President Joe Biden’s weakness with China is once again on display. Earlier this week, U.S. officials tracked a Chinese reconnaissance balloon over the American mainland. A Chinese Communist Party spokesperson claimed this was nothing more than a "weather research" balloon that had simply blown off course. Sure, the CCP’s harmless weather balloon just happened to pass over multiple sensitive military sites vital to America’s national security—nobody should believe that nonsense, especially not the Biden administration.
Even if it were true, the CCP’s policy of civil-military fusion—which requires all available research and technology, from China's private sector or otherwise, to be shared with the Chinese military—makes such an excuse an impossibility. Thus, this appears to be an intentional act of espionage, and it signals that the CCP is feeling ever more emboldened with Biden in charge. If the Biden administration does not act to change this paradigm quickly, the threat of conflict will only continue to grow. Weakness breeds aggression. America must demonstrate clear strength and resolve.
This is far from the first time the CCP has engaged in acts of espionage against the American people. China is, and has been for years, aggressively engaged in acts of espionage and propaganda against the American people at all levels of American society. The threat from the CCP is very real here at home, in places like Des Moines, Tallahassee, and Pittsburgh. Its malign activity doesn’t stay in Beijing or Wuhan; it is already inside our gates.
The CCP has targeted officials in our federal government, like congressman Eric Swalwell and Senator Dianne Feinstein, as well as our universities, local governments, media, think tanks, and more. The CCP underwrote a program of "Confucius Institutes" at American universities, ostensibly to foster cultural connections on our campuses, but in reality, to spy on students and professors and steal intellectual property. China’s economy was built on the backs of Americans not only by taking American jobs but also, crucially, by an unparalleled campaign of corporate espionage that has robbed Americans of billions of dollars’ worth of intellectual property. Even seemingly innocuous apps like TikTok have been revealed to be little more than tools for collecting the private information of Americans and spreading CCP propaganda.
Instead of falling back on diplomatic platitudes and White House press releases about "deep concern" in the face of these threats, the Trump administration took action. We refused to give an inch to the CCP’s malign actions against the American people. As secretary of state, when I learned that the largest spy ring in American history was operating out of the Chinese Consulate in Houston, we shut it down. For years, American officials had turned a blind eye to its operations, fearing what the CCP would do in retaliation if we put an end to it. This was nothing more than weakness, which only reinforced the CCP’s confidence that it could continue to steal from the American people and get away with it. I refused to let that continue on my watch, so I summoned the Chinese ambassador and told him he had 72 hours to get his people out of the consulate. Despite his protests that the CCP had nothing to hide there, just hours after the announcement news broke that the Houston Fire Department was responding to fires at the consulate. They were burning the evidence.
That wasn’t all. We campaigned to shut down every single Confucius Institute in the United States, and we nearly succeeded. We began the process of banning TikTok, an effort which continues across the country at state and local government, and even recently in Congress. I traveled across the United States and spoke to everyone from local governments to state governors to alert them to the dangers posed by the Chinese Communist Party. I did this because the CCP’s actions threaten the United States at every level, and inaction only invites the CCP to escalate its actions.
If the Biden administration wishes to reestablish the relationship of deterrence and reciprocity we cultivated with Xi’s regime, it must take the following steps:
First, the balloon should be safely brought down in a manner that minimizes risk to American civilians and that allows its contents to be recovered. Then, the content and purpose of the balloon should be made entirely public. The American people deserve to know what they are up against.
Second, we should examine every part of the surveillance balloon, determine the manufacturer of each, and sanction them accordingly. Companies around the world need to be on watch to ensure their high-tech parts are not being used by the Chinese government.
Third, the Biden administration must take the threat posed by the CCP seriously. China has been waging economic warfare against the American people for decades, but Biden still fights to cooperate with them on issues like climate change. This must end.
Fourth, Secretary of State Antony Blinken should use planned travel to the region to consult with allies, partners, and friends on further actions that will deter any more of Xi Jinping’s adventurism and hare-brained schemes.
Lastly, America must demand reciprocity. If China doesn’t allow Americans to purchase farmland next to their military installations, we shouldn’t either. If China doesn’t allow our diplomats to move freely across China, then Chinese diplomats shouldn’t be able to either. If Americans can’t get research jobs at top installations in Beijing, then Chinese researchers shouldn’t be able to get jobs here either.
