August 1, 2023

Let's talk about Devon Archer.

I'm reading "Devon Archer Throws a Curve" by William McGurn (Wall Street Journal). 
According to a statement by Chairman James Comer, Mr. Archer testified that Joe Biden joined phone conversations with Ukrainian energy giant Burisma, a Hunter client, to "sell the brand." 
Mr. Archer further said that Burisma pressured Hunter to get help from "D.C." regarding prosecutor Viktor Shokin, for whose firing Vice President Biden pushed. This doesn't prove Joe Biden discussed business terms or shared in any profits. But at the very least, it exposes Mr. Biden's gaslighting of the American people in 2020.... 
In short Mr. Biden wasn't telling the truth about Hunter during the [2020 presidential] debates, and there is no way to defend those answers today. In the runup to next year's election, we are likely to learn even more as the congressional investigations continue. 
Even the Biden White House recognizes that the president's blanket denials are no longer credible. No doubt it's why press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently switched the official party line from "the president never discussed his son's business with him" to "the president has never been in business with him." 

ADDED: Here's how the NYT puts it, in "Biden Spoke With Son’s Associates, but Not About Business, Former Partner Says/Republicans accused the president of lying, while Democrats said the testimony of Devon Archer, who worked with Hunter Biden, showed that his son was selling the illusion of access to his father" (boldface added):

President Biden met with and spoke to his son Hunter’s international business associates on a number of occasions over a decade as Hunter Biden sought to drum up consulting deals, including while his father was vice president, his former business partner told Congress on Monday.

However, in nearly five hours of closed-door testimony to the House Oversight Committee, Devon Archer, the former partner, asserted that the elder Mr. Biden was not party to any of his son’s business deals and that Hunter Biden had tried to sell the illusion that he was providing access to his powerful father when he was not, according to Democrats on the panel.

But Joe participated in creating the illusion, didn't he? Is this the argument: Joe only meant to con the "international business associates" out of their money? I don't think this is a defense to the charge of bribery! (Here's a discussion of the elements of a charge of bribery.)

AND: Here's the Axios article, "Hunter Biden associate describes 'illusion of access'":
A former Hunter Biden associate told Congress that Hunter sold "the illusion of access" by putting his father on speaker phone with business partners, but that then-Vice President Biden never talked shop, according to Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and a source familiar with the testimony.... 
But Archer "repeated over and over and over again that President Biden never discussed any business dealings or interests with Hunter or anyone else," Goldman told reporters after the hours-long transcribed interview.... 
"To the extent that Hunter Biden used his father ... in any furtherance of any of his business dealings, it was not in consultation or collaboration with his father," Goldman told Axios.
"Did he want to have the appearance of influence to the Burisma executives? Yes, I think he did. And that was ill-advised," Goldman added....

I think the "he" — in "Did he want to have the appearance of influence" and "Yes, I think he did" — is Hunter, but why aren't these things true of Joe Biden as well? Are the Democrats asking us to perceive Joe as incurious and naive?

127 comments:

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Media are ignoring the whistleblowers and facts. To absurd levels of D-hack obedience.

Kai Akker said...

Slow motion collapse.

Very slow, but inevitable. Worst quality President of any of our lifetimes and the most crooked. Nice work, Democratic Party. Shows your deep love of your country.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

"the president never discussed his son's business with him." LIE

"the president has never been in business with him." LIE

The Biden's (Joe, brother, Hunter) did all of this to line their pockets. They set up shell companies to hide it all. On top of all of that - they didn't pay any tax on their ill gotten gains.

What vile corrupt mob assholes. The entire leftwing media do not care.. why? because Biden was Obama's VP. & precious Obama must be protected. Hillary is a money whore too. and Russian money - no less. They are all corrupt and our media is a Pravda. MicroSoft NBC is the biggest joke-fraud of all.

btw - the publishing houses are another way democrats get rich quick.

Mr Wibble said...

The problem with cheating is that it bypasses the natural feedback mechanisms that allow for improvement. You end up having to keep cheating just to keep up. They managed to lie and use the FBI to cover up Biden's corruption, but the cost is that they're going to have to do even more to try and keep it covered up this time around. I'm not sure that they'll be successful.

AlbertAnonymous said...

“This doesn't prove Joe Biden discussed business terms or shared in any profits. But at the very least…”

That’s as much as you’ll get from the media on this. But Trump OTOH

Walls are closing in….
Accumulation of charges and evidence…
Public opinion about Trumps crimes….

Etc etc etc

Crock o shit. The media should be put down like an old dog. Not literally of course, can’t believe I even have to say that, but the media jumped the shark a long time ago and showed it’s true colors as the propaganda arm of the DNC

hombre said...

Democrats and their consorts don't care that QuidProJoe is QuidProJoe.

Rusty said...

Why amI not surprised? Grifters gotta grift. What I am surprised about is that 81 million people thought this grifter was a good candidate. Given his history. And they will vote for him again. They will believe bad thing about Trump that the media gives them and refuse to consider any bad thing about Biden which the madia labors to cover up. A progressive believes what they are told to believe. I think this is why we have such a dearth of reasoning leftists here.

Original Mike said...

Of course Joe was the brand. Anybody who thinks the Ukrainians and the Chinese were paying Hunter millions because of Hunter's expertise, well…

Read the article. Biden sure did a lot of lying during the debates. Those clips should be played day and night in the upcoming election, no matter who is the Republican nominee, just so everybody is clear about who and what Joe Biden is.

traditionalguy said...

Same old same old. Since the Clinton crime syndicate the wink and nod has been that “ sure we took huge payoffs from the foreigners, but we were conning them into bribing us but never intended to give them what they paid for”.

Trigger Kamala hyena laughs. That’s so funny. How could we ever doubt an American politician on the take. Ho ho.

gilbar said...

at this point, what difference does this make?
Every body already KNEW that resident Biden was corrupt and Evil..
Every single person in this country Knows that Biden and the democrats are thieves..
That is Why they were chosen; to make Sure that people KNOW that their government is Totally corrupt.
81 million votes were counted. The People that counted those votes have Spoken

Mountain Maven said...

The real question is whether Biden took the $5/10 million bribe. That would sink him. Voters are so partisan that they are willing to overlook mere influence peddling. How far we have fallen.

Dave Begley said...

"This doesn't prove Joe Biden discussed business terms or shared in any profits."

How does the Mob operate? I think there is some dialogue in "The Departed," "Goodfellas" and other Mafia movies.

Criminal #1, "What about that thing?"

Criminal #2, "Our thing or their thing?"

Criminal #1, "Our thing."

Criminal #2, "It's taken care of."

The criminal enterprise is all left unsaid. But Mr. McGurn should note that "if you follow the money" and use your common sense, it is absolutely clear that Joe Biden was bribed by foreigners to take official actions to help the people who paid the bribes.

