Tag: hunter biden
Hunter Biden

Busted Biden Informant -- And GOP Witness -- Had Contact With Top Kremlin Spies

The FBI informant who was indicted late last week for allegedly fabricating allegations about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter also reportedly had contact with officials in Vladimir Putin's regime, according to a new court filing.

Alexander Smirnov, 43, was charged last week with making false statements to federal authorities over his claim that both Joe and Hunter Biden solicited a $5 million bribe from Ukrainian company Burisma in exchange for protecting it from an investigation by the Ukrainian government. However, a new 28-page filing submitted in US District Court on Tuesday arguing for his continued pretrial detention suggests Smirnov may have had political motivations in concocting the alleged scheme.

"In December 2023 Smirnov reported to his handler about a recent overseas trip, where Smirnov attended a meeting with Russian Official 2, who Smirnov has described as a high-ranking member of a specific Russian intelligence service," read the filing, which was originally tweeted by Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney. "During this same trip, Smirnov apparently attended a separate meeting with Russian Official 1, the individual who controls groups that are engaged in overseas assassination efforts."

Revealingly, the filing said that Smirnov told his FBI handler that Russian intelligence officials obtained cell phone calls from "prominent US persons" that the Putin regime "may use as 'kompromat' in the 2024 election,' depending on who the candidates will be." The filing also read that Smirnov is "actively peddling new lies that could impact US elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November."

"Smirnov's contacts with Russian officials who are affiliated with Russian intelligence services are not benign," the DOJ argued in the filing. "The court should consider this conduct as well when evaluating his personal history and characteristics... In light of that fact there is a serious risk he will flee in order to avoid accountability for his actions."

Aside from his alleged fabrications about the Bidens, Smirnov has also been accused of lying about his finances. Even though he told the FBI he only had access to $1,500 in cash and another $5,000 in a savings account, the Tuesday filing read that he withdrew more than $1.7 million in cashier's checks between 2020 and 2022 in the name of "Avalon Group, Inc." It was not made clear from the filing where the money originated.

The lies Smirnov allegedly told make up the core of Republicans' arguments to impeach President Biden, with both House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-KY) both citing his work with the FBI as justification for their impeachment crusade. They have not yet dropped their efforts to impeach Biden despite the president's calls for them to do so in light of Smirnov's indictment.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Hunter Biden

Why Hunter Biden Defied House GOP At Capitol To Speak Publicly (VIDEO)

Hunter Biden was scheduled to appear before a House committee on Wednesday and answer questions in a closed-door session. Instead, President Joe Biden’s son did the one thing that Republicans were desperately trying to avoid: He spoke in public.

Hunter has offered to appear before the House Oversight Committee in an open public session. He offered to testify on Wednesday or on any day that the committee’s chair, Rep. James Comer, might suggest. But Comer was horrified by the idea. He and the other Republicans on the committee want Hunter in a closed session so they can bury any exculpatory evidence, selectively leak fragmented quotes to feed their baseless "impeachment inquiry," and release carefully edited snippets of themselves haranguing the president’s son for their 2024 campaigns.

Expectations were that Hunter Biden would not show today, but he surprised everyone by appearing, though not in the star chamber that Republicans wanted. Instead, he stepped in front of the U.S. Capitol—and the cameras—to speak openly to the public. And Republicans will be upset about what he had to say.

“I’m here today to see that the House committees’ illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence, and lies,” said Hunter Biden. “And I’m here today to acknowledge that I’ve made mistakes in my life and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded. For that, I am responsible. For that, I am accountable. And for that, I’m making amends.”

His appearance on Capitol Hill drew widespread press attention. Even Fox News ended up running a portion of what he had to say, though their YouTube clip of his remarks cut off his opening words.

“For six years, MAGA Republicans, including members of the House committees who are in a closed-door session right now, have impugned my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, my children, my family, and my friends,” Hunter continued. “They’ve ridiculed my struggle with addiction, they’ve belittled my recovery, and they have tried to dehumanize me—all to embarrass and damage my father, who has devoted his entire public life to service.”

In describing the actions of Reps. Comer, Jim Jordan, and other Republicans on the committees, Hunter pulled no punches.

“They have lied, over and over, about every aspect of my personal and professional life—so much so that their lies have become the false facts believed by too many people,” he said. As he went on listing some of the actions Republicans have taken in their efforts to demean and degrade him, he reached a point where he became clearly emotional. “They have taken the light of my dad’s love, the light of my dad’s love for me, and presented it as darkness. They have no shame.”

Hunter’s statement is absolutely worth listening to in full. It effectively rebutted both the nature and the content of the House proceedings on a day when Republicans intend to turn their mock investigation into a formal impeachment inquiry.

To say that Republicans weren’t pleased about having their game laid out in public is putting it mildly. Jordan and Comer hustled out to give an erratic press conference and threaten Hunter Biden with contempt proceedings.