The CCP’s spy balloon is a symptom of the Biden administration’s weakness, not only in relation to the People’s Republic of China, but to America’s adversaries writ large. Xi noted Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, a complete debacle that made America look weak and indecisive. He watched Russia hack American pipelines and noted Biden’s failure to impose any real costs on Vladimir Putin. He watched Putin’s provocations prior to the invasion of Ukraine, and noted Biden’s allowance that a "minor incursion" would be permissible.
Now, he will watch Biden’s response to a CCP tool of espionage blatantly flying over sensitive American military sites. Failure to deal with the surveillance balloon sends a message of weakness, not strength, and reinforces Xi's decision to take advantage of this administration. President Biden must reassert American resolve, not continue to peddle American weakness. If he fails to do so, he will continue to invite greater risk to the safety of the American people.
REALITY: OUR GOVERNMENT IS OPERATED BY A PACK OF WHITE COLLAR CRIMINALS AND THEY ALL KNOW THEY'LL GET AWAY WITH IT!
HOW MANY OF THESE PIGS ARE GAMER LAWYERS?
“Protect and enrich.” This is a perfect encapsulation of the Clinton ( GAMER LAWYERS-2) Foundation and the ( GAMER LAWYERS-2) Obama book and television deals. Then there is the Biden ( GAMER LAWYERS-3) family corruption, followed closely behind by similar abuses of power and office by the ( GAMER LAWYER) Warren and Sanders families, as Peter Schweizer described in his recent book “Profiles in Corruption.” These names just scratch the surface of government corruption (YOU CAN ADD LAWYER KAMALA HARRIS AND LAWYER CHUCK SCHUMER TO THE PA N THEON OF DEMOCRAT BRIBES SUCKING CORRUPT LAWYER POLITICIANS!) . BRIAN C JOONDEPH
GOP Demands 'Immediate Intelligence Briefing' on Chinese Balloon Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) / Getty Images
House Intelligence Committee member and Republican Conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) on Friday demanded "an immediate intelligence briefing" on the Chinese spy balloon floating over Montana.
"The Chinese Communist Party's violation of the United States' airspace and growing military aggression is a threat to our national security," Stefanik wrote in a press release. The congresswoman said she is demanding the briefing "so that we can know exactly how this happened and what malign intentions are behind this spying to ensure we hold China accountable."
Beijing on Friday admitted responsibility for the air balloon, claiming the "airship" was for "meteorological and other scientific research." The Pentagon has allegedly told President Joe Biden not to shoot down the balloon for fear of debris.
Stefanik joins several lawmakers in calling for Biden to take action in light of the balloon. "China's brazen disregard for U.S. sovereignty is a destabilizing action that must be addressed, and President Biden cannot be silent," said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.).
Stefanik struck a similar note, saying Biden
must make sure the Chinese Communist Party
"does not violate American sovereignty again."
Climate Envoy John Kerry Faces Congressional Investigation Over 'Secret' Dealings With China Getty Images
House Republicans announced Thursday they are investigating President Joe Biden's climate envoy John Kerry over his secret meetings with the Chinese Communist government.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.), who is leading the investigation, in a letter accused Kerry of making "secret agreements" with foreign governments such as China that harm U.S. national security.
"To date, you have failed to respond to any of our requests," Comer said. "Yet, you continue to engage in activities that could undermine our economic health, skirt congressional authority, and threaten foreign policy under the guise of climate advocacy."
The letter points to an interview Kerry gave in May 2022 in which he claimed to have worked with the Chinese to form a group to combat greenhouse gases. Kerry, who has flown more than 180,000 miles as climate czar, has until Feb. 16 to comply with the document requests.
Kerry ignored Republican questions when they were in the minority, Fox News reported .
The investigation announcement comes as a Chinese spy balloon was spotted this week floating over nuclear sites in Montana. Biden declined to shoot down the balloon, prompting backlash from Republicans who say Biden is jeopardizing national security.
Comer said he wants the documents related to Kerry's secret meetings with China in order to "understand" the climate envoy's "role and provide necessary transparency."
"As a member of the President’s cabinet, you should be representing the United States’ interests," the letter said. "Your statements, however, consistently show disregard for American national security and taxpayer dollars."
Kerry is the first person to hold the climate envoy position. It is within the State Department and has a budget of $13.9 million. Kerry has not responded to the letter.
Meet the Dark Money Group Helping Democrats Undermine Republican Investigations
The Congressional Integrity Project is gathering opposition research on Republicans probing the Biden family Brad Woodhouse, senior adviser for the Congressional Integrity Project, introduces Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a press conference on September 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Democrats are relying on a dark money group to stymie Republican investigations into President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The Congressional Integrity Project will provide the Biden White House and congressional Democrats with poll data, political ads, and opposition research on Republicans leading investigations into the Biden family, CNN reported . House Republicans have made clear their intention to investigate the Biden family’s business dealings, the president’s handling of classified documents, the border crisis, and federal mismanagement of the coronavirus relief program.
