Smokescreen

[berryberry]

Hunter Biden has been indicted by special counsel David Weiss on felony gun charges.

Vivek Ramaswamy is correct- Today’s indictment of Hunter Biden is a smokescreen. Don’t fall for it. This is a fig leaf designed to deflect attention away from the real problem: the Senile Biden family is selling out U.S. foreign policy for their own family’s private financial gain. That’s really what’s wrong, and we must hold politicians in both major political parties when they use our foreign policy to enrich their family members.

[berryberry]

James Comer on Hunter Biden indictment: That's the one crime that he committed that you cannot tie Senile Biden to. So we'll see what happens with the other 11 or so crimes that Senile Biden committed.

[berryberry]

If Hunter had a different last name, he’d have been thrown in prison over this years ago. But the bigger issue than his gun crimes are the tax evasion, money laundering, and foreign influence peddling that the corrupt DOJ are ignoring to protect Senile Biden.

[DNinja69]

Up is really down and right is really left and pork chops are actually made from angel's wings!

I do agree that Hunter Biden has been living in a teflon bubble and should have been subject to some hard doses of Justice long ago but man I gotta ask is the point here just to be mad? Seriously. Felony charges.
That counts for nothing? Wow

[Salty Again]

... Good point, DNinj' ... Yes, Hunter was being protected
for a good while - as you mentioned - and they even LIED
about his laptop... So maybe you can see WHY the Republicans
are blue at the Soft-Joey treatment of all this.

But they may add more charges later, concerning Hunter
AND JOE - but for right now - I also agree with you
that a GUN FELONY charge is a bit more than pixie dust.

He could go to jail for a bit just for the gun charges.
Not exactly a pat onto the wrist.

#### Salty

[berryberry]

Originally Posted by DNinja69

Up is really down and right is really left and pork chops are actually made from angel's wings!

I do agree that Hunter Biden has been living in a teflon bubble and should have been subject to some hard doses of Justice long ago but man I gotta ask is the point here just to be mad? Seriously. Felony charges.
That counts for nothing? Wow

Let us not forget the corrupt DOJ was giving Hunter a sweetheart deal until a brave judge questioned it. So it is easy to understand why this small improvement on the previous kid gloves, sweetheart deal which tried to give Hunter a pass on a crime any MAGA supporter would get a decade in prison for is met with skepticism.

What about Hunter's unregistered foreign lobbying?
What about the money laundering, with Hunter passing on half of his massive oligarch payoffs directly to his dad?
What about his human trafficking of hookers across state lines?
What about his bribery involving Senile Biden?
What about his tax evasion?

When he gets charged for all of those crimes, let me know. Otherwise this is all a smokescreen to tie up Hunter such that he can't be subpoenaed to testify in any impeachment effort, and can claim the 5th. It's not a real effort to punish.

[bambino]

What is the DNC’s plan?

They cannot stay with Biden.

Biden is unlikable, battling impeachment, corruption scandals, Hunter indictments, the laptop, Ukraine, cost of living, degenerating US cities, open borders, child-sniffing.

This is an absolute shit show.

What’s their move?

[DNinja69]

No argument from me Berry that Hunter Biden should be facing more indictments than Trump. But that isn't what you posted. While I realize many are unable to help themselves when it comes to this faux trauma claming the two men's legal issues are connected like the storylines in Marvel movies that is not a mental circle jerk I spend any real time on so spare me please. The fact is you would still be claiming coverup and misconduct even if all those charges were on court dockets.

Any thought on the definition of a Rino? Pretty straight forward question no?

[berryberry]

Originally Posted by DNinja69

No argument from me Berry that Hunter Biden should be facing more indictments than Trump. But that isn't what you posted.

Really? I posted that the gun charge is a smokescreen and ignores the myriad of other crimes Hunter Biden committed that have not been charged. That is what I posted

From any conventional law enforcement standpoint, the obvious step would have been to indict Hunter for his crimes connected to illicit foreign activity and tax evasion and bribery and tell him the only way out is to become a cooperating witness against Senile Biden

The gun charge is orchestrated to give Democrats a talking point while deflecting away from the ringleader: Senile Biden.

Anyone with any semblance of common sense can see that.

[tommy156]

None of this means anything at all until Joe (the President) gets indicted. Until then, it literally means nothing. This is the same as if eric trump got indicted for something. Yawn. Nothing burger. Who cares.

[tommy156]

Originally Posted by DNinja69

Any thought on the definition of a Rino? Pretty straight forward question no?

It stands for Republican In Name Only, and traditionally, it was always trump who was the RINO. But it has now been illegally annexed by the trump cult to represent anyone who doesn't march in lockstep with the wannabe dictator and parrot his latest crazy, bullshit lies, no matter how absurd or contradictory they may be.

Apparently now, anyone who chooses country and Constitution over whatever the fuck it is trump is doing, is a "RINO".

[DNinja69]

Originally Posted by tommy156

It stands for Republican In Name Only, and traditionally, it was always trump who was the RINO. But it has now been illegally annexed by the trump cult to represent anyone who doesn't march in lockstep with the wannabe dictator and parrot his latest crazy, bullshit lies, no matter how absurd or contradictory they may be.

Apparently now, anyone who chooses country and Constitution over whatever the fuck it is trump is doing, is a "RINO".

I understand the origin of RINO its just lost any real meaning in my opinion and become another dysfunctional knee-jerk slur that continues to divide the Conservative base. Great point on Trump and the current status of the Republican party.

The OP here is seeking justice in the Hunter Biden fiasco and I would love to see that happen. Honestly still a little shook that more consequences have not come from it but such is life when pops is President. I think if some people spent less time worried about whether one Republican or another bought into the talking points 100% or has some of their own ideas and embraced the actual political agenda we need it would be a lot more productive. As it sits the Dems nearly have it all and are a legit threat to do that come next election.

