In a May interview, President Joe Biden said that his son, Hunter, "has done nothing wrong." That turned out not to be true. On Tuesday, Hunter Biden was charged with two misdemeanor counts of failure to pay income tax and one felony charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. (According to prosecutors, Hunter Biden falsely said he was not using drugs on a government form when purchasing a handgun.) Hunter Biden agreed to a deal in which he will plead guilty to the two tax charges in exchange for prosecutors recommending a sentence of two years probation. The gun charge will be dropped at the conclusion of Hunter Biden's probation if he meets certain conditions, including remaining drug-free and agreeing never to own a firearm.
You made the point that Democrats and those who defend Hunter need to make over and over - Roger Stone evaded $2M in taxes, lied about it and got off with a civil settlement. That's a sweetheart deal.
The fact that tRump remains free to incite crowds with seditious lies, and that the US Justice Dept did NOTHING to investigate and stop MAGAT Man from endangering national security, tells me who actually got the “sweetheart deal.” The Repugs are going to extreme lengths to suppress free speech, right on up to the House of Representatives--while flooding the internet with lies and propaganda: Who is getting a sweetheart deal? It’s the crooks and traitors of the right-wing.
And, what stuck in my mind was Preet Bharara's son's spin on "Justice" as Just Is. Quite an Interpretation if you remember that at that time, Bharara, SDNY attorney who focused on corruption, was fired by Trump, but kept Rob Rosenstein.
AsI have said elsewhere, the GOP seems to have no understanding of addiction, and the party will do anything to win. The fact that Biden has paid off his debt speaks volumes.
True. However, justice is not the goal of the GOP. further delusions and grievances for their own ends is the goal - without any actual solutions. They say so in their own words.
I refer people who can access NYT’s March 21, 2023 interview with Comer. He has never disavowed or otherwise objected to the article.
reflected on the pressure he often faced from constituents to investigate unhinged claims about President Biden and Democrats. His preface is quite important.
• “You know, the customer’s always right,” Mr. Comer said wryly, of his approach to the people who elected him and now brandish conspiracy theories, vulgar photographs featuring the president and his son, Hunter, and other lies they expect him to act upon.
“I say, ‘Let me see it,’ because I want to see where the source is,” Mr. Comer said. “They don’t know that it’s QAnon, but it’s QAnon stuff.”
• Also in the interview he says “he took a long pause, then replied: “I don’t disagree with what you said.” (That continuing the investigation into Kushner was politically unsustainable for him).
This is a stellar example of Republicans continued crusade to smear people, lie about both the law and the facts, and to redbait everything and anyone not in their small cult. Palmer raids, 1919; socialism scare in the 1930’s, republicans Congressional committee from the House Unamerican Activities Committee, Nixon smearing Ms, Douglas, McCarthey recklessly charging that the Sate Department, among others, was hiding Communist operatives, Nixon, again, using the drug scare to foster going after black peoples voting rights, an early project to smear Kerry, as early as 1074, because the Republicans saw his talent, same with Clinton and Clinton. Trump and DeSantis are just more offspring of the fear that Republicans have that the ragged mass will invade the gentleman’s clubs and sit next to them over a sherry and a cigar.
Thank you Judd and Tesnim for detailing what does and does not make sense regarding Hunter Biden's legal status. I just heard a blip of Andy Biggs questioning John Durham and declaring that Hunter Biden would be spending years in jail if he were not the President's son. Your work has essentially proved Biggs' analysis toally wrong. Why is all of this accusatory lying by so many Republicans unpunished by law? [Silly question? Answer? Precedent: Kelly Ann Conway.]
Back in the 80's and early 90s I worked in the Compliance Division of NYS Tax and Finance. I know that failure to file tax returns is a misdemeanor and that nobody actually goes to jail for it. And as a retired employee of the court system, I also know that in a first offense involving a weapon and a drug user (simple possession), a diversion program is the usual disposition. Hunter Biden's case was completed in a normal manner.
You're welcome! People also forget that Hunter Biden is taking responsibility for his actions, which is more than anyone can say about Trump.
This guy is the second troll I've seen on Substack this week. I think we'll see more as the presidential race picks up speed and more importantly, as Trump's court cases progress.
And that's the meat of the nut. He is taking responsibility for his actions. Weren't those RW MF's claiming to be the party of "personal responsibility" one time once a while ago?
I am reasonably sure my dumb blonde cat Nelson (named after Baby Face not Rockefeller) could take on Andy Biggs and win an argument because Andy is one dimension (like out in the Twilght Zone abandoned Col Sanders look alike Durham was eaten up by Schiff who spat his bones back at him.
Just a sidebar here, GOP House members make the Keystone Cops appear normal. Kevin McCarthy is a complete joke but so are the other 214.
I quit printing anything my Congressional Rep sends. His straight line Repug vote doesn't need repeating because, "Histronics, lying and Grandstanding is not news." Someone tell the MSM.
Grassley and any other politician over 80 should be required to take a test for dementia on a regular basis. What sort of a fever-dream must these GOP/Trumpers be in to come up with such outlandish lies and fantasies? And IF they get their way and end all the social programs that help people financially, what will they do with that money? What sort of “better” plan do they have to spend it? 😳🙀
YES. I spotted dementia in Ronald Reagan before he was shot. And tRump is overtly mentally ill. And WTF is up with George Santos? We need accountability for office-holders.
