Trump WEAKENING federal influence over the states is somehow nationalizing elections. REally ? Do you have that few working brain cells ?
Trump wants the SAVE act passed – so do 80% of americans. That would partly nationalize federal elections – it would do so constitutionally.
Regardless you use “nationalize” is if it is inherently a bad thing – EXCEPT when you are doing it – such as eliminating the senate or the electoral college. Those acts are nationalizing.
Nationaliing MAY be constitutional or unconstitutional Depending on EXACTLY what is being done.
But saying something is being nationalized – does not in and of itself assert whether it is good or bad, constitutional or not.
And you do that nonsense all the time.
The evidence of Sexual misconduct by Platner and Swallwell is good enough to get criminal convictions. There are multiple named victimes who not only make very clear and specific claims – but claims that are falsiable – that can be tested, and that have evidence to support them.
You countrer with whataboutism of he said/she said from lunatics about vague allegations from 30+ years ago.
Thee shoudl have been laughed out of court Instead you made your entire ideology morally culpable by persuing legal and criminal claims that never should have made it into court and then proving that left wing nuts are sufficiently deluded to convict absent evidence.
You people should not be trusted as the local dog catcher – much less on a jury – any jury.
You have $hat yourselves – and no you are pi$$ed because no one beleives you about anything.
They shouldnt.
And you did that to yourself.
This is a bad sign, the kind of bad sign that would keep creditors from lending you money, or that would keep employers from hiring you. It is a question that appears on applications for loans and employment. He is damaged goods. Would you lend money to or employ someone with so many lawsuits?
Why on earth not? It depends whether the suits had any merit to them, and whether he won or lost them. Why would I not want to employ someone just because a few thousand nut cases file frivolous suits against him? That’s no different than refusing to hire a black person, or a Jew, because so many people hate them.
You are free to loan your money as you please.
Trump has no problems getting people to loan him money – despite your best efforts.
Regardless, again you seem intent of FORCING others to abide by YOUR judgement.
Lenders are free to make their own decisions.
OT
Surprise! President Barack Obama nominated Kathleen Williams.
_______________________________________________________________________
“U.S. judge finds Trump misused court in IRS case, refers lawyers for discipline”
Miami-based U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams excoriated Trump’s personal lawyers and attorneys in his administration, concluding their interests were not opposed to each other as is legally required for civil lawsuits. Williams referred a Trump lawyer in the case, Alejandro Brito, and senior Justice Department officials who signed off on the settlement to state bar authorities to determine if their actions violated legal ethics rules.
– Reuters
So what Trump has had liberal and establishment judges ruling against him since day one. The greater number get overturned at the apellate or Supreme level. Otherwise Trump is losing no more cases than any other president. Your glee is stupid and useless but you just want to bother people and harp on Trump. It also makes you useless in the comment section. You are a clown that brings up Trump no matter the subject of Mr. Turley’s post. How can anyone take you seriously? They cannot.
Judge Williams should be refered to the J board – she is interjecting hereself where she does not belong.
There is no legal requirement for opposing interests.
While circumstances like this where the relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant is not adversarial are rare – and an adversarial relationship is desirable it is not and can not be a requirement of the law. Otherwise ANY instance in which there is not an adversarial relationship can not legally be resolved.
This is a perfect but rare example. When this lawsuit started – Biden was president. Judge Williams is essentially claiming that having won the election – Trump can no longer go forwards with the case. That he can no longer be made whole as a consequence of the IRS criminal abuse of his rights.
Again this is NOT a common occurance – but there are many other ways this can happen.
Lets say John Deer sells a defective lawn tractor that injures a wealthy plantiff, and that plaintiff purchases a controlling interest of JD stock – is JD prohibited from settling the case ?
Myriads of people have run for mayor and been elected as a result of incompetence and personal harm caused by their local govenrment – having won election – are they no longer entitled to be made whole ?
There is ZERO doubt that the IRS illegally released Trump’s tax records – that is both a tort and a crime. People should go to jail, and Trump is entitled to be made whole.
That is true whether Trump is president. It is true even if the person harmed is not Trump. The law and the requirements of the law are the same regardless of who the victim of govenrment is.
