Everyone was assured by Democrats and our always helpful media that the sticky sweet plea deal for Joe Biden’s lowlife son Hunter was proof positive that “NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!!!1!1!”
ABC “The View’s” Sunny Hostin: “It shows no one is above the law, which is important, not even the president’s son.”
Obama 2012 deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter: “[I]t shows that no one is above the law and what taking responsibility looks like.”
Washington Post: “The sitting president’s son being held accountable for underpaying his taxes illustrates that no one is above the law in the U.S. system.”
And now look: overwhelming evidence that actually, no, Hunter Biden apparently is above the law. And that’s not just when he’s high on crack.
The House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday released the transcript of an interview with high-level IRS investigating agent Gary Shapley who testified that the Justice Department, under both presidents Trump and Biden, “provided preferential treatment, slow-walked the investigation, did nothing to avoid obvious conflicts of interest in this investigation” into Hunter’s shady, questionable as hell business dealings. Included in Shapley’s exhaustively detailed testimony was a 2017 text message uncovered in the years-long investigation from Hunter to a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter wrote. It’s not clear what transaction he was referring to, but like the nasty little weenie that he is, he used his daddy’s status as a high-profile political figure to threaten the communist. “[I]f 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. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”
Hunter mentions “my father” more frequently than David French gets off to Ukraine.
Throughout Shapley’s testimony, he names lawyers and officials within the IRS and FBI who admitted there was enough evidence to trigger more intensive investigations into Hunter (search warrants), which would, in turn, likely lead to criminal prosecutions (tax fraud), but that time and time again, they declined to pursue the matter.
“[W]hatever the motivations, at every stage decisions were made that had the effect of benefiting the subject of the investigation,” Shapley said, referring to Hunter. “These decisions included slow-walking investigative steps, not allowing enforcement actions to be executed, limiting investigators’ line of questioning for witnesses, misleading investigators on charging authority, delaying any and all actions months before [the 2020 election] to ensure the investigation did not go overt well before policy memorandum mandated the pause.”
He said his supervisors repeatedly deferred to the Justice Department regarding the investigation’s progress and that the DOJ consistently denied advancements and even tipped off Hunter’s lawyers as to what information the government knew, giving him a chance to conceal more incriminating material or concoct some feasible defense.
The New York Times reacted to this explosive testimony by noting that “Taken at face value, the message would undercut President Biden’s longstanding claims that he had nothing to do with his son’s international business deals.”
But that’s only if you take it at “face value,” folks!
The president knew what his son was doing. He was complicit and probably profited from it. The only reason we don’t know for sure is because, according to Shapley’s testimony, FBI agents deliberately avoided asking witnesses about it. On the one occasion that an agent did ask Hunter associate Rob Walker about Joe Biden, Walker said he believed Hunter had orchestrated a business meeting wherein his dad made a quick appearance for the purposes of bolstering the chances of “making a deal work out.”
“And, inexplicably,” Shapley said, after Walker confirmed this, “the FBI agent changed the subject.”
NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW, they scream.
“The law” isn’t applied by artificial intelligence. It’s applied by people. And those people make decisions based on their predispositions. If those predispositions are to protect the ones who in turn protect the people applying the law, then it’s not equal justice. This is otherwise known as “The Way Washington Works.” If you’re in, you’re in. If you’re not, expect the FBI, the IRS, and every other federal agency to bear down until your last breath.