(Sorry, but I always think of counter arguments: Age is not necessarily the determinant of mental and cognitive dissonance.) e.g., Trump, Gosar, dingbats MTG and Boehbert.
That's a form of age discrimination that's unacceptable. If constituents feel the representation they receive is inadequate or impaired, it is up to them to vote the person out of office. Jeez, do you really think testing people for dementia is OK?
Not in the Constitution and it would be abused. There are a couple SCOTUS rulings that indicate Congress would not be able to change qualifications & that would likely include term limits.
Think bigger about the problem. It isn’t oldsters who are driving the nuttiness. Each new crop of legislators has dangerous ones among them. Yes, Santos comes to mind. $$$$$$
Hey, never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Unfortunately, the Democrats and the Bidens specifically have been put on the defensive. If one has to explain and define, one lost half the battle. This is where the Republicans are very very good at being very very bad.
If I were the Democrats, I'd follow the same playbook. Yell as loud and as often as possible that the Republicans want to shut down the government and kill the economy. Keep pressing it over and over again.
You know, an older lady I worked with when just a cub, explained the rules of corporate life to me like this: "Scott (my middle name), if you gots to X-plain, you ALREADY in trouble!"
When you're forced to "explain" you're already on your back foot & committed to backing up.
That the Trump family is corrupt? I need to explain that?
Or that Hunter Biden sells access to his father? What exactly do you think Burisma was paying Hunter $80K a month for? His expertise in oil prospecting?
You are no less deluded than the working class Republicans who think Trump is going to improve their lives.
It’s politics, Bro. Burisma’s hopes and dreams are not relevant unless the Bidens tried to fulfill them. It makes no sense to remove a prosecutor not bringing corruption cases if you are involved in corruption. It’s a Rudy delusion. FOUR of the biggest disinformation pushers on such topics have admitted they don’t even know if the evidence they spew about exists. Grassley, Jordan, Comer and Ron Johnson.
May you never become entangled with someone like them. Comer spills the beans over and over:
You know, the customer’s always right,” Mr. Comer said wryly, of his approach to the people who elected him and now brandish conspiracy theories, vulgar photographs featuring the president and his son, Hunter, and other lies they expect him to act upon. ... They don’t know that it’s QAnon, but it’s QAnon stuff.”
You really need to stop being an asshole and antagonizing people. I don't know why you signed on here as a paying subscriber unless you're one of those pathetic trolls who spends their day being an asshole to people online.
As a former court and taxation employee, I can assure you that Hunter Biden's plea and sentence are proper and typical. And since you have absolutely nothing other than bullshit right wing disinformation to go on, you have no basis upon which to accuse the Bidens of corruption in Ukraine or anywhere else. Now shut up.
So Hunter wasn't paid $80K a month to consult in a business where he had no experience or qualifications?
So was he not paid that much?
Or does he have experience in the oil business.
Please, do tell which one of these facts is "right wing disinformation"?
Is it right wing disinformation that I also think Don Jr and Kushner are also corrupt, for exactly the same reasons?
Or are you one of those smart people who thinks everything they disagree with is "right wing"?
Pretty sure attacking political corruption and corporate power of a fundamental part of being a leftist.
Perhaps you are confused as to what the "Left" and the "Right" are. The Left, where I am, favors the means of production being controlled democratically - ie, owned by the people.
The Right, where you are, is where corporate and political power are concentrated.
Glad I could help you with these very simple definitions.
I signed on here as a paying subscriber because I thought Judd was a journalist who exposed corruption, not covered it up when it happens on his team.
- Oh, I see. An ad hominem fallacy for a response with an assumption in the absence of facts to logically support your “both sides” offering.
I offered Comer’s attitude about such claims that he campaigned on proving. (As a bonus consideration, he has a relevant history.) I guess you put a lot of stock in his approach to “investigations” ... relying on evidence that very likely does not exist considering the source claiming to have it & vanishing witnesses. Too much GOP deja vu all over again.
- Years have passed, Hunter’s bank accounts were examined, his bill taxes calculated ... a trump appointed prosecutor was left in place. (Left in place despite the usual practice of being replaced by a new president’s appointments.) Congress can’t find evidence. They’ve had the laptop / hard drive since before they gained the majority. But I’m in denial?
- Newsflash: Family members of wealthy & or powerful people sit on boards everywhere. It is worth investigating (like Crow & Singer) when it is can spills over into potential harm to others - fraud, coercion or in their situation is hidden despite the law requiring Justices to disclose the ‘gifts’ and their other profitable ventures.
You are free to believe any and all defamatory allegations about anyone. It is worth considering the same lack of concern for facts can be applied by anyone to you also.
-- Breaking News: Not all “leftists” or those labeled as such are interested in the people (which is the government) “owning the means of production.” There are many variations of socialism. Almost all economies in the world are mixed. And not all on the “right” are wiling to share power with the corporate world or leverage a little of it. I offer you DeSantis as an example of one who skews far Right who wants to control & harness corporate power, legislative power, police power, etc. all for himself.
