Today I came across a reference to something I hadn't heard of before. It was some kind of conservative meme about how "the Biden family" had created 20 shell companies that funneled $10 million their way, mostly during the time that Joe was vice president. What was this all about, and how had I missed it?
It turns out that it's yet another belch from the dog and pony show run by Rep. James Comer as chair of the House Oversight Committee—this year's version of Trey Gowdy's jihad against Hillary's email in 2016. The shell company stuff was announced on May 27, the day after I returned home from the hospital, and I guess I wasn't paying a lot of attention to things at the time.
Anyway, a few minutes of googling informs me that there's nothing to this. The "Biden family," in this case, turns out to be just the usual suspects: Hunter Biden, Joe's brother James Biden, and their wives and children. And the money is just payments from their clients in China and Romania, part of the sleazy lobbying operation that we all know about. As usual, there's no evidence of lawbreaking; no evidence that Joe Biden either knew or benefited from any of this; and just generally, nothing either new or interesting.
But as I was learning all this, I came across something else I didn't know. This is from the New York Times:
Bank records obtained by the committee show the receipt of money from a foreign company connected to Gabriel Popoviciu, who was the subject of a criminal investigation and prosecution for corruption in Romania. In 2015, Mr. Popoviciu retained Hunter Biden, who is a lawyer, while his father was vice president, to help try to fend off charges. That effort was unsuccessful and, in 2016, Mr. Popoviciu was convicted on charges related to a land deal in northern Bucharest, the Romanian capital.
Mr. Comer has also focused on John R. Walker, an associate of Hunter Biden who was involved in a joint venture with executives of CEFC China Energy, a now-bankrupt Chinese conglomerate....CEFC had hoped to invest in a liquefied natural gas venture in Louisiana, but that deal ultimately flopped.
So Hunter Biden's lobbying wasn't just sleazy, it was completely inept. One client got convicted while another went bankrupt. And we all know that Hunter's work for Burisma Holdings, a Ukranian energy company, accomplished nothing except to get a friendly prosecutor fired due to pressure from Joe Biden and the Obama administration.
That's a pretty shoddy track record. You'd think he could have done better if he really had any influence with his father. But hey: maybe he didn't, eh?
"The Biden crime family" seems common in rightwingland.
Only because they're trying to wildly deflect attention from the actual Trump crime family. Hunter Biden was influence peddling? Holy shit, I'll see you a Jared Kushner and raise you a suite at the Trump DC hotel!
Exactly. It's just standard, every day GQP projectionism. What we do, THEY must be doing, too!
Any father loves his kids. And if one of those kids struggles with drug addiction, a father will try to help. But when that same kid tries to loop Dad in to a sketchy business deal, a smart Dad is going to stay out of it.
Wonderful how the outlines of this track so well with another recent White House family we could think about.
Yeah, these days, the "modern Republican" needs a mirror to see which way to fantasize about their targets.
Good thing TFG and his family have no shell companies or multiple LLCs. Completely above board, they are!!!!!
Addict did as addict does?
Devon Archer's testimony to Comer's committee last week was informative. For one thing, it destroyed the meme that Hunter Biden was just running a 'sleazy lobbying operation'. At one stage, Rosemont Realty, in which Hunter and Archer were partners, was managing billions of dollars of investments and employed 400 people. He also described what he and Hunter did on the board of Burisma, together with the work they did for other clients.
In short, Hunter wasn't just floating around the world saying "I'm Joe's son, give me money."
I missed this. Do you have a good link?
If he was any sleazier, he’d be at 30 percent in the Republican primary polls.
If the outcome of all this is to ban the creation of tax-dodging shell corporations and the lobbying by family members of any politician in America, I'm cool with that.
I did not know Hunter Biden was a lawyer. I never would have thought he'd have the intelligence, discipline, or perseverance to pass the bar. That said, he is a hot potato and Joe better stop inviting him to state dinners. Hunter would help the nation if he went on a 24 month fact-finding tour of Australian sheep farms. Just go away, dude, and be quiet!
Hillary kept Huma Abedin on her staff when it was obvious that Anthony Weiner was a ticking time bomb. And that bomb went off in 2016.
If you read up on the Hunter saga, it's clear he's a risk to himself, his family, the Democratic Party, and the nation. Yes, there are reasons for his behavior, but in this political situation we cannot indulge in sentimentality. Do that in 2025.
Come on. Everybody's a lawyer. Apparently, one can pick up a law degree in a few years, particularly if one already has other college degrees.
Have you not noticed the quality of "lawyers" that The Defendent has been hiring? You don't need to be a genius to become an attorney; in fact, it's probably better if you're not.