This judge is way out over her Ski’s. First Judges have very limited power over settlements. Congress could be law change that with respect to Government settlements – and probably should – though I am not sure what the correct resolution should be. Judges can not decide Policy matters – that is completely out of their domain. Yet very similar non-adversarial lawsuits like this occur over policy matters all the time – Left wing nut advocacy groups Often sue friendly governments to get settlements that then bind government into the future – effectively changing the law without the requirement of going through congress.
You could require all government settlements get approval from congress. But that is NOT the law today.
But you CAN NOT leave this to judges – Politics, Policy and even money are the business of the legislative and to a lessor extent executive branch – they are NOT the domain of the courts.
While I do not like the way Trump talks, I do support most of his vision. I didn’t vote for him but now, I feel differently. Why? We had an administration under Biden that was corrupted by those around him not telling the country that he was in dementia. Draw the line and that means others were manipulating him. I know dementia first hand and this is what I saw prior to the Biden election — the signs were there from his basement podium. Once you live it, you know! It was a disgrace that Biden wasn’t taken out of office — unless they knew the alternative (Harris) was worse. Now the Left is still trying to take Trump down — why? Hateful people eat themselves up and nothing will dispel this — even the future destruction of our country. Now, we see the Dems not supporting going after Iran because of their hate for Trump. How little they fear the future when they live by today’s hate. Pick your battles Dems — today, fight against Iran or tomorrow, see our children and grandkids, living under the constant threat of a nuclear bomb heading West. You don’t have to be a global strategist to see that this is the time to fight for tomorrow’s freedom.
“that status is reserved for the most reviled personalities who cannot be defamed due to the lack of any positive reputation.”
Is Turley trying to make a joke here? Does he consider Biden being largely incompetent and ineffectual in the application of his evil intentions to be a redeeming quality? That is the only way I see Hunter Biden failing to qualify for that “elite” status.
Gas was about $2.00 per gallon when Biden left office. Prices started to spike around February of 2026, when Trump was in office.
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/gasoline
Try reading that report again. It says nothing about the price of gas under biden. What was high.
According to BTS the price of Gas on Jan 20, 2025 – when Biden left office was $3.08, yesterday when I filled up I paid 3.11
Clearly you don’t live in “Goofy” Gavin’s once-great-now-communist-one-party-state, California, where the lowest price is $5.29, down only recently from all-time highs.
No I was $3.23 per gallon. That was an artificial price because Biden released gas from the national Energy Reserve to help Harris. It was $4.22 before that and that gas was cheap because Trump filled the reserve his first term when he got gas prices down from Obama’s historic highs. The highest price under Biden was $5.11 on June of 22. That would be $6.03 adjusted for inflation. Biden’s gas was high because of bad Democratic policies. Biden was not trying to save the world from nuclear armegeddon.
Go away with your lies.
Biden came in on Trumps economic success, with it he brought the China flu. Gas prices averaged $2.50 2020 and peaked at $3.78 2022 and have been subject to world unrest due to the ME. The decrease in cost under Biden were greatly due to COVID, people were staying home. Biden also falsely influenced cost as he depleted our strategic national reserves, restricted fracking and held up permits.
You’re either all in or out, and out is at the loss of our nation.
The last time the average price of gasoline was around $2.00 a gallon was in late April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Donald Trump was president.
Travel dropped off a bit when 250,000 Americans died over a few months because Trump failed to contain the contagion.
All that is required for Trump to lower gas prices is kill a million or so Americans.
The death rate from Covid casn be predicted near perfectly in ANY country in the world solely by demographics and geography.
There is ZERO evidence that any public health measure by any country was beneficial with respect to covid.
3 times as many people died from Covid under Biden as under Trump and that is despite the fact that the most deadly strain of Covid – Delta hit in Trump’s term.
Yes, the guy is trouble, with a capital T.
It would be irrational to get behind a guy like that, but some do it, anyway.
Trump has been involved in four thousand lawsuits:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_and_business_legal_affairs_of_Donald_Trump
So What ?
Trump has been accused of worse by more. Yet you support him. That makes no sense.
Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct_allegations
You have been accused of worse.
Anyone can make an accusation.
The accuasations against biden have been established as fact.
Those against Trump have failed.
