GOP’s First Move After Winning The House: Investigating Hunter Biden

[aubiefifty 16,813]

GOP’s First Move After Winning The House: Investigating Hunter Biden

Arthur Delaney

4–5 minutes

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WASHINGTON — In their first press conference after winning control of the House of Representatives, Republicans said they’d uncovered crimes committed by President Joe Biden’s family.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said Thursday that he and his colleagues have spoken to whistleblowers, reviewed a laptop owned by Biden’s son Hunter, and “received documents” reflecting previously unknown financial transactions.

“What we found are business plans aimed at targets around the world based on influence peddling, including with people closely tied to foreign governments like China and Russia,” Comer said. “We also found plans based in the United States where the Biden family swindled investors of hundreds of thousands of dollars — all with Joe Biden’s participation or knowledge.”

In the run-up to the midterm elections earlier this month, the GOP pitched a governing agenda focused on inflation and crime. With Democrats retaining control of the Senate and the White House, however, Republicans won’t be able to enact much of an economic plan. But they’ll soon have new power to issue subpoenas and draw attention to the Bidens, and Thursday’s press conference previewed those efforts.

Comer’s allegations build on a long-standing Republican focus on Hunter Biden’s efforts to cash in on his family name, which has not yet yielded clear proof of his father’s involvement. Comer said new whistleblower evidence does prove a connection: A committee report issued Thursday states that Joe Biden met with his son’s business associates, but the document provides only circumstantial evidence of the elder Biden’s involvement in business decisions. The document also says the president has ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

“Instead of working with President Biden to address issues important to the American people, like lower costs, congressional Republicans’ top priority is to go after President Biden with politically-motivated attacks chock full of long-debunked conspiracy theories,” Ian Sams, spokesman for the White House counsel’s office, said in an email.

The Justice Department has been investigating Hunter Biden for tax evasion since 2018, under the supervision of a U.S. attorney appointed by then-President Donald Trump, but no charges have been filed.

Comer also released a batch of letters to government agencies and associates of Hunter Biden — a not-so-subtle reminder that Republicans will soon be able to enforce their requests for information with court orders.

In addition to the allegations against the Bidens, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Republicans would investigate claims of political corruption at the Justice Department, based on allegations from a number of FBI agents-turned-whistleblowers.

“One of those agents said — and this is the term he used — he said at the highest levels of the FBI, specifically the Washington field office, he said, ‘It’s rotted to the core,’” Jordan said.

Among the whistleblowers is a special agent from Florida who refused to participate in any cases against people who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The agent complained to Congress that the FBI was improperly classifying them as domestic violent extremism to falsely claim a nationwide increase in such cases even though they all stemmed from one incident.

Jordan told HuffPost that he didn’t have a problem with the Justice Department prosecuting Jan. 6 rioters; his gripe is merely that the FBI is “cooking the books” with the way it is labeling cases. So far, the FBI has arrested and charged about 900 rioters.

“I’ve said all along if people who did wrong on Jan. 6 should be prosecuted,” Jordan said. “But we do have concerns about the political nature of the Justice Department and how things are operating across the board.”

During the press conference, Comer stressed that he was speaking only for Oversight Committee Republicans and not the entire House GOP. He noted that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has said Republicans would vote on a bill to undo the boost to IRS enforcement funding that Democrats enacted earlier this year.

“We’re focused on a lot of things in Congress, but from the Oversight Committee we’re in charge of investigations,” Comer said. “We feel that this is of the utmost import.”

[aubiefifty 16,813]

White House Responds to GOP’s Hunter Biden Probe: ‘Long-Debunked Conspiracy Theories’

Isaac Schorr

4–5 minutes

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The White House has responded to House Republicans’ announcement that they would be opening a probe into Joe Biden’s involvement with his son Hunter’s business interests by casting the probe as an exploration of “long-debunked conspiracy theories.”

“President Biden is not going to let these political attacks distract him from focusing on Americans’ priorities, and we hope congressional Republicans will join us in tackling them instead of wasting time and resources on political revenge,” said a spokesman for the White House Counsel’s office.

At a press conference held on Thursday morning, Representatives James Comer (R., Ky.) and Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) announced that House Republicans would be opening up an investigation to determine the extent of President Joe Biden’s involvement in his son Hunter’s business dealings.

According to Comer and Jordan, Republicans have already gathered incriminating evidence of wire fraud, violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, money laundering, and tax evasion, among other crimes allegedly committed by the Bidens. Jordan, who is expected to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee now that Republicans have secured a narrow majority in the chamber, plans to make the Biden’s overseas business dealings a central focus of the committee’s oversight efforts in the new Congress.