BFD, if Joe Biden lied about not talking to Hunter about "our thing." Politicians lie all the time!!! Bribery, however, is a crime and an impeachable offense.

It's not hard to figure out. Just use cruel neutrality.

Jersey Fled said...

We know that Biden misrepresented his involvement with Hunter’s businesses. If all that was discussed was “the weather”, why didn’t he just say so.

But the key is the money trail. We have sworn statements from two IRS investigators that there was evidence of foreign money transfers of at least 17 million dollars which was routed to family members through 20 shell companies.

What exactly was the value that Hunter provided to these oligarchs and foreign companies if not access to the Big Guy with all that that implies?

Prepare yourself for the Hillary defense which will follow shortly.

We all know what you did, but can you prove it?

Buckwheathikes said...

There will not be any 2024 debates featuring Joe Biden.

Mr Wibble said...

I'm sticking with my theory that the Dems never expected Biden to win in 2020. They expected Trump to win, but the Dems to gain in the House and Senate, which would neutralize Trump and let the Dems spend four years fundraising like crazy. Instead, on election night they looked at early returns, realized that the GOP might gain the House and have complete control of government again, and panicked. It would have been a disaster that required a complete housecleaning of the Democrat party. So, they pushed Biden into office, but are now stuck with him and Harris.

Buckwheathikes said...

"The real question is whether Biden took the $5/10 million bribe"

That's not how things work. Joe Biden can't take a bribe. That would be illegal.

Here's how things work: It's not illegal for Hunter Biden to take a bribe. Because Hunter Biden isn't a government official. It's also not illegal for him to rent his parent's Hoboken beach house for $50,000 a month.

Voila.

Joe doesn't take the bribe. Hunter does. Then Hunter rents daddy's house and gives daddy the bribe money.

None of them are paying taxes on ANY of this.

Ann Althouse said...

""the president has never been in business with him." LIE"

It depends on the meaning of "in" and "with." Choose your prepositions well.

• The president has never been near business around him.
• The president has never been about business in front of him.
• The president has never been for business through him.
• The president has never been into business inside him.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Note the absence of any loyal leftist commenter. Does Cook have a comment about his Thuggish vile corrupt pile of shit - Joe Biden?

gspencer said...

Who should also be in the target zone in all of this are the lawyers and CPAs who set up the web of corporations. They're direct participants in Joe's selling what he had no title to - namely, the trust of the people.

Mr Wibble said...

We know that Biden misrepresented his involvement with Hunter’s businesses. If all that was discussed was “the weather”, why didn’t he just say so.

Because it was clear that Hunter was trading on the Biden name, and so they'd be admitting that Biden was so stupid that he didn't realize that he was being used by Hunter to defraud foreign businessmen. That's not any better of an argument.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Capone went down for less.

Roadkill711 said...

The MSM is not protecting Joe Biden from scrutiny, they are protecting Barack Obama from scrutiny.

Biden’s participation in his son’s sketchy overseas business dealings – which are clearly unethical and constitute strong evidence of influence peddling if not out-and-out bribery – happened during the Obama presidency when VP Biden was the administration’s “point man” on Ukraine and China. Did Obama know about the questionable activities of his VP? If not, why not? Why hasn’t anyone asked him about it?

Perhaps ex-President Obama should be asked to testify before the House committee looking into the Biden Corruption Scandal.

Gusty Winds said...

The Clintons, Bidens, and Obamas are the villains in Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged". They produce nothing and only sell political influence for their personal wealth and comfort. Just like American Universities sell prestige instead of knowledge.

Trump is a Hank Reardon. Built things with steel. Trump and his supporters have to be destroyed in order for all of the Elsworth Toohey's to survive.

And think about the American's who support the Clintons, Bidens, and Obamas. Professors, University Administrators, Journalists, Teachers, Feminists. Makes sense. They too sell influence.

It's why the working middle class abandon the Democrats. Ayn Rand was better than Nostradamus.

mezzrow said...

He spoke into the phone, but he did not inhale.

Gusty Winds said...

Doesn't this make you wonder how dirty America's involvement in Ukraine actually is?? There's more influence peddling and enrichment that lead to Putin's invasion and our "unwavering commitment to democracy" in Ukraine. These people are willing to sacrifice Ukranians by the tens of thousands to cover their corruption.

And to think Democrats impeached Trump for asking Zelensky to look into the Biden influence peddling in Ukraine. I'm sure Zelensky benefited. How dirty in Vindman? Marie Yovanovitch?

Do we believe Obama didn't know what Joe and Hunter were doing? Of course he did. I'm sure his saintly wheels got greased too.

Kevin said...

Let’s assume Joe has never been in business with Hunter.

How does Joe feel about being used by Hunter to profit from his name and position?

How does Joe feel about unknowingly being used on conference calls to line Hunter’s pockets?

There should be public outrage today by Joe, not silence.

traditionalguy said...

OK. Hunter is the Biden’s family Queen of Heaven. He will listen to your pleas for mercy and receive your donations. Then he will mention to The Big Guy that Hunter needs the specific mercy done for him to benefit his new friend.

How else does the wife of the Mayor of Moscow get left of the sanctions list of Russian Oligarchs? By entreating Hunter for mercy and making it worth Hunter’s time to speak with the Big Guy for an Indulgence.

rehajm said...

“We sell used cars in A-1 condition…”

BUZZ…

“A-2 condition…”

BUZZ…

“We sell used cars!”

Ampersand said...

What did Joe Biden need to say on these phone calls in order to convince the NYT that he's a crook? "I get on these many phone calls whenever Hunter asks in order to convince you that the trillions of dollars worth of US financial,military, and political power can be purchased by paying my idiot family members less than 100 million dollars."
Any reasonable person would see that the tacit message of Joe's frequent participation in promoting the "Biden Brand" was virtually the same as the quote provided above.

Gusty Winds said...

Can anybody explain why as a political voting block college educated white women are ok with all of this? Is is a lack of interest and depth? Is abortion the only thing they care about?

Professors, public school teachers, education administrators don't care at all. They will bury this in their classroom while they worship the pride flag.

It's an amazing level of ignorance. They are America's "educators" and control the mindset of America's youth.

I think we're fucked.

Leland said...

The illusion of access;
Hunter: “I can let you speak to my father.”
Foreign Agent: “May I?”
Hunter: “Let me put him on the phone.”
Joe: “Hi, this is Joe Biden.”

TeaBagHag said...

Yaaaaaaaawn. Sad GOP.
Nada was the big reveal from the star witness.
This MAGAt party is all sizzle and no steak.
Are any of the tin foil hat brigade in here still waiting for the kraken to be released?

typingtalker said...

Pure speculation while hoping for an interesting presidential campaign ... perhaps we'll see President Biden drop out due to complications of some medical problem. Acute senescence has a nice ring to it.

Now, about that Vice Presidential candidate ...

