Selling the illusion of access: Devon Archer testifies about Hunter Biden’s use of his father’s ‘brand’
Selling the illusion of access: Devon Archer testifies about Hunter Biden’s use of his father’s ‘brand’
Devon Archer testified that Hunter Biden was selling "the brand" and it was Joe Biden who "brought the most value to the brand."
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Curious how none of these Republican house committee members gave a damn when everyone of Trump‘s children did this for their entire lives. Now they suddenly have a problem with Hunter Biden doing it?
Give me a fucking break 
With Donald's endorsement.
I think you’re missing the point. It’s one thing to use your parents’ influence to get ahead in business, but it’s another thing entirely to use their influence to withhold international aid and pressure a foreign government to kill a corruption investigation into the company that you just so happen to sit on the board of. Granted, these are all just allegations at this point, but that’s why this case is receiving so much attention.
I know you’re just repeating talking points and not actually advocating for one side or the other, but I do want to provide some balance to this part
use their influence to withhold international aid and pressure a foreign government to kill a corruption investigation into the company that you just so happen to sit on the board of
The corruption investigation in Ukraine was being lead by an investigator, Viktor Shokin, who was himself so corrupt that he drew international condemnation (before this investigation was even opened)
Multiple western governments, including the Obama administration, had demanded he be replaced for failing to prosecute corruption cases, and Ukrainian investigators and anti-corruption watchdogs have said that Shokin was fired because he had made no progress in the fight against corruption.
"Repeating talking points" IS advocating for one side.
The reason this case is receiving this much attention after years of still-lacking evidence is because a certain political engine is paying for it to.
Well, if you can produce evidence of that, or if anyone else can produce evidence of that, then it should be investigated. Currently, there is no evidence of that. Therefore, an investigation into that does not seem to be warranted. Not legally, anyway.
You even admit that all there are are “allegations”. That’s not enough to even sustain a search warrant. You can’t just go violating someone’s rights because you have some sort of allegation or suspicion. And the GOP is trying to start some conspiracy circus because they don’t have dirt on Joe Biden, so they’re trying to get to him by making up a bunch of crap about his son instead. and while Hunter Biden may be kind of a scumbag, unless they can actually produce evidence that he did anything illegal with regards to his father, and they haven’t been able to so far, there’s no reason to start a house committee investigation.
I think you're missing the point. Ousting Shokin wasn't Biden blocking corruption investigations, it was him literally doing the bidding of the Obama administration, and was supported by the IMF and the entire G-7. That's why he was proud of it, because it was an example of him doing his job exceptionally well. Also Shokin liked to open investigations then leave them open as blackmail, which is exactly what he did to Burisma, so this isn't some smoking gun.
Shokin is also a corrupt pro-russian operative.
I think you're missing the part of the report where this "bombshell testimony" confirms that that never happened, and all these charges hinge on the implication that it could just because Hunter is Joe's son. This is about, to quote the testimony, "the illusion of access to the president".
Because they don’t care and never cared. They’re entirely disingenuous and trying to call them out on hypocrisy as if it matters is a losing game.
So is it bad or not? It’s either wrong for both or neither.
It's not great, but it's also not a big deal. Kids flaunt their famous parents.
The difference here? Trump's kids actually legit sold access, with their father's enthusiastic consent* and involvement.
*The only time he's ever cared about consent
Hunter Biden and his uncle literally ran a mutual fund that he sold to investors as giving access to Joe. The FBI shut it down.
Dems are showing their true colors on this. Ivanka and Jared were rightly called out for years but Hunter does almost the same shit, just worse, and even approaching it with that level of analysis gets shouted down. Could political parties give a fuck about their own team’s corruption, please? Dems are supposed to be different but boy howdy the us vs them mentality is so fucking strong.
Amazing. Not one word of that was true. Impressive accomplishment.
No, Hunter wasn't doing "almost the same shit." No, it wasn't "worse." And the reason it gets "shouted down" is because it's lying bullshit, and we've got no reason to put up with that.
This "both sides" garbage - as if Hunter name-dropping his dad is identical to Trump's kids literally selling access to theirs - with his enthusiastic involvement - is reprehensible. It's disgusting, it's sick, and it's disingenuous.
https://www.politico.eu/article/joe-biden-presidential-bid-family-business-history-democrats/
K
It’s really hard to believe y’all aren’t bots in the first place but that little bit of Gilbert and Sullivan at the end was pretty good.
From that article since we are talking Trumplestiltskin the CheetosRaper endorsing his KorruptoKidz:
There’s no evidence that Joe Biden used his power inappropriately or took action to benefit his relatives with respect to these ventures. These entanglements could pose problems for Democrats as they seek to draw a contrast with President Donald Trump, who they accuse of corruption for mixing politics with his own family’s business ventures.
I left the rest in there since this is from 2019 and pre-Traitor Sedition. I do not like the Bidens anymore than the Kennedys or Clinton’s but these do not compare.
We’re not talking about Joe?
"Hunter Biden and his uncle literally ran a mutual fund that he sold to investors as giving access to Joe. The FBI shut it down."
But you were. That was you. You brought up Joe Biden. Which again, where is the evidence for that? Because your article has zero evidence for actual "access" being sold and granted.
The other person quoted your article saying that there was no evidence Joe Biden used his position to benefit any of his family's business dealings. Even if Hunter was going around saying "do you know who my dad is", if Joe Biden didn't have anything to do with it, it didn't do anything. We don't throw people in jail for name dropping.