I’m unaware of any job Hunter Biden has held in the federal government or with anyone doing business with the federal government since 2021. By all accounts, the man has actually disappeared from the workforce and is unemployed. Short of killing him, or shipping him off to an Australian sheep farm, I don’t really see any way for Joe Biden to keep conservative media from flogging sordid stories about Hunter’s past.
Thank you though for your concern. I’m sure it’s 100% genuine.
Oh, come now! I'm sure this one is just as genuine as all the other concerns DD has voiced here over the years.
Hunter Biden could hide in a cave in the Himalayas for the next two years and his name is going to be part of the election. All of his misdeeds occurred several years ago and there's little he's doing now that will change that.
"So Hunter Biden's lobbying wasn't just sleazy, it was completely inept."
Was he actually lobbying? I may have missed it with the circus Republicans have been putting around him, but even the most recent witness they dragged in to testify, which was supposed to be the one to finally bring the goods, didn't reveal anything that amounted to lobbying, he actually said the opposite.
I have no doubt people approached Hunter with the expectation to get something in return, but I have yet to see any evidence of him actually trying to get anything for them, which is what lobbying would be.
It doesn’t matter. Jared got $2B from the Saudis so to keep us all from talking about that, we have to pretend that Hunter Biden was a total state secrets whore who was the biggest threat to the country’s security since Killary.
My impression was that the $2B wasn’t for lobbying, it was payment for services rendered.
Trump's family (similar to the Carter family and others) clearly used proximity to political power, to enrich themselves. Thus, I am not claiming Hunter's actions are equal or worse than the Trump family.
Rather, I will say this, Joe Biden knew, or should have known, the following:
1. Drug filled Hunter was not qualified for the positions, and wages he was receiving
2. The likely reason Hunter was being retained was on the possibility of political influence
3. Taking multiple phone calls from Hunter, when he was surrounded by his clients, furthered Hunter's brand as a political influencer
Basically, I am not aware of a crime committed by Joe Biden, but believe Joe helped his son's political influence scam...
"1. Drug filled Hunter was not qualified for the positions, and wages he was receiving"
Probably, but what was he supposed to do about it? Tell private businesses not to hire his son, or to not pay him so much? Tell Hunter not to take the job?
"2. The likely reason Hunter was being retained was on the possibility of political influence"
I'd say almost certainly, but again, what control would Joe have over this, or what should he have done differently? Cut off contact with his son? Tell his son to not accept job offers?
"3. Taking multiple phone calls from Hunter, when he was surrounded by his clients, furthered Hunter's brand as a political influencer"
The multiple calls were supposed to be 20 in a 10 year period. That's one every six months. I don't know if I'd qualify that as multiple. Regardless of that, how was Joe supposed to know if when getting a call from Hunter he was surrounded by people or not? Should he just stop taking any calls from his son? Should he hang up immediately as soon he realized there was someone else there? From what we heard when calls like this happened were brief and casual in nature, which seems appropriate.
"but believe Joe helped his son's political influence scam..."
Again, if there is no indication that Joe was discussing anything business related (and so far there isn't), then what was he supposed to do? Short of completely cutting all contact with his son, how would he not help his son's perceived political influence (which in reality was nil)?
Apparently fathers of wayward sons everywhere are to phone every prospective or current employer and order them to “not hire my son!!!!” (Number of exclamation marks necessary is in dispute.)
And then when private or foreign employers still hire their wayward son, fathers are supposed to scream “I have no son!!!!” to make sure everyone knows how much they disavow whatever their son is doing.
Of course, none of this applies if your last name rhymes with Rump.
N.B. Fuck off Middleoftheroaddem!
Solar and Austin
"Tell private businesses not to hire his son, or to not pay him so much? Tell Hunter not to take the job?" Biden could have publicly tried to distance himself from Hunter's business associates versus allowing some phone calls, playing golf with a few, allowing Hunter on presidential jet etc.
"Regardless of that, how was Joe supposed to know if when getting a call from Hunter he was surrounded by people or not?"
Respond with 'son, you know I have told you not to call me unless you are alone. Further, Hunter we only discuss family matters and never business.'
Given that Joe KNEW his son was influence meddling (or selling a perception of something along those lines) Joe could have publicly and privately gone out of his way to tell everyone 'Hunter has ZERO influence on me or my agenda. My relationship with Hunter is limited to JUST personal family matters.'
To be clear, I do not believe Joe commented a crime. Rather, I believe Joe's lack of a firm business rebuke, played into Hunter's scam...
Stated differently, with hindsight, do you not see things that Joe could have done to distance himself/his office from Hunter and disempower Hunter's influence (or perception of ) business?
Everyone knows what you are, Middi, so why are you still here? the $0.02 a post stipend?
ScentOfViolets - I find no incongruence between the ideas that 1) Joe Biden could/should have handled the situation better 2) I still prefer Joe Biden to Trump (et all).
Does being a Democrat mean I can't criticize the President?
