USA 2024 Elections Thread

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The Legion Of Democratic Doom?
Biden Operatives Plan "Swat Force" On Hunter Biden Scandal

https://jonathanturley.org/2022/12/13/the-legion-of-democratic-doom-biden-operatives-plan-swat-force-on-hunter-biden-scandal/

Below is my column in the New York Post on the very public plan to
target potential witnesses — and even media — in the Biden influence
peddling scandal. It is rare to see such a scorched Earth campaign
intentionally made public. When Hillary Clinton’s campaign funded the
Steele dossier, it hid its role and even denied the funding when asked
by reporters.

This was clearly an effort to not only reveal the plan but to
specifically declare the potential targets, including key witnesses,
against the Bidens.

Here is the column:

Just when you thought our politics could not get more poisonous, a
recent meeting in California suggests the past is mere prelude. The
Washington Post, which revealed the powwow, described it as Biden
family “allies” planning an offensive to blunt any investigation into
the Bidens’ alleged multimillion-dollar influence-peddling schemes.

Republicans will see it more like the gathering of the Legion of
(Democratic) Doom. Some of the most controversial political operatives
are involved in the all-hands-on-deck effort to protect the Bidens.

The California meeting’s host was none other than Hunter Biden’s
friend, agent and lawyer Kevin Morris. After Hunter was placed under
investigation for, among other possible charges, tax evasion, Morris
reportedly paid off as much as $2.8 million in back taxes for Hunter.

Morris, per The Washington Post, called for a “more aggressive”
response to those seeking to investigate the alleged influence
peddling. That plan includes hitting critics, such as Fox News, with
possible defamation lawsuits. (For full disclosure, I appear as a
legal analyst on Fox News.)

The paper also reported Morris “outlined extensive research on two
potential witnesses against Hunter Biden — a spurned business partner
named Tony Bobulinski and a computer repairman named John Paul Mac
Isaac.” “Spurned” is hardly the sole or most relevant description of
Bobulinski: The businessman was recruited by the Biden family to
manage foreign deals and later directly contradicted President Joe
Biden’s claims he knew nothing of those dealings. His testimony could
present a serious threat in the coming House investigation in
establishing not only the president’s knowledge but his possible
receipt of proceeds from the deals.

Morris’ plan could easily be taken as a declaration of all-out war on
potential witnesses against Hunter Biden.

What’s most interesting about the piece is why The Washington Post was
given such access and such a detailed account. Generally, political
operatives lay out scorched-earth campaigns in secret. But someone
wanted this campaign to be public before the House can call any
witnesses.

For key witnesses like Bobulinski, the message is about as subtle as a
two-by-four to the head. The Washington Post is viewed as one of the
most pro-Biden newspapers in the country and only recently admitted
the Hunter Biden laptop was authentic after pushing the false
Russian-disinformation claim. Now the paper is detailing a plan that
could create an open season on those who might try to substantiate the
Biden family’s influence peddling.

Notably, the article stresses this effort is “operating separately
from the White House. [David] Brock said his organization also remains
independent of Hunter Biden and his team and is following its own
strategy.”

The separation is important to deflect any allegations of witness
intimidation. Media and political figures leveled such claims against
the Trump White House when impeachment witnesses were attacked in the
press. Congressional Democrats denounced criticism of the witnesses as
an effort to silence or deter witnesses from coming forward. (For the
record, I also criticized the targeting of witnesses against Trump
even if it did not constitute chargeable witness intimidation).

Those who view this as a not-so-veiled threat will likely cite the
inclusion of David Brock, one of the most controversial and reviled
Democratic operatives in Washington.

Long a radical figure closely associated with Hillary Clinton’s
campaigns, Brock has repeatedly been at the center of controversial
attack campaigns and was most recently tied to news sites criticized
as fakes or ploys.

Many see him as the lowest common denominator of Democratic
operatives, someone willing to take extreme measures to support
Democratic figures and causes. Even Biden senior adviser Neera Tanden
allegedly once remarked, “I hope Hillary truly understands now how
batshit crazy David Brock is.”

Brock, however, has always given figures like Clinton deniability for
direct responsibility for his actions. He described his new group,
Facts First USA, as a “SWAT team” designed to “ensure that the media
and public do not accept the false narrative that flows from
congressional investigations.”

The Post described the meeting as a “glimpse into a sprawling
infrastructure that is rapidly, almost frantically, assembling to
combat Republicans’ plans to turn Hunter Biden into a major news story
when the GOP takes over the House next year.” It also discussed an
array of well-known lawyers the Biden family has assembled as well as
plans by the White House and Democratic National Committee.

Various Democratic groups plan to attack efforts to disclose the
Bidens’ multimillion-dollar efforts by attacking Donald Trump’s
family. These include the Congressional Integrity Project, which
recently hired Jeff Peck, the chief of staff to Biden when he was a
senator. These talking points are already appearing in the media,
which are heavily invested in denying any scandal connected to the
family.

That’s why the Post article looks like a shot across the bow of any
potential witnesses. This is not to say these reporters are knowing
agents of this campaign, but Democratic operatives clearly wanted
people to know about this alliance.

The article touches all the bases to insulate the Bidens and the
Democratic National Committee from responsibility for what Brock and
Morris may unleash. However, with the inclusion of former Biden staff
and allies, it’s a line that can be quickly lost as investigations
heat up. Targeting witnesses like Bobulinski could invite
congressional investigators to look more closely at these groups and
their funding.

Morris could also be taking a real risk. There are already questions
about whether he was acting as counsel, agent or friend in reportedly
paying off tax debts for Hunter Biden. Rules of professional ethics
demand clarity in legal representation.

Moreover, Morris himself could be called as a witness and face
questions over his own role in the scandal and its suppression in the
media. That makes orchestrating an aggressive public campaign more
problematic if it targets or intimidates other witnesses.

This is, of course, well known to these sophisticated political
operatives, which makes the effort to publicize this campaign all the
more concerning. House Democrats have blocked efforts to investigate
any Biden influence peddling. They will have to take ownership of that
refusal if the investigation now establishes a massive and corrupt
operation.

But the new campaign is designed to give plausible deniability and
comfortable distance from planned attacks on witnesses and
commentators. Hunter Biden may have collected millions in selling
access and influence, but anyone investigating or accusing the Bidens
is now fully warned: Proceed at your own peril.