America Faces No Greater Threat Than Joe Biden and the Democrat Party. Their Assault to Our Borders Is As Great As Their Assault to Free Speech and Free Elections
Friday, July 28, 2023
GOOD NEWS! THE DEMOCRAT PARTY WILL FINALLY IMPLODE BY RUNNING JOE AGAIN - BUT FOR NOW, WHO'S RUNNING THE COUNTRY? GEORGE SOROS AND BARACK???
The Worst President in the Last 100 Years" - Victor Davis Hanson
What's happening: A sentiment is brewing among so-called Republicans of the "Never Trump" variety: President Joe Biden is old and cognitively impaired; he shouldn't run for reelection.
• Mike Murphy, who self-identifies as an "Infuriated GOP Strategist" and "OG Trump hater," is the latest Democrat-supporting Republican to make this argument.
• Eliot Cohen, another self-described "Never Trump" Republican, wrote an op-ed in the Atlantic earlier this month urging the elderly Biden to "step aside" in 2024.
What they're saying: "The stakes are way too high," Murphy wrote in a Substack post on Wednesday. "Biden, simply put, is too damn old to be as formidable a candidate as this moment in American history demands."
• Biden "has no business running for president at age 80," Cohen wrote. "It is time for him to take a bow, accept the thanks of a grateful nation, and exit to well-deserved applause."
Analysis: They're absolutely right. Joe Biden has no business running for reelection. He is too frail to run another campaign. His advisers make him use the short stairs on Air Force One because his next fall could be fatal. He is far too fragile to be hanging out with a rambunctious and bloodthirsty German shepherd.
Biden's brain has the consistency of melted ice cream. He wakes up every morning thinking Jimmy Carter is president, or that he's late to a meeting with Ted Kennedy. He is way too old and impaired to be in charge of anything, while his chosen successor, Kamala Harris, is somehow even more ill-equipped for the job.
Sorry, Never Trump Republicans, but you're just going to have to suck it up. You have thrown your lot in with the Democratic Party, and they don't care what you think. No one does. Biden's rickety old ass is running, and you're going to vote for him no matter what.
You don't have to, though. No one is forcing you. There are plenty of Republicans not named Trump running for president in 2024. You could support one of them. But you won't because you're not really a Republican anymore. You are stuck with the Democrats, and Biden is their best and only option.
Biden is running because he has to run. If he drops out and doesn't endorse Kamala, your fellow Democrats are going to combust in a racially charged grievance inferno. Most reasonable people understand that Kamala is profoundly ill-equipped to be president. Biden and his corpse-like body shouldn't run for reelection under any circumstances, but especially not with her on the ticket.
Alas, most Democrats aren't willing to say this publicly. This party, your party, is full of psychos who think it is "literally violence" to call an incompetent and unqualified black woman incompetent and unqualified to be president. She's a terrible candidate. Hillary Clinton would have a better shot in a general election than Kamala Harris. But you'd still vote for Kamala. Hell, you'd even vote for Hillary again.
You know this is deranged, but this is what you signed up for. Everyone knows Biden is too old to run, but there is nothing you can do about it. You take orders from Jennifer Rubin now, and she says Biden's doubters need to "live with it" because his proximity to death is actually a good thing. So live with it.
The drama that unfolded at the Wilmington, Delaware Federal Courthouse yesterday, where courageous Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected the plea deal purportedly agreed to by Hunter Biden and Delaware US Attorney David Weiss’s prosecutors, has taught the nation several important lessons.
First of all, for Americans dependent on the bigfoot media, it was probably news that Hunter Biden, the president’s son, faces any serious legal jeopardy for serious crimes. The corporate media blackout is over, as Newsbusters reported:
All three networks ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News kicked off their newscasts with the Hunter news. On ABC, justice correspondent Terry Moran fretted that “Hunter Biden came to the federal courthouse in Wilmington this morning expecting to put his legal troubles behind him, but it was a day of unexpected courtroom drama and an unforeseen twist.”
Of course, there was spin aplenty, of the boo-hoo Joe just loves his son variety, of the Republicans pounce school of journalism, and naturally, Trump appointed the prosecutor and the judge, for the vast majority who do not understand that Delware’s two Democrat senators had de facto veto power over such presidential appointments.