If one states that if it rains, then the ground is wet, and then observes that the ground is wet, they cannot conclude that it rained. (A deductive fallacy.)
ABC, I have spent too much time on thee & your fallacies.
That's a whole lot of bullshit, and none of it puts forward an explanation for why a foreign government paid a fortune to a man completely unqualified to do anything but sell access to his father.
Ah, just because Hunter was hired by Burisma doesn't necessarily equate that his father had any business himself with them. If there is evidence of that, then I think all of us would be interested in that if you want to show us, but otherwise this may just be a case of a company hiring a famous person, which is nowhere near an uncommon practice.
Stanley, I also doubt Burisma hired Hunter to this plum position for his energy market expertise. We agree on this. Where we diverge is proof this hiring, ostensibly a play to speculatively place themselves in a position to sway then VP Biden's policy input, changed any official Obama Administration policies. Hunter himself had no official or unofficial capacity within the Obama White House. Payment to him isn't a conflict unless he was on POTUS payroll or there is evidence he used his proximity to it, via Joe, to change White House policy.
Numerous investigations have, to my knowledge, shown no Burisma money going to Joe Biden, no communication between he and Burisma to land Hunter the job, no communication detailing promises to change or alter Obama administration policies in exchange for Hunter's hiring and no communication between Hunter and the administration to change energy policies in ways to benefit Burisma. If any of the above claims is incorrect, please provide verified sources to counter them and we will all have more to consider.
You must be a lawyer for the Kochs' climate change denial division.
Only a fool would believe that the dozens of companies that poured money into Hunter Biden's business and not expect a return on their investment.
I'm also not arguing a case in court. I am, however, pointing out the simple fact that only an absolute credulous imbecile would defend the Biden family, let alone support them in a time when income inequality is at Gilded Age levels and they are face down in the hog trough.
You're right. Obviously Burisma gave Hunter the money because he has nice hair plugs, expecting nothing in return.
Do you say the same thing about Clarence Thomas? I mean, you don't have any evidence that Thomas receiving millions in gifts from a right wing billionaire while ruling in his favor has any connection!
Yes, there is definitely no equivalence between the children of a high ranking elected official obviously selling influence and the children of a high ranking elected official obviously selling influence, because the Trumps are Republicans, and the Bidens are Democrats.
Trump's most ardent followers were raised in authoritarian-ruled families, communities, and communities of faith. They NEED to attach themselves to an authoritarian figure who, psychologically, fills in for their own missing ability to be strong, independent, and capable of rational decision making, things which were beaten out of them, verbally or physically, by those who raised them.
Without that attachment, they feel, at a deeper, unconscious level, like weak, defeated, weeping adolescents cowering in the corner with no ability to assert themselves or protect themselves.
If they face up to the realities of the Trump crime family (for which there is ample and increasing evidence), he ceases to meet their need for an admirable, strong, authoritarian leader. Because of this, they desperately NEED to believe (without any evidence whatsoever) that Biden is far worse, which in their marginally functional sense of reality means Trump is still OK and they were not fools to attach themselves to him.
Many will never give up their belief in the "Bidens are criminals" narrative because they DESPERATELY need it to be true (an unconscious need which runs far deeper than thought) in order to continue to believe that Trump is an appropriate "hero." To do otherwise is to reveal themselves to have been foolish to attach themselves to Trump in the first place, and in the authoritarian systems in which they were raised, being seen as a "fool" made you the target of everyone else's bullying, ridicule, and abuse. Some will go to extreme lengths to avoid that possibility.
Those who do have sufficient integrity and strength to wean themselves off of Trump, however, do so quietly, hoping no one else will notice (and it's best if those around them do not comment on the change because they can be driven to jump back to Trumpism in a flash in order to defend themselves from looking foolish). Such folk just quietly take down their signs and flags, stop going to rallies, and stop talking about Trump.
I believe that Trump's support is disappearing quietly with little notice, and his former supporters need it to be that way. We will not see any loud, proud speeches revealing new insight into what a scumbag their former hero has turned out to be.
Nationally, we would do best just to continue with his prosecution, solidly providing the evidence of his crimes, and ignoring the endless "what aboutism" of his most public supporters who cannot quietly slip away (yet), while turning down the heat on any efforts to "convert" his psychologically-dependent followers to truth and logic. They simply can't go there in any way that's too visible, though they are quietly moving in that direction in numbers which are gathering speed and size like a snowball rolling down a hill.
The "conservative" media would be wise to quietly begin to lead this movement away from Trump because as more and more of his former admirers slip away, they will no longer want to utilize the sources that keep pushing him at them. If they stick with Trump their audience will shrink to nothing and they may very well become the scapegoat such folk use to blame for their misguided worship of Trump.
Locally, our best approach is not to argue, but to ask fact-based questions and offer simple facts, then walk away and let it rest. The Trumpers among us will come around if we seek to influence them without provoking them to anger, since when angry, they are triggered into the kinds of infantile thought and behavior that attracted them to Trump in the first place (though we must certainly prosecute those who engage in illegal acts in the vain effort to protect themselves from feeling foolish and/or prove themselves right by "winning" through violence.)
