We’ve all seen the clip. Fox News’ Peter Doocy confronted Joe Biden about his son’s sleazy government access deals. We know the president is also neck deep in these deals, which is why his Department of Justice worked assiduously to disrupt any criminal investigations into Hunter Biden. This August 9 interaction isn’t one-off; Biden allegedly terrorizes his staffers. Biden was in Utah at the time, as his son’s former associate, Devon Archer, corroborated a lot of what we already knew about the Biden family scheming, which included the taking of bribes from eastern European oligarchs (via RCP):
Peter Doocy is back and he is holding nothing back! He just walked up to Joe Biden and asked him about Devon Archer's sworn testimony implicating the President in Hunter's business dealings. pic.twitter.com/PtI2d5gjpu
— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) August 9, 2023
STEVE DOOCY, FOX NEWS: There's this testimony now where one of your son's former business associates is claiming you were on speakerphone a lot with them talking business.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I never talked business with anybody and I knew you'd have a lousy question.
DOOCY: Why is that a lousy question?
BIDEN: Because it's not true.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Law professor Jonathan Turley added that the more interesting interaction occurred off-camera when Biden aides reached out to Doocy after Grandpa threw his fit. Turley also elaborated why the continued use of White House staffers to repeat the ‘I know nothing could end up with Biden running afoul of the new standard of lying and fraud as outlined by Special Counsel Jack Smith:
Biden snapped at Peter Doocy yesterday for asking about his roughly 20 speakerphone calls to dinners or meetings with his son's foreign associates. However, in my view, what was most interesting is what came next...
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 10, 2023
...Doocy said that the White House called him as soon as he made it to his car to refute the specifics of the allegations on discussing business. The use of White House staff to repeat these positions could magnify the problems for Biden. https://t.co/30HRB1CDFX
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 10, 2023
Far more serious are the accusations facing Biden over his response to a growing corruption scandal allegedly involving his son and others. It now seems clear that Biden has lied to the public for years on critical details of the scandal. Indeed, his denial of any knowledge or involvement in his son’s overseas business deals go back to the 2020 presidential debate.
Biden also denied that Hunter Biden received any money from China, which the Washington Post now declares to be manifestly untrue. For years, Biden has allowed his staff, including White House officials, to repeat his denials while opposing any further investigation.
That is why guilt by implication or association, as employed by special counsel Smith against Trump, could be a dangerous legal standard for Joe Biden.
Hunter Biden’s former friend and associate, Devon Archer, told House Oversight Committee investigators last week that they were indeed selling “the brand” and that Joe Biden was part of that brand.
[…]
…Archer reaffirmed that it is “categorically false” that Joe Biden had no role in or knowledge of his son’s business dealings, stating: “He was aware of Hunter’s business. He met with Hunter’s business partners.”
Archer also confirmed dinners long denied by Biden officials and the media. For example, prior reports of a 2015 dinner with Hunter’s business associates directly contradicted the president’s repeated denials of knowledge or involvement. A Biden 2020 campaign spokesman at the time insisted the story was false, and Politico reported that other officials also assured that it was all untrue; some suggested it was more “Russian disinformation.”
It turns out that denial also was a lie, because Archer confirmed that Biden “had dinner” with him and several others, including “Vadym P. from Burisma,” referring to an officer of a Ukrainian energy company. The senior Biden reportedly joined the dinner and engaged in discussions.
Biden surely knew his denials of knowledge and interactions were untrue, even as his aides misinformed the public and as congressional and federal investigations occurred.
Now, according to special counsel Smith, such knowing lies can be criminal matters, at least in the case of Donald Trump. For Congress, it could also trigger impeachment inquiries in the case of Joe Biden — and that would make this very personal indeed.
We’ll come back to this—everyone must eventually, after the latest round of Trump news inevitably drops.
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