May the source be with you, but remember the KISS principle ;-) Skepticism and critical thinking is not panacea, but can help to understand the world better
Ukraine-gate as Russiagate 2.0: an "all in" counterattack on Trump attempt to investigate origins of RussiaGate
Obama/Brennan faction in CIA and FBI, the nest of neocon vipers in the State Department and "FullOfSchiff" gang in House
of Representatives sense their last chance to depose Trump using the intelligence services leaker;
or, at least, improve Dems election chances ("Pelosi Gambit")
The Seekers abandoned their jobs, possessions, and spouses to wait for the flying saucer, but neither the aliens nor the apocalypse
arrived. After several uncomfortable hours on the appointed day, Martin received a “message” saying that the group “had spread so
much light that God had saved the world from destruction.” The group responded by proselytizing with a renewed vigour. According
to Festinger, they resolved the intense conflict between reality and prophecy by seeking safety in numbers. “If more people can be
persuaded that the system of belief is correct, then clearly, it must, after all, be correct.”
... [for members of the cult] "prophecies, per se, almost never fail. They are instead component parts of a complex and interwoven
belief system which tends to be very resilient to challenge from outsiders. While the rest of us might focus on the accuracy of an
isolated claim as a test of a group’s legitimacy, those who are part of that group—and already accept its whole theology—may not
be troubled by what seems to them like a minor mismatch. A few people might abandon the group, typically the newest or least-committed
adherents, but the vast majority experience little cognitive dissonance and so make only minor adjustments to their beliefs. They
carry on, often feeling more spiritually enriched as a result.
"FullOfSchiff" people should be viewed as the members of a new hardcore cult of "Russian collision"
After it sponsored 2014 coup d'état which brought to power far right nationalists (which would have come to power in any case via
next Parliamentary election, as Yanukovich has almost no chances to win them), the West, and first of all the USA, is not
going to make a prosperous paradise out of Ukraine. The collective West is only interested in stripping it of anything of value, and
using it to inflict damage on Russia as weakening Russia is the geostrategic goal of Washington. The USA were instrumental in
unleashing the civil war in Donbass. In the meantime the standard of living in Ukraine dropped at least two times, while currency
dropped 3 times, While 2018 and 2019 looks like some stabilization on a very low level, it now is a debt slave and as such can go
down much further.
Barr investigation was getting closer to understanding the role of Ukraine in Russiagate. While the issue of Biden criminality
and corruption was important, timing was very bad, and being an impulsive person and a very bad diplomat Trump in
his phone call with Zelensky provided the Deep State an excellent opportunity for the counterattack. And it followed with the
ferocity that actually surprised many observers.
Like in Russiagate the pretext was completely fake: semi-senile Biden does not represent any danger to Trump
as an opponent in the 2020 election: he is a Hillary-style corrupt classic neoliberal, and as such is very vulnerable to Trump
attacks. On a lighter note: Can you imagine the epic word salad that would be a Trump/Biden debate?
As such Biden is
definitely preferable by "team Trump" then Sanders, Warren of Tulsi as an opponent for Trump in 2020 election. And it was very
a very stupid idea to try to undermine him because now Trump is probably facing Warren in the national elections
-- a more formidable and far more dangerous opponent which can attract disaffected Trump voters, because her program reminds them
Trump unfulfilled 2016 promises and first of all jobs and better Social protection from unemployment and critical illnesses. Just
reading his promises by Warren can have a devastating effect of Trump.
So the working hypothesis should be that here Trump mixed vengeance with a honest desire to
investigate corruption of a high level US official. During the Obama presidency, Biden was the US proconsul
for Ukraine, and not only he was involved in many corruption schemes, he was heavily involved in February 2014 coups d'état. The head of the CIA-linked STRATFOR called Ukraine “the
most blatant coup in history.” Several thousand Ukrainians were killed over a million displaced. Ukraine lost several
territories.
In Ukraine the USA deviated from its longstanding policy of supporting constitutional order governance, allied with far right
nationalists and smashed the constitutional order installing marionette far right government ( Nulandgate
) . On the part of the USA this was done to achieve geopolitical goals of weakening Russia. On the part of EU this was done for
expanding EU economic “Lebensraum” into xUSSR space. Subsequent Provisional Government of Yatsenyuk-Turchinov, and President Poroshenko
were just the USA/EU marionette. Poroshenko was a known agent of US influence in Ukraine even before the
February 2014 events. So it is not surprising that during 2016 campaign he acted as Clinton stooge and willing Russiagate helper.
After the 2014 coup, IMF demanded to
raise the price of gas for the domestic consumer to European levels, and the new president Petro Poroshenko
obliged them. The prices went sky-high. The Ukrainians were forced to pay many times more for their cooking
and heating; and huge profits went to coffers of the gas companies. Instead of raising taxes or lowering
prices, President Poroshenko demanded the gas companies to pay him or subsidise his projects. He said that
he arranged the price hike; it means he should be considered a partner.
Burisma Gas company had to pay extortion
money to the president Poroshenko. Eventually its founder and owner Mr Nicolai Zlochevsky decided to invite
some important Westerners into the company’s board of directors hoping it would moderate Poroshenko’s
appetites. He had brought in Biden’s son Hunter, John Kerry, Polish ex-President Kwasniewski; but it didn’t
help him.
Poroshenko became furious that the
fattened calf may escape him, and asked the Attorney General Shokin to investigate Burisma trusting some
irregularities would emerge. AG Shokin immediately discovered that Burisma had paid these ‘stars’ between 50
and 150 thousand dollar per month each just for being on the list of directors. This is illegal by the
Ukrainian tax code; it can’t be recognised as legitimate expenditure.
At that time Biden the father entered the
fray. He called Poroshenko and gave him six hours to close the case against his son. Otherwise, one billion
dollars of the US taxpayers’ funds won’t pass to the Ukrainian corruptioners. Zlochevsky, the Burisma owner,
paid Biden well for this conversation: he received between three and ten million dollars, according to
different sources.
AG Shokin said he can’t close the case within six
hours; Poroshenko sacked him and installed Mr Lutsenko in his stead. Lutsenko was willing to dismiss the
case of Burisma, but he also could not do it in a day, or even in a week. Biden, as we know, could not keep
his trap shut: by talking about the pressure he put on Poroshenko, he incriminated himself. Meanwhile Mr Shokin gave evidence that Biden put pressure on Poroshenko to fire him, and now it was confirmed. The
evidence was given to the US lawyers in connection with another case, Firtash case.
... ... ...
Two years ago,
(that is already under President Trump) the United States began to investigate the
allocation of 3 billion dollars; it was allocated in 2014, in 2015, in 2016; one
billion dollars per year. The investigation showed that the documents were falsified,
the money was transferred to Ukraine, and stolen. The investigators tracked each
payment, discovered where the money went, where it was spent and how it was stolen.
As a result, in
October 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice opened a criminal case for “Abuse of power
and embezzlement of American taxpayers’ money”. Among the accused there are two
consecutive Finance Ministers of the Ukraine, Mrs Natalie Ann Jaresko who served
2014-2016 and Mr Alexander Daniluk who served 2016-2018, and three US banks. The
investigation caused the USAID to cease issuing grants since August 2019. As Trump
said, now the US does not give away money and does not impose democracy.
The money was
allocated with the flagrant violation of American law. There was no risk assessment, no
audit reports. Normally the USAID, when allocating cash, always prepares a substantial
package of documents. But the billions were given to Ukraine completely without
documents. The criminal case on the embezzlement of USAID funds had been signed
personally by the US Attorney General, so these issues are very much alive.
Sam Kislin was
involved in this investigation. He is a good friend and associate of Giuliani, Trump’s
lawyer and an ex-mayor of New York. Kislin is well known in Kiev, and I have many
friends who are Sam’s friends [said Tsarev]. I learned of his progress, because some of
my friends were detained in the United States, or interrogated in Ukraine. They briefed
me about this. It appears that Burisma is just the tip of the scandal, the tip of the
iceberg. If Trump will carry on, and use what was already initiated and investigated,
the whole headquarters of the Democratic party will come down. They will not be able to
hold elections. I have no right to name names, but believe me, leading functionaries of
the Democratic party are involved.
Poroshenko was
aware of that; he gave orders to declare Sam Kislin persona non grata. Once the old man
(he is over 80) flew into Kiev airport and he was not allowed to come in; he spent the
night in detention and was flown back to the US next day. Poroshenko had been totally
allied with Clinton camp.
Of course, mentioning Biden in his phone call was a strategic mistake, and Trump now will pay the price. Obama/Brennan
faction was not sleeping and realized that it can golden opportunity for the counterattack.
The real reason of this recent bout of rage by the Deep State against Trump is probably that there are the multiple skeletons in the Ukrainian closets left after 2016
elections (especially related to CrowdStrike as well as getting dirt of
Trump via Alexandra Chalupa.)
After Barr visit to Italy, the Deep staters felt the real danger and acted accordingly: they launched a pre-emptive attack as the
offence is the best form of
defense. In other words they want to sink Barr and Durham investigation into the
roots of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.
Looks like John Brennan went out of channels to solicit Five Eyes help in running sting
operations. It is perfectly appropriate that Barr is seeking cooperation from Australia, Italy and Ukraine in
pursuing possible criminal misconduct by FBI, CIA and other Federal employees. And the role of CrowdStrike in unleashing
Russiagate should be investigated as some facts suggest that they converted internal leak of DNC document in Russian intrusion
by running a false flag operation, possibly from their Ukrainian servers. In other words it was Crowdstrike specialists who
broke into those servers with the specific goal to implicate Russians.
Now with Ukrainian material it became more plausible that while DNC was a leak by and disgruntled insider (possible Seth Rich), there
was an subsequent to the leak additional operation of CIA with the goal to frame Russia in the leak in which Ukrainians
participated. False flag operations are
CIA specialty.
But it was much less appropriate for
Trump to touch the issue of biden corruption in his conversation with Zelensky, while he is on the campaign trail. this matter
belongs tothe Department of justice which is obligated to investigate corruption of US officials in foreign territories due to the
existence of the Foreign Corrupt Practices
Acc of 1977
All-in-all Ukrainegate is probably more of a product of the sufferings on John Brennan and Co after the collapse of Mueller witch hunt
-- a preemptive counterattack against Barr investigation of Russiagate origins.
"Foreign influence on the USA elections" part of Ukrainegate is a complete fake
The most funny thing in this story is that Ukraine can't exert any foreign influence as n no way it is an independent country. So the "foreign influence" claim is just
a sad, cruel joke. Since 2014 coup d'état (aka EuroMaydan
color revolution, courtesy of Victoria "F*ck EU" Nuland) is fully controlled from Washington. So any reference about "foreign
power" here is completely hypocritical.