Original Mike said...

Jonathan Turley:. "What did they get for their money? … We have to find those answers.”

"They" meaning the crooked Ukrainians and Chinese who were paying the Bidens. They expected things for their millions.

rhhardin said...

The 5th amendment protects Biden from charges of failing to report illicit income, since the IRS now shares returns with other Federal agencies.

Dude1394 said...

Yes...so the business owner who doesn't want to pay protection money to the mob is sitting down with the mob agent. The agent puts the Godfather on Speaker phone to talk about the "weather".

Business owner pays protection money.

Any, ANY media outlet that tries to spin this has literally no credibility. Thank god for Elon Musk. He may need a place on Mt. Rushmore after this.

Eva Marie said...

I love the “illusion of influence” A man approaches you with a gun and says “I want your money.” You give him your money. Were you robbed? No, you fell under the spell of the illusion of a robbery.

MayBee said...

It seems impossible to believe that
1- Trump was impeached over this and
2- We are currently paying billions to support a war there
and
3- This

are a coincidence.

Bob Boyd said...

Joe didn't have to discuss specifics with Hunter's clients. He just had to show them Hunter wasn't bullshitting them and could actually produce his father for them. Joe showed he was on board by taking calls and meeting Hunter's clients.
The clients could discuss specifics with Hunter and he could tell Joe. That's the whole purpose of a middleman like Hunter, to provide distance and deniability. Besides, there's too much danger of a call like that being monitored and recorded by US or other intelligence agencies. Of course they're going to be very careful on such calls.
Why was Joe on those calls at all?

MayBee said...

(and if I'm feeling really conspiratory-ish, I'll add the way Biden was wallowing around the bottom of the Dem primary pool, the Dem primaries were a mess, and then suddenly he won all the Dem primaries. Like some entity gave him it's blessing)

cfs said...

"Let's talk about Devon Archer."

That's the one thing the left and their loyal media do not want you talking about. Unlike every accusation against Trump over the past few years, the very credible evidence against Joe Biden is barely mentioned on the front pages of the WSJ. If addressed at all, it is from the angle of "Republicans pounce" and any excuse provided by the Biden family through their loyal supporters is given more credit than the evidence itself. Addressing the actual evidence is left up to the opinion writers and usually disappears pretty quickly.

Tina Trent said...

I read the definition of bribery.

Once I stopped laughing at the statement that it's shocking, shocking! to the author that even judges! commit bribery sometimes because judges are, like, the most trusted public officials, it seems to me (not a lawyer, but I know criminal law) that the Bidens' behavior rises to the level of bribery as it may be found through statements already made and present and future forensic accounting.

Maybe I'm wrong. But bribery does not require written proof. It only requires the acceptance of anything of value in exchange for anything of value -- in this case, money to Hunter that is then (already proven) funneled to various Biden family members including (needs to be proven) the Big Man (conversely, Joe's role merely as the family patriarch in a family receiving obvious bribes through Hunter might rise to the level of culpability). In return, Biden's role as Vice President and the diplomatic actions he took at the request of his son's "employers" is the thing of value he returned.

I can't see how an impeachment should not go forward. The sum of Joe's actions seem to meet most if not all of the federal government's six elements of proof and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Would Hunter Biden be able to take the hit for his dad and go to prison in order to stop a possible impeachment? Or is the fact of Joe putting himself in this situation proof enough, if such a scheme were even attempted?

What this would mean politically for Joe is a question I leave to Democrats.

MayBee said...

Bob Boyd said...
Joe didn't have to discuss specifics with Hunter's clients. He just had to show them Hunter wasn't bullshitting them and could actually produce his father for them. Joe showed he was on board by taking calls and meeting Hunter's clients.
The clients could discuss specifics with Hunter and he could tell Joe. That's the whole purpose of a middleman like Hunter, to provide distance and deniability. Besides, there's too much danger of a call like that being monitored and recorded by US or other intelligence agencies. Of course they're going to be very careful on such calls.
Why was Joe on those calls at all?


100% this.

Are we supposed to pretend Joe thought he was on the phone to talk about weather with Hunter's little friends?

Bob Boyd said...

"Outside of the bank records, the suspicious activity reports, the wire transfers, the Privat bank transactions, the LLCs, the texts, the emails, the WhatsApp messages, the photos of Joe with Hunter’s business partners, the voicemails to his son, the two business partners saying Joe is the “brand,” the “big guy,” and “the chairman,” the two whistleblowers testimony, the recorded phone calls between Biden and Poroshenko, the video of Joe Biden bragging about firing the Ukrainian prosecutor, and Hunter’s statements that he’s giving his dad half his income, there is NO evidence of Joe Biden being involved." - Dan Bongino

Elliott A. said...

Why so many shell companies? Conspired with at least 51 people to obstruct laptop investigation and interfere with election. Collecting insane amounts of rent from Hunter when he stayed in his house. Firing the prosecutor. Etc. These are not illusions. How exactly did he pay for the houses?

Original Mike said...

"Are we supposed to pretend Joe thought he was on the phone to talk about weather with Hunter's little friends?"

That what Dan Goldman (D-NY) is peddling. He's auditioning to be the next Adam Schiff.

(Another +1 for Bob Boyd's comment. Everybody knows how this works, even the people who claim this is innocent.)

Chuck said...

I never expected Trump to go to jail for all of his lying to the press and the public.

I never expected Trump to go to jail for his children's grifting and opportunism.

I do expect Trump to go to jail for well-pled, thoroughly investigated felony charges where the evidence of criminality is overwhelming.

I was quite satisfied with the two Trump impeachments. I would have voted to impeach in both cases had I been in the House. I would have voted for convictions in both cases had I been in the Senate. But there now seems to have been little hope of supermajority bipartisan convictions in either case. There will be even less hope in the case of Biden.

What "high crime or misdemeanor" is there as a result of the Devon Archer interview? The one thing that I do know for certain is that the way that Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) portrays the interview, no crime is implicated. And Goldman says he wants the transcript made fully public, as soon as possible. I'm good with that.

I don't care what House Republicans do. Failed impeachments, we have seen, often serve only to bolster the impeachment subject with his base. (Clinton, Trump x2). I don't propose to make this a point of discussion with my Republican friends. I don't wish to compormise, or build anything with them. I have little hope of coming to any understanding with them. I just want to beat them. Keep beating them, until all traces of Trumpism have gone.

Bob Boyd said...

But Joe participated in creating the illusion, didn't he? Is this the argument: Joe only meant to con the "international business associates" out of their money?

Althouse nails it, as usual.

D.D. Driver said...

Who blew up the Russian gas pipeline and why? Did it benefit Biden's business associates? Why exactly are we risking WWIII again?

walter said...

Big Guy got money for conversation? A sort of Only Fans deal?