Nonetheless, with wall-to-wall cable news coverage as the drama unfolded and subsequent evening news and morning show spots, the public now is aware that something is rotten in the state of Delaware as far as the POTUS’s son is concerned.
Second, the official Biden narrative (repeated by hapless Karine Jean-Pierre at yesterday’s press briefing) that Hunter is just a “private citizen” was blown to smithereens by the six-car convoy that delivered Hunter Biden to the courthouse:
Third, the rejection of the deal obviously implies that the Department of Justice wasn’t doing its job and is corrupt. It was beyond a mere “sweetheart deal,” as Iowahawk tweeted. “I wouldn't call it a sweetheart deal, it was more of a lap dance stripper deal.”
The horrifying details of the misconduct confirm corruption. Former deputy special counsel Sol Wisenberg tweeted:
Some thoughts: Now we know why DOJ didn’t show us the plea agreement terms. What didn't they want us to know ahead of time? A) a global immunity deal for Hunter; B) A binding plea (that is, the judge must accept the specific terms if she accepts the agreement); C) Misdemeanor probation; D) Other unusual plea terms. 1. A global immunity deal for Hunter while the overall investigation is “ongoing”, is stunning—a super-sweetheart deal. 2. A binding plea is extremely unusual in the vast majority of federal jurisdictions. It means for example, that if the agreement calls for probation the judge must give Hunter probation. It is binding. 3. That the prosecution and defense would disagree about the terms of the agreement in open court is a joke. Ambiguous terms in a plea agreements are got the law chanbgeconstrued against the government! There should be no room for disagreement on the key terms of the agreement. So, this was either astounding incompetence or corruption on DOJ’s part. I think it is corruption. This looks like a wink and a nod deal (as @shipwreckedcrew has noted) where DOJ would have plausible deniability if the judge asked no questions and accepted the deal. The scope of immunity is the most important feature of a plea deal. It is inconceivable that the prosecutors were incompetent here. Leo Wise has an excellent reputation for competence. 4. Think about this. DOJ was about to sanction a plea deal where Hunter would get misdemeanor probation on serious tax charges plus pretrial diversion (no time served or criminal record) on the felony gun charge. Hunter would also get complete immunity on all other charges. And he would not have to cooperate with the government’s ongoing investigation. Totally disgraceful. Merrick Garland and David Weiss should be ashamed. And where is Lisa Monaco? Why hasn't she been called to testify? [emphasis in original]
Former federal prosecutor (and candidate for Missouri attorney general) Will Scharf explained how the feds colluded with the defense to try to hide the fact that they were giving Hunter a “Get out of Jail Free” card in return for nothing.
… Hunter's plea was structured under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(B), which is usually just a plea in return for a joint sentencing recommendation only, and contained no information on its face about other potential charges, and contained no clear agreement by DOJ to forego prosecution of other charges. Instead, DOJ and Hunter's lawyers effectively hid that part of the agreement in what was publicly described as a pretrial diversion agreement relating to a § 922(g)(3) gun charge against Hunter for being a drug user in possession of a firearm. That pretrial diversion agreement as written was actually MUCH broader than just the gun charge. If Hunter were to complete probation, the pretrial diversion agreement prevented DOJ from ever bringing charges against Hunter for any crimes relating to the offense conduct discussed in the plea agreement, which was purposely written to include his foreign influence peddling operations in China and elsewhere. So they put the facts in the plea agreement, but put their non-prosecution agreement in the pretrial diversion agreement, effectively hiding the full scope of what DOJ was offering and Hunter was obtaining through these proceedings. Hunter's upside from this deal was vast immunity from further prosecution if he finished a couple years of probation, and the public wouldn't be any the wiser because none of this was clearly stated on the face of the plea agreement, as would normally be the case. Judge Noreika smelled a rat. She understood that the lawyers were trying to paint her into a corner and hide the ball. Instead, she backed DOJ and Hunter's lawyers into a corner by pulling all the details out into the open and then indicating that she wasn't going to approve a deal as broad as what she had discovered. DOJ, attempting to save face and save its case, then stated on the record that the investigation into Hunter was ongoing and that Hunter remained susceptible to prosecution under FARA. Hunter's lawyers exploded. They clearly believed that FARA was covered under the deal, because as written, the pretrial diversion agreement language was broad enough to cover it. They blew up the deal, Hunter pled not guilty, and that's the current state of play.