Tha means that for all all practical purposes Ukrainegate should be viewed as Russiagate 2.0. It is a continuation of
CIA/FBI/State Department attempts to depose Trump under false pretences. It helps CIA-democrats to hide evidence and create
another constant pressure point on Trump. They also expect that the impeachment investigation in the House will put enough dirt of
Trump to increase their chances in 2020 election.
As s side effect of Ukrainegate is that it sanctified arms supplies to Ukraine as the issue that enjoy bipartisan consensus.
While Trump behave way too clumsy and sleazy, the wisdom of supplying arms to Ukraine to prolong war in Donbass is greatly
suspect. Obama who initiated the 2014 coup d'état in Ukraine later tried to avoid supplied arms to Ukraine despite the
pressure from hawks in his cabinet, Only under Trump Ukraine got Javelins which no might end in God know which hands.
In his Sept. 29, 2019 post "CIA sets terms for Democrats:
impeachment inquiry into Trump’s crimes’, Joseph Kishore reports:
“The scandal over the Ukraine call has been instigated by the intelligence agencies. It was a CIA agent in the White House who
prepared the report that is the basis of the inquiry. It was the decision by a group of Democrats drawn from the military and
intelligence agencies that led Pelosi and Schiff, both with longstanding ties to these same agencies, to shift from their
previous opposition to impeachment."
The more interesting thing is, why did Pelosi agreed to the impeachment inquiry? Of course, it removed Biden from the list of
contenders, which is
probably good because he's lost it. But more importantly it creates real and sustainable anti-Trump sentiment among
electorate. She wants a nominee who will keep the status quo and defeat Trump. Looks like they are currently putting all the
apples in the Warren bucket. But Warren promises are far to the left of any establishment stooge and unless she is co-opted like
Trump, think might became interesting.
Christopher Neiweem who is a GOP strategist said for all we know the Warren campaign could be pushing the story hoping indirectly take down both Biden and Trump.
The catalyst for impeachment is the alleged CIA whistleblower and the team of intelligence community officials he is going to
bat for. Trump picked a fight with the wrong crowd. Now, they’re fighting back, with the Constitution in one hand and evidence of
Trump’s corruption in the other. Game on.
You might call this team, collectively, “Deep State Throat.” They’re a deep state, all right, but
not like Trump thinks. They’re not rogues. They’re patriots. Let’s just buckle up and watch how this plays out over the coming
weeks and months.
To me, the whistleblower appears to have taken a leadership role [ of the whole team ], sticking his neck out to protect subordinates in the intelligence
community while conveying their information to appropriate authorities through appropriate channels. It’s easy to
see how the intelligence community inspector general steered it to the Congressional Intelligence Committees, under the cover of
great credibility
The sentence "They’re a deep state, all right, but not like Trump thinks. They’re not rogues. They’re patriots." is pure
bullshit. They are rogues. They've anointed themselves as "saviors of democracy". Ignoring the fact that democracy requires
elections, not deep state manipulation. Like it or not, Trump won the 2016 election under the rules in place at the time. While his
actions as the President raise many objections, nothing he
had done rises to an impeachable offense. And nobody has the right to overturn that election except voters in the next election. So
this is nothing but a Praetorian guard coup against the president. in best Rome traditions.
Trump is a horrible president who is doing some very bad things, but this issue is not one on which Dems could built a solid
impeachment case. It amounts to an attempted coup. Trumps "crimes" were to ask that Ukraine cooperate with the Attorney General's
investigations. Anyone that has seen Biden's disgusting, arrogant comments at the Council on Foreign Relations would have to agree
with Trump that it "sounds horrible." If you want evidence of withholding aid for political purposes you need look no farther than
Biden and Obama. What sickens me, however, is how completely the MSM bough this narrative. They never mention Biden's comments at the
Council of Foreign Relations. They never mention that the fired Prosecutor General testified that he was fired because he made Biden
unhappy. They misconstrue, they misdirect and they simply lie. This, unfortunately, is not new. Recall Russiagate and the lead up to
the invasion of Iraq, among other things. Trump is often called a fascist, but compared to John Brennon, John Bolton, their
like-minded colleagues and their enablers, Trump is a rank and incompetent amateur whose great sin is to fuck up the US
descent into neofascism.
Interestingly, the same neocon/neolib alliance which endorsed George W. Bush's case for war with Iraq is pretty much the same alliance
that is now, all these years later, braying for confrontation with Russia. Including the same cast of characters reading from the Iraq-war
era playbook.
The prevailing sentiment of the media establishment during the months prior to the disastrous March 2003 invasion of Iraq was that
of certainty: George Tenet's now infamous assurance to President Bush, that the case against Iraq was a "slam drunk," was essentially
what major newspapers and television news outlets were telling the American people at the time.
The Bush administration cynically engaged in what we would today call a "disinformation campaign against its own citizens" by planting
false stories abroad, safe in the knowledge that these stories would "bleed over" and be picked up by the American press.
The Bush II neocons were able to launder what were essentially "fake news" stories, such as the aluminum tubes
fabrication , by leaking to
Michael R. Gordon and Judith Miller
of The New York Times. We see the same set of well
coordinated leaks here.
By 2002, no one had any right to be surprised by what Bush and Cheney were up to; since at least 1898 (when the U.S. declared
war on Spain under the pretense of the fabricated Hearst battle cry "Remember the Maine!") American governments have repeatedly lied
in order to promote their agenda abroad. And in 2002-3, the media walked in lock step with yet another administration in pushing
for an unnecessary and costly war.
Like The New York Times, The Washington Post also relentlessly pushed the administration's case for war with Iraq.
According to
the journalist Greg Mitchell , "By the Post 's own admission, in the months before the war, it ran more than 140 stories
on its front page promoting the war." All this, while its editorial page assured readers that the evidence Colin Powell presented
to the United Nations on Iraq's WMD program was "irrefutable." According to the Post, it would be "hard to imagine" how anyone could
doubt the administration's case.
But the Post was hardly alone in its enthusiasm for Bush's war. Among the most prominent proponents of the Iraq war was The New
Yorker's Jeffrey Goldberg , who, a full year prior
to the invasion, set out to link Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. Writing for The New Yorker in March 2002,
Goldberg retailed former CIA Director James Woolsey's
opinion that "It would be a real shame if the C.I.A.'s substantial institutional hostility to Iraqi democratic resistance groups
was keeping it from learning about Saddam's ties to Al Qaeda in northern Iraq."
Indeed, according to Goldberg , "The
possibility that Saddam could supply weapons of mass destruction to anti-American terror groups is a powerful argument among advocates
of regime change," while Saddam's "record of support for terrorist organizations, and the cruelty of his regime make him a threat
that reaches far beyond the citizens of Iraq."
We see Deja Vu All Over Again in case of a smooth
transition of Russiagate into
Russiagate 2.0 (aka Ukrainegate).
In Ukraine the USA deviated from its longstanding policy of supporting constitutional order governance, allied with far
right nationalists and smashed the constitutional order installing marionette far right government ( Nulandgate ) . On the part
of the USA this was done to achieve geopolitical goals of weakening Russia. On the part of EU this was done for expanding EU economic
"Lebensraum" into xUSSR space.
After the coup the fleecing of Ukrainian population by the new team of oligarchs who supported the coup started and the USA
politicians and Ukrainian diaspora jointed this with great enthusiasm. As the result the standard of living in Ukraine dropped
at least to the half of very low level that existed in 2014 and currency depreciated ~300% (or 60% per year, although the
process was uneven). Now Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe.
When DemoRats (Clinton wing of Democratic Party) dusted off and added
Joe Biden to the already
overclouded roster of candidates (and falsified polls to show that he is a leader and thus artificially created a following
for his candidacy), that was clearly a move directed on reelection of Trump, a very favorable for Trump event. And it is true
that DemoRats are afraid of Bernie Sanders more then of Trump.
In September three House committees announced earlier this month that they were investigating whether Trump used the withholding
of military aid as leverage to get Ukraine’s new President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to probe the Bidens — an allegation that has been
bolstered by a "whistle-blower"( this person is not a whistle-blower but a leaker, as we are talking about potentially
criminal actions by Biden which falled under Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act , and which do deserve investigation both by the Ukrainian side and the Department of Justice) complaint from inside the intelligence
community. Which makes it similar to Steele dossier.
Democrats risked to discover that in the released transcript Trump did not cross the line and at this point you can say good-buy to
Creepy Joe as the leader of the pack, if not as a candidate. So it could well be that the "whistle-blower" is Warren
sympathizer within the intelligence community and the whole operation was devised to prop-up Warren and hurt Trump in best
Russiagate style. Looks like powerful faction within the intelligence community clearly had a candidate in 2016. Do they also have
one in 2020?
The US authorities now are obligated to conduct a full-scale inquiry of Biden behavior, but what is even worse tis that it will add a
lot of additional air time to allegations about Biden criminality, linking their party’s 2020 presidential front-runner to Clinton
family corruption.
The last thing Democrats want is another candidate on the defensive, after Trump was rolled over Hillary 2016.”
Also in view of the scandal voters may think Biden not only just too old to be the President, but that maybe that he carries was too
much neoliberal baggage. The whistleblower incident is more likely to end the political career of Biden. The whole matter involving
his son’s foreign business dealings not only raises unflattering questions but also provides plenty of reminders about his life in
the swamp. Trump practically has been defined by his ability to outlive Democratic “witch hunts.'”
Trump probably will crush Creepy Joe even with all the negative factors he now has, or will acquire. Creepy Joe (as WaPo
nicknamed him) has three major skeletons in the closet:
his narcoaddict son
magically escaped justice when a crack pipe was found in his rental car
Biden role in Ukrainian events which are disgusting if not outright criminal. Later after the EuroMaydan events he instrumental if firing Ukrainian
Chief Persecutor to squash investigating of gas company Burisma (where his some do some reason got a position in the board of the
company) which paid around $50K a month to his son) and his son financial dealings with China. So his son fleeced impoverished
Ukraine where standard living dropped 2-3 times after Euromaydan, which was converted into the debt slave of the West and
where most population live of $2 a day or less.
The fact of the matter is that Hunter wasn’t on the board because of his expertise in Eastern European energy issues. He’s part
of a long tradition of nepotism when family members of influential politicians profiting off a sense that it’s politically and
economically useful to cultivate these connections.
not to mention his past as the "mentor" of Yanukovich whom he later backstabbed
His China dealings also need careful investigation, and interpretation of some actions by Biden family in view of trade war
with China might be very damaging for Biden.
