Hunter Biden Gets The "Kid Gloves" Treatment

It's true.  Relatively speaking, the IRS prosecutes very few people for a failure to pay their taxes.  And Biden is pleading guilty to two misdemeanors, which do have the potential of jail time.  But what is most distressing is the evidence disclosed by the House Ways and Means Chairman, Jason Smith.  

The evidence involves the testimony of  Gary Shapley, an IRS agent, along with another IRS agent.  As reported by Kimberly Strassel in a 6/23/23 Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Shapley was tapped to head up the IRS investigation into Biden's overseas business dealings.  But Shapley claims his investigation was impeded by the directions of the Assistant U.S. Attorney, Lesley Wolf.  

Directions such as, do not seek a search warrant for Joe Biden's guest house, where Hunter Biden had lived.  Directions such as not to ask about Hunter's "dad" or the "big guy."  Directions such as not to inquire about the finances of Hunter's children.  And not to look at campaign finance violations.  

According to Strassel, Shapley's testimony showed that the plan was to recommend indicting Hunter Biden with "felony tax evasion, felony false tax returns, and failure to pay taxes."  Again, Strassel reports that the prosecutor, David Weiss, was prepared to go along with the recommendations by the IRS agents, but was blocked from doing so, allegedly by Joe Biden appointees.  Recall that the Attorney General, Merrick Garland, claimed that Weiss had full discretion to proceed as he saw fit.  

Strassel further reports that the most serious tax charges involved tax years 2014 and 2015, but the bringing of charges was delayed so long that the statute of limitations barred the prosecutors from pursuing those potentially more serious charges.  

Shapley apparently also testified to Hunter Biden having $400,000 in income from Burisma, for which he still has neither declared nor paid taxes on.  Perhaps the most damning piece of evidence concerns influence peddling, for which no charges have been brought against either Biden.  Shapley is said to have given the Ways and Means Committee a 2017 WhatsApp text message.  

In that message, Hunter is telling a Chinese businessman that "I am sitting here with my father," and warns that individual that he needs to immediately follow through on a commitment, or "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."  

Do we know if Joe Biden was actually sitting next to his son at the time?  No.  Do I believe all of Joe Biden's assertions that he knew nothing of his son's business dealings?  Absolutely not.  He never asked how his son was making all that money?  Maybe he did not have to ask, because the "big guy" was getting his share.  

As for the gun charge, it sounds as if Biden is going to get a walk.  A diversion program.  I would not count on Joe Biden pulling back on his anti-gun crusade as a result of his son's anticipated guilty plea.  He'll just continue to refuse to answer any questions about it.

Adam Schiff Gets Censured By The House

You might think that the censure of a Congressman would be first page news.  After all, it has only happened 8 times previously in the last 100 years.  And only 24 times in the history of the House.  Except, Adam Schiff is a Democrat.  And he led the the Democrats' first impeachment proceeding against Trump.  So, he is somewhat of a hero to the Democrats, and their advocates in the mainstream media.  

Schiff was accused of "falsehoods, misrepresentations and abuses of sensitive information."  The vote was along party lines, 213 to 209.  Six Republicans voted "present."  Five of those six are on the House Ethics Committee, so it is customary for them to not vote on such a measure, as the they may decide the punishment for Schiff.  

This major story did manage to make page 16 of the 6/22/23 New York Times.  With this headline:  "Republican-Led House Censures Schiff for Role in Trump Investigation."  Let's think about that.  If a Republican was censured, I have no doubt it would have been front page news, and likely above the fold.  And the headline would not have been "Democrat-Led House Censures...whoever."  No, it would have been "House Censures..."  Without the suggestion of party bias.  

And what about the reason for the censure?  The Times is very clear in stating the censure was as a result of Schiff's role investigating Trump.  No, it was because he lied.  And disclosed sensitive information in an effort to destroy Trump.  So, to my liberal friends who believe that the New York Times is the premier paper in the country, do we say "yay" New York Times? 

The Los Angeles Times managed to put this story on page 5 of their 6/22/23 edition.  But given that their entire first section was only 12 pages long (the paper is not what it used to be), it may as well have been page 16.  Here was the headline in the LA Times:  "Schiff embraces censure by House Republicans."  It is a censure by the House, just as the party line vote on Obamacare (with I believe one Republican voting aye after there were already sufficient Democrat votes to pass it), was passed by the House.  Obamacare became law upon Obama's signing it.  The censure was effective as soon as the House passed it.  But party only comes into play when it's the Republicans passing something.  

Back to the headline.  Yes, Schiff embraced the censure, calling it a "badge of honor."  But why was that even part of the headline?  A member of the House was censured for lying and disclosing sensitive information.  And it was all done with the aim of getting Donald Trump.  So, would someone please tell me why these two papers failed to have a headline along these lines:  "Schiff censured for lying and for disclosing sensitive information."  

For those on the Left, allow me to explain.  That would have been a factually accurate headline.  But the mainstream media long ago gave up on making facts their priority.  The spin became more important, as facts took a back seat, all in the pursuit of supporting Democrats.  In the Trump era, the facts took a distant back seat because the goal was to get Trump at all costs.

Permit me to make an offer I have made many times before.  Select any edition of the New York Times, the so-called "paper of record," and I'll show you the bias.  The spin.  And I'd love to hear from someone who believes that only Fox News is biased.