Fourth, the plea deal, if accepted by the judge, would have tied her hands, as former federal prosecutor Shipwreckedcrew tweeted:
This confirms that the written plea offer is an 11(c)(1)(C) plea. That means the Court would have to agree to the sentence that the parties stipulated in the agreement -- Probation -- no matter what the facts might be as determined by the Presentence Report. I could have predicted that would have been DOA. I don't think any federal judge would say "Yes, I'll agree to allow you to lock me into giving only probation and nothing more when I don't know anything about the facts." What a bunch of idiots.
Fifth, the corporate media now has a much harder time pretending that nothing is amiss. Everybody loves a mystery story, and now that the public knows something is up with Hunter Biden that doesn’t pass the smell test, they want to know exactly what that is. The scheduled closed door testimony of former Hunter business partner Devon Archer is expected to reveal under oath his previous statements that Joe Biden listened in to business meetings with Hunter’s dodgy foreign clients via speakerphone many times.
The Democrats now know that the dam has broken on the news of the shady business dealings of the Biden crime family’s influence peddling operation that kicked into high gear as he was leaving the vice presidency and anticipated that he could set up himself and his family for life, never expecting that he would be pulled back from obscurity when the Democrats’ puppet masters needed someone to knock sure-loser Bernie Sanders out of the nomination in 2020.
Yesterday’s events in Wilmington set the stage for the next act in a national drama with the future of the Republic at stake.
“Protect and enrich.” This is a perfect encapsulation of the Clinton Foundation and the Obama book and television deals. Then there is the Biden family corruption, followed closely behind by similar abuses of power and office by the Warren and Sanders families, as Peter Schweizer described in his recent book “Profiles in Corruption.” These names just scratch the surface of government corruption. BRIAN C JOONDEPH
Hunter Biden’s Artistic Career = Influence Peddling
Surprise, surprise, old Joe named a big buyer of Hunter’s artwork to a prestigious federal commission.
Sit down, I’ve got some bad news: Hunter Biden isn’t really “one of the most consequential artists in this century,” as a gallery owner described him in February. Instead, his meteoric artistic career is just more Biden Crime Family influence peddling. I know, knock me over with a feather, right? It has just come to light that Old Joe Biden named a big buyer of Hunter’s artwork to a prestigious federal commission. What a coincidence! But surely there is nothing untoward or even worth investigating here, right, Mr. Garland? After all, it isn’t as if this fishy artistic savant were named something like Donald Trump Jr.
Hunter Biden burst onto the artistic scene like Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita. This crackhead party boy who had shown no previous sign of having any interest in art, much less a talent for it, overnight became one of the hottest properties in the art world, with his paintings going for as much as $500,000 and generally selling for between $55,000 to $225,000 each. By way of comparison, in 2021 a painting by one of the most celebrated artists of the twentieth century, Pablo Picasso, sold for $150,000. To be sure, better-known Picasso paintings frequently sell for millions, but it was astonishing for Hunter Biden paintings to be selling for prices that were remotely comparable to what was paid for anything that one of the great masters produced.
Astonishing and suspicious. What was really going on was all too obvious, although those who were involved in the scheme did their best to conceal it. New York gallery owner George Berges, who displayed Hunter’s daubings, insisted that everything was as honest as the day is long: “I know that there’s a lot of politics involved at the moment which is a shame because his work is not only good it’s important. Hunter Biden will become one of the most consequential artists in this century because the world needs his art now more than ever.” Oh yes, that’s exactly what the world needs.
Business Insider noted Monday that “in 2021, when a New York art gallery debuted Hunter Biden’s paintings with asking prices as high as $500,000, the White House said that Hunter Biden’s team had a process for carefully vetting buyers and that their identities were known only to the gallery, and not to Hunter Biden himself.” There, see? No influence peddling here! Why, good ol’ Honest Hunter doesn’t even know who is buying his dreck! So how could he be selling them access to The Big Guy?
Well, knock me over with a feather again; it looks as if he found a way. Business Insider adds that Hunter “did in fact learn the identity of two buyers, according to three people directly familiar with Hunter Biden’s own account of his art career. And one of those buyers is indeed someone who got a favor from the Biden White House.” Wow, who could possibly have seen this coming?