Even though you don’t exist–you have it exactly backwards. Republicans tried and tried to prove Hunter Biden was peddling influence. They failed. There were no payments going to Joe Biden from any foreign source, and no quid pro quo. Trump, OTOH, was found by a jury to have sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll and to have defamed her. He was ordered to pay millions, and the SCOTUS refused to help him out of this mess. He still refuses to pay after being ordered to do so by a federal judge and is trying a Hail Mary petition for rehearing. He was found by a jury to have falsified business records to hide a payment to a porn actress, resulting in 34 felony convictions. They are state convictions–he can’t pardon himself out of these.
Turley speaks of a “corrupt family enterprise”– that perfectly describes Trump and his worthless kids. Here are just a few of his scandals:
1. Trump sued the IRS for release of tax returns AFTER the statute of limitations ran, and instead of seeking dismissal, which any minimally-competent defense attorney would do, Blanche “settled” the case for $1.76 B of our money–that can be used to pay “reparations” to J 6 insurrectionists. AND, the real kicker–Trump is immune from IRS audits and lawsuits. A federal judge noted that Trump was suing himself—he was the plaintiff and was the defendant.
2. Pardons for 1,600 insurrectionists who battered and beat up Capitol Police and did millions of dollars of damage to our Capitol.
3. In the first quarter of this year, Trump made 3,700 stock trades — buying stocks in companies with major federal deals. Trump refused to put his assets into a blind trust or only purchase mutual funds which purchase stocks from many sources. Among his recent “investments” — the Paramount–Warner merger that his minions had to approve, and which multiple states are challenging.
4. Eric Trump is on the Board of ALT 5 Sigma, a crypto company with ties to China, which poses a security risk. Eric also got a $24 M government contract for his company to make robots. Eric has no business experience in either area.
5. World Claw –AI services platform, tied to Trump. It only takes payment via the Trump -affiliated WLFI coin. It requires members to invest in these worthless assets to pay for services. Oh, and it is raffling off a dinner with Trump–but no Americans are allowed to bid. Trump sold sensitive, advanced AI chips to UAE–a quid pro quo for a $500 M investment in Trump’s worthless WLFI crypto coin. This alone would, if done by a Democrat President, would guarantee impeachment.
6. Speakng of worthless crypto coin–Trump’s coin has dropped 97% in value. The Melania coin is down 99% in value. Investors, other than insiders who got out early, lost $4.3 B. Trump and his insiders made hundreds of billions. Regular folks who don’t listen to those of us warning them about Trump, lost.
7. Epstein files cover up. The files document significant ties between Bannon and Epstein. Despite campaign promises and a bipartisan law, Trump will not allow release of the Epstein files. There are reports of a credible accusation that Trump sexually assaulted an underage girl.
8. Trump Gold Card–only one applicant so far. Trump gold phone–purchasers plunked down $100 each and have yet to receive any phone.
9. Trump Tower Tbilisi–in Russia, part of a $650 Billion licensing scheme–all since 2024.
10. Qatari plane “gifted” to Trump that he just HAD to show off by using it to fly to the NATO summit at which he made an utter fool of himself. He said we were at war with the ‘Islamic Republic of Japan”. He referred to Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin”. If Biden had publicly made these gaffes, Republicans would demand his immediate resignation.
Taxpayers forked over $1 B for “renovations”, but the plane is still not secure, and becaue it had to fly close to countries Trump has pissed off, the return trip had to be made via Air Force One–waste of fuel and time to correct this error. Oh, and Trump’s DOJ has subpoenaed reporters who broke the story about the Qatari plane not being secure.
11. No-bid contracts for “renovations” in Washington–including the botched paint job on Lincoln Reflecting Pool. Then, there’s all of the lies about private donations allegedly funding things like the worthless ballroom no one wants. Meanwhile, the national debt grows.
Cry harder Gigi!
‘Even though you don’t exist”
ROFL
Hunter Biden is not – or should not be a republican thing.
Pretty much all politicians profit off of office.
There is a great expose on Bernie Sanders corruption – including funneling millions to his family.
The Big deal about the Biden is that they were REALLY BAT AT IT.
SCOTUS correctly fiound in McDonald that you must have a clear quid pro quo – you can NOT prosecute politicians for actions that do NOT invlolve the explicit use of public power and that are merely claims that two things happened concurrently.