At night on September 24, 2019 Pelosi have announced they will pursue impeachment charges against President Trump because
an unverified, hearsay whistleblower made a complaint about a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski.
In response Trump published the transcript of the call. Trump’s move to release the un-redacted transcripts of the phone call was
the right move. But Dems did not stop. They just moved goalposts.
There are few hard facts: a leak claims a whistleblower in the intelligence community believes
that during a July 25 phone call, Trump made unspecified “promises” to the Ukrainian president in return for his investigating Biden
family corruption. The whistleblower
did not have direct knowledge of what was said, and may
have read a transcript or summary. Trump knew the call was monitored by multiple people yet said whatever he said anyway
The actual words matter a lot. If this whole thing looks like a dance around some flippant
statement by the president about investigating corruption that may involve the Biden family turning it into a quid pro quo
accusation, it will fail spectacularly with voters. If we all have to become whistleblower law experts the same way we all were
obstruction experts just a few weeks ago, it fails.
Yet while the actual words matter, it should not be lost that none of what Trump was supposed to
have really done — using military aid to get dirt on Biden — happened.
No one claims the Ukrainians investigated Biden at Trump’s demand (and Dems insist there was no
Biden wrongdoing anyway, so an investigation would be for naught). It is thus a big problem in
this narrative that the long-promised military aid to the Ukraine was only delayed and then paid out, as if the bribe was given for
nothing in return—which makes it hardly a bribe. Trump is apparently bad at bribing. Even though he made the decision to temporarily
withhold the aid for some reason, the
Ukrainians were never even told about it until weeks
after the “extortion” phone call, meaning nobody’s arm
got knowingly twisted. So no bribe was given, or to the Ukrainians’ knowledge, no money withheld.
In previous case FBI plot to entrap Trump with Moscow hotel led to the Dems claim that they
see a smoking gun. But there is no body on the ground under the muzzle. So will this devolve into another complicated thought crime,
another “conspiracy” to commit without the committal?
“No explicit quid pro quo is necessary to betray your country,” helpfully
tweeted Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence
Committee, a member of Congress Pro-isreal lobby. He does not even understand how right he is.
People became way too cynical following the collapse of Russiagate for Dems to have any level of
success in derailing Trump.
Hunter Biden’s American-based firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC, was hired by the Ukrainian natural gas firm, Burisma Holdings
in 2014. They gave Hunter Biden a seat on their board and paid Biden’s firm an average of $166,000 a month during his employment
with them. The problem? Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin in the Ukraine started a widespread corruption probe into Burisma Holdings
with specific plans to look at all board members – including Joe Biden’s son.
(Source)
As Vice President, Joe Biden traveled to Ukraine to give them the news that the United States was going to be granting Ukraine $1
Billion in loan guarantees. While there, he threatened to pull the guarantees if they did not fire Prosecutor Shokin, who was
investigating the firm Biden’s son was a board member of.
(Source)
Sure enough, Ukraine folded in order to not risk losing the loan guarantees and fired Prosecutor Shokin. The corruption
investigation into Burisma Holdings was abandoned and no charges were brought against the firm or Hunter Biden. Last year, Joe Biden
bragged on video about personally strong-arming the Ukrainians into firing the prosecutor.
(Source)
The US neocons announced "iron support" for military assistance to Ukraine. They noted that Washington views military support for
Kiev as serving the USA national interest.
“Support by the United States for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine remains iron,
and the US sees support for Ukraine through military assistance as an important national interest,” the US embassy in Kiev said.
On September 12, 2019 the US Senate Committee on Costs approved the allocation of $ 250 million to
Ukraine to support the country's armed forces. In other words the USA continue Cold War2 increasing the danger of World
War III which would wipe our both the USA and Russia from the face of the Earth.
The interesting part of this phase of Cold War II is the role of intelligence agencies in unleashing and sustaining it. Which
made intelligence agencies an important political force in the USA, and as such the slide of the USA to the neofascist model
of governance, which is reflected in the term the Deep State. Barann is the face of those tendencies.
The most logical reading of the situation, based on known facts is that Biden gone, the corporate Dems such as Kamala Harris are
much weaker..
Biden got in big trouble and the most natural path for him is down and put. He can't recover from the barrage of Ukraine-related
dirt and deny his connection to his narcoaddict son; Ukraine+China factor will sink him sooner or later.
Warren looks like the net beneficiary of Pelosi initiated impeachment hearrings. This is the only silver lining in this dark
cloud.
But please note that "Full of Schiff" candidates, the candidates that endorsed the impeachment (the list that includes Warren, only
Tulsi has thecorage to abstain) might sill later regret jumping into this bandwagon. Because resulting polarization greatly favors
Trump. Here we again will be completely distracted from real and complex issues facing the country into yet another senseless mud
slinging match courtesy to Obama/Brennan faction in CIA. And that favors Trump.
With some PR skills Trump now can definitely present Warren as "yet another corrupt neoliberal" hell bent of trating
corruption within Dem Party, including the corruption of Clinton family differently from everybody else, ruthless female opportunist
who tries to capitalize on her identity and resorts to dirty tricks to get to power. Or, worse, as a malleable pretender without any
spine. Iether already controlled by the establishment, or candidate which establishment will have for lunch in two or three months
since inauguration (as happened with Trump ;-)
President Trump said he wants an
impeachment trial in the Senate if the House impeaches him. If Republiucan senators, who will control this process want
that can drag Pelosi, Schiff and company via all the Obama and intelligence agencies dirt and completely destroy Dems chances
of winning 2020 depicting them as plotter, who wanted to overthrow legitimately elected President by any means possible.
Speaking to Fox & Friends the president claimed he wants a trial in the Senate. Host
Brian Kilmeade responded, “You want a trial?” Trump replied, “Oh, I would! Look, number one, they should never, ever impeach. I
watched, I watched five people on your network yesterday say there’s nothing here. Andy McCarthy, how about Ken, special
prosecutor,” Trump said. Kilmeade interjected: “Ken Starr.” “Special counsel. Ken Starr, he was fantastic, he said there’s nothing
here. So ready? Number one, there should never be an impeachment. This is not an impeachment,” Trump concluded.
The president's remarks come a day after White House counsel Pat Cipollone signaled during a meeting with key Senate Republicans
that Trump has concluded he has more to gain politically from presenting a detailed defense at trial than from the GOP preventing a
trial from happening at all.
A pipe bearing the Nord Stream 2 logo at a plant in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Feb. 26, 2020. PHOTO: MAXIM SHEMETOV/REUTERS Listen to this article 5 minutes 00:00 / 05:07 1x Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma found himself in the company of a political titan, France's President François Mitterrand, on a gloomy day in December 1994. "Young man, you will be tricked, one way or another," Mitterrand told Mr. Kuchma, who was then the leader of a newly independent nation. Unsettled as he felt, Mr. Kuchma accepted the security assurances of the U.S., U.K. and Russia and signed the Budapest Memorandum. In exchange, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal, then the third-largest in the world. Little did we know that two decades later one of the signatories -- Russia -- would attack Ukraine and occupy its sovereign territory. Now, after many years of wooing and cajoling, Russia's attitude toward Ukraine is again growing belligerent. The Minsk process to resolve the conflict is stalled, and foreign troops have yet to leave the Donbas, the Ukrainian region where fighting rages on. Despite the supposed cessation of hostilities agreed to in September 2014, when the Minsk protocol was signed, little progress has been made. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma found himself in the company of a political titan, France's President François Mitterrand, on a gloomy day in December 1994. "Young man, you will be tricked, one way or another," Mitterrand told Mr. Kuchma, who was then the leader of a newly independent nation. Unsettled as he felt, Mr. Kuchma accepted the security assurances of the U.S., U.K. and Russia and signed the Budapest Memorandum. In exchange, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal, then the third-largest in the world. Little did we know that two decades later one of the signatories -- Russia -- would attack Ukraine and occupy its sovereign territory. Now, after many years of wooing and cajoling, Russia's attitude toward Ukraine is again growing belligerent. The Minsk process to resolve the conflict is stalled, and foreign troops have yet to leave the Donbas, the Ukrainian region where fighting rages on. Despite the supposed cessation of hostilities agreed to in September 2014, when the Minsk protocol was signed, little progress has been made. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. Now, after many years of wooing and cajoling, Russia's attitude toward Ukraine is again growing belligerent. The Minsk process to resolve the conflict is stalled, and foreign troops have yet to leave the Donbas, the Ukrainian region where fighting rages on. Despite the supposed cessation of hostilities agreed to in September 2014, when the Minsk protocol was signed, little progress has been made. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. Now, after many years of wooing and cajoling, Russia's attitude toward Ukraine is again growing belligerent. The Minsk process to resolve the conflict is stalled, and foreign troops have yet to leave the Donbas, the Ukrainian region where fighting rages on. Despite the supposed cessation of hostilities agreed to in September 2014, when the Minsk protocol was signed, little progress has been made. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. With the Nord Stream 1 and Turk Stream pipelines already operational, Nord Stream 2 will complete the encirclement of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states, decoupling our energy security from Western Europe. Russia has tried to bully Ukraine by threatening gas cutoffs, most recently in June 2014. But Moscow has always had to be careful -- a large percentage of Russia's gas reaches Europe through Ukraine. If Nord Stream 2 is built, this consideration will be null and void. With the Nord Stream 1 and Turk Stream pipelines already operational, Nord Stream 2 will complete the encirclement of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states, decoupling our energy security from Western Europe. Russia has tried to bully Ukraine by threatening gas cutoffs, most recently in June 2014. But Moscow has always had to be careful -- a large percentage of Russia's gas reaches Europe through Ukraine. If Nord Stream 2 is built, this consideration will be null and void. me title= NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP ( Apr 11, 2021 , www.wsj.com )
Now it looks more and more like a deliberate provocation. With Ukraine striving to get
attention and the USA striving to stop NS2.
Notable quotes:
"... The new 2020/2024 Russia/Ukraine transit gas contract is 'pump or pay' in that Russia pays $7B over 5 years regardless of whether gas is shipped or not. So it doesn't matter if the volume drops. I am actually surprised that it has given the still harsh weather in Europe. ..."
"... Meanwhile more figures are out on NS2 and it looks, given good weather, that both Fortuna and AC could finish pipe laying in both Danish and German waters by the end of May. So operational by the end as of year as stated by Gazprom looks on the cards, if not earlier. ..."