“As part of our investigation, we have evidence that the finances, credit cards, and bank accounts of Hunter and Joe Biden were co-mingled, if not shared. And on some accounts at least, red flags were raised by banks to the account owner or owners indicating suspicious or illegal activity,” said Comer, who also noted that Hunter Biden’s business associates met with his father on numerous occasions while Biden was serving as vice president.

The Bidens “flourished and became millionaires by simply offering access to the family,” said Comer.

The business activity and drug use of Hunter Biden has long been a political liability for the president, who has stood by and stated that he is “proud” of his son.

House Republicans followed up the press conference by releasing a report Thursday that outlines their past and future investigative efforts.

“Committee Republicans’ investigation has uncovered evidence demonstrating deliberate, repeated deception of the American people, abuse of the Executive Branch for personal gain, use of government power to obstruct the investigation and prevent transparency, and potential violations of the United States Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause,” the report reads.

“The President’s personal participation in his family’s global business ventures — committed through and by a complex network of relatives and associates to enrich the Biden family — has exposed the United States to national security risks that could be leveraged by our enemies to undermine the Office of the President,” the report continues.

According to a Washington Post report from last month, the U.S. attorney in Delaware is currently mulling charges against Hunter Biden, who has been presented with evidence by federal investigators that Biden has committed tax evasion and lied about his drug use on a form he filled out in order to purchase a firearm. He was using crack cocaine at the time.

Hallie Biden, Hunter’s late older brother Beau’s widow, and Hunter’s ex- girlfriend, hid the weapon from him because she was “scared” he would “use it.”

[I_M4_AU 7,859]

Correction; they are investigating Joe.  Does this come as a shock?

[aubiefifty 16,813]

1 minute ago, I_M4_AU said:

Correction; they are investigating Joe.  Does this come as a shock?

how frigging many times ya'll gonna investigate him?

[I_M4_AU 7,859]

3 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

how frigging many times ya'll gonna investigate him?

Really???  As the Democrats open investigation after investigation on one Donald J. Trump, we’ll investigate until we find something that will stick.

You walked into that one.

[autigeremt 6,646]

Wheels on the bus go round and round....round and round....round and round. 

 

[homersapien 11,389]

Whatever happened to CRIME!  CRIME! CRIME! 

[aubiefifty 16,813]

8 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Really???  As the Democrats open investigation after investigation on one Donald J. Trump, we’ll investigate until we find something that will stick.

You walked into that one.

no sir because trump is a known crook...................

[aubiefifty 16,813]

Kevin McCarthy promises revenge and recriminations. But first he has to become House speaker

The Fresno Bee Editorial Board

5–6 minutes

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Having easily dispatched with his latest Democratic opponent in the Nov. 8 election, Republican Kevin McCarthy is readying for the balloting he cares most about: Winning the race to become the next speaker of the House.

McCarthy cruised to victory over Marisa Wood, 67.5% to 32.5%, and earned the right to represent the newly drawn 20th District. Besides parts of Bakersfield, which is McCarthy’s hometown, the district stretches north all the way to Clovis and parts of Fresno County.

On Wednesday it became official that control of the House would flip from Democrats to Republicans. That means longtime Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi will leave the post. As he readies to get 218 votes of House members to become the next speaker, McCarthy faces more formidable challengers than Wood. Hard-right members of the GOP have made clear they plan to challenge McCarthy for speaker, or else extract concessions from him for their support.

For the better part of the last six months, McCarthy has been angling to make those ultra-conservative members of the Freedom Caucus happy. How has he done it? By promising revenge and recriminations for years of House control under Pelosi, the San Francisco Democrat conservatives love to hate.

Next up: Recriminations and revenge

McCarthy has already pledged to investigate Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department over what he calls “an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.” The threat came in the wake of FBI agents searching former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate for documents he had not returned to government keeping, as required by federal law.

Opinion

Nevermind Trump should never have taken anything classified or otherwise from the White House once he left it. Nevermind the Justice Department and the AG are just trying to uphold the law. To McCarthy and the GOP, it’s “weaponization.”

Next, some of the harshest right-wing House members want McCarthy’s blessing to bring impeachment proceedings against President Biden. Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene has already introduced five articles of impeachment accusing Biden of abusing his power while serving as vice president to benefit his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine. Other conservatives bash Biden for losing immigration control of the border or for the disjointed withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. According to The New York Times, a total of 10 House Republicans have either introduced or sponsored a total of 21 articles of impeachment against Biden and his top officials.

