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President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is convicted of all 3 felonies in federal gun trial

The Truth News — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 22:32:48 +0000

President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, FOUND GUILTY, convicted of all 3 felonies in federal gun trial

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden was convicted Tuesday of all three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when, prosecutors argued, the president’s son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.

Hunter Biden, 54, stared straight ahead and showed little emotion as the verdict was read after jury deliberations that lasted only three hours over two days in Wilmington, Delaware. He hugged his attorneys, smiled wanly and kissed his wife, Melissa, before leaving the courtroom with her.

President Joe Biden said in a statement issued shortly after the verdict that he would accept the outcome and “continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”

What to know about Hunter Biden’s conviction:

What happened? Jurors found Hunter Biden guilty of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
Key witnesses: Hunter Biden’s ex-wife and a former girlfriend testified about finding his crack pipes and other drug paraphernalia.
Follow live updates: An exact sentencing date has not been set. He faces up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would sentence him to any time behind bars.

Now Hunter Biden and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the president’s chief political rival, have both been convicted by American jurors in an election year that has been as much about the courtroom as about campaign events and rallies.

Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, though as a first-time offender he would not get anywhere near the maximum, and there’s no guarantee the judge would send him to prison. She did not set a sentencing date.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said they would “continue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available.” In a written statement, Hunter Biden said he was disappointed by the outcome but grateful for the support of family and friends.

The jury’s decision was read swiftly after the announcement that it reached a verdict. First lady Jill Biden sat through nearly every day of the trial but did not make it into the courtroom in time to hear the verdict. Hunter Biden walked out of the courthouse holding hands with the first lady and his wife before they got into got into waiting SUVs and drove off.

Joe Biden steered clear of the federal courtroom where his son was tried and said little about the case, wary of appearing to interfere in a criminal matter brought by his own Justice Department. But allies of the Democrat have worried about the toll that the trial — and now the conviction — will take on the 81-year-old, who has long been concerned with his only living son’s health and sustained sobriety.

Hunter Biden’s conviction came just weeks after Trump was found guilty of 34 felony charges related to a hush money payment to a porn actor in the 2016 campaign. The cases are in no way the same, and Hunter Biden is a private citizen who is not running for office. But they have both argued they were victimized by the politics of the moment.

Trump, however, has continued to falsely claim his verdict was “rigged,” while Joe Biden has said he would accept the verdict involving his son and would not seek to pardon him.

In his statement Tuesday, the president said he and the first lady are proud of their son, who says he has been been sober since 2019, and will always be there for him with “love and support.”

Trump’s campaign called the verdict “nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family.” Trump and his allies have pressed unsubstantiated or debunked allegations that Joe Biden acted while vice president to advance his family members’ foreign business interests.

The verdict came down as the president prepared to give a speech at a conference hosted by the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund in Washington. He did not mention his son as he spoke about his administration’s efforts to stop gun violence and the need to ban so-called assault weapons.

Hours after the conviction, President Biden hugged his son after landing in Wilmington to spend the night with family before leaving Wednesday for the Group of Seven leaders conference in Italy. Hunter Biden, his wife and their child greeted the president on the tarmac, and the president lingered to visit with them for several minutes.

Jurors found Hunter Biden guilty of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.

The trial played out in the president’s home state, where Hunter Biden grew up and where the family is deeply established. Joe Biden spent 36 years as a senator in Delaware, commuting daily to Washington, and his other son, Beau Biden, was the state attorney general before he died of cancer.The proceedings put a spotlight on a dark time in Hunter Biden’s life, with deeply personal testimony from former romantic partners and embarrassing evidence, including text messages and photos of Hunter Biden with drug paraphernalia or partially clothed.

In his closing argument on Monday, prosecutor Leo Wise acknowledged the evidence was “ugly.” But he told jurors it was also “absolutely necessary” to prove Hunter was in the throes of addiction when he bought the gun and therefore lied when he checked “no” on the form that asked whether he was “an unlawful user of, or addicted to” drugs.

Before the case went to the jury, the prosecutor urged jurors to pay no mind to members of the president’s family sitting in the courtroom, telling them: “People sitting in the gallery are not evidence.”

Hunter Biden arrives to federal court with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

David Weiss, the prosecutor who has led the long-running investigation into the president’s son, told reporters the case was about Hunter Biden’s “illegal choices” and “dangerous” conduct.

“No one in this country is above the law,” said Weiss, the Trump-nominated U.S. attorney for Delaware, who was named special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in August. “Everyone must be accountable for their actions.”

Hunter Biden’s lawyers had argued that he did not consider himself an “addict” when he bought the gun. They sought to show he was trying to turn his life around at the time, having completed a rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018.

Hunter Biden’s legal troubles aren’t over. He faces a trial in September in California on charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes, and congressional Republicans have signaled they will keep going after him in their stalled impeachment effort into the president. The president has not been accused or charged with any wrongdoing by prosecutors investigating his son.

Just last year, it appeared that Hunter Biden would avoid the spectacle of a trial so close to the election. Under a deal with prosecutors, he was supposed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and avoid prosecution in the gun case if he stayed out of trouble for two years.

But the deal fell apart after Noreika, who was nominated by Trump, questioned unusual aspects of the proposed agreement, and the lawyers could not resolve the matter.

Hunter Biden has said he was charged because the Justice Department bowed to pressure from Republicans who argued the Democratic president’s son was getting special treatment.

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Hunter Biden’s defense lawyers vowed to put President Biden on the stand

The Truth News — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 15:39:13 +0000

Hunter Biden’s defense lawyers vowed to put President Biden on the stand

Attorney Chris Clark said testimony by President Biden against his own DOJ would create a ‘constitutional crisis’

Jake Tapper admits ‘Trump was right,’ ‘Biden was wrong’ about Hunter Biden in 2020 presidential debate

Hunter Biden’s legal team once vowed to prosecutors that they would have President Biden take the stand to testify as a fact witness for the defense if his son faced criminal charges.

Biden’s then-attorney Chris Clark made the claim in a letter to prosecutors in October 2022, shortly after news leaked that the Justice Department had enough evidence against the first son to move forward with an indictment.

Clark warned that if the DOJ did bring charges relating to Hunter’s alleged purchase of a firearm while addicted to cocaine, the president would take the stand.

“President Biden now unquestionably would be a fact witness for the defense in any criminal trial,” Clark wrote in a 32-page letter obtained by Politico.

Hunter Biden’s attorneys vowed to prosecutors that they would have President Biden take the stand to testify as a fact witness for the defense if his son faced criminal charges last year. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Clark withdrew from Hunter’s defense team last week, though it is unclear whether the decision came in relation to the leak of the document to Politico.

Hunter pleaded not guilty to federal tax and gun charges in late July after a previous plea agreement fell apart. Republicans had widely criticized the previous deal as far too lenient.

In the letter, Clark attempted to use the prospect of Biden’s testimony to ward off prosecution by the DOJ. He argued that moving forward with a criminal trial would force Biden to testify in conflict with his own Justice Department, something he said would result in a “constitutional crisis.”

“This of all cases justifies neither the spectacle of a sitting President testifying at a criminal trial nor the potential for a resulting Constitutional crisis,” Clark wrote.

Hunter pleaded not guilty to federal tax and gun charges in late July after a previous plea deal fell apart. Republicans had widely criticized the previous deal as far too lenient. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

When Clark withdrew as Hunter’s attorney last week, he cited the potential of being summoned as a witness as the central reason.

Under Delaware Rule of Professional Conduct, which Clark pointed to in his filing to withdraw, “a lawyer shall not act as an advocate at a trial in which the lawyer is likely to be a necessary witness unless … disqualification of the lawyer would work substantial hardship on the client.”

“Based on recent developments, it appears that the negotiation and drafting of the plea agreement and diversion agreement will be contested, and Mr. Clark is a percipient witness to those issues,” the filing continued.

Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, as part of plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax,as part of plea deal under which he would have avoided jail time on a felony gun charge.