The art patron in question is one Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, whom Business Insider describes as “a Los Angeles real estate investor and philanthropist,” as well as, lo and behold, a “significant Democratic donor who has given $13,414 to the Biden campaign and $29,700 to the Democratic National Campaign Committee this year. In 2022, she hosted a fundraiser headlined by Vice President Kamala Harris.” In July 2022, Old Joe named Hirsh Naftali to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, which “as an agency of the Government of the United States of America” is dedicated to “protecting endangered historic sites in Eastern and Central Europe that are associated with the heritage of U.S. citizens.” It’s a plum appointment of the type that usually goes to such people as well-heeled donors to the president’s political party.
What is not known is whether Old Joe appointed Hirsh Naftali to this Commission before or after she shelled out for Hunter’s paint spatterings. But this is not as important a question as it may seem to be at first glance. Hirsh Naftali bought Hunter’s art, and Hirsh Naftali got an appointment from the Biden regime. Whether her investment in Hunter’s paintings was a request for that appointment or payment for it makes little difference. The other possibility is that Biden named her to this Commission because, gosh darn it, she is an expert on historic American heritage sites in Europe, and her interest in Crackhead Picasso is just a coincidence.
The Biden regime, of course, insists that “there was no connection between her art purchases and her appointment.” White House spokes-soyboy Ian Sams said unctuously: “Hunter Biden is a private citizen who is entitled to have his own career as an artist. We are not involved in his art sales, and any buyers of his art are not disclosed to the White House.” But as Old Joe himself would say, Come on, man!
If Hirsh Naftali had already bought Hunter’s art before her appointment, she shouldn’t have been appointed. If she was appointed first and then bought the art, she should have thought twice. Remember all that business Bill Clinton used to say about avoiding even the appearance of impropriety? Slick Willie ignored this adage in practice, and Biden tramples it in the mud.
The Biden regime is playing the American people for fools. It isn’t the first time. It won’t be the last.
HOW MANY OF THESE PIGS ARE GAMER LAWYERS ON THE TAKE?
“Protect and enrich.” This is a perfect encapsulation of the Clinton Foundation (TWO GAMER LAWYERS) (WHAT ABOUT THE CHINA BIDEN PENN CENTER?) and the Obama (TWO GAMER LAWYERS) book and television deals. Then there is the Biden family (FOUR GAMER LAWYERS - JOE, HUNTER, JAMES, FRANK) corruption, followed closely behind by similar abuses of power and office by the Warren (GAMER LAWYER) and Sanders families, as Peter Schweizer described in his recent book “Profiles in Corruption.” These names just scratch the surface of government corruption (ADD GAMER LAWYER KAMALA HARRIS AND HER LAWYER HUSBAND AND THE BANKSTERS’ RENT BOY, LAWYER CHUCK SCHUMER AND GEORGE SOROS’ RENT BOY GAMER LAWER TONY BLINKEN AS WELL AS CON MAN ADAM SHIFF). BRIAN C JOONDEPH
SHOCKING SHAKE-UP in Hunter Biden plea deal ... Did lawyers LIE?!
Hunter Biden reportedly knows the identities of at least two of his art buyers, one of whom is reportedly a large Democrat donor, Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, who President Joe Biden placed as the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.
The White House previously claimed Hunter Biden would not know who the identities of the “anonymous” art buyers when questioned about conflicts of interest and ethics concerns.
Naftali is Los Angeles real estate investor and is influential in California Democrat circles. In 2023, she donated $13,414 to the Biden campaign, along with $29,700 to the Democrat National Campaign Committee this year, according to Business Insider, which reported Naftali is one of at least three buyers of Hunter Biden’s art:
In July 2022, eight months after Hunter Biden’s first art opening, Joe Biden announced Hirsh Naftali’s appointment to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. It is unclear whether Hirsh’s purchase of Hunter Biden’s artwork occurred before or after that appointment.