Cutting government spending and reinvigorating American oil and gas exploration are other GOP priorities McCarthy wants to pursue.

Cutting Social Security or Medicare would seriously hurt low-income seniors in his 20th District. To say nothing of oil and gas production that only worsens climate change and makes more air pollution in his new district, which happens to be one of the most polluted in the nation.

Elections have consequences, so get ready for those unleashed by McCarthy if he becomes second in line to the presidency.

As Speaker—I will take action to fix what Nancy Pelosi so badly broke.

House Republicans' work begins immediately:
• Deliver on our Commitment to America
• Hold this Administration accountable
• Stop the Biden agenda pic.twitter.com/ATYpIhOrLu

— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 16, 2022

Needed most: A Valley agenda

“Stopping the Biden agenda,” as McCarthy promises to do, means playing lots of inside-the-Beltway politics. That requires time and attention.

But how about an agenda for the San Joaquin Valley and its problems?

McCarthy well knows about one major problem facing Valley farmers: having enough water. With the impacts of the ongoing California drought and a 2014 state law that put limits on how much groundwater pumping farmers could do, about 500,000 acres of farmland in the Valley may be taken out of production in the Valley in the coming decades, reports the Public Policy Institute of California.

The PPIC has said that if fallowed land is not carefully planned for, blowing dust will be the result, adding to the Valley’s already bad air quality. Public health will suffer.

Then there are economic impacts of any slowdown in farming. Advocates for farm workers, a group estimated to number about 170,000, worry that widespread fallowing of land will mean unemployment for these people. That, in turn, would hurt the small towns throughout the Valley with businesses that cater to field workers.

This is but one example of challenges facing McCarthy’s home region. Unemployment in the counties he represents is well above the state average. The region’s young people are way behind their peers statewide for attaining a college education. And poverty, a decades-long burden on the Valley, remains as firmly entrenched as ever.

As the new year beckons and McCarthy strives mightily to win enough votes for his cherished dream of becoming House speaker, he must remember the multifaceted plight of the Valley while he engages his GOP revenge mode. If all McCarthy ends up doing is keeping Taylor Greene happy, he will have failed the people of his district, and America.

[I_M4_AU 7,859]

20 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

no sir because trump is a known crook...................

I was unaware Trump had been convicted of any crime.  Please provide the evidence, a link would suffice.

So is Joe, it just haven’t been proven…..yet.  Just like Trump.

[arein0 969]

1 minute ago, I_M4_AU said:

I was unaware Trump had been convicted of any crime.  Please provide the evidence, a link would suffice.

So is Joe, it just haven’t been proven…..yet.  Just like Trump.

Wasn't Trump impeached...twice? Isnt that a conviction? Just because Republicans were too coward to remove him from office doesn't take away from the fact he was convicted twice.

[I_M4_AU 7,859]

6 minutes ago, arein0 said:

Wasn't Trump impeached...twice? Isnt that a conviction? Just because Republicans were too coward to remove him from office doesn't take away from the fact he was convicted twice.

Yes, he was impeached twice, which is like a grand jury giving the prosecutor the right to hold a trial.  I know the impeachment process is not a court of law, but the Senate did not convict either time.

[arein0 969]

9 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Yes, he was impeached twice, which is like a grand jury giving the prosecutor the right to hold a trial.  I know the impeachment process is not a court of law, but the Senate did not convict either time.

No, the Senate didnt even hear the reasons. The Senate saw R on the ballot and voted in their favor. Just like the House Republicans are now trying to dismantle the Jan 6 Committee to hide their crimes. 

[homersapien 11,389]

37 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Yes, he was impeached twice, which is like a grand jury giving the prosecutor the right to hold a trial.  I know the impeachment process is not a court of law, but the Senate did not convict either time.

As if.....   

You may choose to remain in denial, but the rest of the country understands the pure political motivation of the Republican senators, facts be damned.

Edited November 18, 2022 by homersapien

[I_M4_AU 7,859]

14 minutes ago, arein0 said:

No, the Senate didnt even hear the reasons. The Senate saw R on the ballot and voted in their favor. Just like the House Republicans are now trying to dismantle the Jan 6 Committee to hide their crimes. 

Those impeachments were pure politics, I agree.  The Jan 6th Committee can not be dismantled until Jan. 20 or so.  There is still time if anything comes up.  Have you heard what the DOJ came up with about why DJT kept the secret documents at Mar a Lago?  I was shocked I tell you, shocked.

Don’t take this as supporting Trump, but we should deal with facts.

[I_M4_AU 7,859]

2 minutes ago, homersapien said:

As if.....   