The Clintons ran a beautiful scam using a charity to launder money.
Most politicians manage to find some way to stay inside of the barriers that SCOTUS legitimately provided to reqwtrict prosecutions to proveable quid pro quo corruption.
The Bidens were among the stupidest of corrupt politicians – given myriads of ways to legally profit from office they CHOSE to do so in the way that SCOTUS left as clearly criminal.
The Bidens took specific amounts of moeny for specific uses of public power to benefit those who paid them.
If you do not beleive that was proven – I have a pile of moon dust to sell you.
Conservatively 2.5% of those sitting in prison convicted by a jury are actually innocent.
That is NOT actually bad performance for our criminal justice system. But claiming it is perfect is absurd.
Several Courts in NYC reached conclusions that in November 2024 US voters REJECTED.
While the legal battle goes on – those cases are TRULY OVER.
YOU LOST.
The largest jury in history Aquitted Trump on ALL those charges.
In fact your clawed lawfare was likely a significant factor in getting Trump elected.
The majority of people DO NOT BELEIVE YOU
People do not beleive Carroll – they do not beleive Ford, But they do beleive the accusers of Swallwell and Platner. Why ? Because of the actual evidence.
Because these people should be facing criminal prosecutions. Though they wont.
You smeared Trump and Kavanaugh on really bad he said/she saids, while defending Platner and Swallwell over far more credibly allegations of more serious crimes with more supporting evidence.
YOU damned yourself. YOU burned your own credibility.
With respect to Biden – all that is necessary to prove for a criminal conviction is the intentional exchange of exercise of government power for benefit to family members. VP Joe admitted the act – there is ZERO doubt that Hunter was specifically for that act.
As to the Merchan/Brag nonsense – there is no such crime as falsifying business records.
Business records are actually PRIVATE records – if you lie in them – you are lying to yourself which is stupid.
The Trump businesses are private – not public. allegedly falsified business records only become a crime when you use them to gain something you are not otherwise entitled to – such as reduced taxes. None other than Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote the opinion that FRAUD is a Property crime – you MUST prove that the allegedly false assertions resulted in a GAIN of REAL PROPERTY that would not have occured otherwise.
No one is Ever obligated in their business records to report embarrassing information. In fact the ONLY level of precision required by law in business records is that needed to properly pay your taxes – NOTHING MORE.
The merchan/bragg case should have been tossed at the start. It should have been laughed out of court.
It does not matter if Trump stupped Daniels – that is not the business of the cgovernment. It does not matter if he paid her to avoid Melania’s wrath or that of voters.
It does not matter how he recorded those payments in his business records. It does not even matter if he had business records at all. The law requires you to properly pay your taxes. It does not specify how or whether you keep records to do so.
All you have done is once again prove that YOU are corrupt.
As Noted before – the largest jury in history In november 2024 reported the verdict that YOU ARE FULL OF SCHIFF.
John: As to the Merchan/Brag nonsense – there is no such crime as falsifying business records.
As we found out two years ago, in NY (and only in NY) there is such a crime. It’s a BS law, but it is a law. I don’t think anyone has ever tried to use it in the way that Bragg did, but it is on the books, and by the letter of that law the charges are valid (though the evidence clearly showed that even by that ridiculous standard Trump was not guilty).
milhouse -0 the NY statute is a FRAUD statutue – it is subject to the constraints imposed by the US supreme court on Fraud.
No states can not make up whatever stupid criminal laws they wish. The courts throw out laws all the time.
No by the letter of the law the charges are NOT Valid – Fraud has very specific elements – ONE of those is a lie that deprives someone else of tangible property that is theirs.
Not only is this US Supreme court law – but the definition of Fraud goes back beyond but including Blacks law dictionary.
No one lost anything that was theirs – there was no fraud. There was not even an actual claim of Fraud in the charge.
This case never should have gone to trial.
Left wing nuts love to make up the law as they go.
Though to be fair – I live in a very deep red county and police and prosecutors here are perfectly capable of the same stretching of the law as we see in the Brag/Merchan case.
But such nonsense rarely occurs in high profile cases with good lawyers and deep pockets.