Hunter's prosecution and guilty pleas will rapidly blow out of most of these folks' awareness, and the media will have to look for something new to grab their ears, eyeballs, and mouse clicks. In reality, it's already "yesterday's news" for the vast majority of folk.
Thanks, Judd, for putting the facts out there so clearly - facts we can use when we ask those questions and quietly lay out those facts for our continuing Trumper friends and family members.
Spot on. As I remember, Donnie uses the excuse of corruption against Ukraine when he held up appropriated funding to Ukraine. Only Russia would have been enthused about that. Our allies were not. It was a lie. His own administration had verified that Ukraine was in compliance and cleared it to receive the funding. In other words, it is part of US policy to tie receiving US funding to efforts to reduce corruption. USA Today factchecked these points. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/10/21/fact-check-joe-biden-leveraged-ukraine-aid-oust-corrupt-prosecutor/5991434002/
As for Comer 🙃 he is not known for fidelity to the truth. He has shown willingness to smear people when he believes it will advance his political career.
Comer shot himself in the foot while taking down his main primary opponent for gov in Ky with emails hacked from the server of an attorney for his ex girlfriend. Then blamed the media. In truth he planted the info in an “October surprise” which the media ignored; he blamed a primary opponent. Then ex girlfriend came forward with 2 witnesses and made additional allegations against Comer. It became much bigger news. His campaign had quite purposefully turned docs over to a county prosecutor who convened a grand jury in N KY to investigate the blogger who first received the “news”. Comer waived existence of the (secret) grand jury the rest of the campaign to show he was being victimized. It was after the primary that election finance filings showed the prosecutor donated to Comer’s campaign ... while the grand jury was meeting. The grand jury quietly dissolved. A nothing burger. He lost by 85 votes.
In his own words: NYT interview March 21, 2023 - I’ve had two servers in my lifetime,” Mr. Comer said when asked about the emails. “Hunter Biden’s is one, and you can — I’m not going to say who the other one was, but you can use your imagination. ... It ended up in my lap,” Mr. Comer added of the information. He also provided another tell of how - how views the GOP base and its love for misinformation & disinformation in the same NYT interview: [he] reflected on the pressure he often faced from constituents to investigate unhinged claims about President Biden and Democrats. “You know, the customer’s always right,” Mr. Comer said wryly, of his approach to the people who elected him and now brandish conspiracy theories, vulgar photographs featuring the president and his son, Hunter, and other lies they expect him to act upon.
“I say, ‘Let me see it,’ because I want to see where the source is,” Mr. Comer said. “They don’t know that it’s QAnon, but it’s QAnon stuff.”
Matt Gaetz howling at Durham for not putting what Matty wants to hear in his report. GOP yowling because the investigation doesn’t reveal bribery (or anything at all criminal on the Laptop of Lost Hopes). Luna Tick claiming it was Adam Schiff whose words tore families apart, not tRump’s behavior from the escalator ride onward. Don’t any of these folks have a parent or sibling or cousin or even second cousin saying to them “you don’t always get what you want, Santa may bring you socks instead of a Nintendo, the stuff inside the painted eggs isn’t always sweet, but just another hard boiled egg, and no one has ever found gold at the end of a rainbow.”
Grow up, folks. Hoping for an alternative fact when none is available just makes you look really, really dumb.
I did enjoy the part where Gaetz pressed Durham on Joseph Mifsud - the guy who gave Papadopoulos the heads up that the Russians had emails which they would use against HRC. That info fell out of Papadopoulos’ mouth after drinking (a lot). When he told a UK diplomat he did not not name his source.
For obvious reasons it wasn’t taken too seriously until the emails started being released. The diplomat notified his gov which notified the US the day before Donnie’s infamous “Russia if you’re listening.” This has always been buried under the “but but but the dossier” noise.
However Massie and Gaetz said these things yesterday:
• Massie - "... this all seems to have started with one person, but I don't see his name in your report. I see it in Mueller's report 89 times." [Massie yielded to Gaetz]
• Gaetz - “Hard to say who Mifsud is?! He’s the guy who started the whole thing. We’ve known it for years.”
Yes, like a lot of other things they’ve known better for years.
You made the point that Democrats and those who defend Hunter need to make over and over - Roger Stone evaded $2M in taxes, lied about it and got off with a civil settlement. That's a sweetheart deal.
And that there is conjecture based on previous decisions that SCOTUS is poised to strike down that statute soon.
The fact that tRump remains free to incite crowds with seditious lies, and that the US Justice Dept did NOTHING to investigate and stop MAGAT Man from endangering national security, tells me who actually got the “sweetheart deal.” The Repugs are going to extreme lengths to suppress free speech, right on up to the House of Representatives--while flooding the internet with lies and propaganda: Who is getting a sweetheart deal? It’s the crooks and traitors of the right-wing.
"Justice" is merely a middle class illusion.
The rich know better
The poor know better
Each from opposite directions.
What Judd clearly spelled out is that there was no sweetheart deal for Biden. The Republicans were lying to try to push a political narrative.
And, what stuck in my mind was Preet Bharara's son's spin on "Justice" as Just Is. Quite an Interpretation if you remember that at that time, Bharara, SDNY attorney who focused on corruption, was fired by Trump, but kept Rob Rosenstein.
