Hunter Biden is Baaack!

[Starlight]

The NYT article is about a business deal. Joe said he had no knowledge of Hunter's business deals, but he is heard here on that very subject. If nothing else, he read the article so he knew more than he claimed. But this should be the tip of the iceberg.

If all of Joe's knowledge of Hunter's business deals comes from NYT articles, I think that is fine.

Bobulinski provided his timestamped emails that corroborated Hunter's emails from his laptop, which added information about the 10% cut for the big guy.

Any links on this?

[Starlight]

He wants to use this to his advantage, to create an image of persecution and martyrdom. It will play well with his base at any rate.

I agree he thinks this. I'm not personally convinced it will play publically as well as he thinks it will though.

IMO many US conservatives have a persecution complex and they like to feel the world is out to get them, so Trump being a victim and being persecuted will make them feel good about themselves. I would tend towards considering it a mental disorder on their part.

But I don't think it will play well with normie independents. For the totally average person, who doesn't have any feeling of "Trump is my guy and he's being persecuted!" and is fairly apathetic about politics and just wondering who to vote for, someone being perp-walked looks bad. In most people's minds, criminals = bad, and so they don't vote for criminals.

[Ronson]

Eh? The voicemail is about a public NY Times article. It doesn't suggest Joe had any non-public knowledge of Hunter's business dealings.

The NYT article is about a business deal. Joe said he had no knowledge of Hunter's business deals, but he is heard here on that very subject. If nothing else, he read the article so he knew more than he claimed. But this should be the tip of the iceberg.

The claims made by Bobulinksi in the article don't seem directly connected with any contents of the laptop. It seems to be a separate story to me.

Bobulinski provided his timestamped emails that corroborated Hunter's emails from his laptop, which added information about the 10% cut for the big guy.

[Starlight]

There have been various emails that would take me a while to dig up. This is a voicemail where Joe wants to speak to Hunter about a China business deal. Joe certainly knew about it (evidenced here) although whether or not they spoke later about it is unclear.

https://nypost.com/2022/06/27/voicem...alings-report/

Eh? The voicemail is about a public NY Times article. It doesn't suggest Joe had any non-public knowledge of Hunter's business dealings.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/...e-equity-deal/

Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski, who was brought in to structure the deal, publicly identified “the Big Guy” as Joe Biden when the emails came to light in the run up to the 2020 election.

Biden had told Bobulinksi that CEFC was “coming to be MY partner to be partners with the Bidens.” Bobulinksi told the press that Hunter had made millions off of China deals.

I don't know what his batting average was, but he reportedly made millions of dollars in the successful deals.

The claims made by Bobulinksi in the article don't seem directly connected with any contents of the laptop. It seems to be a separate story to me.

[Ronson]

Yes I was hearing that they had started negotiations about the how exactly the indictment in NYC would proceed. Apparently in criminal indictments the alleged felon is normally handcuffed when they are brought into the court, so there was some discussion of whether they could skip that apparently. (If someone in the media managed a photo of Trump in handcuffs, I am sure that would have political reverberations!) And Trump has secret service protection, so there was negotiations of how much of that would be needed around the courthouse etc.

Based on what Trump is saying, I think he's looking forward to being arrested - saying he will turn himself in. He wants to use this to his advantage, to create an image of persecution and martyrdom. It will play well with his base at any rate.

[Starlight]

especially if Trump is indicted next week (as he expects to be).

Yes I was hearing that they had started negotiations about the how exactly the indictment in NYC would proceed. Apparently in criminal indictments the alleged felon is normally handcuffed when they are brought into the court, so there was some discussion of whether they could skip that apparently. (If someone in the media managed a photo of Trump in handcuffs, I am sure that would have political reverberations!) And Trump has secret service protection, so there was negotiations of how much of that would be needed around the courthouse etc.

[Ronson]

Well I'm glad we agree.

I am not familiar with any laptop contents that suggest Joe Biden had any knowledge of Hunter's business dealings. Care to share?

There have been various emails that would take me a while to dig up. This is a voicemail where Joe wants to speak to Hunter about a China business deal. Joe certainly knew about it (evidenced here) although whether or not they spoke later about it is unclear.

https://nypost.com/2022/06/27/voicem...alings-report/

I addressed that one above. There was a draft suggested floated in one email, and immediately dropped in the next email, that perhaps they should give Joe Biden a 10% stake in a company they were considering forming. They didn't, and instead the five people forming the company got 20% stakes in it each.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/...e-equity-deal/

Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski, who was brought in to structure the deal, publicly identified “the Big Guy” as Joe Biden when the emails came to light in the run up to the 2020 election.

Biden had told Bobulinksi that CEFC was “coming to be MY partner to be partners with the Bidens.” Bobulinksi told the press that Hunter had made millions off of China deals.