“Trump sued the IRS for release of tax returns AFTER the statute of limitations ran”
So you say – but YOU are not credible.
Regardless, The left pioneered this nonsense of sue a friendly government to get the freindly govenrment to do something it otherwise can not do as part of a settlement and bypass the courts.
The opinion of the judge in this DOES NOT MATTER – the case was settled. Judges have very very very little authority regarding settlements.
“Pardons for 1,600 insurrectionists”
There was no insurrection . Trump pardoned political prisoners.
“In the first quarter of this year”
The constitution specifics the requirements for Presidents as well as all other elected officials.
There is no law and if there were it would be unconstitutional requiring blind trusts.
With respect to various mergers – they are literally not the business of EITHER the state or Federal government.
Even to tghe tiny extent that unconstitutional laws allow FEDERAL only restrictions on mergers and aquisitions – the domain of those restrictions is NARROW.
The govenrment can no more tell an investor they can not buy a company than they can tell me I can not buy coffee.
Eric Trump is NOT in the administration. He is free to do as he pleases.
If he breaches his contract to make robots – then MAYBE there is an issue.
Elon Musk had no business experience building cars – before creating the largest car company in the world.
He had no business experience building rockets before creating the largest public company in the world building rockets.
You spew these complicated explanations – as if anyone Trusts you and as if even if you were actually correct they mattered.
The Clinton foundation received donations from Russians who then jumped to the head of the line getting access to Sec. State.
Clinton was not even investigated by the house much less impeached.
Regardless the whoile world know that if democrats take the house the first order of business will be impeaching Trump several more times.
NO ONE CARES. Republicans can not even energize their base to prevent this – because NO ONE CARES. Impeach Trump again and again. Don’t.
No one outside the far left will be paying attention.
You are the little boy who cried Wolf. You are very fortunate Trump is NOT “the wolf” otherwise you would be eaten.
ATS – you do not seem to graps how badly you have burned your credibility.
No one believes you. No one cares.
That is the verdict of the 2024 election.
Voters did NOT decide that Trump did or did not do the things the left accused him of in 2024.
What they did decide was that you are all liars and not worth paying any attention to.
Who knows if the actual facts in your list of sins is correct ? Mostly people do not even care.
First because you lie so much, but also because you spin so much.
You say lots of people lost money buying Trump cyrpto – SO WHAT ? Buy don’t buy, people made free choices.
You seem to believe that Government is to guarantee a positive outcome for EVERYONE all the time.
But that is nonsense. Government is just to assure that binding commitments made are kept.
It is YOUR business to make the decisions in your life. Whether it is a hambered at McD’s or a golden phone – buy, don’t your choice.
Between your distorting or outright lying about facts and your pretense that spin is criminality – people just do not pay any attention to you.
Hunter Biden had no experience in Energy – in fact he had no experience in ANY business – that is a reason for inquiry – it is NOT proof of a crime.
The crime is that Hunter was paid to get the vp of the united states to thwart a criminal prosecution. The deal and the reasons for the payment were documented UP FRONT. There is zero doubt of that – the deal even included $5M for the big guy”, Subequently VP Biden used the power of the united states to get Ukraine to fire the prosecutor. Something he bragged about publicly – though his marbles were already starting to slip.
The Biden crime syndicate is not about experience, it is about what was being sold was US Public Power – not crypto coins, not gold phones.
over and over you make claims that boil down to “people I do not like are making money”
Whoop di do.
Doing well is the american dream.
John Say,
No one believes you. No one cares.
ROFL
Gigi, Obama, on the campaign trail no less, said that he had been to all 57 states.
“I’ve now been in 57 states. I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it.”
Obama, Trump, they’re tired. Slips be made. Your mistakes are genuine.
Trump thinks Puerto Rico is a foreign country.
I don’t generally bother reading this liar’s rants, but as it scrolled by this caught my eye:
9. Trump Tower Tbilisi–in Russia, part of a $650 Billion licensing scheme–all since 2024.
TBLISI IS NOT IN RUSSIA, you freaking moron! What kind of ignoramus doesn’t know that?! That alone would disqualify you from ever commenting on the topic, if you weren’t already disqualified long ago!
ATS – This video addresses congressmen – not Trump. Regardless it points out that pretty much everyone in politics engages in investing – and profits from it.