Judge Maryellen Noreika of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware declined to accept the terms of the agreement, calling it unconstitutional, “not standard” and “different from what I normally see.” source

Hunter Biden tax charges dismissed by federal judge following plea deal breakdown

The Truth News — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 21:15:16 +0000

Hunter Biden tax charges dismissed by federal judge following plea deal breakdown

Biden’s plea deal on a felony gun charge fell through during his first court appearance last month

Hunter Biden’s misdemeanor tax charges have been dismissed by a federal judge in Delaware, an expected move after his “sweetheart” plea deal fell through last month during his first court appearance in the case.

The Justice Department submitted a filing last week to dismiss the case ahead of a possible trial on Biden’s felony gun charge in a different district.

After the plea deal fell apart, Biden pleaded “not guilty” as federal prosecutors confirmed he is still under federal investigation. He was expected to plead guilty to the two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of the plea deal to avoid jail time on the felony gun charge.

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Hunter Biden wasn’t charged with felony tax evasion after years-long probe

Biden’s attorneys and Special Counsel David Weiss are still fighting over a diversion agreement concerning the felony charge that would allow him to avoid any jail time. Weiss has indicated he plans to potentially take Biden to trial in the future in either Washington, D.C., or California.

On Tuesday, Weiss strongly rejected claims by Biden’s legal team that his office “reneged” on the plea deal for President Biden’s son to resolve the federal tax and gun charges, while stressing that agreement was “not in effect.”

In a court filing, Weiss fired back at the Biden attorneys, which, over the weekend, filed a motion stating that “the parties have a valid and binding bilateral Diversion Agreement.”

Hunter Biden’s misdemeanor tax charges have been dismissed by a federal judge in Delaware. (JosiahW/Backgrid)

He added that Biden “chose to plead not guilty at the hearing on July 26, 2023, and U.S. Probation declined to approve the proposed diversion agreement at that hearing. Thus, neither proposed agreement entered into effect.”

Weiss said that Biden “rejected these counterproposals on August 7, 2023.”

U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David C. Weiss. (Fox News screenshot)

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Hunter Biden case uncovers new, unequal justice in America

The Truth News — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 18:37:19 +0000

Hunter Biden case uncovers new, unequal justice in America

Government investigation of Hunter Biden took five years, so deal wasn’t surprising

“Equal Justice Under Law” is now officially dead.

That lofty ideal chiseled on the pediment of the U.S. Supreme Court was blown to shreds with the indefensible plea deal for Hunter Biden that allows him to skate on severe criminal charges that would have landed anyone else in America behind bars. The preferential treatment for the president’s son makes a mockery of the law.

We knew it was coming. The government’s investigation had stretched for more than five long years. By itself, that was absurd. The evidence against Hunter was clear and convincing.

He evaded taxes on millions of dollars that he pocketed from overseas sources — part of his elaborate influence-peddling schemes that leveraged access to his powerful father. He obviously lied on a gun form and broke the law when he purchased a firearm.

Hunter Biden and his father President Joe Biden. Hunter’s new plea agreement still won’t protect him from investigation by the House of Representatives. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for World Food Program USA)

But President Joe Biden and his consigliere at the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland, have rewritten the criminal codes with a special exemption. A Biden can defy the law with impunity. Everyone else must abide.

There is no justifying this demolition of justice. Unequal application of the statutes is now the law of the land. Our legal system is as corrupt as the Bidens. They made it so.

The privileged plea also calls into question the integrity of David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, who negotiated a slap on the wrist instead of pursuing other, more serious, felony charges.

In a public statement he insisted that his investigation into further acts of potential wrongdoing continues. There is reason to be skeptical. His announcement of an ongoing probe smacks of a charade designed to prevent him from answering uncomfortable questions by a congressional committee that is digging deep into Biden family corruption.

Whistleblowers warned that Garland’s DOJ, the FBI, and the IRS were running a protection racket for the Bidens by exerting undue influence and political favoritism to cover up brazen criminality. Tuesday’s plea fortifies their credibility.

The House Oversight Committee may be the last refuge for anything resembling justice. It cannot prosecute, but it can expose.

In the last five months committee members have combed through many of the 170 Suspicious Activity Reports, wire transfers and banking transactions showing that nine members of the Biden family received an astonishing amount of money from America’s adversaries.

Hunter Biden exits at the Independence County Courthouse in Batesville, Arkansas on Monday, May 1, 2023. Biden, who is with attorney Abbe Lowell, was ordered to appear in court regarding the paternity case of his unacknowledged 4-year-old-daughter. (Mega for Fox News Digital)

The payments were disguised through a complex web of shell companies and limited liability corporations that appear to have no legitimate business purpose other than to serve as receptacles for hiding cash, according to Chairman James Comer, R-KY.

In Washington, where influence-peddling and graft are endemic, the Bidens have taken them to dizzying heights. It is no coincidence that the money sources came from the very countries over which Joe Biden exerted control in foreign policy decisions as vice president.

What was being bought? More to the point, what were the Bidens selling? In the process, did they sacrifice America’s national security to get rich? Did they conspire with malign foreign actors to betray our nation for self-enrichment?

One answer may be found in the mining of an unclassified FBI document that allegedly depicts a “criminal scheme” involving the Bidens and a top executive at Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that was paying millions of dollars to Hunter to sit on its board.

A trusted and “highly credible” confidential human source (CHS) for the FBI reported that the elder Biden accepted $5 million in exchange for “policy decisions” benefiting the company, while Hunter banked another $5 million. The money, according to the CHS, was secreted in a multitude of hidden accounts.

This seems to be the same suspected “pay-to-play” scheme reflected in Joe Biden’s famous on-camera brag that he threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. taxpayer aid to Ukraine unless the prosecutor investigating Burisma was fired. Within hours, Viktor Shokin was canned, and his investigation vanished overnight. Mission accomplished.

The Ukraine caper is similar to other Biden grifts in roughly a dozen foreign countries where Hunter negotiated “deals” that were dependent on his father, even setting up meetings between the vice president and overseas clients that are documented in his laptop and other records.

The younger Biden never registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) as the law demands, which makes his transactions illegal. Others who have failed to do so have been criminally prosecuted, but not the president’s son.

Hunter’s laptop alone is a treasure trove of incriminating evidence that implicates his father as complicit in secret deals to profit from his public office. The sheer magnitude of the schemes is staggering. Who knew that selling out your country could be so lucrative?

Nor have any charges been leveled under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It is a crime for a public officeholder to confer a benefit to a foreign actor in exchange for personal financial gain. But given the partisan interference by our government institutions for the benefit of the Bidens, don’t expect that charges will ever be brought. The fix is in.

Where the Department of Justice refuses to act, Congress must. It has the backing of the American people who recognize corruption when they see it. A recent Harvard Harris poll found that 63% of voters believe that Hunter Biden engaged in illegal influence peddling, and a majority think Joe Biden was involved.

In an upcoming election where the incumbent president’s DOJ is prosecuting his likely opponent on dubious charges while simultaneously protecting Biden, it is imperative that any evidence of criminality be exposed for all to see. The money trail uncovered so far is a damning indictment of corruption at the highest level of government — the current occupant of the White House.

Gregg Jarrett is a Fox News legal analyst and commentator, and formerly worked as a defense attorney and adjunct law professor. His upcoming book, “The Trial of the Century,” about the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” will be released on May 30, 2023. It is available now for pre-order online at the Simon & Schuster website. Gregg is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling book “The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump.” His follow-up book was also a New York Times bestseller, “Witch Hunt: The Story of the Greatest Mass Delusion in American Political History.” Jarrett’s book, “The Constitution of the United States and Other Patriotic Documents,” will be published by Broadside Books, a division of HarperCollins on September 19, 2023.

By Gregg Jarrett | Fox News

Hunter Biden Strikes Plea Deal With DOJ Transcript

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has agreed to plead guilty to a pair of tax-related misdemeanors. Read the transcript here.

