OPINION:
At least there’s no longer any doubt about it. President Biden was selling out his country for his family’s profit. Now that Mr. Biden is a lame duck and the presidential torch has passed via Democratic Zoom call to Kamala Harris, the Justice Department felt free to come clean — almost.
In papers filed with a federal court last week, Special Counsel David Weiss informed the judge he will explain how Hunter Biden collected $1 million in cash from a wealthy Romanian businessman, Gabriel Popoviciu, who wanted U.S. officials to strong-arm Romanian regulators into dropping a criminal probe.
“[T]he government will introduce the evidence described above, including that [Hunter Biden] and Business Associate 1 received compensation from a foreign principal who was attempting to influence U.S. policy and public opinion and cause the United States to investigate the Romanian investigation of G.P in Romania,” Mr. Weiss wrote.
All of this took place while the elder Mr. Biden was vice president, which meant that Hunter was “concerned that lobbying work might cause political ramifications for [his] father,” according to Mr. Weiss. So, the first son and his associates allegedly set up shell companies to make it look like they were providing legitimate real-estate management services in Romania.
“[T]he evidence will show the defendant performed almost no work in exchange for the millions of dollars he received from these entities,” Mr. Weiss wrote. What the oligarchs actually received was access to the vice president of the United States, and influence on our foreign policy.
Disguising corrupt financial transactions is money laundering, and covertly influencing U.S. policy on behalf of foreigners is also a serious felony. But the DOJ won’t be charging the Bidens for any of this nefarious conduct. Mr. Weiss intentionally dragged his feet on the investigation so that the statute of limitations on these allegations would expire. The younger Biden only faces a potential slap on the wrist for failing to pay taxes on his illicit gains.
This is what’s known in the business as a “limited hangout.” The Romanian improprieties are nothing compared to Hunter’s deals in Ukraine and China — the latter involving, in Hunter’s own words, his work for the “[expletive] spy chief of China.”
Two courageous IRS investigators, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, blew the whistle on Mr. Weiss and the DOJ for giving preferential treatment to Hunter. That gave U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika a reason to reject the sweetheart plea deal that would have granted the first son blanket immunity for all of his past sins in return for misdemeanor guilty pleas on minor tax and gun charges.
Hunter was supposed to only face a year or two of probation under a “diversion” program. Now, he is looking at spending at least a few months behind bars. It would not be a surprise if the elder Mr. Biden is hanging on to the title of president and its power to pardon until after Nov. 13 when sentencing on the gun charge is scheduled.
The latest DOJ filings don’t just confirm the allegations of Biden family corruption, they also expose the corruption of his defenders in the media — those who ridiculed anyone who dared suggest the rumors about influence peddling were true.
Democrats in particular singled out House Oversight Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, for mockery over the supposed failure of his investigation to prove Biden family misconduct.
Those Democrats aren’t laughing now.
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