"... I suspect that the US and its NATO lapdogs are playing a distraction game. And I think that the Russian government knows this; but also realizes that the Western nations are cirrently in the grips of madcap rulers. Thus Russia is not taking any chance. One can bet that, as the whole empire crashes, it would like to bring down as much of humanity down with it as it can. The future of the earth is not bright. ..."
"... The Oil Shock only added to the 1973-75 recession. The Oil Shock was political in nature, and somewhat coordinated with the USG itself. The deeper causes of the early 70s economic crisis, and of the end of Bretton Woods, was declining profitability across all advanced capitalist states. See Robert Brenner's book, The Economics of Global Turbulence. ..."
"... Nuland et al may be trying to show themselves loyal agents of Israel, testing whether Russia can be distracted from Syria, or pretending to raise the cost of NS2. Russia and China could make balanced moves in the Caribbean to tame the bullies, but may see no advantage in counterthreats. ..."
"... This will be followed by an attack on the two Republics, dead bodies everywhere, un indisputable reason to convince the Germans with to scrap Nord-2. ..."
"... I am wondering if this might be an advantage for Russia and other countries in the mid to long term, that their companies are forced to master all the complex technologies involved as fast as possible? Maybe they will even become competitors to their western equivalents? ..."
First the Ukraine said it would use force to
recover the renegade Donbass region as well as Crimea. It then moved heavy troops towards the
contact lines. The ceasefire at the contact line was broken multiple times per day. Several
Ukrainian soldiers died while attempting to remove a minefield in preparation of an
attack.
It became clear that a war in Ukraine's east was
likely to soon braek out. A successful war would help Ukraine's president Zelensky with
the ever increasing domestic crises. A war would also give the U.S. more
influence in Europe . The U.S. and NATO promised "unwavering support for Ukraine's
sovereignty".
Russia gave several verbal warnings that any Ukrainian attack on the renegade provinces of
Luhansk and Donetsk or Crimea would cause a serious Russian intervention. There was never a
chance that the U.S. or NATO would intervene in such a war. But it was only after Russia
started to move some of its troops around that sanity set in. It dawned on the Ukrainian
leadership that the idea of waging war against a nuclear armed superpower was not a good
one.
Late yesterday it suddenly decided to file for peace (machine translation):
KIEV, April 9 - RIA Novosti. "Liberation" of Donbass by force will lead to mass deaths
of civilians and servicemen, and this is unacceptable for Kiev, said Commander-in-Chief of
the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak.
"Being devoted to universal human values and norms of international
humanitarian law, our state puts the lives of its citizens in the first place," the General
Staff's press center quoted him as saying.
According to Khomchak, the Ukrainian authorities consider the political and diplomatic
way to resolve the situation in Donbass a priority. At the same time, he added that the
Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready for an adequate response both to the escalation of the
conflict and to "the complication of the military-political and military-strategic
situation around the country."
MOSCOW, April 9 - RIA Novosti. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the
need for a new truce in Donbass after visiting the contact line.
The head of state wrote on Facebook that shooting at the front lines had become "a
dangerous routine." "After several months of observing a complete and general ceasefire, we
returned to the need to establish a truce," Zelensky said.
As the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak emphasized
earlier, the use of force to "liberate" Donbass is unacceptable for Kiev, as it is fraught
with casualties among the civilian population and military personnel. At the same time,
last week he said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will strengthen the grouping of troops
in the Donbass and in the Crimean direction - in response to the "build-up" of Russian
forces on the border with Ukraine.
It seems that order has come from Washington to stand down - at least for now. U.S.
reconnaissance flights near Russia's border continue . One should
therefore consider that the sudden call for a renewed ceasefire might be a ruse.
But if it is not why was all of this allowed to happen in the first place?
Posted by b on April 10, 2021 at 14:44 UTC |
Permalink
It would be so beneficial to Russia in so many ways to fix the Ukraine
problem once and for all, that America is now backpedalling fast and hoping the Russians do
not get their fix. They want this to continue to be a set of problems for Russia. Avoiding a
war would be great for all, but if the West thinks they can resume this contentious scenario,
they will find they are wrong. I am willing to bet that most common citizens of ukraine are
sick of all this vitriol and tension, crashing economy, and other hardships. Maybe the
majority will finally speak up and get their say.
The new 2020/2024 Russia/Ukraine transit gas contract is 'pump or pay' in that Russia
pays $7B over 5 years regardless of whether gas is shipped or not. So it doesn't matter if
the volume drops. I am actually surprised that it has given the still harsh weather in
Europe.
Meanwhile more figures are out on NS2 and it looks, given good weather, that both
Fortuna and AC could finish pipe laying in both Danish and German waters by the end of May.
So operational by the end as of year as stated by Gazprom looks on the cards, if not
earlier.
At the same time, last week he said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will strengthen
the grouping of troops in the Donbass and in the Crimean direction - in response to the
"build-up" of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine.
If war is really unacceptable to Ukraine why aren't they pulling back their forces?
1) Because the "Russian aggression' propaganda must continue until Nord Stream 2 is
terminated.
2) Because the threat of a war with NATO-supported Ukraine must be sustained to deter
Russia in Idlib and elsewhere.
The only deterrent US ships provide is the type that Russia wants to avoid engaging the US
directly for fear of an eventual nuclear exchange. Otherwise, those ships provide no
challenge to their military capabilities.
I submit the ships are there to encourage Zelensky to take a risk thinking the US has his
back. But it appears even he isn't this dumb and this whole thing is going to blow over as I
predicted a week or two ago.
So, was it always about bluff, theater and optics? ... Or did they simply lose their will
to die young? I guess Zelensky is a bad-joke comedian after all. He gets the local nazis off
his neck (for a while) by being a bold bad-ass boy and passing ideological laws (far from
reality); and then goes listen to the frontline generals as they explain the suicidal meaning
of his comic bluster. Being an actor, it's all just a stage for a gig, it seems. So, now he
tells his pet nazi thugs that Ruslan Khomchak has their phone numbers. Perhaps now that
Phil-the-(UK)Greek has died the Nato biolabs will be working on the next 'Plan B'
reincarnation-virus pandemic mix. Sputnik-V 2.0 better be ready soon.
Maybe I missed it but there were elections in Ukraine last Sunday and
"The new Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of the Ukraine, elected on Sunday, will have an
overwhelming national mandate to negotiate peace terms to end the five-year civil war.
"Sluha Narodu ("Servant of the People"), the party of President Volodymyr Zelensky, having
won more than 43% of the votes countrywide, will now command majorities of both the
party-list and the single-constituency seats in the new parliament; 253 seats altogether out
of 422, or a "mono-coalition" as the party is calling the result, or as the hostile Ukrainian
media term it, "a landslide [which] has never occurred in the contemporary history of Ukraine
and it is more typical for post-Soviet Asian dictatorships..."
"...This beats earlier pollster predictions that Zelensky would be forced into a coalition
with Holos ("The Voice"), a US-invented spoiler organization of Lvov region (Galicia) led by
pop singer, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk. He ended up with less than 6% of the national votes, fewer
than forecast. Holos has proved to be neither the voice of youth, nor an organization without
oligarch support (it was backed by Victor Pinchuk), nor a political party at all.
"Polling better than predicted was the Donbass (Donetsk, Lugansk regions) party,
Opposition Platform led by Victor Medvedchuk, which ended up with 13% nationally; 48% in
Lugansk; 42% in Donetsk; 24% in Odessa; and 19% in Nikolaev. If the additional votes of the
eastern Opposition Bloc of Boris Kolesnikov and Vadim Novinsky are counted with Medvedchuk's
aggregate, together they have drawn majorities of 53% to 54%, putting Zelensky's party in the
east in a minority.
"This is the first time democracy has defeated a US Government-installed putsch and junta
in Europe since the election of Andreas Papandreou's Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK)
in 1982."
According to John Helmer "President Volodomyr Zelensky (right) is suffering from memory
failure, mood swings, and other neurological disorders after his hospitalisation for Covid-19
five months ago..." The obvious theory is that Zelensky was playing for time while giving the
ultra fascists and their Canadian sponsors free rein until the elections gave the Ukrainian
people- powerless political flotsam and jetsam, tossed around by Ottawa Nazis, Anglo
imperialism and a corrupt oligarchy which has been robbing everyone in sight, blind since
time immemorial a chance to indicate that it would be an extremely dumb move to attack
Russia. Amongst other reasons, because the average Ukrainian would very likely side with the
Russians against their ancient persecutors the Poles and Balts.
b wrote
"
It seems that order has come from Washington to stand down - at least for now. U.S.
reconnaissance flights near Russia's border continue. One should therefore consider that the
sudden call for a renewed ceasefire might be a ruse.
But if it is not why was all of this allowed to happen in the first place?
"
Good question. It fits with the characterization of late empire flailing at trying to
exert/maintain control over global narratives. Empire keeps hoping that Russia and China back
down because they have no other options than bullying. This is just the latest example of the
bully being faced up to.....thank you Mr. Putin!....we just hope the bully goes down without
taking all the rest of us with it.
I suspect that the US and its NATO lapdogs are playing a distraction game. And I think
that the Russian government knows this; but also realizes that the Western nations are
cirrently in the grips of madcap rulers. Thus Russia is not taking any chance. One can bet
that, as the whole empire crashes, it would like to bring down as much of humanity down with
it as it can. The future of the earth is not bright.
If Ukraine doesn't start their self-destruction by launching war before end of June then I
will believe the danger has passed this year and only because the crazies in the US are
hesitating to push the final button.
But if it is not why was all of this allowed to happen in the first place?
The only plausible explanation is that time isn't in favor of the Ukraine (and maybe the
USA). Time is running up.
We should stop seeing capitalism as this unmovable, eternal and indestructible system, and
the USA as this eternal and indestructible empire with endless resources. Both
presuppositions are entirely false: capitalism and the USA are historically specific
phenomena, and they will - 100% certainty - collapse and disappear eventually.
In politics, time is always relative. You know you won't last forever, but you know you
don't need to: you just need to last longer than your political enemy. The fact that USA
outlived the USSR gave it almost 17 years of incontestable supremacy, even though, analyzing
the numbers, we know that the economic apex of the American Empire (its "golden age") was
between Eisenhower and Lyndon B. Johnson. The absence of its geopolitical rival resulted in
the fact that the American Empire reached its pinnacle during Bill Clinton and George W.
Bush, not at the time its people was the most happy, during 1945-1969.