"Another email — sent by Biden as part of an Aug. 2, 2017, chain — involved a deal he struck with the since-vanished chairman of CEFC, Ye Jianming, for half-ownership of a holding company that was expected to provide Biden with more than $10 million a year.
Ye, who had ties to the Chinese military and intelligence service, hasn’t been seen since being taken into custody by Chinese authorities in early 2018, and CEFC went bankrupt earlier this year, according to reports.
Biden wrote that Ye had sweetened the terms of an earlier, three-year consulting contract with CEFC that was to pay him $10 million annually “for introductions alone.”
“The chairman changed that deal after we me[t] in MIAMI TO A MUCH MORE LASTING AND LUCRATIVE ARRANGEMENT to create a holding company 50% percent [sic] owned by ME and 50% owned by him,” Biden wrote."
https://nypost.com/2020/10/15/emails-reveal-how-hunter-biden-tried-to-cash-in-big-with-chinese-firm/

Chuck said...

Wisconsin's wonderful Bill Lueders, writing at The Bulwark:
****
In January 2022, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas mused that Biden might be impeached “whether it’s justified or not” if Republicans gained control of the House, which they have since done. While he wasn’t sure what Biden might be impeached for, Cruz claimed there were “multiple grounds to consider,” including “the utter lawlessness of President Biden’s refusal to enforce the border.” He said this was “probably the strongest grounds right now for impeachment, but there may be others.”

Cruz said “​​Democrats weaponized impeachment” by twice voting “for partisan purposes to go after Trump because they disagreed with him.” Now they must face the fact that “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” In other words, the best reason Republicans have for impeaching Biden comes down to this: They started it. Following McCarthy’s remarks last week, the Hill quoted Sen. John Cornyn of Texas explaining why Biden’s impeachment may be forthcoming: “When you impeach a president twice, then what goes around comes around, unfortunately.”

With grounds like this, it’s a wonder Biden hasn’t already been impeached.

****

iowan2 said...

"To the extent that Hunter Biden used his father ... in any furtherance of any of his business dealings, it was not in consultation or collaboration with his father," Goldman told Axios.


Goldman has cooked his own goose.

in any furtherance of any of his business dealings,

If the Business is not selling access to Joe Biden, then it has to be defined.

We are to believe these nations transferred, to 20 different Biden shell companies, in excess of $30 million dollars, triggering 130 SAR's issued by the Dept of Treasury, on an "illusion" of access?

Those nations have to be even more stupid than Goldman. (Dems are going to have to Arkancide Goldman, unless he shuts up)

Iman said...

We have no mainstream media… it’s an official state organ. This has been apparent for some time now - e.g., see examples of same language used on multiple telecasts of alphabet and cable news shows to describe stories - and now, they really don’t care who knows it.

Fuck ‘em… they can’t die off soon enough.

Jersey Fled said...

College educated white women are the dumbest creatures on the planet. Maybe the universe.

Real American said...

the Biden "Brand" is synonymous with "Politician on the take"

They think you're stupid enough to believe that, and if you do, you are.

Biden sold govt access for money. He admitted to the Burisma/Shokin thing years ago. But they'll have you believe his crackhead son, who has no fucking expertise in anything except hookers and blow, was hired to be on the board of Ukranian energy company (for $80k/mo) weeks after Biden was put in charge of the Obama admin's Ukraine policy was just consulting?

He'd have you believe he met with all of these business associates of Hunter's and was put on the phone with them dozens of times and all they talked about was the weather?

The Democrats impeached Trump for asking for a Ukranian investigation into Hunter/Joe and it turns out Trump was on to them. He knew what was going on and they circled the wagons around Joe b/c he was going to be their candidate.

Paul said...

When Hillary ran against Trump they published all kinds of bad things she was doing.. each day a new awful expose of the Clinton's corruption.

Did it so long she lost to Trump.

So they cheated with COVID-19 'mail in ballots' to queer the election. It worked and got us a senile corrupt president who had a cokehead son who was so stupid he left evidence all over the place.

So now they need to do a Hillary on Biden. Each day a new revelation... do this from now to the election in 2024. Drag it out. Cumulative proof of how slimy the Bidens are will cause either he steps down, primaried out, or voted out.

Paul said...

Original Mike said...

""Are we supposed to pretend Joe thought he was on the phone to talk about weather with Hunter's little friends?"

That what Dan Goldman (D-NY) is peddling. He's auditioning to be the next Adam Schiff.

(Another +1 for Bob Boyd's comment. Everybody knows how this works, even the people who claim this is innocent.)"

Why not? Hillary bleachbit her private server and just said she deleted her 'yoga' emails... and they did nothing.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

It depends on the meaning of "in" and "with." Choose your prepositions well

This is where the ready access to Hunter's laptop comes in handy. Sure the statements are not under oath but they are what's known in criminal investigations as "spontaneous utterance," similar to the legal phrase "statement against interest" when it comes to bribery.

Hunter says:
"I won't force you to give me half your salary like dad did to me."
"I'll hold 10% for the Big Guy."

So that along with Joe embodying the role of closer to his family bag men (Frankie, then James, then Hunter) puts those phone calls into context. Archer is smart enough to be ambiguous while being truthful. After all, there is nothing wrong with Joe taking a call from his son. It is not a crime, so D spin yesterday was "Archer did not articulate a crime."

True enough. However, it fits the puzzle pieces previously supplied by the five whistleblowers and several former partners who WERE at those dinners and meetings with Devon and Hunter when Joe called. Here's how it went:

Hunter: Do we have a deal then?
Foreign briber: Absolutely, if you can get the Big Guy on the phone right now to confirm his part.
Hunter: No problem! [calls Dad]
Joe Biden: Hey Son how's it hanging?
Hunter: Perfect, Pops. You're on speakerphone. I'm sitting here with Dev and our [foreign country] partners. They just wanted to ensure everything is set to go.
Joe: I'll do my part. My word as a Biden. Obama just handed me the [foreign country] portfolio. How's the weather there?
Hunter: Not a cloud in the sky! Thanks, Dad.

Temp Blog said...

*whew*

I was so grateful to see Hag and Chuckie Cheese pop in with their Democrat-issued talking points. I was afraid they were going to avoid the discussion or even perhaps do some independent, critical thinking for once. Fortunately we are not to be disappointed as they predictably play to type, working to protect the reputation of their corrupt leaders.

Anna Keppa said...

rhhardin said...
The 5th amendment protects Biden from charges of failing to report illicit income, since the IRS now shares returns with other Federal agencies.

**

The 5th doesn't "protect" ANYONE from "charges". It conveys a personal right not to incriminate oneself in legal proceedings, including sworn testimony before Congress.

If formerly charged with evading income taxes, Hunter could certainly "take the 5th", but if extrinsic evidence exists of unreported income he could still be convicted w/o testifying.

gspencer said...