AsI have said elsewhere, the GOP seems to have no understanding of addiction, and the party will do anything to win. The fact that Biden has paid off his debt speaks volumes.
True. However, justice is not the goal of the GOP. further delusions and grievances for their own ends is the goal - without any actual solutions. They say so in their own words.
I refer people who can access NYT’s March 21, 2023 interview with Comer. He has never disavowed or otherwise objected to the article.
reflected on the pressure he often faced from constituents to investigate unhinged claims about President Biden and Democrats. His preface is quite important.
• “You know, the customer’s always right,” Mr. Comer said wryly, of his approach to the people who elected him and now brandish conspiracy theories, vulgar photographs featuring the president and his son, Hunter, and other lies they expect him to act upon.
“I say, ‘Let me see it,’ because I want to see where the source is,” Mr. Comer said. “They don’t know that it’s QAnon, but it’s QAnon stuff.”
• Also in the interview he says “he took a long pause, then replied: “I don’t disagree with what you said.” (That continuing the investigation into Kushner was politically unsustainable for him).
And this is the nuance the MSM just does not report, criminally in my opinion.
So we need to make a point that conservatives have no shame about taking "legal" bribes as enabled by SCOTUS from domestic and foreign contributors.
More of the same every accusation is a confession.
This is a stellar example of Republicans continued crusade to smear people, lie about both the law and the facts, and to redbait everything and anyone not in their small cult. Palmer raids, 1919; socialism scare in the 1930’s, republicans Congressional committee from the House Unamerican Activities Committee, Nixon smearing Ms, Douglas, McCarthey recklessly charging that the Sate Department, among others, was hiding Communist operatives, Nixon, again, using the drug scare to foster going after black peoples voting rights, an early project to smear Kerry, as early as 1074, because the Republicans saw his talent, same with Clinton and Clinton. Trump and DeSantis are just more offspring of the fear that Republicans have that the ragged mass will invade the gentleman’s clubs and sit next to them over a sherry and a cigar.
Yes, yes and yes.
Why does it work over and over again? Because these cynical MF's know their base will not do any homework.
If ya scairt em the right way, they'll jist cuddle up in the palm of yer hand.
Once they have a target for their anger and grievances they are no longer open to new information. All their energy goes to destroying the enemy.
Thank you Judd and Tesnim for detailing what does and does not make sense regarding Hunter Biden's legal status. I just heard a blip of Andy Biggs questioning John Durham and declaring that Hunter Biden would be spending years in jail if he were not the President's son. Your work has essentially proved Biggs' analysis toally wrong. Why is all of this accusatory lying by so many Republicans unpunished by law? [Silly question? Answer? Precedent: Kelly Ann Conway.]
Back in the 80's and early 90s I worked in the Compliance Division of NYS Tax and Finance. I know that failure to file tax returns is a misdemeanor and that nobody actually goes to jail for it. And as a retired employee of the court system, I also know that in a first offense involving a weapon and a drug user (simple possession), a diversion program is the usual disposition. Hunter Biden's case was completed in a normal manner.
Thanks for adding to our knowledge!
You're welcome! People also forget that Hunter Biden is taking responsibility for his actions, which is more than anyone can say about Trump.
This guy is the second troll I've seen on Substack this week. I think we'll see more as the presidential race picks up speed and more importantly, as Trump's court cases progress.
And that's the meat of the nut. He is taking responsibility for his actions. Weren't those RW MF's claiming to be the party of "personal responsibility" one time once a while ago?
I am reasonably sure my dumb blonde cat Nelson (named after Baby Face not Rockefeller) could take on Andy Biggs and win an argument because Andy is one dimension (like out in the Twilght Zone abandoned Col Sanders look alike Durham was eaten up by Schiff who spat his bones back at him.
Just a sidebar here, GOP House members make the Keystone Cops appear normal. Kevin McCarthy is a complete joke but so are the other 214.
I quit printing anything my Congressional Rep sends. His straight line Repug vote doesn't need repeating because, "Histronics, lying and Grandstanding is not news." Someone tell the MSM.
Grassley and any other politician over 80 should be required to take a test for dementia on a regular basis. What sort of a fever-dream must these GOP/Trumpers be in to come up with such outlandish lies and fantasies? And IF they get their way and end all the social programs that help people financially, what will they do with that money? What sort of “better” plan do they have to spend it? 😳🙀
YES. I spotted dementia in Ronald Reagan before he was shot. And tRump is overtly mentally ill. And WTF is up with George Santos? We need accountability for office-holders.
(Sorry, but I always think of counter arguments: Age is not necessarily the determinant of mental and cognitive dissonance.) e.g., Trump, Gosar, dingbats MTG and Boehbert.
That's a form of age discrimination that's unacceptable. If constituents feel the representation they receive is inadequate or impaired, it is up to them to vote the person out of office. Jeez, do you really think testing people for dementia is OK?
Not in the Constitution and it would be abused. There are a couple SCOTUS rulings that indicate Congress would not be able to change qualifications & that would likely include term limits.
Think bigger about the problem. It isn’t oldsters who are driving the nuttiness. Each new crop of legislators has dangerous ones among them. Yes, Santos comes to mind. $$$$$$
No sweetheart deal. He was probably overcharged. The Republican Party keeps lying to the American people.