…
An administration official told Insider that her appointment had been recommended to Biden by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They said there was no connection between her art purchases and her appointment. They said that Hirsh Naftali was deeply involved with Jewish causes in Los Angeles and Israel — valuable background for a commission that works to preserve many historic Jewish sites across Europe. They noted her service on a policy board at the RAND Corporation, a prominent think tank. Membership on the commission is an unpaid position that is often filled by campaign donors, family members, and political allies — the same crowd that often winds up with US ambassadorial appointments. Hirsh Naftali’s fundraising activities mark her as the kind of well-connected donor who often wins such appointments, regardless of any relationship they might have with the president’s family. But they do not address the possibility that Hunter Biden might have voiced his support for her appointment.
Hunter Biden also reportedly sold art to his top lawyer, Kevin Morris, who also paid Hunter Biden’s unpaid IRS bill of about $2 million. The entertainment lawyer is at the center of Hunter Biden’s new-found career of painting modern art, an occupation connected to the art market known for corruption.
Morris helped Hunter forge a framework to sell art to anonymous buyers through a dealer with ties to the Chinese art market. Morris was also involved in Hunter’s 2021 controversial memoir.
FLASHBACK: White House Under Fire After Hunter Biden Art Show Ethics Debacle
The White House
0 seconds of 2 minutes, 14 secondsVolume 90%
According to the New York Post, both Morris and Hunter Biden are represented by the same agents.
The third buyer’s name is unknown to Insider. But this single buyer bought 11 Hunter Biden artworks for a total of $875,000, Insider reported:
That one buyer represents the majority of the $1,379,000 in receipts that Hunter Biden’s gallery received for his work, the documents show, with the gallery receiving a 40 to 45 percent commission. The $875,000 art buyer resides outside New York and purchased some of Hunter Biden’s largest format works, including a 12-foot-long red-white-and-blue piece painted on sheet metal and entitled “Pandemonium.”
In total, Hunter Biden anonymously sold about 12 paintings for less than $500,000, the Washington Post reported in January. It is unclear how much money the art generated at the sale, but estimates suggest he earned at least five times more than the average American artist — all while being a novice painter.
Insider reported Monday that Hunter Biden’s gallery has $1,379,000 in receipts for his work.
The art industry is known for shady business transactions. A Senate subcommittee report detailed in 2020 how the art market serves as a vehicle for money laundering:
The art industry is considered the largest, legal unregulated industry in the United States. Unlike financial institutions, the art industry is not subject to Bank Secrecy Act’s (“BSA”) requirements, which mandate detailed procedures to prevent money laundering and to verify a customer’s identity. While the BSA does not apply to art transactions by art dealers and auction houses, sanctions do. No U.S. person or entity is allowed to do business with a sanctioned individual or entity.
…
While the art market is not regulated by the BSA, it is governed by unwritten rules. A large number of art sales happen through intermediaries referred to as “art advisors” who can represent both purchasers and sellers. In a typical transaction, a purchaser may not ask who owns the piece of art they are purchasing; the seller may not ask for whom it is being purchased or the origin of the money. And in general an art advisor would be reluctant to reveal the identity of their client for fear of being cut out of the deal and losing the business.
…
Because the art industry is not subject to BSA requirements, when a piece of art is sold, there is no legal requirement for the selling party to confirm the identity of the buyer or that the buyer is not laundering money through the purchase. While the four biggest auction houses have voluntary anti-money laundering (“AML”) programs, the employees who facilitated art purchases in the Subcommittee’s case study said they never asked the art advisor the identity of his client. Instead, the auction houses considered the art advisor the principal purchaser and performed any due diligence on the art advisor, even when it was well-known that the ultimate owner was someone else. With regard to the funds used to purchase art, the auction houses told the Subcommittee they rely on financial institutions to ensure the integrity of the funds, even though the auction houses interact directly with the buyer. But these voluntary AML policies are just for sales through the auction houses. As stated above, the majority of art sales are private transactions. A private dealer interviewed by the Subcommittee stated she had no written AML policies, tries to work with people she knows and trusts, looks for red flags, and relies on her gut. She also explained that her practices have significantly changed over the years and that she also relies on advice from AML lawyers.
Secrecy, anonymity, and a lack of regulation create an environment ripe for laundering money and evading sanctions.
