US voters deserve facts on Biden
It is not certain what US Attorney-General Merrick Garland intended when he appointed US Attorney for Delaware David Weiss as special counsel to investigate multiple allegations surrounding President Joe Biden’s son Hunter. If, as has been suggested, it is to kick the can down the road until after next year’s presidential election, it will be an outrage. Like various court actions against Donald Trump, the claims involving Hunter Biden’s drug addiction and alleged influence peddling with companies in Ukraine and China demand resolution before US voters go to the polls.
Recent whistleblower claims about Mr Biden Sr as the so-called head of “Brand Biden”, involved in suspect aspects of his son’s business actions, make this vital.
As with the criminal processes initiated against Mr Trump, the allegations go to the incumbent’s suitability to run in the election. They need to be resolved expeditiously.
Mr Garland’s announcement of Mr Weiss’s appointment was met with understandable cynicism, with The Wall Street Journal saying it was “best understood as political damage control’’.
Mr Weiss has been investigating Mr Biden Jr since 2019 but his new special counsel status means he and Mr Garland can use the excuse of an “ongoing investigation” to refuse to answer questions from congress and the FBI. In the tradition of the delaying tactics of many special counsels before him, Mr Weiss is in a position to keep his probe under wraps, delaying any possible prosecution of Mr Biden Jr. “With any luck, the official Justice Department final report on Biden family shenanigans will be released in December 2024, one month after the presidential election,” the New York Post noted wryly. The allegations around Mr Biden Jr are a serious threat to the President’s re-election hopes. That does not justify attempts to delay matters until after the poll. US voters need to know the truth, just as they need to know about the charges Mr Trump faces.
Mr Weiss must use his appointment to expedite full disclosure, not get in the way.
Beijing sets out demands, again
China’s ambassador to Australia’s assertions set out a transactional give-and-take approach to diplomacy: Canberra gives what China wants on foreign policy priorities and Beijing will take Australian products
Bulldozing the renewable energy transition on land
Farmers have every right to feel put upon to satisfy the unrealistic demands of city dwellers divorced from the reality of where the electricity they demand actually comes from.