The implosion of the Rule of Law
The erudite and insightful Roger Kimball, who is well known to the readers at American Thinker, discusses in his essay the disappearance of the American respect for and application of the rule of law:
Instead of proper rule of law we are living with that Orwellian alternative, Our Rule of Law — an arbitrary enforcement of the laws and use of the coercive power of the state.
Mr. Kimball opens with a recall of the Hemingway novel The Sun Also Rises, which describes what is playing out now: the exchange "'How did you go bankrupt?' Bill asked. 'Two ways,' Mike said. 'Gradually, then suddenly.'" Mr. Kimball alludes to the loss of the American Rule of Law, and you get the point: we are lost, gradually, now suddenly. Have we lost the Rule of Law forever?
Mr. Kimball points out that the Hunter laptop scandal was revealed by the laptop from hell. Miranda Devine broke the story, but it languished because of media cover-up and cancelation.
Kimball reveals the important breakthroughs, the bribes, and the explosive revelations of Hunter and other Biden family receipt of payments from foreign actors. That has led to House discovery of many different payments. That's the fodder for treason prosecutions. It dribbled out, then suddenly the reality arrived for anyone who cared, and the House started a serious exposé that showed payments to Biden's family and the sitting president of the United States.
Explosive information from IRS informers made no dent. Records of clear-cut Hunter efforts, with Joe sitting beside him, to demand bribe and payoff money from the Chicoms are ignored and diminished by government officials and media if they are acknowledged at all.
The tax fraud deal by Hunter was a scandal, but who's worried or fretting? After all, Hunter is untouchable in spite of his failure to report millions in income, and he got a misdemeanor slap on the wrist for tax charges. Same for a fraudulent application for a sidearm. There are credible and evidence-supported allegations of Hunter's and Joe's legal violations, all the way to consorting with enemies. We also have good evidence of Deep State efforts to protect Hunter and Joe. Where's that going?
Preferential treatment? Not according to A.G. Merrick Garland, who declared any critic of the Justice Department as betraying "democracy."
The two-tier deployment of justice in this country is patent for all to see, but what are you going to believe, your lying eyes or the pronunciamentos of this gray-on-gray bureaucrat from hell?
The end, as Hemingway's character observed, came gradually at first. We've moved on now to the "suddenly" part.
Is it so hard to see, the decline in the respect for law and even-handed application and enforcement of the law? No, not at all. Any halfway informed person knows we are entering a new legal environment — the world of tyranny and despots who use the law as a means for control and elimination of political opposition. We may be lost...forever?
John Dale Dunn, M.D., J.D. is a retired emergency physician and inactive attorney in Brownwood Texas.
Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
A 19-Point Time Line of Joe Biden’s Infamous Links to the Family Business
Although President Joe Biden has personally denied involvement in his family’s international business scheme nine times, a time line of events suggests Joe Biden not only is linked to the family’s affairs but is a key member of an “organized crime” operation, as House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) termed it.
Comer recently identified “six specific policy decisions” that Joe Biden made that indicate he could be “compromised.”
“Where is the money?” Biden responded in June when asked about his ties to the business. He later said he was joking. “It’s a bunch of malarkey.”
The following 19-point time line lays out the data points obtained from whistleblowers, the “Laptop from Hell,” James Comer, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and the Senate 2020 report on the family.
One:
In 2013, Hunter flew to China with Vice President Joe Biden aboard Air Force Two. During the excursion, Hunter introduced the vice president to his business partner Jonathan Li, the CEO of a company linked to Chinese intelligence.
Ten days after the visit to China, Hunter secured a ten percent interest in BHR Partners, a Chinese state-backed investment fund co-founded with Li. The fund’s capitalization was $1 billion.
The Bank of China, a state-owned bank, controls BHR Partners. BHR Partners’ website boasts 15 billion RMB (renmibi, the official Chinese currency) in various portfolio companies, translating to more than two billion U.S. dollars.
Hunter Biden held a ten percent interest in BHR with the entity Skaneateles LLC. He controlled Skaneateles, according to Chinese public records from Baidu, as the sole governor until its dissolution in September 2021, a Washington, DC, registration indicated. Documents obtained by Breitbart News, first revealed by the nonprofit Marco Polo, show the control of Skaneateles LLC is held by Kevin Morris, Hunter Biden’s top attorney, who also paid Hunter Biden’s IRS debts.
Two:
Photos from 2014 reveal Joe Biden met with Hunter’s Mexican business associates, billionaire Miguel Alemán Velasco and his son Miguel Aleman Magnani, in the vice president’s office.
