Wow, we've come a long way since "I never talked to my son about his business dealings."
"Never talked to my son about it" was, of course, a lie. This week we reached the "sure Biden's address was listed as the beneficiary for checks sent to Hunter but the money wasn't sent right to Joe's house so nothing to see here" portion of Dem/media spin.
To follow that up, a Wall Street Journal investigation found that Biden's family was making big bucks off his name for a long time, but there's no evidence that Joe personally benefited:
"The Big Guy Is Calling Me": A @WSJ examination finds that Biden relatives often traded on his name in their business dealings though it did not turn up evidence that Biden himself benefited. @AnnieLinskey @jamestareddy https://t.co/p317eSaDIK
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) September 29, 2023
"Did not turn up evidence that Biden himself benefited"?
Perhaps the impeachment inquiry will find some.
From the WSJ:
Joe Biden built his political brand on his working-class roots. Over that time, members of his family capitalized on his political success by invoking the Biden name to bolster their business pursuits in deals worth millions of dollars.
A Wall Street Journal examination shows that the practice extended beyond his son Hunter Biden. The president’s younger brothers—James and Francis Biden—sought to profit from their blood connection to the politician, according to interviews and public records.
[...]
The Journal’s examination of President Biden’s relatives’ dealings didn’t turn up evidence that he benefited from the business enterprises that relied on his name. But on at least a few occasions before his presidency, Joe Biden was more present in his family’s business dealings than he or they have acknowledged.
Recommended
Democrats might point to this story and say it exonerates Biden, but it doesn't:
The problem w the media’s framing on this stuff is the suggestion that a lack of a smoking gun of direct payments is equivalent to exoneration for Biden when really it just means there isn’t enough to convict yet but plenty to justify further investigation. https://t.co/LUYPfubQOt
— AG (@AGHamilton29) September 30, 2023
That's exactly what Jonathan Turley testified during the first House Oversight Committee impeachment inquiry hearing this week.
An examination of the mafia finds that members often traded on the boss’s name but did not turn up evidence that the boss himself benefited. https://t.co/ASwhNY1Zwp
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) September 29, 2023
Perhaps former district attorneys who have a lot of experience prosecuting mobsters should be brought in because they know how the game is played.
This is such a silly argument. If Biden helped enrich his entire family by allowing letting them -- and, as evidence strongly suggests, participating -- in leveraging his position, it is corrupt. 'Yeah, judge, I help plan the robbery, but I gave all the money to my kids!' is not… https://t.co/2vgx8BCyc0
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) September 29, 2023
If Biden's family was "trading on his name" for decades, then Joe obviously would have known about it, which seems pretty corrupt to us.
If I was going to bribe Joe Biden, I would not write a check and make it out to “Joseph Robinette Biden” and deposit it in his personal bank account. That’s not how corruption works. I would funnel money to his son and his grandchildren and his brother. I’d buy them cars. And… https://t.co/yeIqIYwudo
— Marc Thiessen 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇦&🇹🇼 (@marcthiessen) September 29, 2023
In other words, exactly how it happened.
If only there was evidence that the Big Guy benefited…🤷🏼♂️ pic.twitter.com/2uLEoByUSS
— IT Guy (@ITGuy1959) September 29, 2023
PS- Are you all really running with “The entire Biden family was selling Joe’s influence but we can’t find a check made out to Joe with ‘BRIBE’ in the memo line therefore he’s not involved”?
— IT Guy (@ITGuy1959) September 29, 2023
Seriously?
Unbelievably, that's where things stand at the moment.
There was no Biden influence peddling scheme
— Donny Ferguson (@DonnyFerguson) September 30, 2023
There was, but Joe didn't know
Joe knew, but had no role
YOU ARE HERE -> Joe greased Hunter's clients, but didn't personally benefit
Joe personally benefitted, but not much
He got a lot of money, but that's not illegal
If your family makes big money off your name, don't you by default benefit from it even if your own name was never on any of the incoming checks?
We’re a few hours away from Philip Bump’s next piece about how Joe Biden is referred to as “The Big Guy” in all of these business dealings, but he’s not actually a big guy—he’s average size—so there’s no real evidence of corruption. https://t.co/TJw26U1y8I
— Vanessa (@Nessakins_) September 29, 2023
We'd laugh if that didn't seem so very likely to happen.
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