Nearly all people profit from investing. Investing is gambling – but it is a form of gambling where nearly all the time everyone wins. Why ? Because investing is betyting on the free market, and no other economic system comes close to providing so much benefits to so many people.
Regardless unaddressed by this video is the FACT that you likely need to amend the constitution to do as you want.
Insider trading is illegal – that means trading on information that the public has no access to. That is a crime whether you are Trump or pelosi.
But actually restricting the ability of elected officials to invest is not likely constitutional. SCOTUS has ruled over and over that the only conditions for federal elected office are those within the constitution. There is maybe a tiny crack in that the constitution allows each house of congress to make rules for its members to discipline those members and even to remove them. But those are rules – not laws – and they do not apply to the president.
Nor is it likely that you could impose further rules on federal Judges.
But Congress can impose some restrictions on unelected and unappointed federal employees – Because that is Government acting as an employer and the position is voluntary employment.
Further aside from insider trading criminal laws which are applicable to elected officials and judges, you can not bar people from investing.
Sen. Loeffler in this video took alot of flack for her trading and that likely cost her re-election – but in FACT she is one of few members of congress at the time whose portfolion was ACTUALLY in a blind trust. Furthert that occured before she was a Senator – she was a major officier in the NYSE before being a senator, and it is an ethical (not legal) requirement that the people who manage stock exchanges are hard isolated from actual trading.
Yet Loeffler was still accused of insider trading – despite he investments being in Blind Trust.
I do not believe Trump’s investment is in blind Trust – but he has shifted the responsibility for ALL his financial management to other members of the Trump family.
Frankly it is lunacy for those of you on the left to believe Trump has the time to manage investments and perform the duties of president.
Nor does this address the FACT that insider trading laws are incredibly highly abused. A very successful Billionaire investor was sent to jail for insider trading – he was later exonerated. The first female Billionaire and CEO of a Fortune 500 company was investigated for insider trading – that investigation found no insider Trading,
but she was prosecuted for allegedly lying to the FBI – for not being specific enough in her answers in her first ambush FBI interview.
He Trial was a farce. She never should have been convicted – but she was – this was of course Martha Stewart, and her Persecutor was none other than James Comey.
Does insider trading occur ? Rarely but not at any scale. The people who would benefit from Insider trading have far too much too lose and too little to gain.
Further in most instances they will gain or lose regardless, A CEO whose company is doing well is automatically going to be rewarded while those failing will automatically be punished. There may be some real insider tradingon much smaller scale farther down the chain – but this has negligable impact on the market.
Finnally as was the case with the Indian billionaire above – The people who have the skills to make billions do not need “insider knowledge” – they know how to read publicly available signs. Warren Buffet as an example routinely reads data on coal mining – because orders for Caol today are orders for steel tomorow, and those are orders for cars and major appliance after that. By watching who orders coal – he can make a high quality educated guess as to what parts of the economy intend to do 9 months in the future. Because you can not ramp up car or oven production overnight.
So Buffet already knows whatr insiders know – without any private information – he just reads what they are saying in the public decisions they make about the future.
In the video there appears to be some investment group that allows you to place the same market bets as Pelosi is doing.
And that is probably the best way to deal with this issue. do not restrict politicians trading – you can’t. But you can make the invormation public in real time.
Then it is no longer insider trading. It is no different from Buffett monitoring trains of coal.
Republicans put their support behind a crazy orange guy.
There should be pictures of Trump on gas pumps and jugs of milk.
These price increases happened under him.
Yesterday when I was out the price of Gas was 3.11/gal
Yesterday was 4 months ago.
I saw gas at $0.69.a gallon. See how easy it is to make a claim without providing proof?
I do not owe you proof.
You are free to doubt my claim. But most of us do not live int he peoples republics.
Further while gas prices in my regions are relatively low – they are MUCH lower along the gulf and near refineries.
So there are myriads of others here who have seen gas prices slightly higher and slightly lower than $3.11.
I do not need to prove anything – but I especially do not need to prove what most people can either check or already know with their own eyes.
I do not need to prove that the sun rose today.
