Feds Retrieve 9 More Boxes of Biden Docs From Lawyer's Office
National Archives officials in November retrieved nine boxes of documents from the Boston office of President Joe Biden's lawyer, the agency revealed in a letter to Sens. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa).
National Archives has not yet reviewed the documents to determine whether they contain classified material, Fox News reported:
The Archives had not previously publicly disclosed the number of boxes taken from Boston. It had been reported that [Biden attorney Patrick] Moore had shipped boxes of documents from the Penn Biden Center to his Boston office before discovering the initial trove of classified documents at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
In response to questions by Johnson and Grassley in a Feb. 24 letter asking how and when the archives learned that records were transported to Boston, Acting Archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall responded the agency learned about it on Nov. 3, 2022.
"When NARA [National Archives and Records Administration] contacted President Biden’s personal counsel on November 3, 2022, to arrange to pick up boxes from the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., they informed NARA that Mr. Moore had moved other boxes from the Penn Biden Center to Mr. Moore’s law firm in Boston," the letter states.
In addition, the archives notified the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General on Nov. 4 that the documents had been moved. The documents were then picked up on Nov. 9 and were secured in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.
The discovery comes just two months after federal authorities discovered classified documents at Biden's Washington, D.C., think tank, as well as his Wilmington, Del., home.
U.S. Bought $508,600,000 in Imports from Russia in January; Ran $464,000,000 Bilateral Trade Deficit
(CNSNews.com) - This January, eleven months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States bought $508,600,000 in Russian imports, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States imposed trade restrictions on Russia.
“In April 2022,” the Congressional Research Service reports, “Congress passed legislation prohibiting the import of Russian oil and other energy products. In 2021, approximately 8% of U.S. imports of fossil fuels came from Russia.
“The Administration has further provided broad discretion to executive branch agencies to prohibit additional U.S. exports and imports from Russia,” said CRS.
While importing $508,600,000 in goods from Russia in January, the United States exported only $44,600,000 to that country. The result was a January bilateral trade deficit with Russia of $464,000,000.
That was significantly less than the January 2022 trade deficit with Russia, when the United States imported $1,959,400,000 in goods from Russian and exported $396,800,000 in goods to Russia, resulting in a bilateral trade deficit of $1,562,500,000 for that month.
In calendar year 2022, the United States ran a trade deficit of $12,742,700,000 with Russia. This resulted from the United States importing $14,457,800 in goods from Russia while importing on $14,457,800,000 in goods to Russia.
In 2021, President Joe Biden’s first year in office, the United States ran a $23,247,600,000 trade deficit with Russia. That year, the United States imported $29,634,700,000 in goods from Russia, while exporting only $6,367,100,000.
In 2020, President Donald Trump last full year in office, the United ran a $12,010,500,000 trade deficit with Russia. That year, the United States imported $16,899,600,000 in goods from Russia, while exporting only $4,889,000,000.
Treasury Official Backs out of Testifying Friday About Biden Family’s ‘Suspicious’ Wire Transfers
Treasury Department official Jonathan Davidson, who was set to testify Friday about the agency withholding the Biden family’s “suspicious” bank records, has “declined to attend the hearing.” His absence means House Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) must again threaten the use of a subpoena to compel the 150 suspicious activity reports (SARs) generated by U.S. banks.
Davidson was scheduled to testify Friday at 9:00 AM about the Biden family SARs, which “often contain evidence of potential criminal activities, such as money laundering and fraud,” according to a 2020 Senate report.
But Comer’s Tuesday evening press release stated Davidson has “declined to attend the hearing” after the Treasury has refused to “give a timeline of when such documents will be provided to the Committee despite our repeated accommodations.”
Davidson’s refusal to answer questions about withholding Biden family bank records comes after questions were raised about whether his testimony would be tainted with political bias.
He previously worked for Biden on the 2020 transition team and was nominated to the Treasury position by his former boss. Moreover, he worked on Capitol Hill for more than 20 years in Democrat politics. Davison is also married to Erin Sheehy, who is a partner at Education Forward DC, an organization that seeks to advance “equity in DC public schools.”
Davidson’s political background comes as he is employed by a nonpartisan, taxpayer-funded department that has refused to comply with Comer’s investigation of the Biden family. Comer’s probe seeks to determine if President Joe Biden is compromised by the Chinese Communist Party and how new legislation should be designed to prevent influence peddling.
“These suspicious activity reports are important to our investigation to help us follow the money and determine the national security implications of the Biden family’s shady business deals,” Comer explained Tuesday. “Biden’s Treasury Department’s obstruction will soon compel us to use the power of the gavel to obtain these documents.”
“We are done with the excuses and calling on Assistant Secretary Jonathan Davidson to answer questions under the penalty of perjury next week,” he continued. “Treasury Department officials have repeatedly said that they are cooperating with the Committee’s request but all we’ve seen is obstruction. We’ve offered multiple good faith accommodations, but Treasury continues to provide excuses and employ delay tactics.”
Comer demanded Davidson to sit for a transcribed interview. “Therefore, the Committee requests that you, as Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs within Treasury, make yourself available for a transcribed interview with Committee staff on March 14, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. in Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2157.”
It is unclear if Davidson will comply.
In February, Comer warned stonewalling tactics will warrant a subpoena as the next step. “For the subpoenas to win in court, we have to give them every opportunity to supply that information to us,” Comer said. “The ball is in their court.”
“We can’t fully understand the extent of what these laws need to be until we know the exact amount of money that the Biden family took in, including from the sources,” Comer explained, noting the family has made at least “tens of millions of dollars” from many business deals spanning at least 12 separate nations over the years.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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