The Bush boy’s traded on their family name all the time and often with the help of Daddy’s powerful friends. Neil and Dubya were not any more qulalified than Hunter (who has a law degree from Yale) yet they repeatedly were given positions on company boards that paid them well. Dubya was repeatedly bailed out of his bankruptcies by daddy’s rich pals. He was also investigated for insider trading at Harken Energy.
When Poppy was VP Neil Bush’s shady dealings contributed to the billion dollar collapse of the Silverado S&L. Then there was this:
“ In 2002, for instance, (Neil) Bush signed a consulting contract with Grace Semiconductor -- a Shanghai-based company managed in part by the son of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin. Bush's contractual duties consist solely of attending board meetings and discussing "business strategies." For this, he is to be paid $2 million in company stock over five years, plus $10,000 for every board meeting he attends.”
Neil admitted he had no background in semiconductors. He also admitted that on several occasions during his business trips to Asia prostitutes showed up at his hotel room, clearly sent by his clients.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2003/12/28/the-relatively-charmed-life-of-neil-bush/388db316-f6b9-456e-8720-b4b2bf60a8ab/
In my opinion Jeb — the “smart brother” — was the worst offender by far. He successfully lobbied the Reagan/Bush HHS director to allow his business associate, Miguel Recarey’s healthcare business to be able to have more than the allowed number of Medicare patients. Recarey — a man who openly bragged about his relation with mob boss Carlos Trafficante — then proceeded to embezzle millions from Medicare. Then when the Feds opened an investigation Recarey fled the country. Jeb also worked with the very shady Camillo Padreda, who defrauded millions from HUD.
Jeb had several other sleazy business associates in Miami.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1992/09/family-value/
Then there was Jeb’s lobbying for the release from prison of Orlando Bosch, a man our government called an “unrepentant terrorist”. Bosch was behind the blowing up of a Cuban passenger plane, killing over 70 people among other terrorist acts against civilians yet Jeb’s daddy approved his release.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/02/usa.books
I don’t ever remember anyone in the media calling Neil Bush sleazy, even after he admitted consorting with prostitutes. In fact the has paid far more attention to Hunter Biden’s dealing than they ever did to the three of the Bush boys seriously sketchy dealings combined. Even Billy Carter and Roger Clinton got more attention.
Any love for Silerado out there?
Part of the sleazy lobbying operation that we all know about but ignore out of partisan loyalty. Hunter is not as competent as his father, who has protected creditors, tripled America's prison population, and started war with Russia with his political operation.
Please don't feed this troll.
"That's a pretty shoddy track record. "
Well, I do believe that depends highly upon how you quantify success, right? If you measure it in terms of value to Hunter's "customers" then your assessment of it being shoddy is appropriate. But if you measure it by the growth in Hunter's (and yes The Big Guy's) bank accounts, then it was wildly successful!
Your belief that there is "nothing here" is way off base. You would claim all of this was evidence against Trump, but somehow Biden always slides by. Comer and Co have anticipated all the arguments you would make to "swat this away" and pretend it is insignificant. And in case you haven't noticed yet, every time you make a claim like "yeah but there is no connection to Joe" the next drip completely debunks your latest excuses. Suffice it to say that Joe's claim that "no one in my family made money from foreign sources" has now been summarily debunked. Up next will be debunking your belief that they do not have any records showing Joe personally profiting from it. Standby, because I guarantee that evidence is on deck, ready to make you look foolish.
Notice the lack of citations here.
ZOMG!! You have convincceds me!1. JoeBiden's idiot kid did some iffy stuff years ago so I am totally going to vote for DONALD TRUMPS!! who wisely kept his idiot kids right there in the whitehouse with him and gave them security clearances over the objections of security officials and whitehouse counsel so he could watch them as they did shifty things that were in no way related to the totally unsuspicious $2 billion investment by the dictator of Saudi Arabia, and who himself never did anything grafty (other than funnel secret service money to his own hotels, operated a hospitality business that profited off of foreign influence, blackmailed Ukraine, and attempted a coup).
Dearest Indazona of Gmale.com, you have opened mine eyes to the light!
Joe Biden would have to be a fool of crime family syndicate head to run any kind of grift through Hunter. It was no accident that whenever Hunter called his dad, Joe took the call but talked about the weather.
You clearly are underestimating his epic level of foolishness. How else do you explain all of the foolish lies he tells? Stretching back to his 1980s run for POTUS!
So, the Hunter Biden story has finally cracked the pages of Jabberwocky. (Hey, that sentence has a ring to it).
Yawn.
I guess you don't know a lot of meth addicts.
So, nothing is said about Eric cantor being on 4 separate boards of directors and makes MILLIONS in salary never mind stock options? or Dennis Hastert, or any other politician from either party?
We really pick and choose our "outrage of the day" carefully don't we?