“… The case involves a claim by former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne that Biden took part in an $800 million bribery scheme involving Iran and failed to defend his claims in court. …” – JT
Has anyone bothered to ask the Iranians (is the claim true)? At least Sec. of State Marco Rubio could make an inquiry (since he’s actively engaged in deliberations with Iran these days).
What happens when this case closes in favor of Biden, time passes, and the Iranians do provide evidence of the bribe? There are many in D.C. the use Matryoshka (Nesting Dolls | Shell Accounts) to cover the trail, I wouldn’t be surprised if the $800 M is found to be floating around somewhere.
“Has anyone bothered to ask the Iranians (is the claim true)?… What happens when this case closes in favor of Biden, time passes, and the Iranians do provide evidence of the bribe?”
It was civil litigation That puts the burden of refuting the claims, and the damage judgement solely on the defendant Byrne. No one else has a (legal) dog in that hunt.
In civil litigation the burden is on the plantif.
Truth is an absolute defense against a defamation claim, but the onus is on the defendant to prove it. Once the plaintiff has shown that the defendant published the statement, and that it was defamatory, he has satisfied his burden; now the defendant has to prove it was true (or, in the case of a public figure, that he reasonably thought it was true). To do that, he or his attorney has to show up in court! Failure to show up automatically forfeits the case.
Milhouse – in the US to be defamatory the statement must be false and the burden to prove it is false is on the plaintiff.
It is an affirmative defense to prove the statement is true – but it is not REQUIRED to prove that the statement is true.
It is NOT sufficient in the US to merely prove the statement is defamatory.
Further Hunter Biden is a public figure – and he must not only prove the statement was defamatory, and false but that it was made with actual malice.
Has anyone bothered to ask the Iranians (is the claim true)?
Iran and most any Country in the world would know if $800 million were leaving the country.
It would be an easy question to ‘ask & answer’. Hate to see Biden get this Judgement and the $800 million, just because the ‘the question’ was never asked to the Iranians.
“It doesn’t hurt to ask”
Why is it a dumb question? Why would Upchuck rather make an unproductive ad hominem attack instead of answering a question? Is he unable to do so?
If Nixon the crook had to resign, then should Trump the bigger crook have to resign?
Do you have actual evidence that Trump is a crook ?
Unsubstantiated allegations, and allegations claiming that honest conduct is crooked becvause you do not like it are not evidence.
Would John Say look at the evidence, or would he so predictably turn a blind eye to it?
I have repeatedly disected the nonsense you claim is evidence and found it laughable.
Regardless, you claimed no one should truest Trump because of how many lawsuits there have been.
No one controls the number of lawsuits filed against them.
Rich people celebrities, businesses high profile figures and conservatives are the constant targets of lawfare – Trump is all of those.
Conversely YOU have lied – need I list ALL the many many many lies you have told – that is a REAL reason no one should trust you.
I have CHOSEN to refute many of your idiotic claims that you think are evidence.
But you are so much of a liar, that no one should feel obligated to give a moments thought to anything you say.
You have cried wolf too many times. If the wolf actually comes for you while no one is listening to you because you have lied so much – TOUGH.
You brought that on yourself.
No one should truest Trump.
Yup. Either ChatGPT is drinking tonight or it’s Ivan hitting the bottle in the Moscow bunker.
Does Upchuck understand that the asking of certain questions is intended to make a point?
Are “dumb” because he and others are unable to answer them?
Is this a dumb definition of what a dumb question is?
If God was a just God, would he have not made annony’s father infertile so we would not have to suffer the likes of annony?
Would that not be a just God?
Or, perhaps, God allowed annony to be born to give us all a glimpse into what hell would look like, suffering annony’s existence?
Do I have a right to question God’s rational thinking? To know the mind of God?
Do I really have to add the /sarc for everyone to get it?
God created the one who shall remain
namegonad-less so as to provide us a moving target.Hunter Biden is like the scourge living in the house at the corner who, upon hearing one neighbor say, “He’s made life hell for everyone on the block,” sues for defamation confident that the old recluse at the other end of the block doesn’t even know who he is.
If Hunter can be defamed the question becomes, who can’t?
Is Old School just projecting a part of his own personality traits onto Hunter?
I have no doubt justices do not like to be ignored. Seems that it set set off this particular judge. That could be the case or Mr. Byrne (defendant) just ran over the judge’s dog.