When Joe first became a Senator back in the early 1970s, when he was just 30 years old, he discovered that corruption and influence peddling would give him lots and lots of money. His first targets were the credit card companies who were themselves so willing to pay off pols for the advantages.

Now you know the answer to why credit card companies are based in Delaware.

Original Mike said...

Multiple Banks Filed Over 170 Suspicious Activity Reports on the Bidens

"These SARs are submitted and sent to the Treasury Department when banks "have a strong suspicion" that a crime has been committed, so as to protect the bank. As Comer emphasized, these are submitted "very seldom." If someone were to have two, the chairman explained, it would be hard for that person to open up a bank account. Submitting an SAR, Comer added, also is "inviting the regulators to come in and regulate," which is the last thing banks want. The 170 reports are thus quite significant."

Harun said...

I will need people who supported Trump impeachment based on Ukraine phone call to now explain why that was impeachable.

Look, I understand YOU didn't know there was sketchy shit done by the Bidens, but other people were already clued in by laptop emails.

This isn't really hard.
So law enforcement should have been investigating...except they weren't.

We now understand DOJ and FBI are partisan and foot dragging to let Hunter and Joe escape using statute of limitations.

So, yes, Trump made the phone call. Seems PERFECT. I want to catch corrupt elected officials. Do you NOT want to do that?

Time to show that COUNTRY OVER PARTY ideal now...c'mon you were so smug about that, so time to hold your own politician to the same rule.

COUNTRY OVER PARTY time is here. LOL

tim in vermont said...

It’s already been shown that Joe Biden and Hunter commingle funds.

Look for Joe to declare himself president for life, and to appoint Hunter as his successor, and watch the media, and Joe’s LLR sycophants on this blog to say that it has to be done to protect democracy.

Tina Trent said...

Bob Boyd +3, Althouse also. And Walter for naming the Only Fans Defense, which needs to go viral, as it is their only actual defense. What a Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex to be specific. I am actually beginning to feel sorry for Hunter again. I think Joe definitely would tell him to take one more for the team. The Obamas would certainly have reasons to sweeten the deal.

And don't forget why Laius was cursed in the first place. Oedipus ended up with his sister (in-law) instead of his step-mother, but the resonances are eerie. There's a plague and banished sisters (wives, in-laws...). Hunter Biden may yet prove to be the most principled one of this clan.

tim in vermont said...

I didn’t see any curveball though, anybody paying attention could have seen this one coming straight down the pipe.

Narayanan said...

was there proper warmup and windup before curve thrown? did it clear plate or hit dirt in front! did batter whiff on it?

asking for catchers [all of us]

TreeJoe said...

I have been exhausted for coming up on 20 years on Congress' love of threatening presidential impeachment - what should be a extremely rare exception for gross criminal deeds - to Bush, Obama, Trump.

This is the first time in 20 years there appears to be clear and INCREASING evidence from named, under-oath individuals that:

- The Biden family is selling access and policy, while Biden himself was previously in office, to foreign countries, with Joe Biden's direct involvement.
- Joe Biden has repeatedly and numerously lied about these matters, mis-representing himself before and after his election to President.
- There is clear, on-the-record evidence that President Biden's Department of Justice is acting to offer his son blanket non-prosecution agreement for potential foreign lobbying crimes for pleading guilty to gun/tax crimes while getting no real punishment for that plea.

I could go on, but whether we are talking Bush, Obama, or Trump - none of them ever had the level of quid-pro-quo evidence of direct corruption that is happening today with Biden. Trumps singular conversation about exploring potential corruption by Biden and his family in Ukraine led to his impeachment (albeit they were looking for an excuse). He we have far more than that.

Mason G said...

"College educated white women are the dumbest creatures on the planet."

I believe the correct term is "college credentialed". Not a lot of education getting done at colleges today.

tim in vermont said...

When Hunter Biden appeared on stage at the inauguration, it was an “open for business” sign.

Do you think that we will ever get to the part where Barrack Obama and Joe Biden involved the United States in the massacre of 49 demonstrators in Kiev in order to blame it on the elected government so we could overthrow it “ to protect democracy”?

walter said...

"Cruz claimed there were “multiple grounds to consider,” including “the utter lawlessness of President Biden’s refusal to enforce the border.” He said this was “probably the strongest grounds right now for impeachment, but there may be others.”--
--
And he's right.
But Republicans tend to wimp out...per Chuck!'s liking.

Yancey Ward said...

Two things:

(1) Can Comer's committee show money going from Hunter to his father in the bank transactions?

(2) Unfortunately for the Democrats, we already know that Joe Biden performed at least one act for Burisma, and we have Joe Biden admitting to this on video. Case closed on this issue.

Breezy said...

If Joe spoke on the phone with Hunter’s gang, then it was not an illusion of access, it was access, pure and simple.

Joe extorted Shokin’s resignation using OUR $1B cash. He was successful there - proving that his presence on the call was not just an illusion. Joe acted to earn at least $5mil. And, during his video’s admission, Joe told them they could call Obama if they didn’t believe Joe had the authority to stop the $1B payment to Ukraine. Did Obama know about this ahead of time? Or was Joe blowing smoke again?

The fact that Joe used our tax money to extort Ukraine bugs the heck out of me. How can he get away with using our money for his personal money-grabbing racket?

Narayanan said...

Gusty Winds said...
The Clintons, Bidens, and Obamas are the villains in Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged"...

Trump is a Hank Reardon. Built things with steel. Trump and his supporters have to be destroyed in order for all of the Elsworth Toohey's to survive...
----------
re: 'The Fountainhead' - would Gail Wynand buy Hunter's paintings? would thise paintings go in Wynand private gallery to join Steve Mallory works?

re: 'Atlas Shrugged' - Hank Rearden is put on trial but 3-judge panel dare only this much...

... The judges retired to consider their verdict. They did not stay out long. They returned to an ominously silent courtroom – and announced that a fine of $5,000 was imposed on Henry Rearden, but that the sentence was suspended.

Original Mike said...

Blogger Jersey Fled said..."College educated white women are the dumbest creatures on the planet. Maybe the universe."

I've gotta believe most of them know better, meaning they recognize Joe Biden is crooked. How could they not? But they are so brainwashed by the media and the culture that "the other side" is evil, that they think they are choosing the lesser of two evils. I sometimes sit at my mother's computer, and the push notifications that the lefty media pushes out to them are jaw dropping. Even if you know it's crap, it's hard to get it out of your head.

I once asked my mother, after Russia! Russia! Russia! was well along, if she really believed that Trump was in league with Putin. What I got was an embarrassed "I don't know.". Which I took to mean she did know it was all a lie, but was unable to admit it because, you know, 'Trump is evil'. 'Slate, Politico, The View, etc have told me so'.

Bob Boyd said...