Democrats’ collusion with the Congressional Integrity Project contradicts party leaders’ insistence that dark money has undue influence on Washington, D.C. For example, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.), who took part in a press call with the Congressional Integrity Project this week, lamented in 2018 that "a flood of dark money is poisoning our democracy, letting deep-pocketed special interests prevent Congress from acting even on issues upon which we agree." Biden has asserted that "dark money erodes public trust."
The Congressional Integrity Project, which launched in 2020, does not disclose the identity of its ultimate donors, though tax filings show it receives virtually all of its money from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-wing group dubbed the "indisputable heavyweight of Democratic dark money."
The Sixteen Thirty Fund has given $1.5 million to the Congressional Integrity Project since 2020, according to tax forms detailed by the Washington Examiner tax filings reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon .
The Sixteen Thirty Fund also does not disclose its donors, though some of its backers have gone public with their support for the group. The billionaire Democratic donor George Soros has disclosed contributions of $24,930,000 to the Sixteen Thirty Fund in 2021 alone, according to its grants database .
While the Congressional Integrity Project is opaque about its funding sources, it is transparent about its goal of undermining Republican investigations.
Brad Woodhouse, a veteran Democratic strategist and senior adviser for the group, said last year they "will exploit every tactic available" to hinder the Republican probes. "It’s not enough to wait and see what they’re going to do and how far they’re going to go." Woodhouse, who attended a White House meeting with a group of Democratic operatives in September, recently told CNN that the group’s role is "to go on offense" against Republicans.
The Congressional Integrity Project has released a litany of press releases and research reports in recent weeks that paint Reps. James Comer (R., Ky.) and Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) as hypocrites on the issues on which they will investigate Biden.
Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is investigating Biden’s family business dealings, with a focus on Hunter Biden’s activities in China. He is also investigating the federal government’s coronavirus relief program, which reportedly disbursed billions of dollars in fraudulent federal loans. Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, is turning his attention to the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis. He has also sought records from the Justice Department on Biden’s handling of classified documents.
An example of the Congressional Integrity Project’s opposition research came this week in a hit piece on Comer. The group accused Comer of hypocrisy in his investigation of billions of dollars in fraudulent coronavirus relief payments, because the congressman’s brother received a $12,000 loan under the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program. While Comer’s brother is not accused of misusing the loan, the Congressional Integrity Project claimed without evidence that Comer had "padded his brother’s pockets."
While Republicans have scrutinized fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program, they have also said that the program was needed because of government-mandated lockdowns of businesses during the pandemic.
The Congressional Integrity Project, the White House, and Swalwell’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Poll: Nearly Half of Americans Consider Biden’s Handling of Classified Documents a ‘Major Scandal’ AP Photo/Andrew Harnik 2:23
Nearly half of Americans consider President Biden’s handling of classified documents a “major scandal,” a Rasmussen Reports survey released this week found.
The survey noted that a special counsel is investigating how classified documents — from Biden’s time as vice president during the Obama administration — ended up in multiple locations, including his Delaware home. When asked if it is a major scandal, minor scandal, or no scandal at all, nearly half, 48 percent, agreed it is a “major scandal.”
Nearly a quarter, 24 percent, consider it a “minor” scandal, and another 24 percent consider it “no” scandal at all. Four percent remain unsure.
Nearly three-quarters of Republicans, 73 percent, consider it a “major scandal,” as do 50 percent of independents and 23 percent of Democrats. A plurality of Democrats, 40 percent, do not believe it is scandal at all.
Ian Sams, with the White House counsel’s office, speaks to reporters outside of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. The FBI has searched President Joe Biden’s Rehoboth Beach, Del., home as part of its investigation into the potential mishandling of classified documents. Biden’s attorney says that agents didn’t find any classified documents during the Wednesday search, but did take some handwritten notes and other materials relating to Biden’s time as vice president for review. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The survey also asked, “How likely is it that information from classified documents was used by Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in his foreign business deals?”
Most believe it is at least somewhat likely, and of those, 44 percent believe it is “very” likely. Most, 59 percent, also at least somewhat agree that the Biden family has been “influence-peddling for a decade.”
The survey was taken January 26-29, 2023, among 900 likely U.S. voters and has a +/- 3 percent margin of error.