The California real estate investor and Biden administration commission member who purchased Hunter Biden's art has contributed more than $4.5 million to liberal politicians and causes, according to federal campaign finance disclosures reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali has funneled roughly $4.53 million to Democratic candidates since 2004, the disclosures show. President Joe Biden is a major recipient of that money—his campaign and victory fund has received more than $220,000 from Naftali, nearly $7,000 of which came in April. Naftali has also sent the Democratic National Committee more than $200,000 since Biden became president, and she contributed nearly $75,000 to former president Barack Obama's campaign and victory fund from 2008 to 2012. In addition to the campaign contributions, Naftali sent $250,000 to the Biden Inaugural Committee, disclosures show.
Naftali's status as a Hunter Biden art buyer, which Business Insiderrevealed Monday, contradicts the White House's promise to install "reasonable safeguards" around the scandal-plagued first son's art shows. The president appointed Naftali to his Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad in July 2022, nine months after Hunter Biden's first show.
In addition to the appointment, Naftali has visited the White House at least 13 times since December 2021, the Free Beacon reported Tuesday. One of those visits saw Naftali meet one-on-one with White House senior adviser Neera Tanden.
The White House claimed all Hunter Biden art buyers would remain anonymous. But the first son, according to Insider, knew of at least one buyer—wealthy Los Angeles attorney Kevin Morris, who loaned Hunter Biden millions of dollars to pay off back taxes. While someone close to Morris told the New York Times that the attorney may have received the art as a gift, Insider found that Morris purchased the art.
In addition to her contributions to the Biden campaign, Naftali—who did not return a request for comment—last year hosted a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris. Naftali has also contributed to a who's who of congressional Democrats, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).
The Biden administration told Insider that Pelosi recommended Naftali to serve on the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad. But Hunter Biden has indicated that he holds sway when it comes to the commission's members. Hunter Biden's cousin, Missy Owens, in March 2015 asked if he could secure her mother a spot on the commission. In response, Hunter Biden noted that "Eric," an apparent reference to business partner Eric Schwerin, asked to serve on the commission in 2008. Schwerin landed on the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad in 2015.
Hunter Biden's lack of art experience has not stopped the recovering drug addict from selling paintings for big money. The first son sold at least $875,000 worth of art to a single patron, money that comes as he navigates a litany of legal and financial problems over his failure to pay federal income taxes and his ownership of a firearm while addicted to drugs. Hunter Biden is also on the hook for $5,000 in monthly payments to support a child that the Biden family does not acknowledge.
The California real estate investor who purchased Hunter Biden’s art has landed more than a dozen private White House visits, including a one-on-one meeting with one of President Joe Biden’s most senior advisers.
Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali has visited the White House at least 13 times since December 2021, according to a Washington Free Beacon review of White House visitor logs. Naftali attended several large events at the White House but has also had several more intimate visits. She met White House senior adviser Neera Tanden on March 21, the visitor logs show.
Naftali was identified Monday as a buyer of Hunter Biden’s art work, a revelation that raises significant ethics concerns for the White House. President Joe Biden appointed Naftali, who owns a commercial real estate firm in Los Angeles, to the prestigious Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad just nine months after the younger Biden’s first art show. Naftali has donated more than $13,000 to the Biden campaign and $36,500 to the Democratic National Committee.
The White House promised that they would install "reasonable safeguards" around Hunter Biden’s art show, and claimed all buyers would remain anonymous. But Naftali’s visits could cast doubt on those claims, particularly as Business Insider reported that Hunter Biden knew the identity of at least one buyer: his close friend and adviser Kevin Morris, who has loaned the embattled first son millions of dollars.
Hunter Biden has suggested in the past that he holds influence over the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. In March 2015, Hunter Biden’s cousin, Missy Owens, asked whether he could secure a spot at the agency for her mother.
Hunter Biden responded by recalling a time when "Eric"—presumably his business partner Eric Schwerin—asked about an appointment there in 2008. Schwerin was confirmed to a post on the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad in 2015.
All of Naftali’s White House visits occurred after Hunter Biden’s first art show opened in New York City in November 2021. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the meeting with Tanden, a longtime Democratic operative, Naftali met with White House policy adviser Richard Figueroa on Dec. 14, 2021, and Sept. 14, 2022. She visited the West Wing with six other people on Sept. 15, 2022, and the East Wing residence with around forty others on Sept. 17, 2022.