Speaker 1 (00:00):

Have you spoken to your son today, Mr President?

Mr President Biden (00:03):

I’m very proud of my son.

Speaker 2 (00:04):

After a five-year investigation, the Justice Department today cutting a deal with Hunter Biden, the son of the President of the United States. Hunter Biden agreeing to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of tax violations and acknowledging that he illegally possessed a gun while he was addicted to a controlled substance. The deal which will allow Biden to avoid prison time, if approved by a federal judge, reflects a sober reality, Hunter Biden committed crimes. Until this plea, he had maintained his innocence.

Hunter Biden (00:36):

I am absolutely certain, 100% certain that at the end of the investigation that I will be cleared.

Speaker 2 (00:43):

But today a different tune. His attorney saying Biden believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. The plea agreement outlines the two misdemeanors citing that he failed to pay more than $200,000 in taxes over two years in 2017 and 2018. He would also avoid prosecution on another charge, considered a felony, admitting that he illegally possessed a firearm, a Colt Cobra 38 Special, in 2018 while he was still an addict.

Dan Abrams (01:16):

If he doesn’t violate the terms of probation and doesn’t violate the terms of the diversion agreement, then he would not serve time behind bars.

Speaker 2 (01:26):

Republicans swiftly hitting back. From house speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Kevin McCarthy (01:30):

If you were the President’s leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison tense. If you are the President’s son, you get a sweetheart deal.

Speaker 2 (01:41):

To presidential candidate Ron DeSantis tweeting. “If Hunter was not connected to the elite DC class, he would’ve been put in jail a long time ago.” And former President Trump himself facing a federal trial claiming that the case against Hunter Biden was whitewashed, calling it a mere traffic ticket saying the system is broken.

Dan Abrams (02:00):

Yes, this is a slap on the wrist, but it’s probably a harder slap than an ordinary person would get if their name wasn’t Hunter Biden.

Speaker 2 (02:08):

The man in charge of the investigation, US Attorney David Weiss, was appointed by former President Donald Trump and kept on by Attorney General Merrick Garland to show he would not meddle in the case.

Merrick Garland (02:19):

There will not be interference of any political or improper kind.

Speaker 2 (02:24):

Weiss recently said in a letter to Congress, he was “Granted ultimate authority over this matter, including the responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges.” His long and wide-ranging investigation examined various parts of Hunter Biden’s life, including his business dealings in Ukraine and China.

Rick Klein (02:43):

You’re going to see a combination of a victory lap and a rallying cry from conservatives, from some of the Republican presidential candidates up to including Donald Trump saying that, look, we knew there was something there, but this is not the end of it.

Speaker 2 (02:55):

While this could conclude DOJs investigation, congressional Republicans are still pursuing their own investigation into nearly every facet of Hunter Biden’s business dealings, including examining foreign payments.

Rick Klein (03:08):

The whole cloud of stuff around his son, his laptop, his drug addiction. Now his admitted tax evasion, as well as his business dealings. They all represent something that is core to the Biden image and that is potentially vulnerable politically.

Speaker 2 (03:24):

Today, President Biden standing behind his son releasing a statement through a White House spokesperson saying that, “The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life.” This is not the first time that Hunter has been the center of a political and legal firestorm. In 2020, Trump accused him of profiting from business interests in Ukraine during the time when his father was vice president.

Donald Trump (03:49):

The newly uncovered emails revealed that a top executive from the highly questionable Ukrainian company, it’s an energy company, which paid Hunter at least $50,000 a month.

Rick Klein (04:01):

He was alleging essentially that Hunter Biden was leveraging his relationship with his father as Vice President to score lucrative contracts, consulting contracts with companies that had interests before foreign governments, particularly the Ukrainian government.

Speaker 2 (04:15):

But in 2019, Hunter Biden defended how he got his position on the Board of Charisma.

Hunter Biden (04:22):

Bottom line is that I know that I was completely qualified to be on the board, and that’s all that I focused on, was basically turning an Eastern European independent natural gas company into an Western standards of corporate governance. Did I make a mistake? Well, maybe in the grand scheme of things, yes. But did I make a mistake based upon some ethical lapse? Absolutely not.

Speaker 2 (04:48):

Today, an attorney for Hunter Biden, Christopher Clark spoke to MSNBC.

Speaker 3 (04:53):

How does Hunter Biden feel?

Christopher Clark (04:55):

I think Hunter feels happy to move on with his life and his recovery and keep doing… The one thing nobody talks about is how long Hunter has been sober moving forward with his life being a good person.

Dan Abrams (05:10):

His lawyers would say, this is it. This is the end. It’s all behind it. But congressional Republicans are making it clear that they don’t view it that way.

Speaker 4 (05:23):

And joining me now, former Trump Administration, Justice Department Official, Sarah Isgur. You know, Sarah, some Republicans are calling this plea a sweetheart deal. What’s your take?

Sarah Isgur (05:35):

Well, at the top level what Republicans are arguing is that you have Donald Trump facing 37 felony charges that all carry jail time compared to Hunter Biden who will now have no jail time. Hunter Biden was negotiating with the Department of Justice. Donald Trump has shown no interest in meeting with the Department of Justice to talk to them about a potential plea negotiation or deal. And the other part of the Hunter Biden news that we learned today is a tax evasion misdemeanor charges that he got probation for. That feels very normal. On the gun charge, that pretrial deferment. But for a first time offender, not too surprising from the Department of Justice.

Speaker 4 (06:15):

You mentioned that his plea includes that pretrial diversion program. You worked at the DOJ. Tell us what exactly that means and how does it help keep people accountable?

Sarah Isgur (06:25):

This actually is like probation, but probation only happens after you’ve pled guilty. So this still will have community service or payments. If you fulfill all of those, though, your charges are dismissed. So it does not stay on your record. For instance, that you are a felon, which I’m sure was very important to Hunter Biden’s legal team.

Speaker 4 (06:44):

Now, the US attorney in charge of this investigation we know was appointed by then President Donald Trump, and also looked into Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and China. Could he still be the subject of other investigations?

Sarah Isgur (07:00):

So first of all, the House which is controlled by Republicans, absolutely is going to continue investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings, but they’re not the executive branch. They can’t bring criminal charges. But you also saw that US attorneys say that that part of the investigation wasn’t closed. It’s interesting because the Hunter Biden legal team says that very much this means that all investigations into Hunter Biden are closed by the Department of Justice. Clearly a sticking point yet to be totally resolved by both parties here.

Speaker 4 (07:31):

As we say in television. Stay tuned. Sarah Isgur, thank you so much for your insights. Appreciate it.

Sarah Isgur (07:37):

Thank you.

source

House panel releases transcripts from Hunter Biden investigation

Ways and Means chairman says committee has not sought Biden’s tax returns

The Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines to release whistleblower testimony on the Biden administration’s handling of a federal investigation into the president’s son Hunter Biden.

The panel made public transcripts totaling almost 400 pages from interviews with two IRS employees, including Criminal Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, who spoke publicly to CBS last month.

The vote comes after Shapley contacted Ways and Means alleging mishandling of the Hunter Biden case, and as the GOP has embarked on multiple investigations into the Biden family and members of the administration after taking the House majority this year.

“This meeting is about transparency and bringing to light facts about alleged government misconduct,” Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said before it got underway.

He said afterwards that Ways and Means has been quietly pursuing aggressive oversight, which has happened largely behind the scenes due to restrictions protecting taxpayer information.

Ways and Means’ 25-18 vote to submit materials to the House, which allowed them to become public, followed about three hours of closed-door debate. The committee also approved the release of a transcript of the private session, which was held because the documents included taxpayer information protected under section 6103 of the tax code.

While Shapley reached out to Ways and Means, the committee requested testimony from a second witness. Smith said Republicans heard that the second witness wanted them to reach out, so they contacted that individual through their legal counsel.