A recent survey from The Economist /YouGov found that more than three-quarters of Americans support a Department of Justice investigation into Biden over the classified documents found in multiple locations. Further, a CNN poll released last week found that 80 percent of Democrats, specifically, also support the DOJ’s appointment of a special counsel to investigate. Attorney General Merrick Garland made that announcement on January 12.
“I concluded that under the special counsel regulations, it was in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” Garland said at the time, announcing that former U.S. attorney from Maryland Robert Hur will investigate.
FBI Searches for Classified Docs at Biden’s Delaware Beach House Getty Images
FBI agents on Wednesday reportedly searched President Joe Biden’s Delaware beach house for classified documents.
According to CBS News , agents showed up at Biden’s home at Rehoboth Beach on Wednesday to conduct the search, which was consensual and planned with Biden’s attorneys in advance.
The search comes after reports this week that the FBI searched Biden’s Washington, D.C., think tank, the Penn Biden Center, in mid-November as part of the documents probe. The White House had failed to disclose that the search took place.
"Today, with the President’s full support and cooperation, the DOJ is conducting a planned search of his home in Rehoboth, Delaware," Bob Bauer, a personal attorney for Biden, said in a statement.
"Under DOJ’s standard procedures, in the interests of operational security and integrity, it sought to do this work without advance public notice, and we agreed to cooperate," he added. "The search today is a further step in a thorough and timely DOJ process we will continue to fully support and facilitate. We will have further information at the conclusion of today’s search."
The documents saga started on Nov. 2 when Biden’s personal lawyer discovered classified documents at the Penn Biden Center, which the president formed in 2017. The Justice Department opened an inquiry into the matter on Nov. 14. Biden’s attorneys informed the agency on Dec. 20 that additional classified documents were found at the president’s house in Wilmington, Del. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel on Jan. 12 to oversee the investigation.
Biden’s representatives have claimed that they searched Biden’s Rehoboth residence but did not find any classified materials.
Republicans have questioned why the White House waited more than two months to publicly disclose that the records had been found at Biden’s properties. Between 20 and 30 documents, some marked Top Secret, have been recovered. Documents found at the Penn Biden Center reportedly discussed Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom.
ALL THEY NEEDED WAS A SOCIOPATH GAMER LAWYER AND BIDEN WAS STANDING NEXT IN LINE!
Biden was the Democrat left's version of the Trojan horse. Get the 78-year-old inside the White House pretending to be a gift to the American people, and then let the real puppet masters emerge and change the nation's demographics, destroy the economy, and transform every social norm.
So Hunter Biden's 'masterpieces' aren't quite selling like hotcakes for top dollar
Is the Biden money-making machine gig up?
Sure looks like it, given the situation with artistic genius, Hunter Biden.
According to the Washington Free Beacon's Alana Goodman:
Hunter Biden is in financial turmoil after his paintings sold for less than the six-figure price tags estimated by his gallerist ...
The underwhelming sales have led Biden to consider launching a legal defense fund to help pay his mounting attorney bills stemming from a federal tax crime investigation and congressional inquiries into his foreign business dealings, the Washington Post reported . Biden has sold around a dozen paintings "for a fraction of the $500,000 price tag once estimated" by his Manhattan gallerist Georges Berges, according to the Post . The congressional investigations into Biden have also spooked some prospective buyers, a source told the newspaper.
Leaving aside the issue of a legal defense fund and taking one step back, it appears that the art world wasn't exactly fooled by the hype and publicity about Hunter Biden's amazing and newly discovered art talent, with newbie paintings supposedly being ready to sell for $500,000 a pop and he never did become the hottest thing around at the galleries.
After all, that was the plan, wasn't it? The celebs showed up at his gallery opening, and the $500,000 sales estimates for his blow-pipe paintings suggested on paper at least that Hunter had some extraordinary talent, and collectors were just itching to get their hands on his glorious oeuvres. For a new artist to start selling paintings at $500,000, it would have to be someone from whom the demand was extraordinarily strong.
But that was the line fed to the public and oh, how certain art "experts" praised the hot new talent.
Here is what the New York Post reported in 2021:
Scandal-tarnished first son Hunter Biden’s newfound career as a painter may actually prove to be a success — as experts say his artwork is impressive and will fetch big bucks.
“I think it’s pretty strong — I like it,’’ Mark Tribe, chairman of the MFA Fine Arts Department at New York City’s School of Visual Arts, told The Post.
