Thursday, June 24, 2021

INFLUENCE PEDALING IN THE BIDEN KLEPTOCRACY - NO, NOT JUST THE CRACK HEAD SON LAWYER HUNTER BIDEN

 

Companies Secure White House Meetings After Hiring Top Biden Aide’s Brother

Jeff Ricchetti's lobbying business has skyrocketed since Biden's election

 • June 24, 2021 4:59 am

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Life is good for companies that hire lobbyist Jeff Ricchetti, the brother of President Joe Biden’s longtime political aide Steve Ricchetti. Jeff Ricchetti runs a top lobbying firm whose clients secured meetings with Biden and other members of the president’s cabinet.

Both General Motors and Amazon hired Ricchetti Incorporated after Biden defeated Donald Trump. Within months of hiring the lobbying firm, both companies scored high-profile meetings with the president and his cabinet that focused on their shared concerns about the shortage of semiconductors.

The semiconductor meetings underscore how Ricchetti has established himself as a go-to for corporations looking for access in the Biden administration. Ricchetti’s lobbying income has soared in the early months of the Biden administration—according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Ricchetti's firm brought in $820,000 in the first quarter of 2021, nearly five times more than what he earned during the same period in 2020.

Three months after GM hired Ricchetti to lobby the House, Senate, and Department of Commerce on topics including "issues related to the availability of semiconductors and critical supply chains for manufacture of automobiles," the company received an invite to a May 20 summit with Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce. According to contemporary coverage, the meeting focused on "companies impacted by the global semiconductor shortage." Also in the Raimondo meeting was another Ricchetti client, Amazon, which hired Ricchetti just 10 days after Biden was elected, according to lobbyist disclosure forms.

Amazon and GM paid Ricchetti’s firm a combined $130,000 in the first quarter of 2021.

Biden hosted GM's CEO for an April 12 summit on how to "[address] the global semiconductor shortage." After the high-visibility meeting, GM’s CEO cosigned a statement thanking the Biden administration for its ongoing cooperation in resolving the shortage.

GM and Amazon are among those most affected by a global shortage of semiconductors, which are needed for everything from calibrating fuel injection to web services. GM told the White House the shortage will cut off $2 billion worth of annual profits, according to CNBC. Following multiple meetings with top Biden officials, GM announced this month that its chip shortage problem was entering the rear-view mirror, and it "expected to increase shipments" of vehicles in the coming weeks.

Neither GM nor Amazon responded to requests for comment on hiring Ricchetti Incorporated after Biden's election.

Ricchetti insists he has no knowledge of any of his brother’s day-to-day business at the White House.

"I do not lobby my brother and I have not even mentioned to him the names of clients that I currently represent," Ricchetti said in April. "For the better part of the last 30 years I have lobbied members of Congress and their staff, and various individuals who have served in the successive administrations. It is what I do for a living."

Ricchetti's reassurances aren't sufficient for everyone. Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of the watchdog organization Americans for Public Trust, called the Ricchettis' influence "alarming" in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.

"Senior aides to President Biden continue to elevate their family members and deepen their pocketbooks," Sutherland said. "President Biden promised to keep his family off his staff but opened the gates for senior officials to do so. It is alarming how the Biden Administration enriches those who work with him personally day to day."

The lobbyist's connections extend beyond just his brother. Three of Steve Ricchetti’s children work in the Biden administration, prompting Politico to label Biden's White House "the Ricchetti administration."

Recent reports of the administration’s nepotism sparked Walter Shaub, former president Barack Obama’s ethics chief, to claim that Biden is sending a "f— you" to ethics experts.

Neither the White House nor the Commerce Department responded to requests for comment on Ricchetti's role in setting up semiconductor meetings.

Joe Biden Endorses Drug Sentencing Reform That Would Benefit Hunter

Bill would eliminate disparity between powder cocaine and crack offenses

 • June 22, 2021 4:30 pm

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President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday announced its support for bipartisan legislation that would end the sentencing disparity among drug offenses involving crack and powder cocaine.