Shapley first contacted the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance panels in April, and in May testimony, told the committee that the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office, Justice Department tax division and broader DOJ had provided preferential treatment and failed to check conflicts of interest in the investigation of Hunter Biden. He also alleged that the DOJ slow-walked the probe.

The Finance Committee’s Democratic majority had no update related to the April letter as of Wednesday evening.

Court filings on Tuesday revealed that Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two charges of misdemeanor tax evasion related to allegations he avoided more than $100,000 in federal income tax in both 2017 and 2018. He has agreed to pay back taxes, according to a statement from his attorney.

Smith said after the Ways and Means vote that the testimony shows the IRS recommended additional charges against Hunter Biden and that he received “a slap on the wrist for charges that have put other Americans behind bars.”

Committee Republicans are also focused on information they say shows the Justice Department overstepping in the investigation and retaliation against an IRS whistleblower. Shapley alleges in his testimony that he and his team had faced retaliation since October 2022, including that he was passed over for a promotion.

In addition to the transcripts of interviews with Shapley on May 26 and an IRS criminal investigator whose name is redacted on June 1, the committee released a June 19 letter updating the criminal investigator’s testimony from his lawyer, supplemental information from Shapley dated June 12 and IRS correspondence including with Commissioner Danny Werfel related to the whistleblower and allegations of retaliation.

‘Naked partisanship’

The transcripts’ release won’t mark the end of Ways and Means’ investigation. Smith said that there are additional people with which the committee needs to speak.

Democrats said 50 additional government employees are named in the transcripts but haven’t been interviewed.

The panel has not requested any of Hunter Biden’s tax returns, according to Smith.

Democrats didn’t resist entering the private session on Thursday, but they all voted against making information public at its close.

“We do not object to the documents being reviewed publicly. We object to the process,” the panel’s top Democrat, Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts, said after the meeting. “Clearly the case is not ready. So many witnesses were never even contacted. They never discerned a clear legislative purpose in the discussion.”

Neal said that during the closed-door meeting, Democrats also made the case that this situation is unique from their effort to obtain and publicly release former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, which ended in a party-line vote late last year.

Neal drew that distinction during opening remarks that he made in the closed session, according to a transcript of prepared comments released by his staff, emphasizing their successful yearslong court battle and legislative purpose, after Democrats made the case they needed Trump’s filings to review the IRS system for auditing presidents’ tax returns.

In those comments, Neal said Republicans were acting out of “naked partisanship” to expose a private citizen’s tax records. He said that the DOJ and Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Delaware are handling the case while retaliation claims have been referred to inspectors general at the DOJ and IRS who should all be allowed to complete their work.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said the investigation hasn’t turned up notable information. “There’s really much smoke here and not much fire,” he said.

Michael Macagnone contributed to this report.

Smith: Testimony of IRS Employees Reveals Biden IRS, DOJ Interfered in Tax Investigation of Hunter Biden, Revealing Preferential Treatment for Wealthy and Politically Connected

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Ways and Means Committee executive meeting resulted in a vote to release to the public whistleblower testimony of two different IRS employees who worked directly on the tax evasion case of Hunter Biden. That testimony outlines misconduct and government abuse at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the investigation of Hunter Biden. The allegations point to a steady campaign of: unequal treatment of enforcing tax law; Department of Justice (DOJ) interference in the form of delays, divulgences, and denials, into the investigation of tax crimes that may have been committed by the President’s son; and finally, retaliation against IRS employees who blew the whistle on the misconduct.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement:

“Today, the Ways and Means Committee voted to make public the testimony of IRS employees blowing the whistle on misconduct at the IRS and the Biden Department of Justice regarding unequal enforcement of tax law, interference and government abuse in the handling of investigations into criminal activity by President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and retaliation against IRS employees blowing the whistle on this abuse.

“The American people deserve to know that when it comes to criminal enforcement, they are not on the same playing field as the wealthy and politically connected class. The preferential treatment Hunter Biden received would never have been granted to ordinary Americans.

“Whistleblowers describe how the Biden Justice Department intervened and overstepped in a campaign to protect the son of Joe Biden by delaying, divulging, and denying an ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden’s alleged tax crimes. The testimony shows tactics used by the Justice Department to delay the investigation long enough to reach the statute of limitations, evidence they divulged sensitive actions by the investigative team to Biden’s attorneys, and denied requests by the U.S. Attorney to bring charges against Biden.

“IRS employees who blew the whistle on this abuse were retaliated against, despite a commitment IRS Commissioner Werfel made before the Ways and Means Committee to uphold their legal protections. They were removed from this investigation after they responsibly worked through the chain of command to raise these concerns.

“The Committee has acted in good faith with participation from both Democrats and Republicans, as the issues raised today ought to be a bipartisan concern. Hopefully we can find a path forward to continue to go where the facts lead us. If the federal government is not treating all taxpayers equally, or if it is changing the rules to engineer a preferred outcome, Congress has a duty to ask why and to hold agencies accountable and consider appropriate legislative action. The scales of justice must not be skewed in favor of the wealthy and the politically connected.”

The transcripts for the whistleblower testimony are posted below:

What the Committee Has Learned

The federal government is not treating all taxpayers the same – and providing preferential treatment to the wealthy and well-connected, including the son of the President of the United States.

Despite the fact that IRS officials recommended that Hunter Biden be charged with criminal activity that includes attempts to evade or defeat taxes, fraud and false statements, and willful failures to file returns, supply information, or pay taxes for over $8.3 million in income, Mr. Biden received preferential treatment in the course of the investigation, and has struck a plea deal that will likely keep him out from behind bars. Meanwhile…

In 2014, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida announced that a man was sentenced to 13 months in prison to be followed by a year of supervised release for failing to file an income tax return, the same misdemeanor tax offense that Hunter Biden was charged with.

The Department of Justice interfered in the investigation into Hunter Biden’s clear tax issues with a “Delay, Divulge, and Deny” campaign – that ultimately shielded him by allowing the statute of limitations to pass on his tax crimes.

DELAY: Recurring unjustified delays pervaded the investigation, including in authenticating the message between Hunter Biden and Chinese officials. Investigators were told by U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf that “there is no way” a search warrant for evidence would get approved because the evidence of interest would be found in the guest house of former Vice President Biden.

DIVULGE: Investigators found out that attorneys for Hunter Biden were tipped off about actions relating to the investigation in advance. For example, even as investigators had probable cause to search a Northern Virginia storage unit in which Hunter Biden had stored files, attorneys for Biden were tipped off.

DENY: U.S. Attorney of Delaware David Weiss tried to bring charges in District of Columbia around March 2022 and was denied. Weiss sought special counsel status from DOJ in the Spring of 2022 and was denied. Weiss sought to bring charges in the Central District of California in the Fall of 2022 and had that request denied in January 2023.

IRS employees worked through the chain of command to blow the whistle on this misconduct – only to be met with hostility and retaliation, leading them to come to the Ways and Means Committee.

Actions were taken to cut the IRS investigative team out of the process after they raised concerns up their chain of command. One whistleblower was not selected for a position, when he was more qualified than the candidate who was selected. Limits and pauses have been placed on other, unrelated investigations that the whistleblowers are working on – which hamper the investigators’ ability to do their work or advance. The whistleblowers and their entire team were removed from the investigation on May 15, 2023, after blowing the whistle to Congress. source

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

or download it here from us

https://youtu.be/1l17I9MLxEQ

Hunter Biden wasn’t charged with felony tax evasion after years-long probe

The Truth News — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 21:02:28 +0000

Hunter Biden wasn’t charged with felony tax evasion after years-long probe

Thanks to Daddy Biden being from the State of Delaware and coincidentally a delaware prosecutor does not charge him with felony tax evasion because of a sweetheart deal to plea to misdemeanor tax invasion instead.

Why Hunter Biden wasn’t charged with felony tax evasion after years-long probe? Connections and a 2 Tier System!

