No, the defense is that serving on the board of an American or foreign companies board is not corrupt.
All I’ve ever heard about Biden Jr and Burisma was that a) he’s not qualified and so b) there’s something fishy because he has a famous father. If you have allegations to make about money laundering and pocket-filling, then by all means make them. You have not done so, just upped the level of fishiness, moving the goalposts when it was pointed out that other people serve on boards all the time and that that’s fine.
Sometimes people get seats on boards just so companies can brag about who is on theirs boards.
That’s why Al Gore is on Apple’s board.
That’s why Nikki Haley is on Boeing’s board.
That’s what explains Theranos’s board.
And… that’s why Hunter Biden was on Burisma’s board.
Any argument that brings up Hunter Biden’s qualifications and/or oil and gas knowledge fails to appreciate what a board is and what one does. You don’t have to like it. That’s just the way it is.
Rudy Giuliani did an absolute delightful interview with New York magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi.
Over Bloody Marys ( and with his fly inadvertently unzipped) he denounced Marie Yovanovitch and the entire FBI as pawns of George Soros. He groused about how the Southern District of New York turned on him. He fantasized about defending Trump in his Senate trial ( oh, please Santa, I’ve been good, this is what I want for Christmas)
This is a paywalled site, but one that allows a certain number of freebies. It’s worth using a freebie for, though.
If you can’t get in, here’s an article about the article, with lots of excerpts.
Not only no, but hell no. As was explained above, historically the Justice Department was relatively independent. Of course, you will still have this opinion even when, inevitably, a Democrat president is in power again. :dubious:
I’m not sure if anyone mentioned this already, but in the heavily redacted emails that were released a few days ago show that Trump ordered a halt on the aid 90 minutes after the phone call with Zelensky.
Also not surprised to note it is a woman who got it started. And I have to believe there will soon be more Republican senators that make their discomfort known.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Is she sincere or is she trying to have it both ways? Is she playing to more traditional Republicans now and then falling in line like the rest of the party when the rubber meets the road? We’ll see. I remember Susan Collins being torn over putting an alcoholic serial sexual predator on the Supreme Court but in the end she put the MAGA hat on.
At this point acquittal in inevitable, we need to extract the last pound of flesh out of it while we can. I think Nancy should hold on to those papers until Moscow Mitch agrees to call witnesses. I say make a deal, let Bolton testify in exchange for Hunter Biden coming in.
BobLibDem, I agree, but just the act of publicly stating that what Moscow Mitch is doing is not how the process should be done is a notable act of defiance. I’ll take the good and not expect the perfect. It is Murkowski’s public statement that may bring along the 3 other senators needed to force McConnell to call those witnesses.
I disagree that Hunter Biden should be called. His testimony is utterly irrelevant to Trump’s actions. If there are charges that can be brought against Hunter Biden, then he should be charged. Otherwise, Republicans’ carping for his testimony is just another red herring, chum in the water to distract from Trump’s abuse of power.
ETA: For the record, I don’t think Hunter Biden did anything illegal. Ill-advised, perhaps. But people forget this situation was reviewed by an ethics board in 2014, at the time Hunter Biden took the position with Burisma. They said it was a bad look, but not illegal or even a conflict of interest so long as the Bidens maintained a firewall between their activities. Which they did.
The definition of corruption is “using your legal powers for personal benefit”. Saying that the President has those powers is not a defense against corruption and the Take Care Clause is among the things saying that corrupt use of powers is bad, specifically “faithfully”. As in, with good intent.
I don’t think Hunter Biden did anything wrong either. But if putting him on the stand will get us some juicy testimony from Bolton, then I’ll take the deal. If Hunter is on the stand, what could they ask him? He’s no different than many other figurehead board members.
Brilliant how? Sure, normal people can look at that and say “jeez, hypocrite much?” But do you think a single banana Republican will? Everything Obama did was illegal, immoral, evil, and probably fattening. When Trump does the same exact thing it’s perfect.
Is that on offer, somewhere? Pelosi could probably arrange a twin trial of the Bidens (in the House) and Trump in the Senate, at the same time. Just tell the White House that you’ll agree to a Biden trial if they’re allowed to retrieve records and emails from the Obama era and receive testimony from the people who served during that time.
Publicize the hell out of that offer and let the Republicans turn it down, because they know that Biden will be cleared and that Trump won’t, and the double-spectacle will ensure that everyone is watching.