No comparison between what Hunter did and what EX-POTUS DID and is STILL doing! He SOLD OUT THE COUNTRY FOR HIS OWN SELFISH GAINS!
Thank you.
Hey, never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Unfortunately, the Democrats and the Bidens specifically have been put on the defensive. If one has to explain and define, one lost half the battle. This is where the Republicans are very very good at being very very bad.
If I were the Democrats, I'd follow the same playbook. Yell as loud and as often as possible that the Republicans want to shut down the government and kill the economy. Keep pressing it over and over again.
You know, an older lady I worked with when just a cub, explained the rules of corporate life to me like this: "Scott (my middle name), if you gots to X-plain, you ALREADY in trouble!"
When you're forced to "explain" you're already on your back foot & committed to backing up.
Just wondering - when you listen to Republicans explaining away Trump's obvious crimes, do you hear the sound of your own voice?
The opposite of Fox News isn't MSNBC. The opposite of Fox News is actual journalism.
I regret paying for a whole year in advance.
That’s ok. You don’t make any sense.
I can only assume this non sequitur is a clever parody of a mindlessly partisan dufus. Kudos.
Assume what you like; you already demonstrated a lack of critical thinking skills.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Interesting. I'd forgotten about the D.K.effect. So many fully fleshed examples come to mind!
Care to show any evidence?
That the Trump family is corrupt? I need to explain that?
Or that Hunter Biden sells access to his father? What exactly do you think Burisma was paying Hunter $80K a month for? His expertise in oil prospecting?
You are no less deluded than the working class Republicans who think Trump is going to improve their lives.
It’s politics, Bro. Burisma’s hopes and dreams are not relevant unless the Bidens tried to fulfill them. It makes no sense to remove a prosecutor not bringing corruption cases if you are involved in corruption. It’s a Rudy delusion. FOUR of the biggest disinformation pushers on such topics have admitted they don’t even know if the evidence they spew about exists. Grassley, Jordan, Comer and Ron Johnson.
May you never become entangled with someone like them. Comer spills the beans over and over:
You know, the customer’s always right,” Mr. Comer said wryly, of his approach to the people who elected him and now brandish conspiracy theories, vulgar photographs featuring the president and his son, Hunter, and other lies they expect him to act upon. ... They don’t know that it’s QAnon, but it’s QAnon stuff.”
"It’s politics, Bro. Burisma’s hopes and dreams are not relevant unless the Bidens tried to fulfill them."
Wow. That is some MAGA level denial. What's it like being as dumb as a Trump supporter?
You really need to stop being an asshole and antagonizing people. I don't know why you signed on here as a paying subscriber unless you're one of those pathetic trolls who spends their day being an asshole to people online.
As a former court and taxation employee, I can assure you that Hunter Biden's plea and sentence are proper and typical. And since you have absolutely nothing other than bullshit right wing disinformation to go on, you have no basis upon which to accuse the Bidens of corruption in Ukraine or anywhere else. Now shut up.
So Hunter wasn't paid $80K a month to consult in a business where he had no experience or qualifications?
So was he not paid that much?
Or does he have experience in the oil business.
Please, do tell which one of these facts is "right wing disinformation"?
Is it right wing disinformation that I also think Don Jr and Kushner are also corrupt, for exactly the same reasons?
Or are you one of those smart people who thinks everything they disagree with is "right wing"?
Pretty sure attacking political corruption and corporate power of a fundamental part of being a leftist.
Perhaps you are confused as to what the "Left" and the "Right" are. The Left, where I am, favors the means of production being controlled democratically - ie, owned by the people.
The Right, where you are, is where corporate and political power are concentrated.
Glad I could help you with these very simple definitions.
I signed on here as a paying subscriber because I thought Judd was a journalist who exposed corruption, not covered it up when it happens on his team.
- Oh, I see. An ad hominem fallacy for a response with an assumption in the absence of facts to logically support your “both sides” offering.
I offered Comer’s attitude about such claims that he campaigned on proving. (As a bonus consideration, he has a relevant history.) I guess you put a lot of stock in his approach to “investigations” ... relying on evidence that very likely does not exist considering the source claiming to have it & vanishing witnesses. Too much GOP deja vu all over again.
- Years have passed, Hunter’s bank accounts were examined, his bill taxes calculated ... a trump appointed prosecutor was left in place. (Left in place despite the usual practice of being replaced by a new president’s appointments.) Congress can’t find evidence. They’ve had the laptop / hard drive since before they gained the majority. But I’m in denial?
- Newsflash: Family members of wealthy & or powerful people sit on boards everywhere. It is worth investigating (like Crow & Singer) when it is can spills over into potential harm to others - fraud, coercion or in their situation is hidden despite the law requiring Justices to disclose the ‘gifts’ and their other profitable ventures.
You are free to believe any and all defamatory allegations about anyone. It is worth considering the same lack of concern for facts can be applied by anyone to you also.
