For years, members of Congress have asked for access to suspicious activity reports (SARs) related to the Biden family’s foreign business deals. Those efforts were cut off by the Biden Administration and the Democratically controlled houses of Congress. Even after the GOP took over the House, however, the Treasury Department continued to refuse to turn over the SARs. While the GOP had to threaten hearings with Treasury officials, the department has finally relented. It now appears that time is up for Hunter Biden on the SARs fight and it could finally answer a number of questions over the alleged influence peddling of the Biden family. It may also put pressure on the Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is looking into possible criminal conduct by Hunter Biden. Continue reading “Time’s Up: Treasury Finally Agrees to Turn Over Hunter Biden Transaction Reports”
Category: Congress
Below is my column in The Hill on continued scorched earth tactics of Democrats in attacking any witnesses raising free speech concerns over government censorship.
Here is the column:
If there is one image from Jan. 6th that will remain indelible with the day, it is the “QAnon Shaman.” Bare chested and wearing an animal headdress, horns and red-white-and-blue face paint, Jake Angeli Chansley is to the Capitol riot what Rosie the Riveter was to World War II. Howling and “chanting an unintelligible mantra” on the Senate floor, he is the embodiment of the unhinged rage that led to one of the most disgraceful attacks on our constitutional process in history. Continue reading “Did the “QAnon Shaman” Get Shafted on Sentencing? New Footage Raises Questions Over the Chansley Case”
The Washington Post is now admitting that President Joe Biden’s college loan forgiveness plan is unconstitutional, but it insists that the “the court shouldn’t stop him.” The reason is standing and the Post is now apparently a standing hawk forced to accept a half trillion dollar give-away to maintain a narrow view of case or controversies under Article III. The Post previously ran opinion pieces saying that Biden clearly has this authority, but this is an opinion piece from the editors themselves on the subject.
Continue reading “Washington Post: Yes, the Biden Loan Forgiveness May Be Unconstitutional But…”
Yesterday, FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that the FBI believes that Covid-19 did originate from a lab in China. While liberal pundits have tried to dismiss the similar finding of the Department of Energy, the public attention of the FBI will make it more difficult to spin out of this major story. Yet, the most interesting moment with Wray came in an interview with Fox News host Bret Baier. Wray told Baier that the agency has, “for quite some time now, assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan.” The notion that the FBI has held this belief for “quite some time now” is unnerving since it remained stoney silent as experts and commentators were censored and shunned for even uttering the theory. Continue reading “Wray Confirms that FBI Accepted Lab Theory as Likely “For Quite Some Time Now””
Below is my column in The Hill on the increasing claims that hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment. Even dictionaries are now repeating this false claim and polls show that a majority of students believe that hate speech falls outside of the scope of protected speech. For those who often rail against “disinformation,” this is a particularly dangerous false narrative meant to support expanded censorship and speech controls. Even Salman Rushdie has been been invoked in the campaign against hate speech. We should all denounce hate speech but that is not a license for the government to censor or ban such speech.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Yes, Hate Speech Is Protected Under the First Amendment”
There is an interesting fight brewing in Congress after various cities indicated that they may not only pay reparations but use federal pandemic funds for such payments. There has been a long call for federal reparations with various Democratic bills introduced in Congress. BET founder Robert Johnson has called for $14 trillion in federal reparations. However, cities like Providence, Rhode Island are not waiting. They insist that federal reparations funds are already effectively approved as part of their pandemic relief. Continue reading “Are Reparations Part of the American Rescue Plan? Cities Say Yes and Plan to Use Federal Funds to Support Reparations Efforts”
It appears that Hunter Biden’s art dealer believes that his art should be left entirely to the eye of the beholder — and not Congress. Georges Bergès reportedly refused last week to provide the House Oversight Committee with the identities of the buyers of Biden’s high-priced art work. While counsel William Pittard insists that the list of purchasers must remain secret, it is hard to see the viable legal basis to refuse the demand of the House Oversight Committee, if made subject to a congressional subpoena.