But geopolitical apex doesn't always translate automatically to economic apex. The USA
also suffered a lot with the Oil Crisis of 1974, after which it quickly started to
financialize and deindustrialize, in a process that was best symbolized by the Nixon Reforms
(the creation of the Petrodollar in 1971 with the secret talks with the Saudi royal family
and the deal with China in 1972). This crisis was masked solely by the fact that the USSR
suffered even more with the Oil Crisis than the USA, resulting into a relative
ascension. This relative ascension can be verified by the fact that Ronald Reagan was the
most popular POTUS of the post-war USA: his reign was, by all economic metrics, a monumental
failure, but it was during his watch that the USSR started to collapse.
Signs of cracks in the USA were already evident when George H. W. Bush wasn't re-elected
because of a tax revolt by the electorate. During Bill Clinton, the American Empire gained a
lot of breathing space thanks to the absorption of the vital space left by the ex-USSR
countries, which were ransacked by the American and, to a lesser extent, German, capitalists
(Victoria Nuland's husband, for example, got extremely rich with the privatization of the
communications services in ex-Yugoslavia, hence her particular interest in Eastern Europe
affairs). But even during Bill Clinton we could already see some dark clouds, e.g. the
infamous "twin deficits" increase. Bill Clinton also governed long enough to see the crisis
of the Asian Tigers (1997) and the Dotcom Crisis (2000). The dark clouds that would result in
the storm of September 2008 were already there, gathering.
Analyzing the economic data, we can clearly see that the USSR wasn't the only one in an
age of stagnation: since 1990, only China and SE Asia genuinely grew. If the 21st Century is
to be consolidated as the "Asian Century", then a historian of the 22nd Century will have to
go back to that year (or even earlier, to the mid-1980s) to try to understand the Asian rise.
Growth elsewhere (when it happened) was either vegetative or fruit of a relocation (i.e. rise
in inequality, bankruptcy of some sectors in favor of others) of wealth. During the 2000s,
almost all the economic growth can be exclusively traced back to China (Russia's and Brazil's
commodity booms, SE Asia's continued dynamism due to China's outsourcing or financing of
American debt).
The 2008 crisis ended Neoliberalism as a hegemonic ideology. Today's world is still very
much neoliberal, but only because the global elites don't know what to do and, either way,
it's being implemented in a very distorted way, very far from its ideological purity of the
1990s. No one takes neoliberalism seriously anymore, even among the high echelons of the
economics priesthood. Some remnants of neoliberal thought are still alive in the form of some
living fossils in Latin America, but its end if fait accompli.
It is in this world that the Ukraine chose to align with the American Empire. To put it
simply, it chose the wrong side at the wrong time: it chose the West in an era that's
shifting to the East. The euphoria of the fall of socialism masked the degeneration of
capitalism that was started at the same time and it particularly impacted the Warsaw Pact
(Comecon) and the Western ex-USSR nations.
The Ukraine debacle has two aspects. First of all: the Maidan color revolutionaries
clearly envisioned a neonazi, pro-Western Ukraine in its territorial integrity, i.e. with
Crimea, Luhansk and Donbas. They didn't see the pro-Russians being well-organized enough to
be able to quickly fall back to Russia (Crimea being the most spectacular case, rapidly
organizing a referendum and fully integrating with Russia). Those losses are big: without
Crimea, Ukraine essentially lost any significant Black Sea influence, and without Donbas +
Luhansk, it practically lost all its industry and economy. Donbas specifically was a huge
blow to the Ukrainians: since the Tsarist era, it was the most industrialized and advanced
region of the Russian Empire (even more than Moscow and St. Petersburg) and it continued to
be so during the Soviet Era - three of the main Soviet General-Secretaries of the post-war
era came from the region (Krushchev, Brezhnev and Gorbachev).
Secondly, Ukraine, by choosing capitalism, has put itself withing the capitalist metabolic
clock. The era of the Marshall Plan is gone. The USA needs wealth and it needs now. It will
have to pay tributes to its new metropolis, and the price is high. The USA will settle for
nothing less than the entire Ukraine - including the rich regions of the Donbas basin, plus
the Crimea (over which its powerful Navy will be able to project into Russian territory). It
also won't settle for anything less than a fully NATO-integrated, IMF-controlled Ukraine.
That's the price for a full accession to the capitalist club post-2008.
In this sense, Ukraine's time is very short, as it is sucking the IMF dry (financial black
hole) and it will collapse soon. The patience of the Empire is short and is getting shorter.
As is common with capitalist societies, the Ukraine is also starting to devour itself as it
collapses with the lack of vital space: the liberal elites governing it are having to ask
themselves how can they get out of this mess without being murdered by the neonazi base that
sustains it; at this point, they're more worried about avoiding another Night of the Long
Knives than in reconquering the Donbas and Crimea.
The only good aspect I see in the dissolution and extinction of the Ukraine is that it can
finally put to rest the myth that Nazism is a brutal, but highly efficient, "system": there's
not such a thing - and never was - as a "Nazi system". Germany already was the second
industrial superpower by the time Hitler rose to power; he never elaborated any kind of
economic theory or even policy, instead delegating it to the already existing (Weimarian)
industrial elite. Hitler was just a very powerful cheerleader who dreamed in being an epic
movie. There was never such a thing called "national socialism" - it was just the name of the
Bavarian party that already existed when Hitler crossed the border; it was by mere chance of
destiny that he came from Austria (Southern border) and not Denmark (Northern border),
France/Alsace-Lorraine (Western border) or Poland-Sudentenland (Eastern border). Nazism is
not a system, it is just crazy liberalism, and I hope the white supremacists and
traditionalists in the West take note of that - if they don't want to be crushed.
MarkU , Apr 10 2021 17:28 utc |
27Prof , Apr 10 2021 17:33 utc |
28
VK The Oil Shock only added to the 1973-75 recession. The Oil Shock was political in nature,
and somewhat coordinated with the USG itself. The deeper causes of the early 70s economic
crisis, and of the end of Bretton Woods, was declining profitability across all advanced
capitalist states. See Robert Brenner's book, The Economics of Global Turbulence.
It is more than 24 hours since the initial announcement of a stand down and it would be
nice to see some confirmation. Troops withdrawing would be confirmation. If it is happening
in is not reported. What we get tends to be like the NYT item cited by John H @ 20. Nothing
in that article but fantasy and delusion. The ongoing narrative crowds out facts until
nothing is left. No one is as bad as NYT, still it is hard to trust anything we read.
Keeping an army in the field indefinitely is difficult. At minimum the troops must be fed
and must be kept busy. Does Ukraine have the wherewithal to do that? I tend to doubt that,
and yes, I am speculating. We will find out much later how bad desertion has been. We will
find out much later how the hodgepodge of conscripts, mercs, Special Forces, and NATO got
along. Reporting from 2014 had it that 600 NATO of every flavor were captured in the
Debaltsevo cauldron. If you believe that. I can't see how Ukraine musters and fields another
army after this if it is in fact over. More likely future armies will resemble what US
manipulates in Syria -- Turks, Uighurs, jihadis from whole planet, mercs.
Domestic politics in Uke have to be crazy. No one can possibly know what is happening
except the US Embassy. And they have their brains fogged by a lifetime of NYT fiction. No
good locals for them to work with. If there was anyone good we would have seen them by
now.
One must be awestruck with the talent the neo cons have for nation destruction. What they
created in Ukraine is a virtual post nuclear war. Neither the EU or Russia want this
basket-case-failed-Nazi state. Like the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, it has fortified its
enemy whom it intended to weaken. Now, Putin has a Hezbollah type ally in the Donetsk and
Lugansk region, and it has Russian Crimean back to the Motherland.
Nuland et al may be trying to show themselves loyal agents of Israel, testing whether
Russia can be distracted from Syria, or pretending to raise the cost of NS2. Russia and China
could make balanced moves in the Caribbean to tame the bullies, but may see no advantage in
counterthreats.
Such an utter humiliation of the US to pursue such foolish and racist FP, admitting its
complete control by money power in all federal branches and mass media.
As others here suggest, it's possible to read this as a success for the neocons. Ukrainian
gov't troop movements set off Russian troop movements, which are then portrayed as
aggressive, justifying whatever. It is very hard to believe that they seriously contemplated
an attack on Russia's doorstep, or in its antechamber. But the question remains as to how far
Zelensky's can has been kicked down the road.
I am wondering if this might be an advantage for Russia and other countries in the mid
to long term, that their companies are forced to master all the complex technologies involved
as fast as possible? Maybe they will even become competitors to their western
equivalents?
Usually, when governments decide about big industry projects, they demand that their
national companies get some orders to profit from the project. Now, it seems reversed. The
German government is still not openly against Nord Stream 2, but it has to be finished
without some of the companies originally involved.
A pipe bearing the Nord Stream 2 logo at a plant in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Feb. 26, 2020. PHOTO: MAXIM SHEMETOV/REUTERS Listen to this article 5 minutes 00:00 / 05:07 1x Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma found himself in the company of a political titan, France's President François Mitterrand, on a gloomy day in December 1994. "Young man, you will be tricked, one way or another," Mitterrand told Mr. Kuchma, who was then the leader of a newly independent nation. Unsettled as he felt, Mr. Kuchma accepted the security assurances of the U.S., U.K. and Russia and signed the Budapest Memorandum. In exchange, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal, then the third-largest in the world. Little did we know that two decades later one of the signatories -- Russia -- would attack Ukraine and occupy its sovereign territory. Now, after many years of wooing and cajoling, Russia's attitude toward Ukraine is again growing belligerent. The Minsk process to resolve the conflict is stalled, and foreign troops have yet to leave the Donbas, the Ukrainian region where fighting rages on. Despite the supposed cessation of hostilities agreed to in September 2014, when the Minsk protocol was signed, little progress has been made. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma found himself in the company of a political titan, France's President François Mitterrand, on a gloomy day in December 1994. "Young man, you will be tricked, one way or another," Mitterrand told Mr. Kuchma, who was then the leader of a newly independent nation. Unsettled as he felt, Mr. Kuchma accepted the security assurances of the U.S., U.K. and Russia and signed the Budapest Memorandum. In exchange, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal, then the third-largest in the world. Little did we know that two decades later one of the signatories -- Russia -- would attack Ukraine and occupy its sovereign territory. Now, after many years of wooing and cajoling, Russia's attitude toward Ukraine is again growing belligerent. The Minsk process to resolve the conflict is stalled, and foreign troops have yet to leave the Donbas, the Ukrainian region where fighting rages on. Despite the supposed cessation of hostilities agreed to in September 2014, when the Minsk protocol was signed, little progress has been made. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. Now, after many years of wooing and cajoling, Russia's attitude toward Ukraine is again growing belligerent. The Minsk process to resolve the conflict is stalled, and foreign troops have yet to leave the Donbas, the Ukrainian region where fighting rages on. Despite the supposed cessation of hostilities agreed to in September 2014, when the Minsk protocol was signed, little progress has been made. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. Now, after many years of wooing and cajoling, Russia's attitude toward Ukraine is again growing belligerent. The Minsk process to resolve the conflict is stalled, and foreign troops have yet to leave the Donbas, the Ukrainian region where fighting rages on. Despite the supposed cessation of hostilities agreed to in September 2014, when the Minsk protocol was signed, little progress has been made. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany. With the Nord Stream 1 and Turk Stream pipelines already operational, Nord Stream 2 will complete the encirclement of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states, decoupling our energy security from Western Europe. Russia has tried to bully Ukraine by threatening gas cutoffs, most recently in June 2014. But Moscow has always had to be careful -- a large percentage of Russia's gas reaches Europe through Ukraine. If Nord Stream 2 is built, this consideration will be null and void. With the Nord Stream 1 and Turk Stream pipelines already operational, Nord Stream 2 will complete the encirclement of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states, decoupling our energy security from Western Europe. Russia has tried to bully Ukraine by threatening gas cutoffs, most recently in June 2014. But Moscow has always had to be careful -- a large percentage of Russia's gas reaches Europe through Ukraine. If Nord Stream 2 is built, this consideration will be null and void. me title= NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP
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The Kremlin has demonstrated time and again its willingness to use energy trade to advance its geopolitical
ambitions. It would be unwise, if not reckless, for Europe to increase its dependence on
Gazprom
,
Russia's
state-owned energy company, and give Moscow direct control over which countries are supplied with gas and which
can be cut off.