Dollar per dollar, what the trumps did is literally worse. They literally made billions off of foreign deals, meanwhile hunter funneled how much? Math is math.
So since it was tens of millions instead I should just... not care?
The answer in this case is neither.
But you'll notice a deafening absence of criticism from the right when The Idiot's children did all this and much worse, and vanishingly little liberal defense of Hunter.
There is no great Democratic hypocrisy on this subject. He was going to plead guilty and be sentenced and nobody really objected. What he did was undesirable and gross and apparently over-the-line, but it's not much of a scandal even on pre-Idiot levels. (Five or six years of constantly going "holy shit what the fuck is going on?" has tilted that scale to where this barely registers.)
On the other hand - Republicans suddenly feigning deep concern about nepotism and propriety is so two-faced that it's not even funny. Idiot Junior, whats-her-face, and Eric were only outdone in classical naked corruption by The Idiot himself, because he's too stupid to know why people act coy about it. He pardoned Rod Blagojevich. His children aren't screaming narcissists, so their efforts were slightly more subtle, while still including overt criminal behavior.
I would say it's worse in Trump's case because Ivanka and Jared had been working for the white house. Jared also had security clearance which he never should have had.
When Hunter works for the government or runs for office, then I'll care. Right now he's just a private citizen and he doesn't seem to have any influence in his father's job.
This isn't strictly true, but even if it were, do you see anyone on the democratic side opening investigations into the Trump kids doing this?
Tjey should at least investigate jared and Ivanka in the white house and their business dealings. Like how he got a bailout on his tower and the $2 bill from the Saudis. Did Jared trade our secrets and security for $2 billion?
I mean… they should
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Because it's not worth the resources to worry about. The GOP is just doing it because they don't actually know how to govern; they need something they can point to that looks like they're actually doing something, and they know it spins up their low education voters.
Pretty much this. The democrats put their resources into passing infrastructure and inflation bills and investigating the events around Jan 6.
Everyone agrees that the Trump kids got up to no good but the relative seriousness of their crimes compared to everything else Trump did was pretty small.
Since the Republicans have no actual dirt on Joe Biden and are about as capable of passing legislation as a bag of ornery chipmunks, they latch onto these 'scandals' that would barely be a blip for any Republican administration.
This implies that the republicans had a good idea, which should have given you pause for thought in and of itself.
You don’t think there should’ve been an investigation of Trump’s daughter and son-in-law using their father’s role to profit?
Nepotism isn't actually illegal (though it'd be nice if it were)
You can't prosecute someone based on laws you feel should exist. That's what fascists do.
If you have issues with this sort of thing (which happens at all levels of politics and business, not just with Trump and Biden), then you should write your representative about it and advocate for new laws to be made.
Hell, id cosign that letter, but I wouldn't advocate for the prosecution of someone based on laws that don't exist, not even the Trumps (though I do happily advocate the many prosecutions underway for the things they've done that are genuinely illegal)
Actually it is illegal for the president to hire family members. There was a law passed that says exactly that.
Is that true? Then how did Trump have his whole family employed during his presidency? I'm sure the democrats wouldn't have just let that go
I'm not sure. But it is true. Google president nepotism law.
This DOJ opinion letter from the day the orange took office argues that the president is exempt from the nepotism law when filling Whitehouse positions, so it may not be as law as wed assume.
If you can produce any evidence that they did anything illegal, then, yes, there should be an investigation into that. 
You investigate to find evidence. That’s the point of an investigation.
That circular reasoning. Investigations are conducted based on evidence. If there’s no evidence of illegality, then there’s no reason to investigate. You can’t just go violating somebody’s rights because you suspect something. That’s why cops have to get warrants.
No.
You have evidence. An investigation is to provide further evidence.
You do not investigate something you have no evidence of, otherwise I'm just going to call the cops and tell them you fuck goats. You're a goatfucker and they need to investigate you as a goatfucker, because you fuck goats. I know you do, so you are a goatfucker.
Do you understand even the most vague aspects of the judicial system or do you get all of your information from CSI?
Only because he placed them into public servant governmental roles. Those are specific and unique.
Because of all the things they did that are crimes, that's not one of them.
It's bad in the sense that I wouldn't want to hang out with someone who did it, but there's nothing illegal in using your famous parent to get a leg up in your own dealings.
It makes you seem like a spoiled trust fund kiddy, but last time I checked, being obnoxious isn't actually a crime.
The point being made isn't that it's OK for Hunter but bad for the Trump kids, it's that its being made out as a conspiracy and crime for Hunter by republicans, whereas those same Republicans had no issue whatsoever with the Trump kids doing it (and continuing to do it today)
I think if either party wants to be taken seriously, they should start by looking within their own party and prove that nobody is above the law.
Trumps, Bidens I don't care. But instead of attacking your political opponent's family, why not show the world what you stand for yourself by persecuting those within your own party.
"Lead by example"
Are you under the impression the democrats don't do that? Every time I've seen a democrat scandal in recent history at least, they call for the guilty to step down and, where possible, remove them.
Are you under the impression the democrats don’t do that?
Where exactly did I say democrats aren't narcissists?
I'm not defending biden or trump - I specifically said .....
Trumps, Bidens I don't care.
Nobody is above the law. But if you want me to take you seriously when the other side is in party, focus on your own side first and lead by example.
Neither side is innocent.
Personally over my life I have voted for candidates of both parties depending on who it was and the time in my life. But I have never voted for the same candidate in two elections, because not a single candidate has ever proven to me that they are worth a second vote. Maybe I've just lived in some crummy regions, but I don't get how someone can vote for these politicians election after election