James Morrow: Hunter Biden now a scandal not even the mainstream media can ignore
The stench of Biden family corruption is now so great that not even the president’s most ardent backers in the press can ignore it, writes James Morrow.
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The stench of Biden family corruption is now so great that not even the president’s most ardent backers in the press can ignore it.
That Hunter Biden was at the centre of what appears to have been a lucrative influence and access buying scheme, trading on his father’s role as Barack Obama’s vice president, seems almost without doubt.
Last week even more evidence dropped about Hunter’s business activities, with revelations of a 2017 WhatsApp message to a Chinese businessman, Henry Zhao, that needs to be read in its entirety to be believed.
“Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight,” Hunter messaged Zhao, referencing an energy deal he was working on.
“And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.”
Tough guy.
It’s the sort of message (sent on WhatsApp, no less!) that screams wannabe tough guy and suggests Hunter may have watched too many mob movies back in the days when he was trashing Hollywood hotel rooms.
Though, in this case, he comes off less like the Godfather’s Michael Corleone and more like the film’s corrupt but ultimately hapless Senator Pat Geary, brought down by his own moral weaknesses.
Giving further weight to the message is the fact that photographic evidence puts Hunter at his father’s Delaware mansion on the day it was sent, including pictures of him posed up in the now-president’s beloved classic Corvette.
And, there’s more.
Investigators with the powerful House Ways and Means Committee which is doing a deep dive into the Biden family’s bizarre finances and tax arrangements — why would a known drug addict with zero experience in energy or infrastructure be doing million-dollar deals with China and Ukraine were it not for his last name — noted this fact.
Shortly after that message was sent, Chinese firm CEFC Infrastructure wired $100,000 to Hunter’s law firm.
A few days later, CEFC sent another $5 million to another Hunter-linked company.
All of this has been too much even for many in the White House press corps, who have been locked in a more or less abusive relationship with the president and his handlers since 2020.
Last week saw several testy exchanges between journalists and White House flaks John Kirby and Karine-Jean Pierre demanding to know just what the hell was going on with Hunter and CEFC (for the record, Pierre refused to answer and Kirby walked out of the briefing).
That this is happening at all is extraordinary given the conspiracy of silence around the Biden family’s financial dealings.
US Attorney-General Merrick Garland spluttered last week about how terrible it was that some people were accusing the Department of Justice of running a two-tiered system — one for connected Democrats, another for everyone else. But not one but two whistleblowers from the IRS have come forward alleging that their investigation into Hunter’s tax avoidance was stymied by higher-ups in Justice.
And what can only be described as a very generous plea deal on tax and gun charges offered to Hunter suggests nothing more than an effort to cauterise potentially embarrassing legal trouble ahead of the 2024 election cycle.
(Contrast this, by the way, to the trial schedule over Donald Trump’s payments to Stormy Daniels, which could see the former president having to front court in the middle of Republican primary season).
All of this is occurring against a backdrop of late Roman decadence that sees increasing numbers of Americans terrified their nation is hurtling off a cliff.
Putting aside the Bidens’ legal issues, Americans see a political class that seems increasingly to act for its own protection and enrichment and want to be done with it.
The fact that the Clintons and Obamas can enter the White House as well paid public servants and end up amassing fortunes north of $50 or $100 million says something is very wrong.
So, too, are many concerned with a post-Cold War foreign policy that seems more about ramping up global conflicts rather than resolving them.
This explains not only the ongoing appeal of Trump as an outsider Republican candidate, but increasingly that of the half-crank, half-insightful Robert F Kennedy Jr among Democrats as well.
More than that, it suggests Americans are craving a disruptive return to normality to break the current political cycle. Good luck with that.
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Originally published as James Morrow: Hunter Biden now a scandal not even the mainstream media can ignore
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