The current contract between Gazprom and Ukraine's gas-transit operator guarantees the flow of westward exports
via Ukraine until the end of 2024. But make no mistake: The day Nord Stream 2 is completed, that promise will be
worthless. Even if some transit through Ukraine persists, Ukraine will be subject to the Kremlin's whims.
The fighting in the Donbas, where Russia operates through its proxies, mercenaries and even regular troops, has
continued unabated for more than seven years. The gas pipeline has been spared from shelling -- Russia needs
uninterrupted gas flows through Ukraine as much as we do. This mutual dependence is a deterrent that Nord Stream 2
will remove.
Ukraine is grateful to the U.S. Congress, which recognized the true nature of this pipeline project, and the
European Parliament, which voted 10-to-1 on Jan. 21 to demand a halt to construction with a resolution on the
arrest of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in Moscow.
Germany and Europe already have access to a massive gas-transit network spanning the Black and Baltic seas,
Belarus and Ukraine. The existing capacity is more than 50% higher than current consumption of Russian gas in the
European Union. Even if the demand increases as Germany is working to phase out nuclear and coal power generation,
there is no commercial need for another pipeline.
While Germany has little to gain, Ukraine stands to lose billions of dollars in transit revenue if the second
Baltic Sea gas link is built -- a fact that Nord Stream 2 apologists often present as the only basis for Ukrainian
opposition. The economic effect will be significant, but the claim is deliberately misleading. Ukrainian soldiers
will be putting their lives on the line if Russia decides to escalate the conflict in the Donbas after it no
longer needs to consider the effect on gas exports.
Ukraine understands the need to strengthen the trans-Atlantic alliance and the desire to find a solution that
works for both Washington and Berlin. It is, however, incumbent on the Kremlin first to demonstrate respect for
international law. The ball is in Moscow's court. It can and should end hostilities in the Donbas region, withdraw
its troops from the Crimean Peninsula and restore Ukrainian sovereignty.
President Biden was right to call the pipeline "a bad deal for Europe." As the project inches closer to
completion, Ukrainians can't help but recall Mitterrand's words from nearly 30 years ago. Ukraine was tricked,
just as the French president predicted. Let us not repeat history but learn from it. We must come together and
reject Nord Stream 2 once and for all.
Mr. Reznikov is Ukraine's deputy prime minister for reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories.
V
V Lee
SUBSCRIBER
1 day ago
The Ukrainian kleptocracy will see their cut shrink or disappear when gas will start flowing via Nord Stream 2. Not "a
bad deal for Europe" just for Ukraine.
A Koster
SUBSCRIBER
17 hours ago
Did i mention Turkey's role in Syria ?
It's interesting that everyone conveniently fails "to mention the role that gas line geopolitics
played in the "fallout" between Erdogan and Assad; as soon as Assad vetoed the Qatar-Turkey pipeline
that would have brought massive wealth to his family's energy transshipment business (BMZ Ltd), Assad
instead signing on to the Iran-Iraq-Syria "Friendship Pipeline", the friendship was ended and the war
on Assad commenced"
A Koster
SUBSCRIBER
1 day ago
This article is about one thing.. absolutely nothing to do with a risk to Ukraine's national security
'Ukraine stands to lose billions of dollars in transit revenue if the second Baltic Sea gas link is built"
And Turkey is in there like a dirty shirt.. see "Russia Warns of Full-Scale War in Eastern Ukraine, Blames
Kyiv".. like it was with Azerbaijan as they slaughtered thousands of Christians in Armenia.. and all for the
first find in the Caspian Sea by Azerbaijan since Russia's breakup.. HINT: they wanted.. not needed.. a
direct route west for a pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey.. which they got in a Russia brokered peace deal
So i guess congratulations are in order to Biden's NATO as they loyally keep working on enlarging the EU and
keeping the oil baron families of Erdogan and Alyiev filthy rich
James Schumaker
SUBSCRIBER
1 hour ago
I suggest you look up the Budapest Memorandum. The U.S. gave no guarantees. Like Russia, it gave assurances. I also
suggest you stop falling for pro-Trump talking points and look at what Trump actually did with regard to Ukraine. He
tried to extort its President into digging up dirt on his main political opponent by threatening to withdraw military
aid. That's what he was impeached for -- the first time.
RODNEY SMITH
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
Where does Burisma stand on the issue? Will be Biden's brief.
Jens Praestgaard
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
Otto von Bismarck's maxim for the newly formed German state was to always keep cordial relations with Russia. NordStream
2 is a step towards normalization of the German/Russian relationship after 120 years of failure.
Jim Mcdonnell
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
Bismarck's policy made sense in 19th Century Europe, and had Kaiser Wilhelm II not scuttled it we would be
living in a very different world. But he did scuttle it, and the world has changed - largely in ways Bismarck
sought to prevent - a great deal, as has Europe.
Heiko Muhr
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
Bismarck's thoughts about Germany's geopolitical situation are still relevant today. He argued that the
map that matters for German politicians is the map of Europe [and since 1945 that frame has been enlarged,
has included the US and Canada]. That Germany needed to pay particular attention to relationships with its
neighbors. That the country was to small to dominate Europe, and should rely on a system of stable alliances
to ensure stability, Ukraine and Russia are neighbors, Bismarck would have seen relationships with both
countries as relevant. Communication channels need to be kept open, those relationships need to be
managed. One neighbor, Russia, is an authoritarian state and since 2014 more openly aggressive. It needs
to be contained and challenged. The US has not been a reliable partner in doing that in the last 4 years
under Trump. That might change under a Biden, but will he be able to make and lock in the appropriate policy
decisions? We'll see.
John Bute
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
Germany has made a terrible strategic mistake by abandoning nuclear power to become more and more dependent on Russian
natural gas. France gets 70% of its electricity from nuclear power and about 10% from fossil fuel. Only moderate
increases in hydro power and renewable energy will make it fossil fuel independent.
Heiko Muhr
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
German voters make their own decisions about climate change and definitely don't look for US advice. Power
plants burning coal and producing nuclear energy are coming off the grid. Natural gas will continue to be
important in that mix for quite some time. The Green Party's power is growing. It successfully expanded its
electoral base in 2 state elections this spring with broad support from middle class voters. After all,
environmentalism is a full belly movement. The Greens will challenge the German Conservatives, Merkel's
Christian Democrats, in September at the ballot box in national elections and other state elections. And Merkel
will not be on the ballot. Her CDU, which has been consistently the most pro-American party in Europe, finds
that pro-American stance is now a big liability. 4 years of the Trump regime. which treated Germans as clients,
changed the political landscape. Fewer Germans see the US is as a reliable partner, and that is now true even
in Merkel's party.
SCOTT CORE
SUBSCRIBER
1 day ago
Germany may view the US as an unreliable partner but they still rely on the US for economic and military
protection. Perhaps Germans have replaced the US with NATO in their minds and ignored the fact that the US
is the majority of NATO. Where Russia to threaten Germany where do you think Germany would turn? France? UK?
China?
So Germans are free to trash Trump for asking them to provide a modicum of their own protection but in the
end they will look to the US should they be threatened either economically by a cutoff of gas from Russia or
a military threat from Russia.
Heiko Muhr
SUBSCRIBER
20 hours ago
Look at Gallup polling data or the Pew Research Center's data in its Global attitudes program. In many countries Trump
ranked even below Xi or Putin. He was perceived as the bigger threat--unstable, angry, without a strategic vision, just
a ventilator of his emotions, a middle schooler craving attention, a clown. Yet he made these huge claims, all lies,
that the US was respected and listened to. The polling data tells us otherwise. Trump's lying and the hubris that fell
from these lies, that is unprecedented.
And now; THE LOSER. The Mouse-of-Mar-a-Lago. But, the Republican Party still follows him.. The man will be remembered as
the worst president the US ever had, ranking even below the corrupt Harding and the imbecile Buchanan. The lowest of the
low. And as THE LIAR [-->Trump should register that as a trademark]. History books won't be kind to him and the suckers
that still gobble up his lies even now after the putsch or whatever you want to call the Capitol "riot." Barnum was
right!
michael ring
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
England and France have their own nuclear deterrents. Europeans just want cheap steady supply of energy. Russia is in
the Middle East because Hillary and Obama destroyed Syria and Libya. Bush put us in Iraq and Afghanistan for 20 years!
Trump started the withdrawal. Let's hope sleepy preacher Biden continues it.
Heiko Muhr
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
A little reality check: At the very moment when Washington supposedly champions energy independence and warns European
allies against becoming too dependent on Moscow, American refineries are buying more Russian oil than ever before.
Check out the article by Javier Blas on the Bloomberg News site, published Mar. 24, 2021: "U.S. Thirst for Russian
Oil Hits Record High Despite Tough Talk."
David Thomson
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
Puerto Rico buys Russian LNG because there are no American-built LNG tankers. Thanks to the Jones Act, we can't ship
LNG from Texas to PR.
Eugene Boutz
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
(Edited)
Ukraine is composed of three *identities* which have nothing in common and want nothing in common.