Federal prosecutors declined to charge first son Hunter Biden with felony tax evasion — letting him instead take a plea bargain for misdemeanors that will likely result in no jail time — due to the difficulty of proving the offense and the relatively paltry sums at stake, veteran legal eagles told The Post Wednesday.

Following a five-year investigation, Delaware US Attorney David Weiss’ office agreed to the sweetheart deal for the 53-year-old — guilty pleas to two counts of failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in income from foreign countries and a pretrial diversionary program for a felony count of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun in the fall of 2018.

If Hunter had been charged with felony tax evasion, he would have faced up to five years behind bars — though the federal sentencing guidelines recommend 12 to 18 months for the amount of money involved, according to former federal prosecutor David Weinstein.

According to Weiss’ office, Hunter faces up to a year in jail on each misdemeanor tax count, but prosecutors are expected to ask a judge to sign off on probation, experts say.

Former prosecutors say they aren’t surprised by the choice to allow Hunter to admit not paying at least $100,000 in income taxes on at least $1.5 million in earnings in both 2017 and 2018 rather than charge the more serious crime.

Jennifer Rodgers, an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, told The Post the feds would have weighed the severity of his crimes and a number of other factors in making the choice — which she says was “reasonable” and “in line with” other cases.

In Hunter’s case, Rodgers said that prosecutors wouldn’t have considered his alleged crimes particularly egregious because of the dollar amount he allegedly failed to pay in taxes and because he didn’t carry out an elaborate evasion scheme.

“This is not a tiny amount, but also not a massive amount, not millions of dollars evaded,” Rodgers said.

The first son is taking a plea deal on misdemeanor tax crimes that could result in no jail time.

rfaraino

The prof added that Hunter simply failed to pay the money to tax authorities “rather than setting up companies, moving money off-shore, [and] hiding assets in some sophisticated way,” despite claims to the contrary from congressional Republicans investigating the Biden family’s overseas business interests.

And a “huge” factor that the Department of Justice would have looked “very favorably” upon is the fact that Hunter already paid back the money and penalties he owed in taxes last year, as part of his bid to avoid criminal charges.

Rodgers added that a “serious concern” for prosecutors in weighing what charges to bring was the fact that Hunter Biden was an admitted drug addict at the time — making it difficult to prove that he intended to duck his obligation to the government.

“Can you prove that he knowingly, willingly and deliberately did all of these things or in that circumstance is it safer to avoid trial by pleading it to a misdemeanor?” Rodgers said. “I know that that was under discussion, that that was a serious concern for some of the investigators on the case and perhaps for the prosecutors as well.”

Cornell Law Professor Robert Hockett agreed that prosecutors likely found Hunter’s case “worthy of plea bargaining” and of misdemeanor charges because of his substance abuse issues.

“The fact that he was apparently addicted to cocaine, maybe even crack cocaine, during that time I think has a number of consequences,” Hockett said. “One, is that it’s harder to find criminal intent … if he was [committing crimes] under the influence.”

Legal experts say that Hunter’s admissions to being drug-addicted during the time of the crimes could have contributed to prosecutors choice to bring the lesser charge against him, since with felony tax evasion you must prove intent.

Former federal prosecutor Maureen Ruane told The Post she also wasn’t surprised by prosecutors offering the misdemeanor plea deal.

In general, she said, tax evasion charges “are very infrequently sought” because of the difficulty of showing intent. She said that a plea deal “avoids the risks” of going to trial and the “resources and time and energy” required to follow a case through appeals.

“There often comes a point in virtually any case where the government decides that it’s willing to accept a compromise on the charges that it might have otherwise filed, in exchange for the certainly of a conviction,” Ruane explained.

Experts also say that the fact that Hunter paid back the taxes and penalties he owed last year weighed in his favor.

Gary Shapley, a whistleblower at the Internal Revenue Service, told CBS News last month that he was assigned to Hunter’s case in the beginning of 2020 and that soon saw that normal protocols weren’t followed and decisions by the agency “seemed to always benefit” Hunter.

After speaking out, Shapley said he was marginalized and eventually taken off of the investigation.

Republicans decried the plea bargain, with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) saying the deal “cannot be the final word give the significant body of evidence that the FBI and the Justice Department have at their disposal.”

James Comer (R-Ky.) — the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, which has been probing Hunter and his dad Joe over claims they received $10 million in bribes — said the charges and “sweetheart plea deal have no impact” on the panel’s investigation.

Hunter Biden lawyer shoots down records request from House Republicans

The Truth News — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 21:50:46 +0000

Hunter Biden lawyer shoots down records request from House Republicans

Hunter Biden’s legal counsel on Thursday rejected a request from House Republicans for records and information related to his business dealings.

In a letter to House Oversight Committee James Comer, R-Ky., the lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the committee “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose and oversight basis for requesting such records from Mr. Biden, who is a private citizen.” Lowell said they would not comply with the Republicans’ request but offered to meet with committee members “to see whether Mr. Biden has information that may inform some legitimate legislative purpose.”

Comer late Wednesday sent a letter to the president’s son asking for information and records about his business dealings, specifically targeting his work in China and Ukraine. The panel is also seeking records from James Biden, the younger brother of President Joe Biden, and Hunter’s business partner, Eric Schwerin. The committee had given the trio until Feb. 22 to respond before they decide whether to issue a subpoena.

In a statement on Thursday, Comer said the panel was investigating whether the president was involved in his family’s business dealings and whether he has “compromised national security.”

A spokesperson for the committee responded to Lowell’s letter later Thursday, accusing the Bidens of “trying to stonewall Congress’ oversight and hide information about Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s suspicious business practices.”

“The American people demand transparency and oversight, not political coverups,” the spokesperson said. “The Oversight Committee will continue its oversight and use all tools at its disposal to gather information critical to our investigation and to inform legislative solutions.”

LISTEN TO THE UNEDUCATED, BARTENDER TURNED POLITICIAN SPEAK

WAIT DID SHE JUST SAY WASTE OF TIME HALF FAKE LAPTOP?
YOU MEAN COMPLETELY LEGIT 100% REAL LAPTOP FROM A 100% CORRUPTED DRUG ADDICTED CRACKHEAD WHO ALSO PAYS FOR PROSTITUES AND DID BUSINESS WITH OUR COUNTRY’S ENEMIES ?
HOW ABOUT JAN 6 WHERE TAX PAYING CITIZENS WERE LET INTO THE CAPTIOL BUILDING AND EVEN TOLD “THIS IS A SACRED PLACE PLEASE JUST RESPECT IT” BY OFFICERS PROTECTING THE BUILDING AND ALLOWING PROTESTORS IN!
BY THE WAY DURING BUSINESS HOURS WHY ARE WE NOT ALLOWED IN ? AND WHY IS GOVERNMENT PROPERTY NOT OURS ?
BARTENDERS WITHOUT EDUCATION BELONG IN A BAR TEDNING TO ALCHOLIC MEN AND WOMEN! MAYBE THAT IS WHY SHE HAS SUCH A LOW VIEW OF MEN TOO, SHE SERVED DRUNKS AT A BAR (NOT REAL MEN)

Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez falsely claimed on Wednesday that Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop is “half-fake” — as she smeared The Post’s bombshell reporting that first exposed the device and its contents.

“We’re talking about Hunter Biden’s half-fake laptop story. I mean, this is an embarrassment,” the 33-year-old raged, suggesting the House Oversight Committee hearing should have been focused on issues like abortion and civil rights.

The Bronx and Queens lawmaker made the remarks as lawmakers grilled Twitter executives over the social media giant’s suppression of The Post’s October 2020 stories on the so-called “laptop from hell.”

AOC’s rant got off to a bad start when she confused New York’s favorite tabloid with the reliably liberal Washington Post — “I think that the story here with the New York, with the Washington Post reporting” — and went downhill from there.

Disregarding both journalistic practices and the principle of free speech, Ocasio-Cortez suggested The Post’s ban from Twitter was its own fault because it did not loop competing outlets in on the laptop’s contents.