Time to rally and unite. We get nowhere by keeping up this current process in fact its starting to feel like its leading us in the wrong direction rather than just stagnating and stinking up the place

[berryberry]

As I was saying - this is a smokescreen

From Jonathon Turley:

Below is my column in The Hill on the impeachment inquiry and one striking pattern among the alleged crimes facing Hunter Biden: they all served to conceal the influence peddling efforts to sell access or influence to his father. The investigation and charging of Hunter Biden has, thus far, been strikingly surgical in avoiding this pattern of concealment.


Here is the column:

In both the law and psychology, the concept of “willful blindness” is a long-recognized pattern of human conduct. It has been described as circumstances where “you could have known, and should have known, something that instead you strove not to see.”

The indictment of Hunter Biden on three counts of federal gun violations illustrates the myopic view of many in the media and the Justice Department.

Although there is a real possibility of additional charges against Hunter, the move to charge the gun violations reinforces a concern that the Justice Department continues to focus on charges that stay as far away from Hunter’s father, President Joe Biden, as plausible. The gun charges are conveniently self-contained and insulated for the administration.

The unseen pattern is becoming more and more troubling.

For years, many of us argued that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s refusal to appoint a special counsel in the Biden corruption scandal was baffling. Even some Democratic members of Congress and many in the mainstream media now admit that Hunter was engaged in a multimillion dollar influence-peddling scheme. He was also engaged in alleged criminal conduct.

However, the appointment of a special counsel on the influence-peddling would have required an investigation of the president himself. He was, after all, the one whose influence was being peddled as what Hunter’s friend and associate Evan Archer called the “Biden brand,” and he directly interacted with Hunter’s clients. It is impossible to pursue these payments and efforts without running into multiple references to the president or his various code names.

We also know that whistleblowers in the IRS said that they were told to avoid references to Joe Biden in their investigation of Hunter Biden. Moreover, they testified that the statute of limitations on the most serious charges related to these foreign payments were knowingly allowed to expire by the Justice Department, even though it would have been possible to extend the statute of limitations.

The Justice Department then attempted an absurd sweetheart deal to close off the case without felony charges or jail time. That deal collapsed after a federal judge confirmed that even the prosecutors themselves had never seen such a sweeping deal.

Garland finally yielded to the calls for a special counsel, then appointed David Weiss, who was responsible for the deal. He also did not expressly give Weiss a mandate to investigate the influence peddling or the president.

That brings us back to the gun charges.

Thus far, the Justice Department has surgically avoided charges that would implicate the president. This may simply be a coincidence, and correlation does not constitute causation. However, the other charges (including those that the Justice Department effectively killed by slow-walking its investigation) have an obvious potential connection: They all worked to help conceal the influence-peddling operation.

None of this means that this unifying theory is true, but it cannot be ignored by anyone investigating this corruption scandal.

First, there are the tax violations. While Hunter may be charged with some tax violations, the statute of limitations has now run out on the most controversial payments in the 2014 and 2015 period for foreign sources such as Ukraine’s Burisma. The obvious value in not claiming income is to avoid taxes. However, claiming income also highlights not just the receipt of these funds but their sources. Likewise, falsely claiming income as a “loan” can keep the money off the books or make it less likely to trigger scrutiny on the source and purpose of payments.

Second, there are the money transfers. The House has now detailed millions in transfers to Biden family members from a dizzying array of dozens of companies and accounts. The use of a complex labyrinth raises obvious concerns that it is a tactic used by individuals to conceal money transfers.

Third, many of us have noted that there seems ample basis for charging Hunter Biden under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, particularly given previous charges against such defendants as Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort. Registering as a foreign agent obviously invites much greater scrutiny over foreign dealings and the specific nations involved in lobbying efforts.

Again Hunter could still eventually face charges for avoiding taxes. But there is little evidence that the Justice Department has actively pursued these broader implications or motivations.

For many, the marginalization of these charges raises troubling concerns, particularly in light of the failed sweetheart deal and the allegations from the whistleblowers. Even if the tax charges are brought, the framing of the investigation has been on the income rather than the influence sought in these dealings.

Instead, there seems confusion rather than clarity in how the Justice Department has handled these allegations for years. Even CNN legal analysts are now calling the handling of the investigation at the Justice Department an “unholy mess.”

This also explains why the public has little faith in the Justice Department in the investigation of Hunter Biden. In a new AP poll, half of the public says that they lack confidence in the integrity of the Justice Department’s investigation. Another 59 percent is extremely or somewhat concerned that Joe Biden committed wrongdoing in these dealings.

That follows an ABC News/Ipsos poll in which roughly half said they lack trust that the Justice Department will conduct the Hunter Biden investigation in a “fair and nonpartisan manner.” Finally, in a recent CNN poll, 61 percent of Americans believe Joe Biden was involved in his family’s business deals with China and Ukraine; only 1 percent of those who say he was involved believe that he did nothing wrong.

The public is not willfully blind to the evidence or the possible motives behind some of these alleged crimes. That is precisely why there is ample reason for the House to have launched its impeachment inquiry.

E.F. Schumacher wrote that “everything can be seen directly except the eye through which we see.” For the media and the Justice Department, it will become increasingly difficult to turn a blind eye to the evidence of corruption and influence peddling surrounding the Biden family, including the president himself.

These patterns and allegations can be disproven, but the public’s lack of confidence in the Justice Department increasingly appears justified. For most citizens wanting to see the truth behind these dealings, they will clearly have to look to Congress for the answers.