-- Breaking News: Not all “leftists” or those labeled as such are interested in the people (which is the government) “owning the means of production.” There are many variations of socialism. Almost all economies in the world are mixed. And not all on the “right” are wiling to share power with the corporate world or leverage a little of it. I offer you DeSantis as an example of one who skews far Right who wants to control & harness corporate power, legislative power, police power, etc. all for himself.
If one states that if it rains, then the ground is wet, and then observes that the ground is wet, they cannot conclude that it rained. (A deductive fallacy.)
ABC, I have spent too much time on thee & your fallacies.
You snatched the bricks out from under that miscreant.
And write very well too. I enjoy reading your well made points and comments.
As for old Stanley? I have a bag of middle fingers pointed at him. He is not worth anyone's precious time.
That's a whole lot of bullshit, and none of it puts forward an explanation for why a foreign government paid a fortune to a man completely unqualified to do anything but sell access to his father.
Yap yap yap
Ah, just because Hunter was hired by Burisma doesn't necessarily equate that his father had any business himself with them. If there is evidence of that, then I think all of us would be interested in that if you want to show us, but otherwise this may just be a case of a company hiring a famous person, which is nowhere near an uncommon practice.
Yes, they definitely gave him all that money because of his expertise.
I'm sure the Saudis also showered the Trump family with money for exactly the same innocent reasons. Nothing to see here folks!
Stanley, I also doubt Burisma hired Hunter to this plum position for his energy market expertise. We agree on this. Where we diverge is proof this hiring, ostensibly a play to speculatively place themselves in a position to sway then VP Biden's policy input, changed any official Obama Administration policies. Hunter himself had no official or unofficial capacity within the Obama White House. Payment to him isn't a conflict unless he was on POTUS payroll or there is evidence he used his proximity to it, via Joe, to change White House policy.
Numerous investigations have, to my knowledge, shown no Burisma money going to Joe Biden, no communication between he and Burisma to land Hunter the job, no communication detailing promises to change or alter Obama administration policies in exchange for Hunter's hiring and no communication between Hunter and the administration to change energy policies in ways to benefit Burisma. If any of the above claims is incorrect, please provide verified sources to counter them and we will all have more to consider.
You must be a lawyer for the Kochs' climate change denial division.
Only a fool would believe that the dozens of companies that poured money into Hunter Biden's business and not expect a return on their investment.
I'm also not arguing a case in court. I am, however, pointing out the simple fact that only an absolute credulous imbecile would defend the Biden family, let alone support them in a time when income inequality is at Gilded Age levels and they are face down in the hog trough.
You're just repeating what you said before, so that doesn't really qualify as any kind of actual evidence of malfeasance.
I guess if you are a very credulous person, willing to believe anything (how very MAGA of you!) you are told.
I'm wondering how many Nigerian princes you've tried to help out of their financial troubles.
Probably more than one.
You're right. Obviously Burisma gave Hunter the money because he has nice hair plugs, expecting nothing in return.
Do you say the same thing about Clarence Thomas? I mean, you don't have any evidence that Thomas receiving millions in gifts from a right wing billionaire while ruling in his favor has any connection!
Then just close the book and go back under your rock
Hahaha! Buyer beware Two Stix. Call customer service and get your money back then. Buh bye!
Yes, there is definitely no equivalence between the children of a high ranking elected official obviously selling influence and the children of a high ranking elected official obviously selling influence, because the Trumps are Republicans, and the Bidens are Democrats.
No equivalence at all!
Trump's most ardent followers were raised in authoritarian-ruled families, communities, and communities of faith. They NEED to attach themselves to an authoritarian figure who, psychologically, fills in for their own missing ability to be strong, independent, and capable of rational decision making, things which were beaten out of them, verbally or physically, by those who raised them.
Without that attachment, they feel, at a deeper, unconscious level, like weak, defeated, weeping adolescents cowering in the corner with no ability to assert themselves or protect themselves.
If they face up to the realities of the Trump crime family (for which there is ample and increasing evidence), he ceases to meet their need for an admirable, strong, authoritarian leader. Because of this, they desperately NEED to believe (without any evidence whatsoever) that Biden is far worse, which in their marginally functional sense of reality means Trump is still OK and they were not fools to attach themselves to him.
Many will never give up their belief in the "Bidens are criminals" narrative because they DESPERATELY need it to be true (an unconscious need which runs far deeper than thought) in order to continue to believe that Trump is an appropriate "hero." To do otherwise is to reveal themselves to have been foolish to attach themselves to Trump in the first place, and in the authoritarian systems in which they were raised, being seen as a "fool" made you the target of everyone else's bullying, ridicule, and abuse. Some will go to extreme lengths to avoid that possibility.
Those who do have sufficient integrity and strength to wean themselves off of Trump, however, do so quietly, hoping no one else will notice (and it's best if those around them do not comment on the change because they can be driven to jump back to Trumpism in a flash in order to defend themselves from looking foolish). Such folk just quietly take down their signs and flags, stop going to rallies, and stop talking about Trump.
I believe that Trump's support is disappearing quietly with little notice, and his former supporters need it to be that way. We will not see any loud, proud speeches revealing new insight into what a scumbag their former hero has turned out to be.