You may choose to remain in denial, but the rest of the country understands the pure political motivation of the Republican senators, facts be damned.

As America understands the political motivations of the House in bringing the charges in the first place.  One day the Dems may find something that stick, but it hasn’t yet.  The secret documents held by Trump at Mar a Lago were kept for pure ego.  I was shocked, Im sure you are too.  Do you think Garland will bring Trump up on charges for that?

[homersapien 11,389]

2 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Those impeachments were pure politics, I agree.  The Jan 6th Committee can not be dismantled until Jan. 20 or so.  There is still time if anything comes up.  Have you heard what the DOJ came up with about why DJT kept the secret documents at Mar a Lago?  I was shocked I tell you, shocked.

Don’t take this as supporting Trump, but we should deal with facts.

Speaking of dealing in facts, why would Republicans want to dismantle the Jan. 6 committee?

[I_M4_AU 7,859]

Just now, homersapien said:

Speaking of dealing in facts, why would Republicans want to dismantle the Jan. 6 committee?

How long should they keep it going?  If they have found something, bring charges.  They have until Jan 20th, what’s hold up.  They have always said they have a smoking gun a la Adam Schiff so its time to put up or shut up.

[homersapien 11,389]

14 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

As America understands the political motivations of the House in bringing the charges in the first place.  One day the Dems may find something that stick, but it hasn’t yet.  The secret documents held by Trump at Mar a Lago were kept for pure ego.  I was shocked, Im sure you are too.  Do you think Garland will bring Trump up on charges for that?

That's just BS.  There was more than enough evidence to impeach Trump on merit.  The country recognizes that, which is one reason why the midterms resulted how they did.  The country is fed up with Trump and the Republicans.

And the second half of your post acknowledges Trump's inherent criminality  - suggesting Trump held secret documents "because of his ego", as if that makes a difference.

And yes, I expect Garland to indict Trump for illegally taking those documents and possibly for obstruction after he did so.

Edited November 18, 2022 by homersapien

[arein0 969]

3 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

As America understands the political motivations of the House in bringing the charges in the first place.  One day the Dems may find something that stick, but it hasn’t yet.  The secret documents held by Trump at Mar a Lago were kept for pure ego.  I was shocked, Im sure you are too.  Do you think Garland will bring Trump up on charges for that?

Wait so because his motivations were based on pure ego that dismisses his crimes? So if I go rob a bank and say I did it for pure ego I will be able to walk away as a free man?

 

[homersapien 11,389]

7 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

How long should they keep it going?  If they have found something, bring charges.  They have until Jan 20th, what’s hold up.  They have always said they have a smoking gun a la Adam Schiff so its time to put up or shut up.

Once again, that committee cannot bring charges.  Their purpose is to uncover the facts of the Jan. 6 insurrection, which they have done. It is all for the benefit of the American people - and history - to understand what happened and who was responsible.  

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if cultists like you refuse to acknowledge those facts. 

The evidence speaks for itself, regardless of whether or not Trump is charged criminally for that day.

 

Edited November 18, 2022 by homersapien

[icanthearyou 4,463]

8 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Those impeachments were pure politics

We all heard the president attempt to extort a political "favor" from the president of Ukraine.  There is no getting around it,,, unless you deny reality.

We all watched the president attempt to overturn  an election with lies and, incite an attack on the capitol.  Again, will you deny reality?

You, as usual, are lying.

Even you do not wish to MAGA anymore.  Even you are tired of all the "winning".

 

[icanthearyou 4,463]

11 minutes ago, homersapien said:

Speaking of dealing in facts, why would Republicans want to dismantle the Jan. 6 committee?

I would think they would keep the committee intact and, change the focus of the investigation to the real perpetrators, ANTIFA and BLM.   They could bring in Sidney Powell, John Dowd, Lin Wood and Rudy Gulliani to give them special legal advice.  Slam Dunk.

[homersapien 11,389]

M4 claims the Democrats can't make anything "stick" when clearly, its the Republicans who blindly refused to hold Trump responsible for purely partisan reasons.

What warped thinking.

Democrats knew they lacked the party votes, but they proceeded with impeachment because it was their duty and responsibility to do so.  It's the Republicans who failed justice - and our country - for the sake of mere partisanship.  

Trump and the Republicans have been a direct threat to our democracy and our country.  And I don't see them changing.

 

[homersapien 11,389]

16 minutes ago, icanthearyou said:

I do not understand?

Sorry, I thought M4 posted that.  My bad.

Edited November 18, 2022 by homersapien