Bizarre.
Without Lyin’ Joe’s pardon, Hunter the convicted felon would be in prison right now. Luckily, Hunter’s daddy stole the election and then issued a pardon for all of Hunter’s many crimes going back to 2014. “My son’s done nothing wrong,” Malarkey Joe said. What a disgrace to the justice system.
Where’s the proof, and why couldn’t Republicans find any? You speak of a “disgrace to the justice system”? That’s almost verbatim what a federal judge said about Todd Blanche and an assistant US Attorney involved with the Trump v. Trump IRS case. Excerpted from “Reuters”:
“Miami-based U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams excoriated Trump’s personal lawyers and attorneys in his administration, concluding their interests were not opposed to each other as is legally required for civil lawsuits. Williams referred a Trump lawyer in the case, Alejandro Brito, and senior Justice Department officials who signed off on the settlement to state bar authorities to determine if their actions violated legal ethics rules.
In a 56-page ruling, Williams concluded that attorneys on both sides of the case – Trump’s personal lawyers and lawyers for the DOJ and IRS – misused the legal system to provide cover for actions aimed at benefiting Trump and his allies.
“This action was never about a party seeking judicial resolution of a legal issue or a factual dispute,” Williams wrote. The judge said it was instead an attempt to “provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the president and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law.”
The settlement brokered in May between Trump’s personal lawyers and senior officials at the Justice Department, led Trump to drop the suit in exchange for sweeping tax protections and the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion fund for victims of so-called government weaponization that critics said would benefit Trump’s political allies.
Williams’ order bars any of the parties in the case, including Trump, his adult sons and his namesake company, from referring to the settlement or citing any of its terms in future legal proceedings, a move that could nullify the portion of the agreement barring the IRS from pursuing audits into past tax claims involving Trump or his businesses.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche already told Congress that the plan for the weaponization fund would not move forward. The fund was initially aimed at compensating victims of “lawfare” and “weaponization,” terms that Trump has long used to describe legal cases against him and his allies. A federal judge in Virginia last month blocked the Trump administration from setting up the fund.
Trump sued the IRS in January, accusing the agency of not doing enough to prevent the leak of his tax records during his first term in office and initially seeking $10 billion.
The settlement came under withering scrutiny from critics, including some Republican lawmakers, who accused the Trump administration of self-dealing and seeking to funnel taxpayer money to political allies. Blanche, under pressure from Republican senators, agreed to scuttle the weaponization fund, but allowed the tax provision to remain in effect.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team did not directly address the court’s ruling, but repeated claims that Trump’s tax records were improperly leaked and said the president “continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Williams’ order comes two days before Blanche, a former personal lawyer to Trump, is set to appear before a Senate panel on his nomination to serve as the permanent attorney general. The IRS settlement agreement was already expected to be a central topic of conversation.
Williams opened an inquiry into the settlement after a group of former judges filed a court brief accusing Trump and his administration of perpetuating a “fraud on the court.” Trump’s lawyers argued that the judge no longer had authority over the case after Trump voluntarily dismissed it.
Williams’ order does not reopen the case, but finds that Trump’s attorneys and government officials should face sanctions. She allowed outside groups that filed court briefs raising concerns about the lawsuit to seek payment for their work.
The judge also directed that a copy of her order be sent to legal disciplinary authorities in New York, where Blanche has his law license, and Washington, D.C., where Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, the third-highest-ranking official at the Justice Department, is barred.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff; writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Aurora Ellis)
ATS 0- the judge is way out over his ski’s.
While your history of the case is loosely correct – that changes nothing.
People at the IRS violated the law.
Trump is entitled to damages.
He can do with those whatever he wants.
You rant about a bunch of factors that are optics or political consideration.
Courts are about the law not optics or politics.
A judge has almost no jurisdiction at all over a settlement.
Without the pardon, Hunter Biden would be repeatedly prosecuted and, just before he could be found innocent, the DoJ would fold and restart the process just to screw Hunter. One can see this in the prosecution of the bicycle rider who touched the loose flap of rubbery coating in the Reflecting Pool as a distraction from the terrible job and poor judgement that Trump wasted American taxpayer money on.