The administration's endorsement is likely to draw scrutiny from ethics experts, given how the proposed sentencing reform could benefit Hunter Biden, the president's crackhead son. Hunter detailed his "next-level" addiction to crack cocaine in his recently published memoirBeautiful Things. The late Jim Morrison "was a fucking piker compared to my shenanigans," he boasted.

A mediocre author at best, Hunter is at his most eloquent when describing his love of smoking crack. "The sensation is one of utter, almost otherworldly well-being," he writes. "You are at once energetic, focused, and calm. Blood rushes to every extremity; your skin ripples with what feels like bumblebees." That first hit of the pipe is like "being transported—at something like warp speed, as if riding bareback on a rocket ship—to some far-off, beautiful place."

Hunter is also a fan of powder cocaine. In Beautiful Things, he recounts using it in Monte Carlo during a Burisma board retreat. The controversial Ukrainian energy firm paid him up to $50,000 a month for the privilege of putting his name on corporate documents, enabling his addiction to crack, which will always be his drug of choice.

Given his family name and political affiliation, the First Son is unlikely to face any legal consequences for his "nonstop depravity." But the new legislation would ensure, at least in theory, that Hunter would be treated more leniently if charged with a future crack cocaine-related offense.

President Biden's support for the legislation, called the "Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act," is consistent with his campaign pledge to eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Yet it is Biden, as a U.S. senator in 1986, who authored the legislation that created the disparity by imposing a minimum five-year sentence for trafficking in 500 grams of powder cocaine or just 5 grams of crack cocaine.

Hunter Biden, who is allegedly in recovery, is pursuing a career as an artist in California, where he rents a $5.4 million mansion. He is planning an art exhibition this fall in New York, where "confidential" buyers will be able to buy his paintings for as much as $500,000 each. Meanwhile, the First Son is still "working to unwind" his 10 percent stake in a shadowy Chinese investment firm.

Hunter Biden Art Sales Raise Alarm With Ethics Watchdogs

Sales could leave Biden admin vulnerable to foreign influence

Hunter Biden
Hunter Biden / Getty Images
 • June 21, 2021 9:52 am

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Foreign nationals could be allowed to bid on Hunter Biden’s artwork, which is poised to hit the market in the fall for up to $500,000, raising alarms with ethics watchdogs who say the art sales could leave the Biden administration vulnerable to foreign influence operations.

The art dealer representing Hunter Biden said the names of the buyers will be kept confidential, a common practice, according to Fox News. The White House press office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on whether foreign nationals will be permitted to buy the pieces, or whether the buyers will be vetted by White House ethics lawyers and disclosed to the public.

"This is clearly a way for [Hunter Biden] to earn money, a lot of money, without anybody knowing who’s paying him," said Tom Anderson, director of the Government Integrity Project at the National Legal and Policy Center, an ethics watchdog group.

The sale is reigniting concerns about Hunter Biden’s business interests, which became an election issue for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, with Republicans accusing the younger Biden of profiting off his father’s name and position in Ukraine and China. The silence from the White House also comes as President Biden has pledged to increase government transparency and enforce rigorous ethical standards.

Anderson said the White House should publicly disclose the names of the buyers—even if the gallery doesn’t—and have the sales reviewed by ethics lawyers.

"Legally, [Biden] doesn’t have to disclose anything. But just for the office of the presidency, it’s just the right thing to do to be transparent and to let everybody know who’s paying for what," said Anderson. "Why would you want to jeopardize everything the administration is trying to do with something like this?"

The paintings will go on sale for between $75,000 and $500,000, although they could fetch higher bids from motivated buyers.

Art is often used to bribe public officials in China, where the practice is referred to as "yahui" or "elegant bribery," according to the New York Times.

"In some cases, an official will receive a work of art with instructions to put it up for auction; a businessman will use it as the currency for a bribe, purchasing the art at an inflated price and giving the official a tidy profit," reported the Times in 2013.