“The colors and compelling organic forms — it’s the kind of organic abstraction that I find easy on the eyes and provokes your curiosity,’’ Tribe said of the mixed-media paintings and drawings by President Biden’s son.
...and...
“I’ve been in the art business since 1956,’’ Alex Acevedo, 75, who owns the Alexander Gallery in Midtown Manhattan, told The Post.
“I’m not impressed with modern art at all. But I was floored by that guy,’’ he said of Hunter’s artwork.
“The palette was wonderful. The space was well-organized. I would buy a couple of them.
“And anybody who buys it would be guaranteed instant profit,” Acevedo added. “He’s the president’s son. Everybody would want a piece of that. The provenance is impeccable.’’
He also drew gushing profiles in the press about all his 'talent' from formidable sources, such as ArtNetNews and 60 Minutes , where he talked about all his "deep" thoughts.
And as for the gallery owner who's promoting this gig, Georges Bergès, the New York Times had doozy from him :
Mr. Biden’s art carries value because he is, by Mr. Bergès’s accounting, someone whose art will be remembered for a long, long time. He refers to a Biden painting as a “totem of reflection,” and with no hint of irony, he said: “Hunter will go down as a great artist for this century. If anything, his father will be known as the father of a great artist.”
Sounds legit.
Oh how he fooled them. Except that they weren't fooled. Nobody's giving him $500,000 for his paintings because they aren't worth $500,000, and not just that, if they did, everyone would know that paying that kind of cash to a guy whose entire career is based on influence-peddling and is now well-known to the public, would probably leave them exposed to congressional investigations or maybe even lawmen for bribery, which is what this entire operation looks like.
It also would diminish their prestige in the art world, telling everyone else in tout le monde of arts that they don't know much about how to find value in art after all. Those remarks cited by those supposed arts experts, quoted by the Post, are running liabilities now, given that the art world wasn't fooled by their toutings. They knew what was going on.
Here's the reaction of one heavyweight art critic who wasn't fooled, even before he heard any of the hype about Hunter or even knew anything about him, the estimable Jerry Saltz of New York magazine:
Saltz knows what art is and understands the art market as well.
Knowing what he is talking about, he read the scam correctly from the very beginning, as did actual artists, such as Rod Webber, whom I wrote about here .
Now with the sales flop, Hunter and his flatterers stand exposed for everyone else, the naked emperor with no clothes on in his court, which is kind of Hunter's taste anyway.
Image: Screen shot from Fox News video, via YouTube
Democrats' Trojan horse is taking on a life of its own
A silly older man sniffing women was sold to the American people as the safe alternative to President Donald Trump. Joe Biden's assignment was to wear a suit, read words on a teleprompter, and quip.
Biden was the Democrat left's version of the Trojan horse. Get the 78-year-old inside the White House pretending to be a gift to the American people, and then let the real puppet masters emerge and change the nation's demographics, destroy the economy, and transform every social norm.
For two years, Biden did precisely what the Democrat socialists wanted him to do: run to podiums, mumble, and then wander away. Smile, wave, and lie. And in the process, the southern border became an open floodgate for illegal aliens and deadly drugs.
The propaganda media, working with the Department of Justice, to obscure the Biden family's long history of corruption was remarkable. The tell-all interview regarding the long partnership between a Chinese energy firm and the Biden family by Hunter Biden's partner, Tony Bobulinski, on the Tucker Carlson show was squashed. The FBI did a marvelously malevolent job lying to the American people regarding the content and even the existence of Hunter Biden's laptop.
So the Trojan horse flawlessly performed the task it was designed to perform. But now comes the glitch: lo and behold, the fake leader of the free world wants to stay. Somehow, in all the confusion of corruption and millions of dollars flowing from China into the Biden coffers, Joe didn't read the memo that the charade is finished after one term.
The swamp has realized that the Trojan horse is no longer needed and has become a liability. There are new Democrat communist plans for 2024, and they don't include uncle Joe.
The left will do what it always does when its power is in jeopardy: turn on itself. And it looks as if Biden is holding the short end of the stick in the power struggle: the mishandling of top-secret documents that have always been handled as a nothingburger for guilty Democrats like Hillary Clinton will now somehow matter for Biden.
What happened in 2020 will be considered one of the darkest points in American politics and its history. But this chapter does not close without benefits. Hopefully, the American people, especially the youth, will realize that conservatives are not perfect, but they do love this country and individual freedom. On the other hand, as far as the Democrat left is concerned, you are valuable only as long as you are helpful to the communist cause.
Image: 10 Tampa Bay via YouTube , CC BY 3.0 (cropped).
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