The sun shines
People forget
The spray flies as the speedboat glides
People forget
Forget they're hiding

The girls smile
People forget
The snow packs as the skier tracks
People forget
Forget they're hiding

Behind an eminence front
Eminence front, it's a put-on
It's an eminence front
It's an eminence front, it's a put-on
An eminence front

Hunter forgets

Mr Wibble said...

Can anybody explain why as a political voting block college educated white women are ok with all of this? Is is a lack of interest and depth? Is abortion the only thing they care about?

It's not about specific issues, it's about tribalism and being part of The Cause, whatever that cause may be; if it wasn't abortion, they would find something else. Progressivism has been able to portray itself as the ideology of the intelligent, the caring, the noble people. The elite. Women adopt it as a means of social positioning, especially women working in career fields which are very sensitive to reputation, rather than concrete achievements.

alanc709 said...

Chuck, why do you bother posting your inane musings? No one thinks you have a clue.

Jamie said...

Leland said...
The illusion of access;
Hunter: “I can let you speak to my father.”
Foreign Agent: “May I?”
Hunter: “Let me put him on the phone.”
Joe: “Hi, this is Joe Biden.”

8/1/23, 10:34 AM
TeaBagHag said...
Yaaaaaaaawn. Sad GOP.
Nada was the big reveal from the star witness.
This MAGAt party is all sizzle and no steak.
Are any of the tin foil hat brigade in here still waiting for the kraken to be released?


The juxtaposition of these two comments is delicious. Thank you, content moderation!

Original Mike said...

"The fact that Joe used our tax money to extort Ukraine bugs the heck out of me. How can he get away with using our money for his personal money-grabbing racket? "

And the fact that we are now in a proxy war with Russia, via the Ukraine, more than bugs the heck out of me. How much of this is the result of Joe's crimes?

Eva Marie said...

It’s time for Democrats to come to the aid of their party.
We saw it with Biden’s granddaughter. Republicans kept pointing to the bad behavior but it took a column by Democrat Maureen Dowd for the Biden family to do the right thing.
The Democratic Party is in the clutches of a crime family and their enablers in all the alphabets (CIA, FBI, NYT, CNN, MSNBC, ETC). The only way out is for rank and file Democrats to demand change in their party. If they sit on the sidelines content to belong to the winning team, nothing will change.

Jamie said...

In other words, the best reason Republicans have for impeaching Biden comes down to this: They started it.

...

With grounds like this, it’s a wonder Biden hasn’t already been impeached.


And yet he hasn't. Because although (some) Republicans may indeed want revenge or simply to show Democrats that what they start can and/or will be used against them, apparently they also want to build a case that makes the reason for impeachment clear and actionable. Unlike the Democrats, who were and are happy to go with ridiculous and transparent pretexts.

Hauptfrau said...

Perhaps related. Biden has bragged about releasing his tax returns (unlike Trump). Unfortunate that he didn't release them in their entirety. Specifically, failure to include the Subchapter S Corp returns ($15 million in income, no details showing where the money actually came from) is concerning. In particular, tax year 2017. That year they hauled in more income than something like previous 20 years combined.

MSM tells us not to worry -- it's from Joe and Jill's book sales and speaking engagements. Might well be correct, but to my knowledge, and correct me if I'm wrong, no indication the MSM fact-checkers actually checked. They just assumed. I wonder, if that's the case, why not release all their tax returns? Might not be covering up anything illegal but possibly covering up something embarrassing.

https://nypost.com/2022/04/06/legal-experts-call-for-biden-to-release-corporate-tax-returns/

Martha said...

Daily Mail is reporting Hunter told Archer to buy a burner phone in 2014 just 3 days before he was to meet Vice President Joe Biden in the White House—because they were in a totally legitimate business together…….

“Hunter told his 'best friend' Devon Archer to get a burner phone, three days before Archer met with then-VP Joe Biden at the White House, shocking emails show.

'Buy a cell phone from a 7/11 or CVS tmrw and ill do the same,' Hunter wrote in the explosive April 13, 2014 message.

Days later Archer would meet with Joe in the West Wing, White House records show, and he and Hunter would announce their board seats at allegedly corrupt Ukrainian gas company Burisma later that month.”

Scott Patton said...

"In short Mr. Biden wasn't telling the truth about Hunter during the [2020 presidential] debates, and there is no way to defend those answers today."

There's any number of ways to defend Biden's answers. Primarily, just make some shit up and repeat it endlessly. The media will play along. And it's almost guaranteed that nothing will happen to Joe Biden. The worst would be, he is pressured to not run again. Eventually, it will be time to move on.

Original Mike said...

Blogger Chuck said...
"Wisconsin's wonderful Bill Lueders, writing at The Bulwark:"


Not being from Madison, Chuck, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Praising Bill Lueders does not bolster your LLR bona fides.

GRW3 said...

So just today, I've heard the following about the conversations:
- They didn't happen
- He discussed the weather
- He just said hello
- He would talk to anybody because he was sad about his son dying
- He is senile and doesn't know what he is doing

Mason G said...

"I am actually beginning to feel sorry for Hunter again. I think Joe definitely would tell him to take one more for the team. The Obamas would certainly have reasons to sweeten the deal."

If BO invites him over to go paddleboarding, Hunter should probably decline.

Original Mike said...

Blogger Hauptfrau said...
Perhaps related. Biden has bragged about releasing his tax returns (unlike Trump). Unfortunate that he didn't release them in their entirety. Specifically, failure to include the Subchapter S Corp returns ($15 million in income, no details showing where the money actually came from) is concerning. In particular, tax year 2017. That year they hauled in more income than something like previous 20 years combined.

MSM tells us not to worry -- it's from Joe and Jill's book sales and speaking engagements. Might well be correct, but to my knowledge, and correct me if I'm wrong, no indication the MSM fact-checkers actually checked. They just assumed. I wonder, if that's the case, why not release all their tax returns? Might not be covering up anything illegal but possibly covering up something embarrassing."


Yeah, this is important; Joe's large income that year is hidden behind one of those shell companies we've been hearing about.

A conservative site did fact-check this (if push comes to shove, I believe I've got this bookmarked somewhere), and there's no way Biden got that level of income from his book deal.

tim in vermont said...

"Illusion of access" is the final fig leaf in this dance of the seven veils. Hillary used that defense to explain why she took hundreds of millions from Putin for her foundation. Except that she sat on a board that approved the sale of the control of the lion's share of North American uranium to a company controlled by Russia. The defense was illusion of access and the fact that she did not have a controlling vote on the committee, but what she did have was a well-funded foundation, in no small part funded by Putin, from which she could dole out cushy, high paying jobs which required very little investment in time.

Her campaign manager had 75K shares of stock from a Russian "green energy" company (Read: Receptacle for US green energy grants) which company strangely became worthless two days after Hillary lost the election.