“The then-vice president also flew Hunter and his partner Jeff Cooper on Air Force 2 to Mexico City in 2016 where Hunter arranged to meet Alemán’s son for meetings over a ‘flippin gigantic’ business deal,” the Daily Mail reported.
Three:
In 2016, Hunter and Joe Biden flew aboard Air Force Two to Mexico, where Hunter met with a business associate from Mexico City. On the trip, Jeff Cooper, who ran a large litigation firm, SimmonsCooper, invested $1 million in Hunter and James Biden’s now-defunct hedge fund. The New York Post reported:
SimmonsCooper also put up $1 million in investment capital for Hunter and his uncle Jim [James] Biden’s abortive attempt to run a hedge fund in 2009. When the venture ended, the Bidens returned the money.
Cooper joined the VP’s entourage on Air Force Two to Mexico in 2016, when he and Hunter were trying to negotiate an ill-fated petroleum deal with Aleman Magnani.
At 6 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2016, about an hour after “wheels up” from Joint Base Andrews on the five-hour flight to Mexico City, Hunter wrote a plaintive email to Aleman Magnani using Air Force Two’s secure, high-speed satellite communications channel. He blind-copied Cooper.
Four:
A photo reportedly taken in 2014 shows Joe Biden golfing with Hunter and Devon Archer, Hunter’s fellow board member at the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. Archer, who was imprisoned for fraud, is in talks to comply with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena regarding his knowledge of the Biden family’s alleged $10 million Ukraine “bribe” and additional Biden family business transactions.
“The photograph includes a fourth man who has not been identified. However, he is not Burisma’s top executive Taras Burdeinyi or founder Mykola Zlochevsky. Photographs of both men can be seen here and here,” Reuters reported.
Five:
In 2015, Burisma was under suspicion of money laundering and public corruption. Prosecutor Victor Shokin was investigating the case before his termination due to pressure applied by then-Vice President Joe Biden, who threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid from Ukraine if the Ukrainian government did not fire Shokin.
Joe Biden later bragged about the firing during a 2018 appearance at the Council of Foreign Relations.
“I said, ‘I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars.’ I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in,’ I think it was about six hours,” Biden told the audience. “I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.’ Well, son of a bitch. He got fired.”
Six:
An FBI informant claims to possess two pieces of evidence that show Joe Biden received $5 million after threatening to withhold aid to Ukraine until Shokin was fired, House Oversight Committee Republicans told reporters after reviewing the bureau’s informant file.
Seven:
In 2015, the day after Joe and Hunter Biden met with foreign business partners at Cafe Milano, one of the men emailed Hunter Biden his thanks for the “opportunity to meet your father.”
The New York Post reported:
The never-before-revealed meeting is mentioned in a message of appreciation that Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Burisma, allegedly sent Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015, about a year after Hunter joined the Burisma board at a reported salary of up to $50,000 a month.
“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure,” the email reads.
An earlier email from May 2014 also shows Pozharskyi, reportedly Burisma’s No. 3 executive, asking Hunter for “advice on how you could use your influence” on the company’s behalf.
Eight:
Hunter and Joe Biden allegedly “coerced” a Burisma executive into paying them $10 million in bribes, a source familiar with the FBI’s informant document confirmed to Breitbart News.
In 2015, Hunter and Joe Biden met with business associates from Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan at a popular Washington, DC, restaurant. Joe Biden was then vice president.
The New York Post reported:
Online photos of the interior of Cafe Milano match the background of the shot that shows the Bidens smiling while flanked by Kazakhstani oligarch Kenes Rakishev and Karim Massimov, a former prime minister of Kazakhstan.
Ten:
In 2017, Joe Biden penned a college recommendation letter for a child of Hunter’s Chinese business partner, Jonathan Li, with whom Joe Biden met in China.
Eleven:
In 2017, Hunter Biden stated in an email that Joe Biden was one of his “new office mates” after he “went into business with the CEFC executive,” according to the Washington Post. Hunter also made a key for Joe Biden to use at the House of Sweden in Georgetown.
Hunter Biden appeared to cancel his lease with the House of Sweden in 2018 after the CEFC energy deal failed in 2017. The Biden family had previously negotiated a deal with CEFC whereby Joe Biden (Big Guy) would receive a ten percent equity stake in the joint venture, Hunter’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski.
Twelve:
In 2017, whistleblower Tony Bobulinski, one of Hunter Biden’s many business partners, twice met with Joe Biden to discuss a business deal in China.
