How many more times does Hunter Biden’s laptop have to link his father to pay-to-play oligarchs before legacy media stop protecting Joe Biden? If not for London’s Daily Mail on June 30, Americans wouldn’t know “Joe Biden entertained Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Miguel Aleman Velasco – his son Hunter’s business associates – in the vice president’s office in 2014.” Hunter’s grifting and Joe’s denials keep popping up, so where are the Watergate watchdogs today?
This is the latest revelation of a three-headed monster: (1) a patriarch using high elected office to enrich his family, (2) a politician repeatedly denying a role in or awareness of son’s business schemes, and (3) big tech and media suppressing criticism of their preferred candidate. Isn’t THAT the culture we should be cancelling? Because, in the here and now, Biden’s integrity is more relevant than Washington’s benevolence.
If the Biden Boys Aren’t Grifters, Then Who Is?
Every American should read the Mail’s conclusion: “The revelations, laid bare in photographs and emails on Hunter’s abandoned laptop, are the latest in a growing body of evidence calling into question the president’s claim that he never spoke about business with Hunter.” That “body of evidence” is numerous photos, emails, and witness statements linking Joe Biden to business schemes in China, Mexico, and the Ukraine. In fairness to Politico, they accused the President’s son and brothers in August 2019 of “monetizing his influence and power.”
“Over his decades in office, ‘Middle-Class Joe’s’ family fortunes have closely tracked his political career.” And it’s not like the Bidens were naive. After the Bidens took over Paradigm in 2006, an executive reports they bullied the fund’s compliance officer. Uncle James: “Don’t worry about the investors. We’ve got people all over the world who want to invest in Joe Biden…investors lined up [in] 747s filled with cash.” Son Beau: “This can never leave this room, and if you ever say it again, I will have nothing to do with this.”
If Beau wasn’t a “good” man, he was at least the “smart” son (he was running for attorney general of Delaware) whose words (“this can never leave this room”) prove the Bidens weren’t on the up and up. The Politico story has one over-arching theme: the Bidens had no business acumen and constantly called upon Joe to make deals happen. The get-rich schemes began in 1973, right after Joe joined the Senate banking committee – and the timeline begs questions.
Joe joins senate banking committee in 1973 and James borrows from Delaware banks to open a night club, which goes broke in 1977, after Joe calls bank chairman to back off collection calls. Joe is chair of senate judiciary in 1995 and James lobbies for legislation to aid Mississippi class-action lawyers. Hunter is paid consultant to Delaware bank MBNA (2001-2005) and Joe supports bankruptcy bill that benefits the bank. Joe is VP and Hunter flies to China and Mexico on Air Force Two.
The Biden Lies Are Bigger Than The Clinton Lies
In fairness to the Bidens, the Clinton pay-to-play scheme was bigger. Politico has Joe’s wealth at $30,000 in 2009, and Fortune has it at $8 million in 2020. Hunter earned $3 million from Burisma. The Clintons are worth over $100 million. In fairness to the Clinton’s, the press helped Joe and probably cost Hillary the presidency. Plus, the Clinton Foundation actually did some good deeds, while the only “charity” funded by the Bidens was themselves.
Dishonest or self-serving politicians should be feared. Candidate Biden described his vice presidency thus: “I did my job impeccably, I carried out US policy. Not one single, solitary thing was out of line.” Candidate Biden called Hunters laptop “a Russian plant [and] disinformation campaign.” President Biden has press liaisons refuse to respond (source: The Daily Mail).
Personal use of Air Force 2 is NOT impeccably doing the job of vice president. Using a tax-funded office to meet business prospects is NOT carrying out US policy. Inventing counterclaims is out of line for elected leaders. There’s hard evidence of plagiarism, class-rank lies, honorary-degree lies, crazy whispers, and mean snaps at reporters. It is a composite of a seriously flawed man – on the level of Nixon – so why doubt Biden grifted and lied?
Multiple servers have Hunter’s emails, confirming Joe had dinner with Burisma business associates in April 2015 at Georgetown’s Cafe Milano. Hunter: “Dad will be there but keep that between us.” Burisma executive: “Hunter, thank you for giving me the opportunity to see your father.”
A SinoHawk Holdings partner, Anthony Bobulinski, confirmed he took part in a meeting with Hunter, Joe and James to discuss “the Biden family business plans with the Chinese, of which [Joe] was plainly familiar” (source: WSJ). Multiple records prove Hunter flew with Joe to China on Air Force 2 to meet CEFC executives (his prospective partner).
Hunter’s laptop confirms Joe entertained Mexican targets Slim and Velasco in the vice president’s office in 2014 and used Air Force 2 to fly Hunter and partner Jeff Cooper to Mexico City in 2016 to discuss what Hunter called a “flipping gigantic” deal (source: Daily Mail).
“Democracy Dies in Darkness” Is a Promise – Not a Cautionary Note
I feel sorry for Bert Lance and Bill Clinton, the last Democrats to be scrutinized by legacy media. Sure, voters expect liberal bias in the press: it’s where anti-profit college kids find jobs. But, it seems the “hanging chad” election of 2000 changed everything. Beyond Fox News and talk radio, who critically covered Gore, Kerry, Obama, Clinton, and Biden? Not the mainstream media, which is why only 9% of America has “a great deal” of trust in the media (source: Gallup).
Google “Burisma Joe Biden” and the first page is liberal media rebuttals of the New York Post stories and GOP allegations – because the search engine sorts critical articles to the next page. New York magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi claims Washington journalists now don’t criticize Biden for fear of losing social status: “It requires a phoniness.” New Yorker’s Susan Glasser calls the Biden White House “very opaque [because] his position is fragile [and] he has to be protected.”
Julia Ioffe’s blog (“Tomorrow Will Be Worse”) quotes an anonymous White House reporter, “I don’t know [a] president who’s been so protected [to] keep him away from anything remotely approaching an adversarial interview.” In truth, I don’t know for sure Joe Biden abused his office, but I do know I’ve never seen reporters so protective of one politician. How far the Post and Times have fallen since Justice Black wrote (1971), “The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.”
If You’re Not Sure The Fix Is In, Follow The Money
It’s a recipe for corruption: a no-talent family distracting Biden from the people’s work, him without the backbone to say, “paddle your own canoe,” and media hiding it from the governed. The Biden’s are worth $9,000,000 today. The media and congressional Democrats are obsessed with red states “stealing” the next election, so who’s to stop the Bidens from getting filthy rich before 2025? Because the money is alluring.
Bill Clinton was worth $700,000 in 1992 and $120 million in 2020, and now gets paid $750,000 to speak. Barack Obama was worth $1.3 million in 2008 and $70 million in 2020, and now gets paid $400,000 to speak. Donald Trump was worth $4.5 billion in 2016 and $3.1 billion in 2020, and now cannot post on Facebook or Twitter. Two came in a Ford and left in a Ferrari. One came in a private jet and left to face $1.7 million in “taxable” employee benefits. Get the picture?
What does it mean when Clinton claims the GOP made a “blatant attempt to suppress” black votes in Georgia, and Trump claims Democrats “stole” the 2020 election? It means voters will be suspicious and nobody will pay attention to Joe Biden. He has the history, the motive, and the means to operate a pay-to-play scheme. And THAT is why the press should be this president’s adversary.