How deep do Hunter Biden's China connections go?
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Charles Grassley speaks out on 'Jesse Watters Primetime.'
The hit series "House of Cards" resonated with viewers by its portrayal of Washington politicians as ruthless, dishonest, and amoral.
One can debate, as Oscar Wilde did, whether life imitates art or vice versa. But Americans have come to view their political leaders with the kind of cynicism that is richly deserved. It’s where perception intersects reality.
HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPUBLICAN CALLS FOR HUNTER BIDEN TEXT PROBE
Hunter Biden and Joe Biden (Fox News)
Our current president and his influence peddling son have created their own drama. Let’s call it "House of Biden." It’s the story of greed and corruption. And much like the Hollywood production of "Cards," the media was complicit in manipulating facts and covering up the truth.
Whether the "House of Biden" will fall depends on whether a Delaware grand jury decides to issue indictments. If Hunter Biden is charged with money laundering, fraud, and/or foreign lobbying crimes—as he should be—his father Joe Biden will likely be implicated in some manner.
Hunter’s infamous laptop contains a trove of incriminating documents and emails that constitute compelling evidence of multiple enrichment schemes with foreign entities that forked over millions of dollars for access to Joe Biden and his potential influence. Interested parties in Russia, Ukraine, and China stood to benefit.
To ensure that the current criminal investigation is not as compromised as the Bidens, a special counsel must be named to guard the legal process from wanton presidential interference. As a political appointee, Attorney General Merrick Garland cannot be trusted to keep his foot off the scales of justice.
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2022. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
On Friday, nearly 100 House Republicans penned a letter to Garland urging him to name a special counsel. They reminded him that such an appointment (Robert Mueller) was made during the Trump administration "because the Justice Department could not be seen to impartially investigate the sitting president." The lawmakers added, "A special counsel would also ensure there is no bias or undue influence from the White House."
The same standard that Democrats cited five years ago should be applied now. The conflict of interest is obvious. Garland works for, and is answerable to, the president who has authority over the Department of Justice. The DOJ ultimately presides over the Delaware case and has the ability to dictate its course. The department could shut it down or issue orders not to prosecute.
Avoiding even the appearance of a conflict of interest necessitates a special counsel to preserve the integrity of the process. This is mandatory and not optional under the Code of Federal Regulations that govern the attorney general (28 C.F.R. 600.1). If trust in our government is to be preserved, fidelity to the law must be followed.
Sen. Ron Johnson has expressed some reluctance in naming a special counsel, fearing that it might further delay the current probe. However, this legitimate concern could be allayed by simply elevating Delaware U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss to the position of special counsel.
The Washington Post recently confirmed the authenticity of Hunter Biden's infamous laptop. (Randy Holmes via Getty Images)
Weiss has been investigating the illicit schemes of Hunter Biden since 2018 and convened the grand jury. Granting him the autonomy of special counsel status would insulate his office from political obstruction or tampering without prolonging any charges he may be prepared to bring.
There is recent precedent for naming Weiss as special counsel. In October of 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr elevated U.S. attorney John Durham to special counsel as he continued his review of why the FBI launched its misbegotten "collusion" investigation of Trump.
The move formalized Durham’s authority. But more importantly, it gave him the latitude to act independently and free from political intervention. It effectively prevented Biden from scuttling the ongoing probe or otherwise removing Durham without incurring severe political costs.
I argued back then that Barr should have conferred the same special counsel protection to Weiss. The attorney general’s refusal to do so was an egregious mistake made even more conspicuous by Barr’s recent remark that he was "shocked" and "very disturbed" when Biden "lied to the American people" about Hunter’s abandoned laptop during the 2020 presidential debate.
"He’s squarely confronted with the laptop, and he suggested that it was Russian disinformation and pointed to the letter written by some intelligence people that was baseless —which he knew was a lie. And I was shocked by that," Barr told Fox News.
Knowing full well that Biden was employing lies to conceal damning evidence of his son’s foreign shakedown scams and his own suspected collaboration, Barr should have taken appropriate measures to shield Weiss. His decision not to now leaves the U.S. attorney vulnerable to political meddling by Biden and Garland.
You can be sure that Hunter Biden is counting on that. In his book he recounted how relieved he was that his father won. A Biden loss "seemed a threat to my personal freedom," wrote Hunter. "If dad hadn’t won, I’m certain Trump would have continued to pursue me in the criminal fashion he’s adopted," he added.
In other words, Hunter would have been held accountable under the law if Trump had been re-elected. So, apparently, the president’s son thinks the fix is now firmly in and his father will ensure that he is somehow absolved of any criminal wrongdoing. Perhaps he knows something we don’t.
This is all the more reason why Garland must appoint Weiss as special counsel. Not only is there compelling evidence that may merit a criminal indictment of Hunter Biden, but there is substantial evidence that Joe Biden was deeply involved in his son’s foreign deal-making.
Authenticated emails confirm that the father attended meetings and dinners with Hunter’s foreign investors and business partners. Photographs corroborate it. The two flew to China together aboard Air Force Two where the elder Biden met with his son’s business cohorts. Just days later Hunter cemented a lucrative venture with a Chinese investment firm.
The grand jury has reportedly asked a witness to identify "the big guy" who was slated to get a 10 percent cut of a deal the son struck with an energy company connected to the Chinese Communist Party. Hunter’s former partner Tony Bobulinski is on record stating that it was Joe Biden. The two men met twice to talk about the business, according to Bobulinski.
Another Hunter associate, James Gilliar, cautioned, "Don’t mention Joe being involved, it’s only when u (sic) are face to face, I know u (sic) know that but they are paranoid." Fear of getting caught is why cryptic names such as "Celtic" and "the big guy" were used whenever Joe was mentioned. Jim Biden, the president’s brother, referred to it as "plausible deniability."
Other emails connect both Bidens to multi-million-dollar schemes with the Russians and the Ukrainians. Hunter bagged millions as a director of the Ukraine gas giant known as Burisma while his father bragged about his pivotal role in firing a prosecutor who was poised to launch a corruption investigation of the beleaguered company. The senior Biden threatened to withhold a billion dollars in U.S. aid unless Ukraine capitulated. The prosecutor was sacked, and the probe vanished.
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Despite all this evidence, Joe Biden has repeatedly insisted he knew nothing about his son’s foreign dealings and never spoke with him about it. It’s a ludicrous statement that even Hunter Biden has disputed. He admitted to The New Yorker that he did, indeed, discuss with his father his business in Ukraine.
Did Joe Biden ever profit from his son’s foreign dealings? Documents show that Hunter used proceeds to pay for his father’s taxes and expenses in a shared bank account. But there may have been much more. Emails indicate that Hunter raked in millions of dollars while some of that cash also lined Joe’s pockets.
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It is no coincidence that as vice president, Joe Biden oversaw American policy in China, Ukraine, and Russia at the same time his son was landing big paydays from those same countries. Hunter monetized his father’s power and influence. His only marketable skill was being the scion of a powerful U.S. government official. So, he exploited his genetics for financial gain.
It remains to be seen whether the "House of Biden" will come tumbling down amid persuasive evidence of corruption and influence peddling. But if it’s anything like the finale of "House of Cards," it will not end well.
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