Joe Biden, as noted above, got his son Hunter a job as a Vice President at a bank, in his mid twenties, fresh out of college, at the same time Hunter was serving on the Amtrak board for a no-show $90K, and guess what? Joseph Robinette Biden ramrodded through the Senate the law that made student loans non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Of course, we know from the laptop that Joe demanded Hunter remand 50% of his "earnings" to dear old Pedo Pete. He said this to his sister, who also faced the same "dad tax," so the odds that he was lying are near zero.

tim in vermont said...

"Specifically, failure to include the Subchapter S Corp returns ($15 million in income, no details showing where the money actually came from) is concerning..."

They are going to declare him President for Life, and you are going to have to like it or lump it.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

"I am actually beginning to feel sorry for Hunter again...

It is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which he is a sad tragic figure.

I once read an account of a very dysfunctional family headed by a powerful man who molested his minor children and kept his wife in check by threatening to "hospitalize her and separate her from her children permanently unless she allowed it to continue. He even made the children "experiment" sexually on each other. Feeling helpless the mother eventually loaded them into the family wagon and drove it front of a speeding tractor trailer killing herself and the daughter, although the two boys survived. Dad was fully unconstrained then and married a woman who would not dare intervene. He had a daughter with her and forced the daughter to shower with him well into her teens. The children grew up to be troubled adults, dogged by addiction and self-destructive behavior, especially wanton and incestuous depravity. To their horror their father would publicly joke about inappropriately touching children and was known to sniff the children of strangers or suggest they stroke the hair on his legs.

So many coincidences in this fucked up world. Probably this story arc is also simply and coincidentally related to the topic at hand. After all, how could such a man really get away with these things for so long?

walter said...

"Wisconsin's wonderful Bill Lueders, writing at The Bulwark:"
When not Editor at large at Progressive mag.

farmgirl said...

Gusty Winds: “I think we're fucked.“

Dude- we’ve been getting f/ked since 2020!!!
Feel the burn…

Be best.
America…

farmgirl said...

Gusty Winds: “I think we're fucked.“

Dude- we’ve been getting f/ked since 2020!!!
Feel the burn…

Be best.
America…

Mark said...

Joe participated in creating the illusion, didn't he?

No. Joe made access a reality.

khematite said...

If it turns out that it's not illegal to sell the illusion of access to the president, perhaps it's also not illegal to sell the illusion that an election was rigged against you and that you actually won.

Chuck said...

Original Mike said...
...
...Not being from Madison, Chuck, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Praising Bill Lueders does not bolster your LLR bona fides.

No worries. I know what I'm doing and where I stand. Even that Althouse and Meade got crosswise with Lueders about a decade ago. When I thought that Meade and Althouse were at that time on the right side and had pretty carefully Fisked (remember "Fisking"?) Mr. Lueders.

Since then, Bill has more than redeemed himself with me. Writing for The Bulwark wouldn't bolster any progressive bona fides for Lueders, right?

So see? You can presume real intent in most things that I write.

wildswan said...

I think it's sweet the way the media thinks that businessmen would pay millions for a chat about the weather. And the media thinks that businessmen would keep on paying thus enriching all Biden's chilluns and grandchilluns (except Navy) even when businessmen got nothing in return but the weather report - ha, ha, ha. Why is the media so sweet and trusting? I turned to Chat GPT, to AI itself and asked that question by asking this question which is that question: How many votes would the people that count count if the people that count counted votes?

"User
How many votes would the people that count count if the people that count counted votes?

ChatGPT
The question you provided is a bit ambiguous and seems to involve wordplay. However, if we break it down:

"How many votes would the people that count count...": This part seems to refer to the number of votes counted by a group of people who are responsible for counting votes.

"...if the people that count counted votes?": This part appears to be a repetition or reiteration of the initial statement, but without additional context, it seems redundant.

So, based on the information provided, the answer would be: "The people that count would count the votes." "

The people that count would count the votes.
So there you have it from AI.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Roadkill711 has it straight up. Barry probably called off any evidence collection, but he knew. He even made a parable out of Joe's abilities to F*ck Things Up.

Chuck said...

alanc709 said...
Chuck, why do you bother posting your inane musings? No one thinks you have a clue.


You're still chapped about our exchange on THIS PAGE, aren't you? It is a particularly good page of Althouse blog comments. Including Althouse's own comments, and lots of doubting references to indictments just six months ago! A great blast from the not-so-distant past.

Greg the Class Traitor said...

However, in nearly five hours of closed-door testimony to the House Oversight Committee, Devon Archer, the former partner, asserted that the elder Mr. Biden was not party to any of his son’s business deals and that Hunter Biden had tried to sell the illusion that he was providing access to his powerful father when he was not, according to Democrats on the panel.

The above is fraudulent. Following is the correct version:

According to Democrats on the panel, Devon Archer, the former partner, asserted that the elder Mr. Biden was not party to any of his son’s business deals and that Hunter Biden had tried to sell the illusion that he was providing access to his powerful father when he was not. This despite the fact that Devon Archer testified that at least 20 times while Archer was present Hunter provided that access to VP Biden.

Gosh, it reads a bit differently that way, doesn't it?

But Joe participated in creating the illusion, didn't he? Is this the argument: Joe only meant to con the "international business associates" out of their money? I don't think this is a defense to the charge of bribery! (Here's a discussion of the elements of a charge of bribery.)

1: It was no illusion, since Joe Biden was there on teh phone with them. THAT is "access".
2: What the Democrats are trying to argue is that Joe Biden was not an "honest politician", which is to say "he didn't stay bought".
the problem with that is that the Shotgun firing shows that Joe Biden DID stay bought

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"TeaBagHag said...
Yaaaaaaaawn. Sad GOP.
Nada was the big reveal from the star witness.
This MAGAt party is all sizzle and no steak.
Are any of the tin foil hat brigade in here still waiting for the kraken to be released?"

Who farted? And good god, what have they been eating?

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"Chuck said...
I never expected Trump to go to jail for all of his lying to the press and the public.

I never expected Trump to go to jail for his children's grifting and opportunism.

I do expect Trump to go to jail for well-pled, thoroughly investigated felony charges where the evidence of criminality is overwhelming.

I was quite satisfied with the two Trump impeachments. I would have voted to impeach in both cases had I been in the House. I would have voted for convictions in both cases had I been in the Senate. But there now seems to have been little hope of supermajority bipartisan convictions in either case. There will be even less hope in the case of Biden.

What "high crime or misdemeanor" is there as a result of the Devon Archer interview? The one thing that I do know for certain is that the way that Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) portrays the interview, no crime is implicated. And Goldman says he wants the transcript made fully public, as soon as possible. I'm good with that.

I don't care what House Republicans do. Failed impeachments, we have seen, often serve only to bolster the impeachment subject with his base. (Clinton, Trump x2). I don't propose to make this a point of discussion with my Republican friends. I don't wish to compormise (sic), or build anything with them. I have little hope of coming to any understanding with them. I just want to beat them. Keep beating them, until all traces of Trumpism have gone.
"

In an article about Joe Biden, Chuck provides us with a comment with the following wordcount:

Trump: 6
Biden: 1

What a useless tool.

tim in vermont said...

