Article by Larry O'Connor in Townhall
How Biden Is Trapped By Hunter Revelations
Some incredible things have developed this week in the 2020 presidential race and the media's coverage of it. What I'm about to lay out in the latest revelations regarding Hunter Biden's alleged activities with foreign entities and how it might connect back to his father, the Democratic nominee for president, constitute an inescapable trap that Biden and his media handlers must, at some point, attempt to free themselves from.
Let's be clear: The Hunter Biden issue is not going away. If Biden wins the election, it won't go away. If Biden doesn't win the election, it won't go away. It may just be a tawdry scandal. It may rise to the level of criminal behavior (or impeachable offenses should Biden win). It may just be a snapshot of the legal, corrupt business-as-usual in Washington, DC, but it won't go away.
At some point, Biden will have to address the questions swirling around his son's money-making ventures, and, at some point, the media will have to raise the issue themselves.
At a televised "town hall event" Thursday night, George Stephanopolous refused to raise one question about the story that exploded on the scene Tuesday morning on the front page of the New York Post. We expected no less from George. After all, despite his title as the "Senior Anchor and Political Correspondent" of ABC News, we all know that he is a former Clinton Administration hack who has had a long and ongoing relationship with the Democratic Party, Joe Biden, and the Clinton family. We don't expect anything resembling journalism from George.
But one interesting observation is that Joe Biden did not take the opportunity to address the issue himself. Think about that. This story has been in the news for the past two days and has been fully sourced and credibly documented. If it isn't true, if the documents are forged, if the allegations are scurrilous opposition research meant to derail his campaign with an "October surprise," this would have been the perfect opportunity for Biden, a skilled and seasoned politician, to go on the record and deny every single allegation as the trumped-up lies they are.
He didn't. He said nothing.
And there's a very real reason why he can't. Let's explore.
First, the easiest thing for Biden to claim is that the emails in the Post exposé are frauds. They're forgeries. Their completely fabricated, and therefore, there's no truth to the story.
But, he hasn't claimed that and neither have his handlers. Why not?
Two reasons: One because the emails are authentic. However, in the world of Democrat politics, that normally wouldn't stop them from claiming they're fakes. After all, Hillary Clinton got away for over a year with the lie that she never sent any classified information on her unsecured email server. It was a lie, but she was able to play out the clock for months and months and months before the truth came out. All Biden has to do is last two and a half weeks. By the time the emails are verified, the election will be over.
Why not just deny the authenticity of the emails? The answer brings us to the second, not-so-obvious reason Biden has not denied the authenticity of the emails. The scandal of Hunter Biden's overseas activities does not rely on the emails to cause great harm to Biden.
Think about it: If the Biden campaign claims the emails are fake, it concedes the point that if the emails are authentic, there would be a serious problem. In other words, dismissing this scandal on the grounds that the emails are frauds is the same as saying, "IF the emails were real, this would be a legitimate scandal."
In a nutshell, that is the trap that has now been laid for Biden and the media.
We know Hunter Biden made a ton of money from foreign entities with government ties linked right through China, Russia, and Ukraine and back to the Obama White House with or without the emails. We know that.
The media has succeeded in ignoring this basic truth, but they can't for much longer thanks to the New York Post's new revelations. This story brings us back to the essence of the real scandal.
Biden has always said that Hunter has done nothing wrong. Further, he continues to say that no one has suggested that Hunter did anything wrong. And that, my friends, is the real scandal.
In a free-market economy, we earn money when we deliver a product or a service. Hunter Biden made millions and millions and millions of dollars from shady foreign entities with ties to the governments in countries that the United States has tenuous if not down-right adversarial relationships. So, what product or service did Hunter Biden deliver to these shady entities in exchange for all of that money?
What did the questionable businesses with ties to communist China, corrupt Ukraine, and kleptocratic Russia receive from Hunter in exchange for the millions they gave him?
It's clear that Hunter (recently discharged from the Navy Reserves after only one month in uniform for drug use) had no discernable skills or expertise to bring to the table. It's clear that he fed his destructive, narcissistic, and illegal vices with the riches he gained. It's clear that he has never faced any criminal penalties that the average American would suffer for the rampant drug use and illicit behavior he exhibited. Indeed, he continued to be protected and rewarded for his actions. Talk about privilege.
It's obvious on the face of it that Hunter received this money because his last name was Biden and these foreign entities had a firm belief that they would receive something in return for the money. Again, no one has denied this. Biden has merely said that he had no knowledge of Hunter's dealings and it had no effect on American policy.
And there's the trap.
Biden can't deny the emails are real because it would concede the point that if they were real, there'd be something wrong. And Biden can't say that because we know of Hunter's dealings with or without the emails.
Biden's only message through all of this is that Hunter did nothing wrong. And that is the real scandal.
Suppose it is totally fine, legal, and proper for the vice president's son to collect millions of dollars from nefarious foreign actors while not providing any legitimate product or service in exchange, and for those shady entities to expect some level of access or influence for the millions they're shelling out. In that case, something is seriously broken in Washington, DC. And Joe Biden is standing by the notion that everything is fine.
Now, the more we look and investigate, there could very well be behavior that is criminal on behalf of either Biden in this story. And if so, expect impeachment proceedings to commence should Biden the elder win election. But, if everything in this tawdry, dirty tale is completely legal, and Biden stands by the status quo as perfectly acceptable, that's frankly even a greater reason to ensure he never wins another election in his life.
Either way, this tale paints a dirty picture of the DC swamp and Biden wants everyone to know that everything here is just fine.
Of course, there's one more trap in all of this.
When campaigning last year, Biden promised that none of his family members would work for foreign companies should he win the election.
Where's the reporter who will ask the vice president the obvious question: If it would be wrong for a member of the president's family to work for a foreign business, why was it not wrong for members of the vice president's family to do so?
Biden is trapped. At some point, this will all come crashing down on him. And he knows it.