Although Hunter Biden has not exhibited his work before, the paintings are expected to sell for significantly higher than most art in the United States. The median price for a contemporary art piece was $1,300 in 2017, according to ArtPrice.com, which tracks art market information.

Why Merrick Garland Must Appoint a Special Counsel to Investigate the Bidens

It is now clear, after the appointment of new attorney general, Merrick Garland, that he must, not may, appoint a Special Counsel to investigate Hunter Biden in public corruption matters that may substantially involve his father.

This is especially clear now that it is known, contrary to his fervent denials, that Joe Biden met with Hunter’s corrupt Ukrainian and Russian clients at least once at Café Milano in Washington, D.C.  There are likely more meetings, but once is enough.  He also met at length in the White House with Hunter’s partner, Devon Archer, as the two were pitching their services to the corrupt Burisma Holdings, as it was being targeted by a joint UK/US task force.  As a result, they scored a deal in which they each received $1 million annually in fees, plus other lobbying and legal fees.  More strikingly, an email from Hunter on his laptop states without ambiguity he was paying his father half of his fees.  He need do that, of course, only if Joe was in on the game. 

Why, you may ask, would this Special Counsel appointment be required if former Attorney General William Barr, clearly on the other side of the political fence, determined that such an appointment was not appropriate?  That question answers itself.  Barr had no “political connection” with either Biden and therefore the Special Counsel statute, 28 C.F.R. §600.1, would not apply. 

However, there can be no doubt but that Garland has a clear political connection to President Joe Biden.  Garland was nominated to the Supreme Court by the Obama/Biden administration.  The more obvious, inarguable connection is Biden’s appointment of Garland as attorney general. 

The applicable statute requires the appointment of a Special Counsel if there is a conflict of interest:

The Attorney General … will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted and

That investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a United States Attorney’s Office or litigating division of the Department of Justice would present a conflict of interest for the department…

Department of Justice guidelines (28 C.F.R. § 45.2) tell us unequivocally that there is a conflict of interest if there is any “political” relationship to anyone with substantial involvement in the investigation:

… No employee shall participate in the criminal investigation or prosecution if he has a personal or political relationship with

(1) Any person or organization substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution; or

(2) Any person or organization he knows has a specific and substantial interest that would be directly affected by the outcome of the investigation or prosecution.

Clearly, Biden, who has a political relationship with Garland, would have a specific and substantial interest in the outcome of an investigation of his son, and he was “substantially” involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation and prosecution.

Since any investigation of Hunter Biden should be aimed at determining whether or not he was peddling influence in Ukraine in a corrupt manner, seeking favorable action for his clients by his father.

Making this clearer, 5 C.F.R. §2635.702: Use of Public Office for Private Gain states:

An employee shall not use his public office for his own private gain… or for the private gain of friends, relatives or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a non-governmental capacity.

This regulation does more than make clear that Joe Biden had a raging conflict of interest in dealing with the Ukrainian government while Hunter’s clients were subject to prosecution by that same government. But, more importantly, this regulation also makes clear that if Vice President Biden did so, that was a corrupt act, and therefore as a public servant, he was not providing “honest services.”    

If Joe Biden was in fact receiving payment from Hunter or a Hunter client to influence actions of Ukrainian officials, such would appear to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well as “honest services” fraud prohibitions.  Indeed, if Hunter received payment from his clients for the purpose of corruptly influencing the actions of Ukrainian officials, whether or not his father was witting, the same laws would be violated.

In order for there to be a valid predicate to begin an investigation, there should be some reasonable cause to do so.  As we know from the Horowitz Report on the FBI “Russiagate” FISA investigation, the bar is very low to open a case.  But what reasonable possibility of criminal misconduct do we discern regarding Hunter Biden, or, for that matter, his father? 

Certainly, by hustling Burisma Holdings (which includes owners Mykola Zlochevsky and Igor Kolomoisky) into $3.5 million in total consultancy fees (plus lucrative lobbying and legal retainers), it is likely that the Vice President’s influence (and John Kerry’s through his nonparticipating stepson Christopher Heinz, Hunter’s partner) was “sold” to seal the deal.