According to one of those 5 people who spoke to the media about it: The company allegedly subsequently made no money as the deal it was to be involved in never eventuated, and Joe Biden never knew about it.

Research by the media in general on Hunter's business dealings shows that the vast majority of attempted deals he tried to make never panned out. He didn't seem to be very good at his consulting business.

I don't know what his batting average was, but he reportedly made millions of dollars in the successful deals.

To me that belongs with the meth pipe and videos of him with prostitutes. It is politically non-relevant personal information about someone who is not themselves a public figure, obtained via a breach of their privacy.

Nope, but it's indicative of the Republican inclination to repeatedly investigate nothingburgers.

George W Bush was in charge of security of the US on 9/11 and people died. Nuff said? He was elected to serve a second term as president. So if people died under Hillary's watch, should she have been elected president too?

If you want me to defend GW then you will be waiting a long while.

[Starlight]

Two US presidents and two potential future presidential candidates involved in criminal investigations at the same time by opposing parties, and I'm told there's no sign of a civil war in the US.

Eh? What's the criminal investigation of Joe Biden?

[Starlight]

I agree that the stories concerning the laptop were ill focused leading up to the election. I recall most of the buzz seemed to be about Hunter with a meth pipe in his mouth or videos of him with prostitutes. Those were not important.

Well I'm glad we agree.

What was important were the emails implicating his father; like his denied knowledge about Hunter's business deals

I am not familiar with any laptop contents that suggest Joe Biden had any knowledge of Hunter's business dealings. Care to share?

about 10% going to the "big guy", and confirmation by Tony Bobulinski.

I addressed that one above. There was a draft suggested floated in one email, and immediately dropped in the next email, that perhaps they should give Joe Biden a 10% stake in a company they were considering forming. They didn't, and instead the five people forming the company got 20% stakes in it each.

According to one of those 5 people who spoke to the media about it: The company allegedly subsequently made no money as the deal it was to be involved in never eventuated, and Joe Biden never knew about it.

Research by the media in general on Hunter's business dealings shows that the vast majority of attempted deals he tried to make never panned out. He didn't seem to be very good at his consulting business.

Like a felon possessing a gun and his drug use, filmed and available on his laptop?

To me that belongs with the meth pipe and videos of him with prostitutes. It is politically non-relevant personal information about someone who is not themselves a public figure, obtained via a breach of their privacy.

I didn't sanction eight investigations of Benghazi.

Nope, but it's indicative of the Republican inclination to repeatedly investigate nothingburgers.

Hillary was in charge of security there and people died. Nuff said.

George W Bush was in charge of security of the US on 9/11 and people died. Nuff said? He was elected to serve a second term as president. So if people died under Hillary's watch, should she have been elected president too?

[Ronson]

Two US presidents and two potential future presidential candidates involved in criminal investigations at the same time by opposing parties, and I'm told there's no sign of a civil war in the US.

Not a civil war by conventional standards. But I can see an economic war, a war where the withholding of essentials like food and fuel takes place, urban versus non-urban combat. Our armed forces would be escorting or forcing goods to be delivered. Untrodden ground.

[seanD]

The cat's out of the bag.

This should be an interesting election - especially if Trump is indicted next week (as he expects to be).

Two US presidents and two potential future presidential candidates involved in criminal investigations at the same time by opposing parties, and I'm told there's no sign of a civil war in the US.

[Ronson]

It's also the tip of the iceberg. The House Oversight Committee recently obtained access to the bank records of Hunter Biden’s business associates which have already revealed that over $1 million dollars were transferred from a Chinese energy company, State Energy HK Limited, through a Biden family associate John "Rob" Walker^[1] and into accounts connected to President Biden's family -- specifically, Hunter, old Joe's crooked brother James, his daughter-in-law Hallie, and an account that's just named "Biden."

That latter account got twice times as much at $70,000 as compared to what Beau Biden's widow received at $35,000.



1. According to the New York Post, Walker is a former Clinton administration official whose wife, Betsy Massey Walker, was an assistant to second lady Jill Biden during Joe Biden’s vice presidency.

The cat's out of the bag.

This should be an interesting election - especially if Trump is indicted next week (as he expects to be).

[rogue06]

Nothing incriminating or interesting? Seriously? Then why was it suppressed as Russian disinformation during the elections? It would mean the MSM, social media and YouTube were suppressing boring, non-incriminating real information, and having to admit that 2 years after the fact.

It's also the tip of the iceberg. The House Oversight Committee recently obtained access to the bank records of Hunter Biden’s business associates which have already revealed that over $1 million dollars were transferred from a Chinese energy company, State Energy HK Limited, through a Biden family associate John "Rob" Walker^[1] and into accounts connected to President Biden's family -- specifically, Hunter, old Joe's crooked brother James, his daughter-in-law Hallie, and an account that's just named "Biden."