There are the Russian speakers in the East and along the Black Sea, the people surrounding Lviv in the West which want
to be European and the denizens of Kiev who tend to favor the values and views of the Chancellor of Germany in the '30s.
Ukraine already has a tripartite schism and is most likely headed for a tripartite split once the Russian Federation,
having had its absolute fill of Kiev's games, obtains Beijing approbation to bring the matter to a conclusion with
weaponry of which Kiev can only dream.
The United States is not going to fight a nuclear war with Russia over the interests of the Kiev faction nor does
Germany want it to.
Nor do I.
Nor do you.
Heiko Muhr
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
(Edited)
The Germans are not going to cave. They will finish the pipeline. It is now 96 % built. The West Europeans started
importing Russian gas more than 40 years ago. Ronald Reagan failed when he tried to stick it to the Germans with
sanctions. And so will Cancun Ted. The old pipeline system that runs through Ukraine has been reverse-engineered with EU
funds about a decade ago. Ukraine has already been reliably supplied from the West when the Russians cut supplies. The
talking points in this piece are based on Cancun Ted's hallucinations, and not the facts on the ground. For a factual
analysis see Eugene Rumer's long piece published today in Defense News "Punishing Germany for Nord Stream 2 does nothing
to stop Putin." Rumer is the director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace. He previously worked as a national intelligence officer on Russia and Eurasia for the U.S. National Intelligence
Council. He actually knows what he is talking about.
William Wahl
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
Just put Hunter on it. He'll fix this right up.
michael ring
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
Biden has been on the wrong side of every foreign policy decision in his entire career in Washington. Mitterrrand
was a bureaucrat who started his rise in vischy France. Ukraine is in a tough spot. So is Russia. They
have been fighting for 7 years. Body counts go up,citizens do not like it. Russia will not sacrifice one
pipeline for another. Ukraine and Russia can agree to no NATO troops on their border and tensions will go
down.
bruce miller
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
And who talked Ukraine into giving up their nukes? Well we did. Or rather, Slick and his pals did. Bet
the Ukrainians wish they'd kept a bunch. Just for old time's sake.
michael ring
SUBSCRIBER
2 days ago
What bargaining power would they be?No person or government in their right mind would use them. This is
about land grabbing.
Ukraine and Russia may be on the brink of war – with dire consequences for the whole
of Eurasia. Let's cut to the chase, and plunge head-on into the fog of war.
On March 24, Ukrainian President Zelensky, for all practical purposes, signed a declaration of war
against Russia, via decree No. 117/2021.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks
during a joint press conference with European Council President in Kiev on March 3, 2021.
Photo: AFP / Sergey Dolzhenko
The decree establishes that retaking Crimea from Russia is now Kiev's official policy.
That's exactly what prompted an array of Ukrainian battle tanks to be shipped east on flatbed
rail cars, following the saturation of the Ukrainian army by the US with military equipment
including unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems, anti-tank systems and
man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS).
More crucially, the Zelensky decree is the proof any subsequent war will have been prompted
by Kiev, debunking the proverbial claims of "Russian aggression." Crimea, since the referendum
of March 2014, is part of the Russian Federation.
It was this (italics mine) de facto declaration of war, which Moscow took very
seriously, that prompted the deployment of extra Russian forces to Crimea and closer to the
Russian border with Donbass. Significantly, these include the crack 76 th Guards Air
Assault Brigade, known as the Pskov paratroopers and, according to an intel report quoted to
me, capable of taking Ukraine in only six hours.
It certainly does not help that in early April US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, fresh
from his former position as a board member of missile manufacturer Raytheon, called Zelensky to
promise "unwavering US support for Ukraine's sovereignty." That ties in with Moscow's
interpretation that Zelensky would never have signed his decree without a green light from
Washington.
On March 8, 2021, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during observance of
International Women's Day in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP /
Mandel Ngan
Controlling the narrative
Sevastopol, already when I visited in December 2018 , is one of
the most heavily defended places on the planet, impervious even to a NATO attack. In his
decree, Zelensky specifically identifies Sevastopol as a prime target.
Once again, we're back to 2014 post-Maidan unfinished business.
To contain Russia, the US deep state/NATO combo needs to control the Black Sea –
which, for all practical purposes, is now a Russian lake. And to control the Black Sea, they
need to "neutralize" Crimea.
If any extra proof was necessary, it was provided by Zelensky himself on Tuesday this week
in a
phone call with NATO secretary-general and docile puppet Jens Stoltenberg.
NATO
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg gives a press conference at the end of a NATO Foreign
Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels on March 24, 2021. Photo: AFP /
Olivier Hoslet
Zelensky uttered the key phrase: "NATO is the only way to end the war in Donbass" –
which means, in practice, NATO expanding its "presence" in the Black Sea. "Such a permanent
presence should be a powerful deterrent to Russia, which continues the large-scale
militarization of the region and hinders merchant shipping."
All of these crucial developments are and will continue to be invisible to global public
opinion when it comes to the predominant, hegemon-controlled narrative.
The deep state/NATO combo is imprinting 24/7 that whatever happens next is due to "Russian
aggression." Even if the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) launch a blitzkrieg against the Lugansk
and Donetsk People's Republics. (To do so against Sevastopol in Crimea would be certified mass
suicide).
In the United States, Ron Paul has been one of the very few voices to
state the obvious: "According to the media branch of the US
military-industrial-congressional-media complex, Russian troop movements are not a response to
clear threats from a neighbor, but instead are just more 'Russian aggression.'"
What's implied is that Washington/Brussels don't have a clear tactical, much less strategic
game plan: only total narrative control.
And that is fueled by rabid Russophobia – masterfully
deconstructed by the indispensable Andrei Martyanov, one of the world's top military
analysts.
A possibly hopeful sign is that on March 31, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian
Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General
Mark Milley, talked on the phone about the proverbial "issues of mutual interest."
Days later, a
Franco-German statement came out, calling on "all parties" to de-escalate. Merkel and
Macron seem to have gotten the message in their videoconference with Putin – who must
have subtly alluded to the effect generated by Kalibrs, Kinzhals and assorted hypersonic
weapons if the going gets tough and the Europeans sanction a Kiev blitzkrieg.
French
President Emmanuel Macron speaks as German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks on after a
German-French Security Council video conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on February 5,
2021. Photo: AFP / Thibault Camus
The problem is Merkel and Macron don't control NATO. Yet Merkel and Macron at least are
fully aware that if the US/NATO combo attacks Russian forces or Russian passport holders who
live in Donbass, the devastating response will target the command centers that coordinated the
attacks.
What does the hegemon want?
As part of his current Energizer bunny act, Zelensky made an extra eyebrow-raising move.
This past Monday, he visited Qatar with a lofty delegation and clinched
a raft of deals , not circumscribed to LNG but also including direct Kiev-Doha flights;
Doha leasing or buying a Black Sea port; and strong "defense/military ties" – which could
be a lovely euphemism for a possible transfer of jihadis from Libya and Syria to fight Russian
infidels in Donbass.
Right on cue, Zelensly meets Turkey's Erdogan next Monday. Erdogan's intel services run the
jihadi proxies in Idlib, and dodgy Qatari funds are still part of the picture. Arguably, the
Turks are already transferring those "moderate
rebels" to Ukraine. Russian intel is meticulously monitoring all this activity.
A series of informed discussions – see, for instance, here and here
– is converging on what may be the top three targets for the hegemon amid all this mess,
short of war: to provoke an irreparable fissure between Russia and the EU, under NATO auspices;
to crash the Nord Steam 2 pipeline; and to boost profits in the weapons business for the
military-industral complex.
So the key question then is whether Moscow would be able to apply a Sun Tzu move short of
being lured into a hot war in the Donbass.
On the ground, the outlook is grim. Denis Pushilin, one of the top leaders of the Lugansk
and Donetsk people's republics, has stated that the chances of avoiding war are "extremely
small." Serbian sniper Dejan Beric – whom I met in Donetsk in 2015 and who is a certified
expert on the ground – expects a Kiev attack in early May .
The extremely controversial Igor Strelkov, who may be termed an exponent of "orthodox
socialism," a sharp critic of the Kremlin's policies who is one of the very few warlords who
survived after 2014, has unequivocally
stated that the only chance for peace is for the Russian army to control Ukrainian
territory at least up to the Dnieper river. He stresses that a war in April is "very likely";
for Russia war "now" is better than war later; and there's a 99% possibility that Washington
will not fight for Ukraine.
On this last item at least Strelkov has a point; Washington and NATO want a war fought to
the last Ukrainian.
Rostislav Ischenko, the top Russian analyst of Ukraine whom I had the pleasure of meeting in
Moscow in late 2018, persuasively argues
that, "the overall diplomatic, military, political, financial and economic situation powerfully
requires the Kiev authorities to intensify combat operations in Donbass.
"By the way," Ischenko added, "the Americans do not give a damn whether Ukraine will hold
out for any time or whether it will be blown to pieces in an instant. They believe they stand
to gain from either outcome."
Gotta defend Europe
Let's assume the worst in Donbass. Kiev launches its blitzkrieg. Russian intel documents
everything. Moscow instantly announces it is using the full authority conferred by the UNSC to
enforce the Minsk 2 ceasefire.
In what would be a matter of 8 hours or a maximum 48 hours, Russian forces smash the whole
blitzkrieg apparatus to smithereens and send the Ukrainians back to their sandbox, which is
approximately 75km north of the established contact zone.
In the Black Sea, incidentally, there's no contact zone. This means Russia may send out all
its advanced subs plus the surface fleet anywhere around the "Russian lake": They are already
deployed anyway.
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on as Novator Design Bureau
director-general Farid Abdrakhmanov and Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko shake hands
during a signing ceremony for government contracts in Alabino, Moscow region, Russia. on June
27, 2019. Photo: AFP / Alexei Druzhinin / Sputnik
Once again Martyanov lays down the law when he predicts, referring to a group of Russian
missiles developed by the Novator Design Bureau: "Crushing Ukies' command and control system is
a matter of few hours, be that near border or in the operational and strategic Uki depth.
Basically speaking, the whole of the Ukrainian 'navy' is worth less than the salvo of 3M54 or
3M14 which will be required to sink it. I think couple of Tarantuls will be enough to finish it
off in or near Odessa and then give Kiev, especially its government district, a taste of modern
stand-off weapons."
The absolutely key issue, which cannot be emphasized enough, is that Russia will not
(italics mine) "invade" Ukraine. It doesn't need to, and it doesn't want to. What Moscow will
do for sure is to support the Novorossiya people's republics with equipment, intel, electronic
warfare, control of airspace and special forces. Even a no-fly zone will not be necessary; the
"message" will be clear that were a NATO fighter jet to show up near the frontline, it would be
summarily shot down.