She referenced a Washington Post article that claimed left-leaning sources — who later belatedly admitted the laptop was, in fact, legit — had faced a “roadblock” in trying to corroborate the trove of emails discovered on the scandal-scarred son’s device.

“The New York Post had this alleged information and was trying to publish it without any corroboration, without any backup information, they were trying to publish it to Twitter, Twitter would not let them — and now they are upset,” Ocasio-Cortez claimed.

“I believe that political operatives who sought to inject explosive disinformation with the Washington Post couldn’t get away with it,” she continued.

“And now they’re livid and they want the ability to do it again. They want the ability to inject this again. They are weaponizing the use of this committee.”

House Republicans are probing the extraordinary censorship measures the platform took against The Post when it prohibited users from sharing articles that linked then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to his son Hunter and brother James Biden’s foreign business deals.

Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have targeted Hunter Biden for years, but they have ramped up scrutiny after taking control of the House this year.

Among other records, the committee asked Hunter Biden to turn over any classified documents he may have in his possession. House Republicans — as well as the Justice Department — are looking into the president’s handling of classified documents from his time as vice president.

The committee is also seeking records of any communications Hunter Biden may have had with his father, his uncle James Biden or his aunt Sara Jones Biden, between Jan. 20, 2009, and Jan. 20. 2021, related to various business matters.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Republicans have long accused the president’s son of using his father’s political connections for personal gain. Hunter Biden’s involvement with the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma led to Trump’s first impeachment after he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate the Bidens. Multiple investigations into the matter, including one led by Senate Republicans, found no evidence of wrongdoing.

“We want the bank records and that’s our focus,” Comer said during a press conference in November. “We’re trying to stay focused on: Was Joe Biden directly involved with Hunter Biden’s business deals and is he compromised? That’s our investigation.”

In addition to Burisma, Republicans have also zeroed in on Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China. During his father’s vice presidency, Hunter Biden was involved with an investment firm that sought to raise money in China. In 2019, Trump urged China to investigate the Bidens and falsely accused Hunter of using a 2013 trip he took with his father to China for financial gain.

Federal prosecutors have been investigating Hunter Biden’s taxes since 2018, years before his father was elected president. He has denied any wrongdoing, saying, “I handled my affairs legally and appropriately.”

The Oversight Committee also held a hearing on Wednesday to investigate Twitter’s role in suppressing a story from the New York Post on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Comer accused the company of participating in a “coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news, and the intelligence community to suppress and delegitimize the existence of Hunter Biden’s laptop.”

Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, said the company had concerns because the story “at first glance bore a lot of similarities to the 2016 Russian hack and leak operation targeting the DNC. We had to decide what to do. And in that moment, with limited information, we made a mistake.”

by Alana Satlin

source source

Twitter’s suppression of Hunter Biden’s laptop isn’t a conspiracy theory — it’s a conspiracy

The Truth News — Sat, 10 Dec 2022 06:43:46 +0000

Twitter’s suppression of Hunter Biden’s laptop isn’t a conspiracy theory — it’s a conspiracy

Hunter Biden attended the 2022 Kennedy Center Honorees reception at the White House.
CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

“Conspiracy theorist” is one of the great insults of our day. It was thrown at me onstage the other night by the popular pseudo-guru and full-time intellectual fraud Malcolm Gladwell.

Debating in front of 3,000 people about the trustworthiness (or otherwise) of the mainstream media I brought up the Hunter Biden laptop story as an example of how much of the media cannot be trusted. “Oh my God,” wailed Gladwell, like an Upper East Side teenager, flailing his arms around in horror. His colleague — New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg — almost fell off her chair. Both rocked back and forth with laughter and forced histrionics. Fancy my bringing up such a nothing-burger of a story as that, they hooted. What a lot of “conspiracy theory” I appeared to have fallen into.

Well, the shoe is very much on the other foot now, as it always should have been.

Because, as it happened, my colleague that night was the journalist Matt Taibbi. The day after our debate, Matt started to drop information from Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, which once again showed that it is those who refused to focus on the laptop stories who were actually involved in a conspiracy. A conspiracy that is now completely transparent.

I don’t need to remind readers of the Post of what happened in this story. Of the way in which this paper — America’s oldest — was subjected to an unprecedented campaign of silencing during October 2020. This paper dared to print information that was of public interest. It was information that exposed corruption on an extraordinary scale in what is now the first family. Not just the president’s son being paid to sit on the board of a Ukrainian energy company when he had no knowledge of energy or Ukraine. But things like the almost $5 million that Hunter and his Uncle James raked in over 14 months from just one Chinese energy conglomerate.

The New York Post printed information about the conspiracy around Hunter Biden’s laptop story.

Nobody needs to be reminded of how the situation would have been otherwise if the laptop of Don Trump, Jr., had been released and it had included this kind of information. The New York Times — which wasted everyone´s time for years with false “Russiagate” stories would not have found a “Don Jr. laptop” such a vast, unfathomable yawneroo.

But they found the Hunter laptop just that. For a very good reason. They had their aims, and they had their man. They wanted Biden in the White House at all costs and so they suppressed the Post’s story and tried to make sure that the American public was not able to vote with all the information that could have been at their disposal.

Week after week the story gets even worse. And this week perhaps the most damning revelation of all just dropped. First, there was the revelation — which we all knew — that the Biden campaign had been telling Twitter to expect a Hunter story and to quash it. That is the sort of corruption we might almost be used to. But now we have also learned the news that a former lawyer at the FBI — James Baker — was actually working inside Twitter. And that when Elon Musk took over Twitter Baker was still working there. Indeed he was working there until Sunday of this week when Musk found out and fired him.

And what had Baker been able to do? He had actually been able to insert himself between Musk and my debating partner Matt Taibbi in order to redact the communications which Musk wanted Taibbi to release. So even as the true story was coming out this former — or present — FBI man was working inside Twitter in order to stop the story from getting out.

What was he busying himself with during those crucial days? Was he editing out anything that might point to involvement by the FBI and other security agencies? Was he editing out or redacting information that might show the first family in an even worse light than the facts already do? We don’t know — but we should. Because this is not a conspiracy theory. It is an out-and-out conspiracy. One which American voters deserve to learn about.

Back in the day, it was well known that intelligence agencies in America, Britain, and other countries, used to insert agents — often declared — inside large corporations: energy giants, international oil companies, and the like. It appears that in our age certain agencies have inserted their people in the Big Tech companies and they have been performing a role we are only just starting to become aware of.

So as I say, people will laugh and scoff. The NYT will continue running distraction pieces trying to pretend that “hate” has been on the rise on Twitter since Musk bought it. They may keep ignoring and scoffing at this scandal. But in fact, something else is happening. Their game is up. The story is becoming fully exposed before the eyes of the world.

Randi Weingarten’s priorities

The news came yesterday that the President has managed to secure the release of Brittney Griner, the WNBA star imprisoned in Russia on drug charges. Curiously, no one was more elated than Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers.

Congratulating POTUS on social media Weingarten trilled: “What a great relief!!! Extraordinary news, a basketball star, but also a gay, black woman is released.” I’ve heard of a two-fer offer, but for Weingarten, this was clearly a three or four-fer offer. Not only a basketball star but also a gay, black woman. What relief. What double, triple, and quadruple relief!

I wonder how muted Weingarten’s reaction would have been had Griner not had the good fortune to be black, female, and gay? Or if she had been, say, a pupil at any school across America. After all, it is American students who Weingarten is meant to somehow support. But it is them who by the millions she managed to get locked up in their homes, away from school, for months at a time during COVID.

No wonder Weingarten is celebrating a success she had no involvement in. Just imagine if she had to take responsibility for the millions of individual educational disasters she presided over.

sources https://nypost.com/2022/12/08/twitters-suppression-of-hunter-bidens-laptop-isnt-a-conspiracy-theory-its-a-conspiracy/

NPR quiet on Twitter Files after calling Hunter Biden laptop story a waste of time

The Truth News — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 01:17:28 +0000

NPR quiet on Twitter Files after calling Hunter Biden laptop story a waste of time

Story by Nikolas Lanum

On Friday night, Elon Musk and Substack journalist Matt Taibbi released the “Twitter Files,” providing new details on how the social media company attempted to censor the story about then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election.