That latter account got twice times as much at $70,000 as compared to what Beau Biden's widow received at $35,000.



1. According to the New York Post, Walker is a former Clinton administration official whose wife, Betsy Massey Walker, was an assistant to second lady Jill Biden during Joe Biden’s vice presidency.

[Ronson]

(snipped, because I have nothing to contest)

I think the flop was partially because there didn't seem to be any actual crimes uncovered, partially because the NY Post wasn't letting anyone else see the laptop contents to confirm them so other outlets were reluctant to run an unconfirmed story. I also recall things Tucker Carlson said and did led me to (wrongly) believe the laptop wasn't real, as he was getting hysterical about "proof" he'd had posted to him related to the laptop story that he was blaming UPS for deliberately stealing at the behest of Biden etc, and every time more details came out about the laptop story (e.g. that the computer repairman was "blind") they always seemed to sound increasingly absurd, so the whole thing sounded totally nuts at the time and I wrote it off. The laptop did turn out to be real, but the right-wing sure did themselves no favors at that time as their actions caused me and others to believe it wasn't real.

I agree that the stories concerning the laptop were ill focused leading up to the election. I recall most of the buzz seemed to be about Hunter with a meth pipe in his mouth or videos of him with prostitutes. Those were not important. What was important were the emails implicating his father; like his denied knowledge about Hunter's business deals, about 10% going to the "big guy", and confirmation by Tony Bobulinski. These important stories were diluted.

Damning evidence of his misdeeds? Like...? Are we still going with the email that briefly floated the idea of starting a business that his father had a 10% share in as a misdeed? Or the serious misdeed where he pays some bills for repairs to the family lake house?

There's just nothing there.

Like a felon possessing a gun and his drug use, filmed and available on his laptop?

I mean, of course, that won't stop you or others. Republicans did 8 investigations of Benghazi, each of which found more of nothing than the previous one. I'm sure the lack of anything interesting in Hunter's laptop won't stop you theorizing about the massive crimes proven by it for the next decade at least.

I didn't sanction eight investigations of Benghazi. Hillary was in charge of security there and people died. Nuff said.

[Starlight]

That's a poor excuse: "I'm mad at you for not sharing evidence so I'm not going to run this story."

I think if they thought there was actually any story there they would run it. WaPo did a story about the laptop a few months back just because the GOP had brought it up with respect to their congressional committee investigating it, and the WaPo's stuck it full of "I'm mad because this evidence wasn't properly shared with us".

The NYT does that all the time with their unnamed sources, and their leftist media comrades just run their stories as "according to the New York Times ..."

The other media sources clearly trust NY Times to do the fact-checking itself in a way they don't trust the NY Post. That's their call. Not necessarily one I would make given how gullible the NY Times was with Cheney's WMD's in Iraq story.

That would require mindreading because no one is going to say that.

No, I'm saying that none of the people who suppressed the story were in a position to know what was in the laptop. You don't have to mind-read them. They clearly didn't and couldn't know what was in it because they weren't in any position to know (unless you assume they could mindread).

I don't follow Twitter so I don't know specifically what they did, but it seemed (IIRC) they suppressed it for longer than that.

Nope, it was for a less than 24 hour period, 3 weeks before the election.

But the Republicans had quite a long cry over it because they wanted it to be a big story that tanked Joe Biden's election chances, and instead the story just flopped.

I think the flop was partially because there didn't seem to be any actual crimes uncovered, partially because the NY Post wasn't letting anyone else see the laptop contents to confirm them so other outlets were reluctant to run an unconfirmed story. I also recall things Tucker Carlson said and did led me to (wrongly) believe the laptop wasn't real, as he was getting hysterical about "proof" he'd had posted to him related to the laptop story that he was blaming UPS for deliberately stealing at the behest of Biden etc, and every time more details came out about the laptop story (e.g. that the computer repairman was "blind") they always seemed to sound increasingly absurd, so the whole thing sounded totally nuts at the time and I wrote it off. The laptop did turn out to be real, but the right-wing sure did themselves no favors at that time as their actions caused me and others to believe it wasn't real.

Hunter admitted it is his, and he's now suing because of all the damning evidence of his misdeeds are all over the Internet.

Damning evidence of his misdeeds? Like...? Are we still going with the email that briefly floated the idea of starting a business that his father had a 10% share in as a misdeed? Or the serious misdeed where he pays some bills for repairs to the family lake house?

There's just nothing there.

I mean, of course, that won't stop you or others. Republicans did 8 investigations of Benghazi, each of which found more of nothing than the previous one. I'm sure the lack of anything interesting in Hunter's laptop won't stop you theorizing about the massive crimes proven by it for the next decade at least.