Put differently, would sophisticated, corrupt oligarchs agree to pay these amounts without some assurances of influence?  Of course not, and an investigation should capture emails and internal communications bearing upon the initial sales pitch and subsequent negotiations with the clients.  Even if it turns out that Joe Biden’s influence was sold without his assent, a promise by Hunter or Archer to obtain his influence, to win the gig, would appear to be “honest services” fraud, as well as a corrupt foreign practice since, presumably, the Vice President’s purportedly purchased influence would be to influence, in turn, Ukrainian official action.

A major predicate for any such investigation would be official Ukrainian actions favoring Burisma/ Zlochevsky/Kolomoisky which were likely influenced by the American “point man” on Ukraine, Vice President Biden.

Hunter and Archer were hired just as the U.S./U.K. task force had seized $23 million, seemingly from Burisma coffers, on its way through a London bank to Cyprus for Zlochevsky’s individual benefit.  All the British court required was a letter from the Ukrainian prosecutor attesting that the money was Ukraine’s, and it would be ordered returned.

But when honest agents, including the FBI, tried to obtain such a letter, officials in the Prosecutor’s office would hide, scatter, or simply make sure they were absent.  A frustrated British court, after waiting eight months in vain, returned the $23 million to Zlochevsky on its way to Cyprus. 

Did Hunter lobby his father to influence this lack of action?  Whether or not this can be shown, did Joe himself, or through his offices, discourage cooperation with the British court? What do Burisma and Hunter Biden documents say in this regard?

Later, an emergency grant of $1.8 billion in foreign aid, to save the Ukrainian banking system, quickly disappeared.  The foreign aid, influenced by Joe Biden and John Kerry, was deposited directly into PrivatBank, owned by Kolomoisky.  The money immediately went to PrivatBank accounts in Cyprus for six companies, controlled by Kolomoisky, to whom PrivatBank had loaned the money, backed by illusory contracts.  The loans soon defaulted and Kolomoisky was $1.8 billion richer. 

Did Hunter or Archer, or related lobbyists, lobby for the foreign aid, or arrange it to go to PrivatBank directly?  Since this aid would not be granted without Joe’s approval, don’t we have presumptive corruption, since Joe had to know that Hunter represented Kolomoisky?

One clear quid pro quo was the widely known admission by Joe Biden that he withheld foreign aid of $1 billion unless Ukrainian Prosecutor Viktor Shokin was fired.  Shokin’s apparent failing?  At the urging of honest Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, Shokin was investigating Burisma and Zlochevsky for corruption, having raided Zlochevsky’s home just two months before being fired.  Hunter’s lobbying arm was working furiously for Zlochevsky and Burisma during these months.  This tableau smells very strongly like corruption, since, after all,  if it quacks like a duck, flies like a duck, and waddles like a duck, it just may be a duck.

Oh, yes, Hunter’s investment fund’s partnership with the Bank of China profited from the sale to China of Henniges, which had militarily valuable vibration-reducing technology.

If all this is so, why hasn’t there been a special counsel appointed? Biden’s attorney general will not appoint one unless the mainstream media raises a ruckus, a familiar predicate to all who are familiar with post-Watergate politics. But an outcry from our media will only happen if they are not themselves intellectually corrupt.  So, bottom line, if Vegas is offering a line on this one, hold your nose and bet on corrupt inaction, both by our government and our media.    

John D. O’Connor is a former federal prosecutor and the San Francisco attorney who represented W. Mark Felt during his revelation as Deep Throat in 2005. O’Connor is the author of the book, Postgate: How the Washington Post Betrayed Deep Throat, Covered Up Watergate, and Began Today’s Partisan Advocacy Journalism and the host of the new podcast series, The Mysteries of Watergate.





It Looks Like Joe Biden Might Have Paid for Hunter's Wild Night Of Crack Cocaine and Hookers

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