It just occurred to me that Putin funded Hillary’s foundation so that she could use it to pass out the favors, like high paying no-show jobs, required to get the committee to agree to hand over control of our uranium to Russia.

Remember when the FBI busted a Russian spy ring that had gotten very close to Hillary, and despite the fact that we had them dead to rights, and headed for prison, she had them deported before they could be interrogated? I don’t blame you if you think that that was made up, it makes this whole mess easier to endure if you pretend it’s not happening.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"Now you know the answer to why credit card companies are based in Delaware."

You misspelled Sioux Falls, SD.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

College educated white women are the dumbest creatures on the planet.

College-educated white woman here :-) From UC/Berkeley, no less. Undergrad (MechE) and grad degrees (Musicology) both! I must be the absolute dumbest "creature" on the planet, amirite? Though how UCSC's banana slugs come in front of me, I cannot fathom. Perhaps that's just another aspect of my "dumbness."

A brush wide enough to tar (roughly) 20% of the country is going to hit a lot of the wrong targets. Just sayin'.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"I am actually beginning to feel sorry for Hunter again."

Has a sitting president ever had a child commit "suicide"?

gspencer said...

When Joe entered the room or the call they discussed the weather.

Whether the payments will be in dollars or euros
Whether they'll go to one shell company which in time will spread it to the other ones
Or whether the spreading will be done right from the start
Whether Joe will get a bonus over the 10%
etc.

phantommut said...

A real journalist would try to determine how many bank accounts/corporate entities had Hunter, Joe, and Uncle James (and possibly other Bidens) with joint access to funds and management.

Ralph L said...

his crackhead son, who has no fucking expertise in anything except hookers and blow,

He has a law degree from YALE. It's good to be a senator's son.

tim in vermont said...

From X. Yes this is a real tweet.

Eli Lake@EliLake
·
5h
All this potential foreign influence stuff with Hunter Biden is exactly what the Kremlin wants you to think. If you're looking for a story here, it's this: Joe Biden loves his troubled son. Everything else is disinformation that should be banned on social media.


At least we know his blue check is from a credit card.

Then remember this beauty from Pelosi, where she said that if Zelensky had given Trump evidence of Biden's corruption, that would have been "bribery"?

"Bribery ... that is in the Constitution, attached to the impeachment proceedings. The bribe is to grant or withhold military assistance in return for a public statement of a fake investigation into the elections. That's bribery."

The Constitution says that the president can be impeached or removed for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
. - Nancy Pelosi

It sounds like Joe Biden, under Pelosi's definition, "bribed" Ukraine to fire that prosecutor by threatening to grant or withhold aid. Or does it specifically have to be "military aid"? Who the hell knows. BTW, the election interference by Ukraine that Pelosi calls "fake" was well documented, even at the time.

They are such liars.

tim in vermont said...

Those who doubted that Trump would be indicted were just still holding on to the faint hope that we had an honest system of justice that was fair to both sides. Evidence was against them, but Chuck is right, it was foolish to doubt how far the Democrats would go to pervert justice thought their department of "Just Us."

"The only question left is how many years Donald Trump is going to have to spend in prison for Biden's crimes." - Scott Adams

tim in vermont said...

So they just indicted Trump for J6 is the response to this.

gspencer said...

No, I didn't misspell Sioux Falls, SD.

"This means that credit card issuers based in states with less-restrictive card lending rules, like South Dakota, Delaware and Utah, could leverage that state’s favorable laws for customers across the country, even if the customer’s “home” state had more restrictive law in place."

https://www.getfinal.com/company-news/2017/04/18/issuing-states/

And Delaware is the place where this idea was perfected with help from you-know-who. Further, the big credit card companies are headquartered in DL, setting up 100% subsidiaries in UT and SD.

To give two examples,
Bank of America. Its headquarters are in Charlotte, NC, but its state of incorporation is Delaware,
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/70858/000095014405009662/g96430a1sv4za.htm
Capital One. Operations in one state, incorporated in Delaware,
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/927628/000092762815000049/cof8-kxex31.htm

Original Mike said...

"Writing for The Bulwark wouldn't bolster any progressive bona fides for Lueders, right?"

Actually, I believe it would.

Mason G said...

"A brush wide enough to tar (roughly) 20% of the country is going to hit a lot of the wrong targets."

To be fair, Jersey didn't say "all".

The Godfather said...

When I first heard about the emails from Hunter Biden's laptop, I thought it was entirely possible that loser Hunter conned foreigners into paying him money for favors from Joe, but Joe didn't actually provide any favors and was innocent of taking bribes. The problem with that theory is that the process seems to have gone on too long. The marks were paying a lot of money to Hunter over a substantial period of time. They must have thought they were getting something more than "Hi! I'm Joe Biden" over the phone. Am I wrong?

The Godfather said...

When I first heard about the emails from Hunter Biden's laptop, I thought it was entirely possible that loser Hunter conned foreigners into paying him money for favors from Joe, but Joe didn't actually provide any favors and was innocent of taking bribes. The problem with that theory is that the process seems to have gone on too long. The marks were paying a lot of money to Hunter over a substantial period of time. They must have thought they were getting something more than "Hi! I'm Joe Biden" over the phone. Am I wrong?

Rusty said...

Temp Blog said...
"*whew*

I was so grateful to see Hag and Chuckie Cheese pop in with their Democrat-issued talking points."
It's never a good day when two of the densest black holes in the blog-verse decide thay must make us privy to their ramblings.

Maynard said...

Has anyone ever seen Chuck and David Brock in the same room together?

If he is not David, then maybe he is an employee. The nastiness is strikingly similar.

GrapeApe said...

Why this guy and hisdad haven’t yet been indicted is just a scandal on top of ascandal. Anyone voting for Biden again os dumb. Perhaps Amazon will deliver your box of rocks.

Josephbleau said...

" but why aren't these things true of Joe Biden as well? Are the Democrats asking us to perceive Joe as incurious and naive?"

The latest Joe Beiden defense strategy, "I was not lying to you, I am just stupid."

Drago said...

Maynard: "Has anyone ever seen Chuck and David Brock in the same room together?"

David Brock is William F. Buckley compared to LLR-democratical and Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck.

Drago said...

"Writing for The Bulwark wouldn't bolster any progressive bona fides for Lueders, right?"

The Bulwark is completely funded by far left activists and billionaires like Pierre Omidyar.

And they know what they've bought and will get from their stable of democrat party supporting writers.

Tina Trent said...

It's like a villanelle, but it isn't. Really good poem, Bob: what the heck is that form you're using?

Bob Boyd said...

You'd have to ask Pete Townshend.
Click the link below the lyrics to hear the song.