While the story generated massive interest online, NPR has not covered the new developments on its website, and has not responded to Fox News Digital’s request to see whether the outlet plans to cover the story in the future. It is unclear if it’s mentioned the story on the air, although NPR posts many of its major radio segments on the website.

NPR’s blackout on the Hunter Biden story appears to fall in line with previous comments on the topic, when it made the unusual move of baldly announcing why it wouldn’t cover the story.

In October 2020, NPR public editor Kelly McBride responded to a listener who asked why NPR had not reported on scandals surrounding Hunter Biden, including business connections he made overseas. That same month, the New York Post had dropped its reporting on Biden’s laptop, which was then suppressed by Big Tech giants Facebook and Twitter, and dismissed as Russian disinformation by numerous outlets.

McBride claimed there are “many, many red flags in that New York Post investigation” and Intelligence officials have warned “that Russia has been working overtime” to keep the story in the news.

She also included a quote from NPR managing editor Terence Samuel, who took the outlet’s position on the story even further.

“We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions. And quite frankly, that’s where we ended up, this was… a politically driven event, and we decided to treat it that way,” Samuel said.

Elon Musk and Matt Taibbi revealed the “Twitter Files” on Friday, a thread revealing the inner communications of Twitter employees and U.S. lawmakers surrounding the censorship of NY Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story. Fox News© Fox News

NPR’s position on the story came around the time that Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said that Hunter Biden’s laptop “is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign.”

Just six months later, NPR issued a correction after initially reporting that the laptop was “discredited by U.S. intelligence and independent investigations by news organizations.” The updated version of the NPR story said, “Numerous news organizations cast doubt on the credibility of the laptop story.”

However, the laptop has since been verified by several high-profile news networks, including Politico, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News and CNN.

Many of the same outlets did cover the Twitter Files over the weekend, although often dismissively.

Rolling Stone writer Adam Rawnsley yawned at Taibbi’s Twitter thread findings, calling it “anticlimactic” and a “snoozefest.” He argued Musk had bored readers with old information.

The Washington Post waited until Saturday evening to cover the Twitter Files, which an article knocked as a “dud” that was “billed as a bombshell.”

Hunter Biden’s laptop was at the center of a Big Tech censorship campaign in 2020. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters© Kevin Lamarque

Left-wing NBC reporter Ben Collin said Taibbi’s work was “unbelievable hack stuff” on Friday evening. On Sunday, he shared an opinion piece declaring it “the opposite” of a scandal.

The major Sunday shows on ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN devoted a total of seven seconds to the story, prompting Musk to sound off on the overwhelming silence.

While NPR has written numerous pieces about Musk’s management of Twitter in the last week, none of the stories centered on the Twitter Files or Hunter Biden.

When the New York Post story on Hunter Biden broke in October 2020, many of the major media companies, including CNN, MSNBC, and NPR, dismissed the story as “Russian disinformation,” and unworthy of coverage.

In April, NPR investigative correspondent Laura Sullivan tweeted “Add @NPR to the list” of media who need to repent for their dismissal of the story. “Newsroom editors called it ‘not a real story.’ The ‘Hunter Biden laptop’ investigation may end up being a tax case, a hill of beans, or something else. But what it’s always been is a story,” she said.

Fox News’ Kristine Parks and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.

Elon Musk Grows Paranoid Over Potential ‘Twitter Files’ Retaliation Warns Followers He Has No Plans To Take His Life

The Truth News — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 04:24:33 +0000

Elon Musk Grows Paranoid Over Potential ‘Twitter Files’ Retaliation

Warns Followers He Has No Plans To Take His Life

Elon Musk NO PLANS FOR SUICIDE. NO PLANS TO TAKE HIS OWN LIFE

Things are getting weird at Twitter HQ. CEO Elon Musk has grown increasingly paranoid over the fear of retaliation from his “Twitter files” drop. Elon warned his followers that he had no plans of taking his own life

The bizarre announcement came during a Q&A session — also known as Twitter Spaces — which was held a day after the Tesla founder released internal documents from his social media site regarding the platform’s decision to censor the infamous Hunter Biden laptop fiasco, which would have change up to 80% of the Biden voters opinions. That’s 4 out of 5 taken https://nypost.com/2022/08/26/2020-election-outcome-would-differ-with-hunter-biden-laptop-coverage-poll/

Even if those 4 out of 5 would have voted for everyone else BUT BIDEN & TRUMP…. Then Trump would be still our President, FACTS! The fact that no won proved election BALLOT FRAUD, in a physical or computer or computational error, does not mean that Trump would not have won. That means 80% of Bidens voters would and could have voted for other candidates. Trump would have had the same amount of votes or more making him for sure our president. THEY DID COMMIT ELECTION FRAUD, BUT A DIFFERENT WAY!

A top tech personality, Kim Dotcom, asked the 51-year-old Twitter CEO if he had “suicidal thoughts” in light of the Hunter leaks. “I do not have any suicidal thoughts. If I committed suicide, it’s not real,” Musk replied, prompting eyebrows to raise. The response seemed to hint that should something happen to Musk, it was not by his own doing. While he was still on the topic of releasing Hunter-related internal documents, he alluded to “more smoking guns” regarding his company’s previous censorship policies under former leadership. The odd exchange was not the first time Musk made a cryptic message on his platform about being harmed.

After he assumed control of the major social platform in October for a measly purchase price of $44 billion, Musk said that he was in a greater position of “risk” to his “personal safety” as the new CEO. Following a clash with a Russian official over providing Starlink satellite internet to Ukraine amid the ongoing Russia/Ukraine conflict,, which is he right as a US citizen to operate a FREE ENTERPRISES. Musk tweeted about his death. “If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,“ the CEO wrote in a tweet. The majority of Musk’s recent issues from taking over the platform stem from rash decisions brought in by THE OLD leadership, which officially LOST POWER at the beginning of November.

As he continued with his overhauls, which included the vow to keep free speech alive on the platform, Musk reinstated several previously banned accounts — which included President Donald Trump, although the former president refused to rejoin.

Shortly after giving Kanye access to the social platform, the one of a kind rapper used his account to spew his free speech rhetoric to followers which is totally up to him. No one said free speech is free, it might cost a free contracts, but speaking his mind is his right as a fellow US Citizen.

Following backlash from ongoing tweets that were blown way up by the liberal left, Musk suspended Kanye from the social site, which caused an uproar among critics who felt the move was hypocritical after he cited the former leader’s alleged position of anti-free speech, but lefty losers are nuts so who cares what they think, they are allowed to spatter nonsense at the mouth about the worlds richest man which they are insanely jealous over not being able to control this MASTER SIGMA MALE!

Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP Dad

The Truth News — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 10:03:24 +0000

The Big Guy and The Big Lie

The Famous Hunter Biden, Most Famous Narcissist Liar, Presidential Status

Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP Dad

Originally By Emma-Jo Morris and Gabrielle Fonrouge October 14, 2020 5:00am

Hunter Biden introduced his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm less than a year before the elder Biden pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor who was investigating the company, according to emails obtained by The Post.

The computer was dropped off at a repair shop in Biden’s home state of Delaware in April 2019, according to the store’s owner.

The never-before-revealed meeting is mentioned in a message of appreciation that Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Burisma, allegedly sent Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015, about a year after Hunter joined the Burisma board at a reported salary of up to $50,000 a month.

“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure,” the email reads.

An earlier email from May 2014 also shows Pozharskyi, reportedly Burisma’s No. 3 exec, asking Hunter for “advice on how you could use your influence” on the company’s behalf.

The blockbuster correspondence — which flies in the face of Joe Biden’s claim that he’s “never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings” — is contained in a massive trove of data recovered from a laptop computer.