Nationally, we would do best just to continue with his prosecution, solidly providing the evidence of his crimes, and ignoring the endless "what aboutism" of his most public supporters who cannot quietly slip away (yet), while turning down the heat on any efforts to "convert" his psychologically-dependent followers to truth and logic. They simply can't go there in any way that's too visible, though they are quietly moving in that direction in numbers which are gathering speed and size like a snowball rolling down a hill.
The "conservative" media would be wise to quietly begin to lead this movement away from Trump because as more and more of his former admirers slip away, they will no longer want to utilize the sources that keep pushing him at them. If they stick with Trump their audience will shrink to nothing and they may very well become the scapegoat such folk use to blame for their misguided worship of Trump.
Locally, our best approach is not to argue, but to ask fact-based questions and offer simple facts, then walk away and let it rest. The Trumpers among us will come around if we seek to influence them without provoking them to anger, since when angry, they are triggered into the kinds of infantile thought and behavior that attracted them to Trump in the first place (though we must certainly prosecute those who engage in illegal acts in the vain effort to protect themselves from feeling foolish and/or prove themselves right by "winning" through violence.)
Hunter's prosecution and guilty pleas will rapidly blow out of most of these folks' awareness, and the media will have to look for something new to grab their ears, eyeballs, and mouse clicks. In reality, it's already "yesterday's news" for the vast majority of folk.
Thanks, Judd, for putting the facts out there so clearly - facts we can use when we ask those questions and quietly lay out those facts for our continuing Trumper friends and family members.
Agreed! Look at the "protest" in Florida at his arraignment. Less than the inauguration perhaps?
Spot on. As I remember, Donnie uses the excuse of corruption against Ukraine when he held up appropriated funding to Ukraine. Only Russia would have been enthused about that. Our allies were not. It was a lie. His own administration had verified that Ukraine was in compliance and cleared it to receive the funding. In other words, it is part of US policy to tie receiving US funding to efforts to reduce corruption. USA Today factchecked these points. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/10/21/fact-check-joe-biden-leveraged-ukraine-aid-oust-corrupt-prosecutor/5991434002/
As for Comer 🙃 he is not known for fidelity to the truth. He has shown willingness to smear people when he believes it will advance his political career.
Comer shot himself in the foot while taking down his main primary opponent for gov in Ky with emails hacked from the server of an attorney for his ex girlfriend. Then blamed the media. In truth he planted the info in an “October surprise” which the media ignored; he blamed a primary opponent. Then ex girlfriend came forward with 2 witnesses and made additional allegations against Comer. It became much bigger news. His campaign had quite purposefully turned docs over to a county prosecutor who convened a grand jury in N KY to investigate the blogger who first received the “news”. Comer waived existence of the (secret) grand jury the rest of the campaign to show he was being victimized. It was after the primary that election finance filings showed the prosecutor donated to Comer’s campaign ... while the grand jury was meeting. The grand jury quietly dissolved. A nothing burger. He lost by 85 votes.
In his own words: NYT interview March 21, 2023 - I’ve had two servers in my lifetime,” Mr. Comer said when asked about the emails. “Hunter Biden’s is one, and you can — I’m not going to say who the other one was, but you can use your imagination. ... It ended up in my lap,” Mr. Comer added of the information. He also provided another tell of how - how views the GOP base and its love for misinformation & disinformation in the same NYT interview: [he] reflected on the pressure he often faced from constituents to investigate unhinged claims about President Biden and Democrats. “You know, the customer’s always right,” Mr. Comer said wryly, of his approach to the people who elected him and now brandish conspiracy theories, vulgar photographs featuring the president and his son, Hunter, and other lies they expect him to act upon.
“I say, ‘Let me see it,’ because I want to see where the source is,” Mr. Comer said. “They don’t know that it’s QAnon, but it’s QAnon stuff.”
Matt Gaetz howling at Durham for not putting what Matty wants to hear in his report. GOP yowling because the investigation doesn’t reveal bribery (or anything at all criminal on the Laptop of Lost Hopes). Luna Tick claiming it was Adam Schiff whose words tore families apart, not tRump’s behavior from the escalator ride onward. Don’t any of these folks have a parent or sibling or cousin or even second cousin saying to them “you don’t always get what you want, Santa may bring you socks instead of a Nintendo, the stuff inside the painted eggs isn’t always sweet, but just another hard boiled egg, and no one has ever found gold at the end of a rainbow.”
Grow up, folks. Hoping for an alternative fact when none is available just makes you look really, really dumb.
I did enjoy the part where Gaetz pressed Durham on Joseph Mifsud - the guy who gave Papadopoulos the heads up that the Russians had emails which they would use against HRC. That info fell out of Papadopoulos’ mouth after drinking (a lot). When he told a UK diplomat he did not not name his source.
For obvious reasons it wasn’t taken too seriously until the emails started being released. The diplomat notified his gov which notified the US the day before Donnie’s infamous “Russia if you’re listening.” This has always been buried under the “but but but the dossier” noise.
However Massie and Gaetz said these things yesterday:
• Massie - "... this all seems to have started with one person, but I don't see his name in your report. I see it in Mueller's report 89 times." [Massie yielded to Gaetz]
• Gaetz - “Hard to say who Mifsud is?! He’s the guy who started the whole thing. We’ve known it for years.”
Yes, like a lot of other things they’ve known better for years.