And if it weren’t clear enough that this was all about trying to grab back some camera time, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene decided to sleaze her way in. The result was an abrupt end to the hallway gathering as even Jordan and Comer tried to run from Greene’s Pizzagate-level conspiracy theories.

Hunter Biden’s surprise appearance was a broadside into Republicans’ planned day of waving false evidence and preparing for a vote to relabel their fishing expedition as a formal impeachment inquiry. They should be ashamed, but as Hunter said, “They have no shame.”

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Fox's Doocy: 'No Concrete Evidence' That Biden Profited From Son's Business

Fox's Doocy: 'No Concrete Evidence' That Biden Profited From Son's Business

In a report focused on House Republicans’ plan to vote on a resolution to open an official impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy told viewers there is no evidence of impeachable offenses.

“The House Oversight Committee has been at this for years, and they have so far not been able to provide any concrete evidence that Joe Biden personally profited from his son Hunter’s overseas business but they are going to try again with this impeachment inquiry set to start next week,” Doocy, who often criticizes President Biden in White House press briefings, said Friday on Fox News Business.

Other news outlets this week have also stressed Republicans have come up empty-handed.

The right-leaning news outlet The Hill, reporting on the resolution Thursday, noted Republicans’ current investigation “has struggled to connect President Biden to the activities of his son, and they’ve failed to prove their most salacious allegation — and the one that would be most key for impeachment: that the president accepted a bribe.”

One of the main pillars of Republicans’ allegations against President Biden, the “narrative that President Biden pushed Ukraine to fire its prosecutor to help his son, who served on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, has largely been refuted,” The Hill also reported.

“Republicans have engaged in wide-ranging inquiry into Mr. Biden for months,” The New York Timesreported Tuesday, “hunting for evidence to back up their allegations that he corruptly profited from his family members’ overseas business dealings and accepted bribes. To date, they have failed to deliver compelling evidence to back up their boldest claims.”

Watch Doocy below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Jim Jordan

House Republican Threat To Hunter Biden Reveals Hypocrisy

Republicans provided another textbook example of massive hypocrisy on Wednesday with a letter ordering Hunter Biden to appear for a hearing on December 13. The letter to Hunter’s attorney says that he has no choice. He must appear for a closed-door deposition on that date or face contempt of Congress charges.

Hunter has offered to appear in a public hearing on any date, but Republicans have refused the offer. They want the session closed so that they can selectively dribble out fragments of this testimony they believe fit the narrative they have been building to impeach President Joe Biden. Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has been constructing his case against the president using increasingly ridiculous claims. This week included assertions that Hunter paying back his father for the downpayment on a truck allegedly showed that Joe Biden had received bribes from China.

But the biggest red flag of hypocrisy in the latest letter may be one of the signatures at the bottom. In addition to Comer, the letter was also signed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). The same Jim Jordan who infamously refused to appear in response to a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee.

Jordan, who was heavily involved in the planning and execution of the attempted overturning of votes on January 6, first insisted that he had “nothing to hide” about those events. But when the select committee investigating January 6 asked Jordan to testify, he refused. That eventually led to Jordan being the subject of a congressional subpoena.

How did Jordan respond to his subpoena? With a list of demands before he would agree to talk. Jordan accused the House Select Committee of “not operating in good faith,” and of being unfair. He insisted that investigating the January 6 insurrection was not a “legitimate task of Congress” because it did not “advance a legitimate legislative purpose.” Because of this, he claimed that both the committee and the subpoenas were unconstitutional. Jordan never appeared before the House Select Committee.

Jordan insists that investigating an insurrection that included an armed mob crashing through the doors of the Capitol is not part of Congress’ business. However, he apparently believes that checking out small personal loans between a father and son demands the attention of two House committees.

By the test that Jordan himself laid out: Exactly what legislative purpose does questioning Hunter Biden about his truck payments satisfy?

As Laura Clawson reported on Wednesday, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) has made it explicitly clear why Republicans want Hunter Biden to come in. They want to launch an impeachment of Joe Biden, evidence or no evidence, so they can provide Donald Trump with “a little bit of ammo to fire back” going into the 2024 election.

This isn’t about any legitimate concerns over anything that either Hunter Biden or Joe Biden did. It’s about House Republicans trying to prove their loyalty to Trump and provide him with something to sneer over at the next rally.

Hunter Biden’s attorney has made it explicitly clear that Hunter Biden wants to testify publicly because Comer’s committee has demonstrated time and again that “it uses closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort, the facts and misinform the American public—a hearing would ensure transparency and truth in these proceedings."

Both Comer and Jordan are aware that any hope they would really find something in these hearings to justify further action died over the summer when star witness Devon Archer blew a hole through false claims. They’ve found nothing, because there is nothing, even if Jordan keeps repeating false stories from Rudy Giuliani that were debunked four years ago.

Comer’s “investigation” is a farce. Jordan’s support is the height of hypocrisy. Together they are the Wonder Twins of the Republican House, shaping their committees into a footstool for Trump. Now they’ll get to pound their chests about why the evidence they say should be made public can’t be heard by the public.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.