Despite little experience in the art world, Hunter Biden has sold at least $1.3 million of his works, including $875,000 worth of paintings to a single anonymous patron. Those art purchases have likely provided a lifeline to Hunter Biden as he faces a series of legal and financial problems.
Hunter Biden was indicted last month on misdemeanor charges of failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. He also pleaded guilty to a felony gun charge for owning a firearm while addicted to drugs.
Hunter Biden settled a paternity lawsuit last month involving his four-year-old daughter, whom the Biden family has refused to acknowledge. Hunter agreed to pay $5,000 in monthly child support and give his daughter some of his paintings as part of the settlement.
The White House once said it would install "reasonable safeguards" to ensure that the sale of Hunter Biden's artwork to ensure buyers would not have any "influence" over the president. A new report challenges the truthfulness of those comments.
Not only do the Bidens know at least two of the individuals who purchased some of Hunter’s paintings, but one of them, Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, was appointed to a glamorous federal commission not long after buying the first son’s art, Business Insider reports. The other buyer is Kevin Morris, the Los Angeles attorney who has reportedly lent Hunter at least $2 million for his back taxes, child support, and living expenses for his lavish home in Los Angeles. The New York Times reported that Morris, who is open about owning the art, received several paintings as a gift.
President Joe Biden appointed Naftali, a Los Angeles-based real estate investor, to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad—a federal agency that oversees the preservation of European historical sites—in July 2022. Her appointment came just nine months after Hunter Biden’s first art show. Naftali has donated at least $13,414 to President Joe Biden’s campaign, and another $29,700 to the Democratic National Committee this year. She previously hosted a fundraiser that included Vice President Kamala Harris in 2022.
The Insider report is certain to raise a litany of ethics questions for the president. Although the timing of Naftali’s purchase is unknown, Hunter has suggested he’s played a hand in appointments to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.
In March 2015, Hunter Biden’s cousin, Missy Owens, inquired about whether her mother could receive a presidential appointment, emails from a copy of his laptop show.
"I didn’t know she wanted to do that me [sic] of these. Eric asked for one of these the day after the election in 2008," Hunter wrote back. "You know better than me what are real and interesting appointments. Let’s go through the list with Steve and see what makes sense. I don’t know how much 2016 and nepotism plays into it."
The "Eric" in that email appears to be Hunter Biden’s longtime business associate Eric Schwerin, who was appointed to the commission in 2015. President Biden has denied any speaking to his son about "his overseas business dealings," although the White House since changed its message to the president "was never in business with his son."
Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismissed ethics concerns about Hunter’s art career in July 2021, and said that "any offer out of the normal course would be rejected out of hand."
Hunter Biden has sold at least $1.3 million worth of his artwork, according to documents obtained by Insider. One anonymous buyer bought 11 pieces for nearly $900,000. That buyer’s identity is unknown at this time.
"Hunter Biden is a private citizen who is entitled to have his own career as an artist," White House spokesman Ian Sams told Business Insider. "We are not involved in his art sales, and any buyers of his art are not disclosed to the White House."
Hunter Biden's artwork has brought in $1.3 million dollars, and it has been revealed that a top Democratic donor and Biden family friend who President Biden named to a prestigious commission was one of the top purchasers.
Despite a promise that all purchasers' identities would be kept a secret, two names have been revealed: Los Angeles-based real estate investor and Democratic donor Elizabeth Hirsch Naftali and Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris.
Wow. So both are closely linked to Democrat politics, with one of them, Naftali, getting herself appointed to a Biden art commission and the other serving as Hunter Biden's lawyer, fixer, and bailout man for Hunter Biden's back taxes. He was last seen in public huffing a bong in Malibu.
It kind of contradicts what the White House said the Hunter painting sales operation would be:
When Hunter Biden first announced he would make a high-dollar foray into the art world, the Biden team promised the identities of those who purchased Hunter's art would remain anonymous. On the campaign trail, Joe Biden promised an 'absolute wall' between his duties as president and his family's business dealings.
The White House said at the time the buyers had been vetted and their identity was only known to the gallery - suggesting Hunter's latest business venture would not become a way to sell White House influence.
The latest revelations from Congress about Biden's involvement in Hunter's business dealings pretty well puts paid to that claim about some kind of wall on Hunter's business dealings, while 60 Minutes's adoring 2021 profile of Hunter as the art world's hot new sensation now looks skeezy.
The art world itself and its major critics have basically called bee ess on the idea of these Hunter paintings being masterpieces.
The names of these buyers should have been revealed right from the beginning. According to the report, Hunter knew who they were and would have been at least theoretically in a position to respond to whatever it was they might have wanted in return for the purchases as a result. And if Hunter knew, you can bet others in the White House knew, too. The only people these buyers were being concealed from were the voters, who might just judge for themselves whether this was a pay-to-play operation.
These are far from the only buyers of Hunter's newfound talent as a creator of art at masterpiece prices, but they are indicative of what seems to be going on.
Where are the leaked out names of actual art collectors on this list, the kind of people who normally pay these kinds of prices for art on its merit to go into their collections that journalists write about and that the public wants to see? So far, we don't see any of those leaked out.
All we see now are just see a couple of politically connected characters who might have reasons other than a quest for the greatest art for their collections for their purchases. Morris's purchase, for instance, could probably go a ways towards repaying Hunter's debt to him for paying his taxes. Money in, money out.
As for the art commission appointment Naftali got, it's unknown whether the appointment was made before or after the purchase, according to the report, but that could still be pay-for-play either way -- either as a means of getting influence, or as a thank you purchase. The story says it was an unpaid appointment, but well, let's just say these commissions wield a lot of power and prestige for things art collectors care about. There's a reason the art world denizens angle to get on them.
It all suggests that the Biden way of doing business is carrying on the way it always carries on. There appears to be an art-selling operation that is targeted towards buyers for influence and the Bidens appear to be benefiting. As if there weren't enough things to investigate, this looks investigate-able, too. It's just so blatant, and carries so much potential for influence-peddling and conflicts of interest that it seems like an open ad for it. At a minimum, it's time to release the names of all the art buyers and find out if they had gotten political benefits a lot bigger than the benefits of Hunter's whiz-kid "talent."
Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer has testified before a federal grand jury regarding the Biden family and plans to be interviewed by the House Oversight Committee next week, his attorney said Monday.
Matthew Schwartz, who represents Archer, told the Washington Free Beacon that Archer has met with numerous investigators regarding the Biden family.
"Devon Archer believes strongly in the rule of law and the democratic system, and is prepared to answer the Committee’s questions just as he has already answered similar questions from a federal grand jury, the Department of Justice, and several other government agencies in their investigations concerning the Biden family," Schwartz said.
According to the New York Post, Archer plans to tell the Oversight panel that he was with Hunter Biden on more than two dozen occasions when the embattled first son called his father during meetings with foreign business partners. The Post reported Archer will testify that Hunter Biden called his father on speakerphone during one meeting they had in December 2015 with the owner of Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian energy company that paid Hunter Biden and Archer more than $80,000 a month.
The report marks a major development in the Biden family saga. The president has repeatedly denied ever speaking with his son about his foreign business ventures. The report also comes after Republicans released an FBI report that shows a confidential source told the FBI in 2020 that Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky claims he paid $10 million in bribes to Hunter and Joe Biden for political favors.
Schwartz did not comment on the Post report, but said Archer will testify before the Oversight panel next week.
"There have been many leaks and much speculation about Mr. Archer’s potential statement to the Oversight Committee, but next week, Mr. Archer will get to speak for himself."
Hunter Biden and Archer were partners at the investment firm Rosemont Seneca until Archer’s indictment on federal fraud charges in 2016.
It is unclear whether Archer spoke to the federal grand jury or prosecutors about Hunter Biden’s phone calls to Joe Biden. The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware reached a plea agreement with Hunter Biden last month on misdemeanor tax charges. He also pleaded guilty to a felony gun charge, but will enter a diversionary program to wipe that charge from his record.
Two IRS whistleblowers have accused the Justice Department of pulling punches in the Hunter Biden investigation. IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler testified last week that federal prosecutors who handled the investigation initially sought felony taxes charges against Hunter Biden, including for Hunter Biden’s failure to report income from Burisma. But the IRS investigators said the Justice Department ultimately settled for misdemeanor counts.
Shapley and Ziegler said prosecutors prohibited investigators from asking questions about Joe Biden and other members of his family.
No comments:
Post a Comment