Among the politically-related opinions that I most respect are those from liberal-leaning professionals who rise above their personal political views and tell it like it is, regardless of party. Legal scholar and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley is on that list. We’ll get to Professor Turley in a minute but first, Joe Biden.
During Biden’s midterm elections post-mortem on Wednesday, he was asked about the possibility of Republicans conducting congressional investigations — if the GOP wins the majority in either chamber or both, that is — into the Biden Family Business, notably Hunter Biden‘s shady business dealings. Biden smugly shot back: “Good luck with that,” suggesting the American people want to move on. Here’s Joe:
Lots of luck in your senior year, as my coach used to say.
Look, I think the American public wants to move on and get things done for them. And, uh, I heard that it was reported … many times that Republicans were saying — the former president said — how many times you gonna impeach Biden?
I think the American people will look at all of that for what it is. It’s almost comedy.
Takes gall, huh?
Uh-huh, Joe. You mean the same way TDS-riddled Nancy Pelosi House Democrats “moved on” from the hollow Russian “collusion” hoax? And impeachment? You are aware that the Democrats impeached Trump twice — both times, solely for political expediency — and the meaningless Jan. 6 Committee charade, right Joe? Wait— maybe you don’t remember any of that, but nonetheless.
As luck would have it, Biden’s cocky response didn’t escape the attention of Jonathan Turley, who on Thursday dropped a column titled: Washington’s Pandora’s Box: The Opening of the Hunter Biden Laptop Could Expose the Cottage Industry of Influence Peddling.
“In the legend of Pandora’s box,” Turley wrote, “the star-crossed Pandora releases a slew of evils upon the world. Notably, the only thing that she was able to trap in the box or jar was something that is likely to be at a premium in Washington this week: hope.”
Turley continued:
The likely Republican takeover of the House could yield a slew of investigations in the months to come. Washington is famous for managing scandals. Indeed, it is a virtual art form in the Beltway.
However, there is one investigation that comes the closest to Pandora’s box for the Washington establishment. A serious investigation into the Hunter Biden scandal could put the political and media elite into an existential crisis.
He then named the “usual suspects” who could “find themselves under a microscope for the first time as a result of a full investigation into Hunter Biden,” including first and foremost, the Bidens.
The Biden family has long been associated with influence peddling to the degree that they could add an access key to their family crest. While they may be more aggressive than most families, influence peddling has long been a cottage industry in Washington. […] President Joe Biden has faced repeated questions about influence peddling involving his family.
James Biden has been remarkably (even refreshingly) open about marketing his access to his brother. Former Americore executive Tom Pritchard and others allege the Biden openly referenced his access to his brother and his family name in his pitch for clients. James has faced a wide array of litigation over allegedly fraudulent activities as well as a personal loan acquired through Americore before it went into bankruptcy.
Hunter worked with his uncle but also branched off on his own in the family business. While his father recently emphasized that his son was a hopeless addict, that defense stands in glaring contradiction to the fact that he maintained a multimillion-dollar influence-peddling scheme. The question is why foreign figures (including some associated with foreign intelligence) rushed to him international money transfers and complex deals worth millions from Moscow to Kyiv to Beijing.
However, Turley wrote, the Biden most concerned may be ol’ Joe, himself.
Joe Biden has repeatedly denied knowledge of Hunter Biden’s business entanglements despite numerous emails and pictures showing him meeting with Hunter associates. That includes at least 19 visits to the White House by Hunter’s partner, Eric Schwerin, alone between 2009 and 2015.
While emails on Hunter Biden’s laptop make repeated reference to his father as a possible recipient of funds derived from influence peddling. Indeed, in one email, Tony Bobulinski, then a business partner of Hunter, was instructed by Biden associate James Gilliar that the Bidens wanted to avoid such references: “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.”
Joe Biden was repeatedly referenced in shady business dealing with code names — “Celtic” and “the big guy” among them. In one communication thread, “the big guy” is discussed as possibly receiving a 10 percent cut on a deal with a Chinese energy firm. Turley also noted references to Hunter paying off daddy’s bills from a shared account.
“From his board memberships to venture deals to legal fees to his art deals,” wrote Turley, “Hunter Biden is a tour de force of alleged corrupt practices used in Washington. Indeed, while his skills as a painter and a lawyer have been questioned, Hunter’s remarkable skills at influence peddling could soon be the focus of Washington.”
Turley also identified “beltway bandits,” (liberal) media outlets, the FBI, and Attorney General Merrick Garland among those that GOP-led investigations might reveal as complicit in scuttling or putting the brakes on early efforts to investigate Hunter Biden’s shady business dealings.
Potential Pandora’s Box, indeed. “Lots of luck,” Joe.
And do give my regards to your crackhead son, won’t you?