“I directly dealt with the Biden family, including Joe Biden,” Bobulinski stated.
After Bobulinski dined with former Vice President Joe Biden, his brother Jim Biden, and Hunter to discuss their deal in China, Bobulinski messaged James, telling him to “thank Joe for his time.”
Thirteen:
Between 2009 and 2017, Hunter’s business partner, Eric Schwerin, met with Vice President Joe Biden at the White House 19 times, White House visitor logs obtained by the New York Post revealed. Schwerin was the president of the infamous but now-dissolved investment fund Rosemont Seneca Partners.
Fourteen:
In 2017, Hunter Biden demanded payment from CCP-linked Chinese businessman Raymond Zhao, while Joe Biden was “sitting next to” him, according to a screenshot of a WhatsApp message from an IRS whistleblower.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” the screen capture shows. “Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight.”
The captured transcript of the call continues:
And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.
Fifteen:
Just days after demanding to be paid by a CEFC associate in a WhatsApp text with Joe Biden “sitting” next to him, Hunter Biden asked a second CEFC business associate, Gongwen “Kevin” Dong, for $10 million in another WhatsApp text, noting the Biden family is best at “doing exactly what the chairman wants.”
In a message dated August 3, 2017, Hunter Biden told Kevin he wanted to quit squabbling “over peanuts” and settle on a firm deal by putting “this to bed tonight … and get to work. I am tired of this Kevin. I can make $5M in salary at any law firm in America.”
“Very simple,” Hunter wrote. “10 M per annum budget to use to further the interest of the JV. This move to 5M is completely new to me and is not acceptable obviously.”
“If you think this is about money it’s not,” Hunter added. “The Bidens are the best I know at doing exactly what the chairman wants from this partnership … let’s not quibble over peanuts.”
Chris Clark, Hunter Biden’s attorney, admitted the 2017 WhatsApp text demanding money from a CCP-linked businessman while “sitting next to” his dad was indeed Hunter’s message.
“The DOJ investigation covered a period which was a time of turmoil and addiction for my client,” he wrote. “Any verifiable words or actions of my client in the midst of a horrible addiction are solely his own and have no connection to anyone in his family.”
Sixteen:
In 2018, two years after Joe and Hunter Biden flew to Mexico to meet with Cooper, Hunter texted Cooper about a deal he had in the works with a business partner named Slim, the New York Post reported. “Spoke to my dad about ‘Slim ask,’” Hunter said to Cooper.
“Oh that sounds SO F’ING GOOD,” Cooper responded.
Seventeen:
In 2018, Joe Biden called Hunter Biden and left a voicemail about a business deal with the Chinese energy company CEFC. The voicemail revealed the Biden family’s concern that sensitive information was included in a New York Times article about Hunter Biden’s involvement with CEFC’s chairman Ye Jianming.
“Hey pal, it’s Dad. It’s 8:15 on Wednesday night. If you get a chance just give me a call. Nothing urgent. I just wanted to talk to you,” Joe Biden said.
“I thought the article released online, it’s going to be printed tomorrow in the Times, was good. I think you’re clear. And anyway if you get a chance give me a call. I love you,” the message concluded.
Eighteen:
In 2019, Hunter Biden revealed to his daughter that Joe Biden collected “half [my] salary” for 30 years. Hunter reportedly paid thousands of dollars for Joe Biden’s house repairs from the money reportedly obtained from selling access to Joe Biden.
“I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family for 30 years,” he texted. “It’s really hard. But don’t worry, unlike Pop [Joe], I won’t make you give me half your salary.”
Nineteen:
In 2023, Former Obama White House stenographer Mike McCormick alleged that the FBI has ignored Joe Biden’s role in the family’s foreign influence-peddling “conspiracy” in Ukraine.
McCormick, who told the New York Post he has relevant information implicating Joe Biden in the family’s business affairs in Ukraine, submitted a tip to the FBI in February. McCormick said he never heard back from the FBI — the same law enforcement agency which allegedly “shut down” the investigation into Hunter’s abandoned “Laptop from Hell.”
According to McCormick, Biden’s former national security aide, Sullivan, told reporters on April 21, 2014, on Air Force Two as an anonymous “senior administration official” that the United States intended to help Ukraine’s natural gas industry.
Unknown to the public at the time, Hunter Biden was already a board member of Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas company. Hunter’s position on the board was not disclosed by the company until May 12, 2014, nearly a month after Sullivan’s statement to reporters.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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