Other material extracted from the computer includes a raunchy, 12-minute video that appears to show Hunter, who’s admitted struggling with addiction problems, smoking crack while engaged in a sex act with an unidentified woman, as well as numerous other sexually explicit images.

Vadym Pozharskyi and Hunter Biden
Yalta European Strategy / Getty Images

The customer who brought in the water-damaged MacBook Pro for repair never paid for the service or retrieved it or a hard drive on which its contents were stored, according to the shop owner, who said he tried repeatedly to contact the client.

The shop owner couldn’t positively identify the customer as Hunter Biden, but said the laptop bore a sticker from the Beau Biden Foundation, named after Hunter’s late brother and former Delaware attorney general.

Photos of a Delaware federal subpoena given to The Post show that both the computer and hard drive were seized by the FBI in December, after the shop’s owner says he alerted the feds to their existence.

But before turning over the gear, the shop owner says, he made a copy of the hard drive and later gave it to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello.

Steve Bannon, former adviser to President Trump, told The Post about the existence of the hard drive in late September and Giuliani provided The Post with a copy of it on Sunday.

Less than eight months after Pozharskyi thanked Hunter Biden for the introduction to his dad, the then-vice president admittedly pressured Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk into getting rid of Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin by threatening to withhold a $1 billion US loan guarantee during a December 2015 trip to Kiev.

“I looked at them and said: I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,” Biden infamously bragged to the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018.

“Well, son of a bitch. He got fired.”

Shokin has said that at the time of his firing, in March 2016, he’d made “specific plans” to investigate Burisma that “included interrogations and other crime-investigation procedures into all members of the executive board, including Hunter Biden.”

Joe Biden has insisted that the US wanted Shokin removed over corruption concerns, which were shared by the European Union.

Meanwhile, an email dated May 12, 2014 — shortly after Hunter Biden joined the Burisma board — shows Pozharskyi attempting to get him to use his political leverage to help the company.

The message had the subject line “urgent issue” and was also sent to Hunter Biden’s business partner, Devon Archer, who also sat on the Burisma board at the time.

Here is the email:

From: Vadim Pozharskyi v.pozharskyi.ukraine@gmail.com
Subject: urgent issue
Date: May 12, 2014 at 8:29 AM
To: Devon Archer darcher@rosemontcapital.com, Hunter Biden hbiden@rosemontseneca.com

Dear Hunter and Devon,

Following our talks during the visit to the Como Lake and our further discussions,
I would like to bring the following situation to your attention.

As previously pointed out on a number of occasions, the representatives of new
authorities in power tend to quite aggressively approach N. Z. unofficially with
the aim to obtain cash from him. Initially, it was done by the representatives of
Svoboda party and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. These so called unofficial
“communications” would entail blackmailing: in case we don’t cooperate i.e.
provide money in cash the gaz production business of N.Z. would be stopped,
destroyed etc…

It’s important to note that Svoboda party is represented in the government by the
General Prosecutor and by Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Of
Ukraine. The last organ together with the State Geological and Subsurface Survey
of Ukraine, which is directly subordinated to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural
Resources of Ukraine, are principal regulators in the area of issuing licenses for
natural resources and control.

After unsuccessful attempts to receive funds from our side, they proceeded with
concrete actions.

So far we got information (through unofficial channels) that one or more pretrial
proceedings were initiated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs with regrad to
Burima Holdings companies that are heavily engaged in gas production and
happen to be our Holdings’ key companies.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs contacted the Ministry of Ecology and Natural
Resources and the State Geological and Subsurface Survey of Ukraine to obtain
all documents concerning licenses issued since 2006 until now to the companies
of our Holding.

Apart from that, they would unofficially approach our partnres, clients, suppliers
trying to intimidate them to stop working with our companies.
These are typical instruments to destabilize business.

We urgently need your advice on how you could use your influence to convey a
message / signal, etc .to stop what we consider to be politically motivated actions
bearing in mind the following:

Burisma holdings is a leader among private gas producers;
Our primary client is Accelor Mital- Ukraine’s biggest metal steel plant. We cover
more thet 60% of its gas needs.
Our clients and their production are largely dependant on our work and our ability
to perfom our contractual obligations;
We employ hundreds of employees etc. and etc.;
Negative influence on our companies may result in multy-level negative social,
econimical and political consequnces.

Please advice, looking forward for your reply,

Vadym Pozharskyi

download the email pdf

Pozharskyi said that “the representatives of new authorities in power tend to quite aggressively approach N. Z. unofficially with the aim to obtain cash from him.”

N.Z. isn’t identified in the email but appears to be a reference to Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky, whose first name is a Ukrainian version of “Nicholas.”

When the alleged shakedown failed, “they proceeded with concrete actions” in the form of “one or more pretrial proceedings,” Pozharskyi wrote.

“We urgently need your advice on how you could use your influence to convey a message / signal, etc .to stop what we consider to be politically motivated actions,” he added.

Hunter Biden responded by saying he was with Archer in Doha, Qatar, and asked for more information about “the formal (if any) accusations being made against Burisma.”

“Who is ultimately behind these attacks on the company? Who in the current interim government could put an end to such attacks?” he added.

The exchange came the same day that Burisma announced it had expanded its board of directors by adding Hunter Biden, who was put in charge of its “legal unit and will provide support for the Company among international organizations,” according to a news release that’s since been scrubbed from Burisma’s website.

Hunter Biden actually joined the board in April 2014, according to multiple reports.

His lawyer said last year that Hunter was “not a member of the management team,” adding, “At no time was Hunter in charge of the company’s legal affairs.”

About four months after Hunter Biden’s correspondence with Pozharskyi, Archer forwarded Hunter Biden an email chain with the subject line “tax raise impact on Burisma production,” which included Pozharskyi saying that the Ukrainian cabinet had submitted new tax legislation to the country’s parliament.

“If enacted, this law would kill the entire private gas production sector in the bud,” Pozharskyi wrote.

In the Sept. 24, 2014, email, Pozharskyi also said he was “going to share this information with the US embassy here in Kyiv, as well as the office of Mr Amos Hochstein in the States.”

At the time, Hochstein was the State Department’s newly appointed special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs.

In December 2017, the Naftogaz Group, Ukraine’s state-owned energy company, announced that Hochstein had joined the company as an independent director, but on Monday he announced his resignation.

“The company has been forced to spend endless amounts of time combating political pressure and efforts by oligarchs to enrich themselves through questionable transactions,” Hochstein wrote in an op-ed published by the Kyiv Post.

In addition to denying that’s he’s spoken to Hunter Biden about his overseas business dealings, Joe Biden has repeatedly denied any conflict of interest or wrongdoing by either of them involving Burisma.

Last February, he got testy during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show when co-host Savannah Guthrie questioned whether it was “wrong for [Hunter] to take that position, knowing that it was really because that company wanted access to you.”

“Well, that’s not true. You’re saying things you do not know what you’re talking about,” the elder Biden responded.

Last December, Joe Biden also lashed out during a Democratic primary town hall event in Iowa, where a man accused him of sending Hunter to Ukraine “to get a job and work for a gas company, he had no experience with gas or nothing, in order to get access to . . . the president.”

“You’re a damn liar, man. That’s not true and no one has ever said that,” Biden fumed.

Biden then continued berating the man as he stepped forward, called the man “fat” and challenged him to “do push-ups together, man.”

The FBI referred questions about its seizure of the laptop and hard drive to the Delaware US Attorney’s Office, where a spokesperson said, “My office can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.”

Hunter Biden’s lawyer refused to comment on the specifics but instead attacked Giuliani.

“He has been pushing widely discredited conspiracy theories about the Biden family, openly relying on actors tied to Russian intelligence,” the lawyer, George R. Mesires, said of Giuliani.

Pozharskyi and the Joe Biden campaign did not return requests for comment. Hochstein could not be reached.

Additional reporting by Ebony Bowden

https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad/