Impeachment: Another GOP “We Got Hunter and Joe!” Face-Plant

Having had their butts handed to them so many times and for so long when it comes to Hunter Biden and computers & electronic communications you’d think the GOP, especially House Republicans would gave given up long ago. They haven’t as you well know. Now we have yet another instance of “evidence”, a “smoking gun” in the form of a text that Hunter Biden engaged in laundering money to his father.

I hadn’t heard anything about this until today, but it’s in the news now and there are multiple outlets covering it so let’s take a look. It seems a little while back Florida Representative Byron Donalds seized on an Hunter Biden text and was sure, sure that this time the GOP had the Bidens dead-to-rights. Donalds, who before the 15 rounds of voting shiit-show House Republicans put on before McCarthy got the gavel was unknown. But being young, having some charisma and being a black guy all of a sudden he became a rising GOP “star.”

Naturally the GOP wants to get him out there and Donalds is happy to do so. (dreams of moving up?) Donalds seems to want to make his mark via the GOP’s cluster-f**k of an effort to impeach President Biden. They have been and still remain convinced that Hunter Biden is the “lever” that will get the rock (common sense, and the truth that there are no “High Crimes or Misdemeanors”) moved out of the way. That leads us to this particular Hunter Biden “scandal”, and Donalds getting way out over his skis.  As Alternet reports:

While questioning a forensic accountant in September, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) alleged that a text message from Hunter Biden to his daughter, Naomi alluding to giving half of his salary to his father constituted “a potential money laundering operation or potential pay-for-play operation.” hinting at illegal “money going from son to father.”

Well, it turns out that Donalds and his cronies got all excited for nothing. This new “smoking gun” turned out to be a cap pistol. That had been dunked in water. I swear these idiots are like Charlie Brown, believing they really will get to kick the football. Only to have “Lucy” (in this case she’s that devastating, irrefutable proof of Joe Biden committing a crime) yank it away. This all starts with a some of the Biden family being on a ski vacation. One of Hunter’s daughters had a serious accident and broke her tibia (OUCH!) Like many parents with means, the parents not only were able to get the best possible care for their daughter but had options. There was a difference of opinion whether they should get treatment in DC or up in NY. Somehow, the girl’s older sister Naomi got into the mix of back and forth, and she wound up getting a text from her dad. Hunter Biden who I gather thought Naomi maybe should dial down her attitude a bit:

“I Hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family Fro[sic] 30 years,” Hunter wrote to his daughter in the January 2019 text message. “It’s really hard. But don’t worry unlike Pop I won’t make you give me half your salary.”

THAT is Donalds’ so-called smoking gun that proves money was being laundered to now President Biden via his son Hunter.  Oh my…  Did I say earlier Donalds got out over his skis? It was more like the “the agony of defeat” ski jump fail less than twenty seconds into the intro to ABC’s venerable old Wide World of Sports:

Anyway let’s look at some facts, and context that Donalds’ and his cronies were too excited to bother looking for. First of all note this was in 2019. January 2019! Hunter’s dad Joe wasn’t even a Presidential candidate yet! Then there’s the fact I already mentioned which was widely known long ago about Hunter’s serious bout with addiction. But there’s more.

Even afterwards Naomi Biden expressed doubts about it but for decades Hunter Biden had shared with friends and associates how his father pressed him to get a part-time job back in school (college) and had him turn over half for “room and board.” The linked article notes that His freshman college roommate told the story to NYT reporter Adam Entous. Ted Diziak (Hunter’s roommate) spoke of Hunter saying “a million times” that he could keep half his paycheck from jobs but “hand over the other half for ‘room and board.'”

The Times reporter went on to talk about how Hunter Biden frequently brought up the story when his daughters attended the prestigious and exclusive Sidwell Friends school in DC.  The school is more than an enclave for the children of wealthy people. It’s one of the handful of preferred schools for children of “Official Washington” from Presidents and Cabinet level types on down. AND their foreign counter parts. Give the collection of U.S. Secret Service agents and their foreign counterparts it’s got to be damned near as secure as the WH! The point though is this: Hunter Biden frequently invoked the story when talking about his daughters attending such a place, worried about them becoming spoiled. So there’s plenty of high ranking folks in DC including Republicans who’s kids went to Sidwell back then that could attest to the story.

Then there’s this bit Naomi told the Times reporter about her dad (Hunter) pushing her to get a part-time job during her senior year at Penn to from her perspective teach her to be more self-sufficient:

“He said, ‘now that you’re working, I’m taking away your allowance,’” Naomi said. “And I just thought that was the craziest concept that I’d ever heard. So I’m doing this good thing and you’re taking away my allowance? I was so mad at him, so angry, and I specifically remember him in that instance saying, ‘when I was in college, I worked every single day, and I even had to give Pop half the money because he was paying for my college education.'”

Like many a successful parent Joe Biden (and Jill too for that matter) wanted their kids to learn some responsibility, to get a sense of how most people have to live and pay their own way. That they too should have to work some instead of just getting handed the keys to the good life by mom and dad. You know, good old middle class values like Joe Biden grew up with. It seems if not all the best of Joe Biden rubbed off on Hunter, plenty of commendable stuff did as he tried to instill a good old-fashioned value of earn your own way and don’t expect everything to be handed to you on a silver platter.

You know. The kind of stuff GOPers preach about but mostly don’t practice, and I imagine it bugs the hell out of them that so many Democrats, especially the one they are so desperate to take down has actually done stuff like this, instilling those old-fashioned values deeply enough in his kids the do the same with their kids.

But I digress. The most important point is that the text refers to Hunter Biden turning over half his salary to his dad back when he was in freaking COLLEGE!

Not that we needed yet another example, but this kind of nonsense is a reminder of how desperate the GOP is. Former Speaker, hell now former Congress Critter Kevin McCarthy wasn’t the sharpest of tools in the shed but even he knew an impeachment of President Biden would be bad for the GOP. That’s why he only “authorized” an “informal inquiry.” Lot’s of his caucus felt the same way and preferred to just take shots rather than go into full-on impeachment mode. However, because Trump wanted and even DEMANDED it they went ahead and voted for the real deal. Now, if some of the reporting I’ve seen is accurate some of the saner folks (by saner I mean relatively speaking) are “slow-walking” things.

It’s easy to understand why. Those with enough years in politics know how badly what hearings Comer and Jordan have had have flopped.  Even Comer knows it which is why he’s not in any mood to schedule any more public hearings.  However, if there are going to be Articles of Impeachment there are going to have to be hearings. Not only Democrats, but MAGAs will demand them. MAGAs want a huge helping of “read meat” and they want it yesterday!  However, the GOP has nothing to give them. Their own experts have told them they don’t have jack. Things like what I’ve written about here today are the best they can manage.

If House Republicans have looked like bumbling fools (which they are) before, the public ain’t seen nothing compared to how they will look in a formal Impeachment hearing!  Senate Republicans who have a pretty good shot at regaining control over there are beside themselves. The House’s antics will drag them down too. And Byron Donalds who earlier this year was poised to, with some patience perhaps become a true force in the GOP down the road will have blown it.

He chose to try and get out as a leader on impeachment and has gotten burned. It will take a while, but once the House is back under Democratic control and House Republicans look for who to blame who do you think they are going to go after? Yep. The black guy! Anyone care to tell me different?