The final presidential debate is over, and yes, President Donald Trump brought up Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and the reported corrupt schemes that earned them millions of dollars. Trump accurately described their enterprise as a vacuum that sucks up all the cash, even if it’s not in the interests of the United States and draws questions as to whether the elder Biden abused the office of the vice presidency for personal gain. You saw that with the Burisma arrangement back in 2014. All of the details were rehashed now that we have seen the dirty Biden laundry, thanks to Hunter’s emails.
Hunter was put on the board of this Ukrainian energy company for $50k/month. Hunter got the company leaked access to an Obama White House conference call and legal protection. Joe was heading up our policy efforts in Ukraine around this time. He got the prosecutor looking into Burisma fired by threatening to withhold aid to the country. He was also introduced to Burisma executives. Hunter was allegedly selling access to top Obama officials, and his dad seemed to know exactly what was going on, contrary to his claim of not knowing any of Hunter’s deals. The point is it looks like Joe Biden went rogue to protect his family’s interests and not of those of the United States. Protecting Hunter is not an Obama action item.
If that’s murky, the China scheme makes Joe’s involvement clearer. In fact, it seems that on a lot of these ventures, Joe Biden is the one who has to sign off on Hunter’s excursions. That’s what’s been alleged by Hunter’s ex-business partner Tony Bobulinski, who is handing over to the FBI all devices and records of business deals where he and the Bidens were involved. He said Hunter called his dad the “chairman,” and gave a press conference just before the final presidential debate Thursday night. It was wild [emphasis mine]:
"I'm making this statement to set the record straight about the involvement of the Biden family. Vice President Biden, his brother Jim Biden and his son Hunter Biden in dealings with the Chinese. I've heard Joe Biden say that he's never discussed business with Hunter. That is false. I have first-hand knowledge of this because I directly dealt with the Biden family, including Joe Biden," Bobulinksi said, adding he was warned about coming forward. "The evidence sits on these three phones. I don't want to go into anything further. This will be discussed with Senator Johnson and his committee and the American people can decide what's fact."
"Here are the facts I know and everything I'm saying is corroborated by emails, whats app chats, agreements, documents, and other evidence," he continued.
Bobulinski physically presented the phones and said the years of communications to prove his claims.
"I brought, I guess, for the record three phones that spanned the years 2015 to 2018 these phones have never been held by anybody else besides myself. I was told this past Sunday by somebody who was also involved in this matter that if I went public this information would be it would bury all of us, man," he said. "I have no wish to bury anyone. I've never been political. The few contributions I've made have been the Democrats. But what I am is a patriot, and a veteran, to protect my family name, and my business reputation. I need to ensure that the true facts are out there."
The liberal media calls this story a distraction. The Democrats on the Hill think it’s a Russian disinformation operation. It’s not. The Biden camp hasn’t said that these Hunter emails are fake. They’re real. Bobulinski confirmed the China deal pitch where Hunter refers to someone as the “big guy.” It centered on a pitch to a Chinese firm, where “big guy” was slated to get a 10 percent equity stake. “Big guy” is said to be Joe Biden. Joe Biden will sell out to the highest bidder. That’s his policy, which will become federal policy should he become president. Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel threaded all the events together, which point to a complex web of corruption, and one where the Biden name was used as a way to make millions from America’s enemies [emphasis mine]:
Mr. Bobulinski’s text messages show he was recruited for the project by James Gilliar, a Hunter associate. Mr. Gilliar explains in a December 2015 text that there will be a deal between the Chinese and “one of the most prominent families from the U.S.” A month later he introduces Rob Walker, also “a partner of Biden.” In March 2016, Mr. Gilliar tells Mr. Bobulinski the Chinese entity is CEFC, which is shaping up to be “the Goldmans of China.” Mr. Gilliar promises that same month to “develop” the terms of a deal “with hunter.” Note that in 2015-16, Joe Biden was still vice president.
As the deal takes shape in 2017, Mr. Bobulinski begins to question what Hunter will contribute besides his name, and worries that he was “kicked out of US Navy for cocaine use.” Mr. Gilliar acknowledges “skill sets [sic] missing” and observes that Hunter “has a few demons.” He explains that “in brand [Hunter is] imperative but right know [sic] he’s not essential for adding input.” Mr. Bobulinski writes that he appreciates “the name/leverage being used” but thinks the economic “upside” should go to the team doing the actual work. Mr. Gilliar reminds him that those on the Chinese side “are intelligence so they understand the value added.”
[…]
Hunter, in his own angry texts, makes clear that his contribution is his name. He rails at Mr. Bobulinski that the CEFC heads are “coming to be MY partner to be partners with the Bidens.” He reminds him “that in this instance only one player holds the trump card and that’s me. May not be fair but it’s the reality because I’m the only one putting an entire family legacy on the line.” Mr. Gilliar privately tells Mr. Bobulinski to show flexibility, since “I know why [CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming] wants the deal and what makes it enormous, It’s the family name.”
CEFC was closely entwined with the Chinese government and military until it went bankrupt, following U.S. charges of money laundering. There is no question CEFC was buying Hunter for influence.
[…]
Mr. Bobulinski’s texts show he even met with Joe Biden. Mr. Gilliar reminds him in May 2017: “Don’t mention Joe being involved, it’s only when u are face to face, I know u know that but they are paranoid.” Mr. Biden had left office by then, though CEFC was always a suspicious company with ties to a rival government.
The deal fell through on the Chinese end in the summer of 2017. CEFC was supposed to supply $10 million; it never arrived. This is where the Johnson report comes in. The Senate report notes that CEFC wired $5 million to a company called Hudson West in August 2017. The report says an associate of CEFC Chairman Ye in September opened a line of credit under Hudson West’s name, and Hunter, Jim Biden and Jim Biden’s wife, Sara, were given credit cards associated with the account, and bought items totaling more than $100,000.
The report says Hudson West also sent $4.7 million in “consulting fees” to Mr. Biden’s law firm over the course of a year. Mr. Bobulinski suspects Hunter and Jim had found an easier way to cash in on their name, one that didn’t involve pesky partners and complex deals. He sent a furious text to Jim Biden after the release of the Senate report, accusing Hunter and Jim of “lying” to their partners and secretly taking money from CEFC. The FBI last year subpoenaed Hunter’s laptop. A call to Hunter Biden’s attorney was not returned by our deadline.
[…]
The former vice president is running on trust and good judgment. The Hunter tale is at best the story of a wayward son and indulgent father. At worst, it is an example of the entire Biden clan cashing in on its name with a U.S. rival.
Forget character and corruption, though they’re still important, Strassel hits it home with the national security issues here. Again, it looks like the Biden Doctrine is to enrich the family first and worry about other stuff later. In 2016, Hillary Clinton left sensitive materials vulnerable to hacking from foreign intelligence services because as our top diplomat, she had an unsecured and unauthorized server where she did all official business. She lied too. She said it was approved when she asked about it only for the State Department IG to refute all of that, noting that Clinton didn’t ask and if she had—this homebrew server arrangement would have been rejected for obvious reasons.
Joe Biden said he knew nothing about his son’s deals, only for Hunter’s emails and texts from former business associates to refute that, all while making his family rich off his name with shady business deals involving companies with ties to the governments of our enemies.