Goodbye Disinformation Board, Hello Disinformation Index. Less than a year after many celebrated the disbanding of the Biden’s Administration Disinformation Board, it appears that the Administration has been funding a British group to rank sites to warn people about high-risk disinformation sites. Gabe Kaminsky at the Washington Examiner previously ran a story on the Index. The Global Disinformation Index (GDI) has released its index and every one of the high-risk sites turn out to be . . . wait for it . . . conservative or libertarian sites. HuffPost or Mother Jones (which were also analyzed), but HuffPost made the top list of most trustworthy for potential advertisers. It turns out that the “riskiest online news outlets” just happen to be some of the most popular sites for conservatives, libertarians, and independents. [N.B.: After my Hill column ran, the National Endowment for Democracy wrote to inform me that it had decided to stop funding the Global Disinformation Index].
Former Vice President Mike Pence is making a novel constitutional argument in opposing the recent grand jury subpoena for testimony from Special Counsel Jack Smith. He is claiming that, as President of the Senate, he falls under the protections of the “Speech and Debate Clause” like members of Congress. It is an unresolved question and he could ultimately prevail. However, I am not confident that the claim would bar the subpoena in its entirety. Continue reading “Pence Asserts Novel Constitutional Claim to Avoid Testifying Before Grand Jury”
The White House has drawn the ire of the Twitter community by repeating President Joe Biden’s dubious claim that his administration had achieved a historical feat on budget reduction. The President often tells the public that he is responsible for the largest deficit reduction in history. It is a claim that has drawn widespread criticism in the past. Even The Washington Post balked and previously gave Biden “three Pinocchios” for the claim. The earlier spending and then sharp reduction were due to the pandemic, not Biden’s policies. Indeed, the reduction would have been far greater but for enormous spending by the Administration. Continue reading “White House Slammed for Debunked Claim on Record Deficit Reduction”
Below is my column in the New York Post on the growing attacks on those who are challenging the alleged abuses by the FBI and the censorship system on social media.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Is the Red Scare Going Blue? Democrats Accuse Government Critics of Being “Putin Lovers” and Supporting Insurrectionists”
Hunter Biden’s legal team has been at the center of news coverage this month after it appeared to confirm the authenticity of his laptop in a letter (only to try to backtrack 24 hours later). It was a curious and gratuitous move for Biden and his counsel Abbe Lowell as they called for criminal investigations into his critics, suggested lawsuits against media, and even argued that the tax exempt status of some groups be rescinded by the IRS. Now, however, the team is moving in a far more precarious direction. They seem to be adopting the strategy of Steve Bannon that resulted in his conviction for contempt of Congress. Lowell categorically refused to turn over material to Congress this week, leaving his client open to a subpoena and possible prosecution. The move may have thrilled hardcore Democrats, but it is the Republicans who should be most ecstatic with Hunter’s initial position.
Continue reading “Biden Goes Bannon? Counsel for Hunter Rebuffs Congressional Demands for Documents”
After my testimony before the Select Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government yesterday, I found myself the subject of a segment on MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell where criticized me for a bizarre exchange with freshman Democrat Dan Goldman. O’Donnell did not actually show the full exchange, but the claim is patently false and I wanted to briefly respond.
Continue reading “A Response to Lawrence O’Donnell on the Weaponization Hearing”
Even after the collapse of the Russian collusion investigation, Democrats seem to be doubling down on labeling opponents as Russian lovers and Putinites. Yesterday, I testified at a hearing with members of Congress who want the House to investigate possible FBI abuses. One of the witnesses, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, testified how her anti-war positions led to her being labeled a Russian asset by Hillary Clinton. Not to be outdone, MSNBC contributor and former Senator Claire McCaskill appeared on MSNBC following the hearing to denounce Senator Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson as “Putin apologists” and Putin lovers. Continue reading ““Putin Apologists”: Former Sen. Claire McCaskill Denounces Senators Calling for Investigation of FBI Abuses”