And that brings us to the open "secret" whispered only in informal dinners in Brussels, and
chancelleries across Eurasia: NATO puppets do not have the balls to get into an open conflict
with Russia.
One thing is to have yapping dogs like Poland, Romania, the Baltic gang and Ukraine
amplified by corporate media on their "Russian aggression" script. Factually, NATO had its
collective behind unceremoniously kicked in Afghanistan. It shivered when it had to fight the
Serbs in the late 1990s. And in the 2010s, it did not dare fight the Damascus and Axis of
Resistance forces.
When all fails, myth prevails. Enter the US Army occupying parts of Europe to "defend" it
against – who else? – those pesky Russians.
That's the rationale behind the annual US Army
DEFENDER-Europe 21 , now on till the end of June, mobilizing 28,000 soldiers from the US
and 25 NATO allies and "partners."
This month, men and heavy equipment pre-positioned in three US Army depots in Italy, Germany
and the Netherlands will be transferred to multiple "training areas" in 12 countries. Oh, the
joys of travel, no lockdown in an open air exercise since everyone has been fully vaccinated
against Covid-19.
Pipelineistan uber alles
Nord Stream 2 is not a big deal for Moscow; it's a Pipelineistan inconvenience at best.
After all the Russian economy did not make a single ruble out of the not yet existent pipeline
during the 2010s – and still it did fine. If NS2 is canceled, there are plans on the
table to redirect the bulk of Russian gas shipments towards Eurasia, especially
China.
Connecting German infrastructure for Nord Stream 2 is in place. In this handout photo
released February 4, 2020, by the press service of Eugal, a view shows the Eugal pipeline, in
Germany. The Eugal pipeline, which will receive gas from Nord Stream 2 in the future, has
reached full pumping capacity, and the second line of the pipeline has been introduced. Photo:
AFP / Press-service of Eugal / Sputnik
In parallel, Berlin knows very well that canceling NS2 will be an extremely serious breach
of contract – involving hundreds of billions of euros; it was Germany that requested the
pipeline to be built in the first place.
Germany's energiewende ("energy transition" policy) has been a disaster. German
industrialists know very well that natural gas is the only alternative to nuclear energy. They
are not exactly fond of Berlin becoming a mere hostage, condemned to buy ridiculously expensive
shale gas from the hegemon – even assuming the egemon will be able to deliver, as its
fracking industry is in shambles. Merkel explaining to German public opinion why they must
revert to using coal or buy shale from the US will be a sight to see.
As it stands, NATO provocations against NS2 proceed unabated – via warships and
helicopters. NS2 needed a permit to work in Danish waters, and it was granted only a month ago.
Even as Russian ships are not as fast in laying pipes as the previous ships from Swiss-based
Allseas
, which backed down, intimidated by US sanctions, the Russian Fortuna is making steady
progress, as noted by analyst Petri Krohn: one kilometer a day on its best days, at least 800
meters a day. With 35 km left, that should not take more than 50 days.
Conversations with German analysts reveal a fascinating shadowplay on the energy front
between Berlin and Moscow – not to mention Beijing. Compare it with Washington: EU
diplomats complain there's absolutely no one to negotiate with regarding NS2. And even assuming
there would be some sort of deal, Berlin is inclined to admit Putin's judgment is correct: the
Americans are "not agreement-capable." One just needs to look at the record.
Behind the fog of war, though, a clear scenario emerges: the deep state/NATO combo using
Kiev to start a war as a Hail Mary pass to ultimately bury NS2, and thus German-Russian
relations.
At the same time, the situation is evolving towards a possible new alignment in the heart of
the "West": US/UK pitted against Germany/France. Some Anglosphere exceptionals are certainly
more Russophobic than others.
The toxic encounter between Russophobia and Pipelineistan will not be over even if NS2 is
completed. There will be more sanctions. There will be an attempt to exclude Russia from SWIFT.
The proxy war in Syria will intensify. The hegemon will go no holds barred to keep creating all
sorts of geopolitical harassment against Russia.
What a nice wag-the-dog op to distract domestic public opinion from massive money printing
masking a looming economic collapse. As the empire crumbles, the narrative is set in stone:
it's all the fault of "Russian aggression."
Well, I'm hoping the Ukrainians will finally remember Bernard Lewis's warning about the
U.S. and realize they are being used like a Kleenex: "America is harmless as an enemy but
treacherous as a friend."
Americans have had it and will never tolerate sending combat troops into a Russia/Ukraine
conflict no matter how much rah-rah let's you and him fight we'll hold your coat for you,
faux patriotism the lugenpresse throw at them. Those of us who volunteered for the US
military in the past have learned our lesson.
"The problem is Merkel and Macron don't control NATO." I don't know how a decision is made
whether NATO will go to war or not but if Germany and France have no say in whether their
soldiers will be sent to war or not, that must by a very scary thought for them.
I found the following analysis interesting and I think it makes sense. It suggests France
and Germany have a say in matters and that they oppose any offensive Ukraine has in mind. The
commentator analyzes the diplomatic language and Germany and France appear to be fed up.
Without coming out and saying so directly, they see things more as Russia does than Ukraine.
It's very unfortunate things have developed this way for Ukraine. In addition, if Merkel
wants to be perceived as a complete failure as chancellor in Germany, only then will she let
NS2 be stopped from being completed. This analysis suggests there may be some strain between
France and Germany versus the USA.
I do have to disagree. If Ukraine start a war Russia must take back all eastern part of
Ukraine that has prevalent Russian population. Odessa and Zaporozhie is particularly
important. Russia must also tale all Kiev area back.
1. Senior Ukrainian officers were once Soviet officers. They, and most of their troops,
don't want to fight Russians and know it's foolish. The Ukrainian army will crumble if they
come in contact with regular Russian troops. It's not that they are cowards, but sane. It
would be like Canadian troops ordered to attack across the American border.
2. The American empire is furious and concerned that its long-time puppet disobeyed
orders. Germany wants Russian gas and the empire wants that pipeline stopped. Not only to
hurt Russia, but to teach the Germans a lesson. If fighting occurs in the Ukraine, would the
Germans dare to buy natgas from evil Russians?
3. Most importantly, Israel controls the American government. A major goal is the
destruction of Syria to allow the expansion of Greater Israel, as explained in the video
below. This nearly succeeded until the Russians intervened. Fighting in Ukraine would divert
Russian military resources from Syria so that nation can be destroyed, or Russia may give up
Syrian support as part of a grand peace deal.
The Biden administration is fully supportive of finishing off Syria and Lebanon, then
moving on to destroy Iran. The new talks about Iran's nuclear program will go nowhere. It's
just a show so Biden can say he tried.
It makes all the difference when the revolving-door regulator-capture reframing is not
"USA/Nato vs Russia" -- but rather the more accurate "Raytheon (et al) vs Russia."
The modern truth is: Russia and China have governments in control of policy and industry.
The USA (and therefore also its yapping poodle collection) have Industry setting policy and
running government for their 1%-er shareholder benefits.
Part of me wants to think that the Ukies will want to fold at the last moment. Yet all
this apparent evidence points to their going for it and promptly getting their collective
noses smashed in. Those who speculate in meta-political geo-strategic analysis cannot make
sense of the moves by the largely incompetent shot-callers and their even more incompetent
minions who cut the orders to their chessmen.
Heavy pressure by the equally incompetent regime in the Di$trict of Corruption, where
carrot and stick are equally in play, is as Escobar points out, the force behind this nearly
automatic death-sentence for the Kiev regime and the poor slobs who make up the draftee
elements in the Ukrainian military.
Again, geopolitically, one wonders at the deeper string-pullers within the Pentagram, the
CIA and the mass media of mind-control and message-massaging. Is this essentially a move to
keep the American people–most particularly the edjumacated managerial and technical
classes who make up the core of the alleged "middle-class"–"on message and in
line"?
Yes, the WarDefense industry (aka Eisenhower's "Military-Industrial Complex") insist on
ongoing wars and threats of war to maintain their profit margins for the prime owners of that
false economic basis,prime actors such as the Rottenchild Crime Clan and the rest of the
parasites clustered in City of London and Wall $treet.
How will the canny and ever wary Russians proceed? Will they operate in the manner that
Escobar proposes, by not directly employing the considerable ground-forces which now stand on
alert just to the eastwards of their mutually agreed upon Swiss-cheese border with the
Novorussians in Donetsk and Luhansk? Or will Russian strategy be somewhat more comprehensive
by liberating the rest of the primarily Russian-speaking parts of eastern and southern
Ukraine which had largely backed the overthrown legitimate government of that bedizened
composite nation and are still smarting under the heels of the Galician fascists and the
smaller grouping of Russophobic Ukrainian nationalists who still harbor nightmares about the
Bolshevik/Stalinoid Holodomar? There are, after all human considerations which may influence
Kremlin policy.
Should Russia decide to make a move, it is my projection that they would never be likely
to even attempt to occupy central Ukraine and would set a stop-line well to the east of Kiev.
Something that bemusingly intrigues me is the Belarus factor. It would appear that the Minsk
regime, smarting from the attempted coup by the Poles, Baltic states and Ukraine backing of
"pro-Westerners, may be mobilizing to get into the action and perhaps readjust their
boundaries somewhat southwards. This could indicate a countering move by the Uniates in
Galicia to make common cause with their Roman Catholic brethren in the afore-mentioned Poland
along with Lithuania and remove their lands of control from a shattered Ukraine and form a
confederation with their neighbors to the west.
There is little doubt in my mind that Russia has numerous human assets in central and
southwestern Ukraine, who along with elements of a disintegrating Ukie military, would unite
to overthrow the rotten regime in Kiev and establish a markedly neutral smaller but more
cohesive Ukraine–a natural though smaller nation which could serve as an essential
buffer between a strengthening Russia and a collection of NATO nations which would then
comprise a hodgepodge of hawks and doves, a discombobulated collection of politico-economic
entities attempting to swim their ways to calmer shores or to maintain some semblance of
"Great Reset" programming in the face of popular resistance to lockdowns and mandated
AstraGenica jabbings.
Worst possible scenario is that someone in the Pentagon-dominated NATO command complex
loses their cool and initiates a conflict that could result in planet-wide chaos and
destruction. One would hope that cooler heads will take a few hits to their expansionist
fantasies and decide to make the best of a failed bit of adventurism and bide their time --
if they feel they have any time remaining before globalist economies hit the skids, leading
to a potential collapse to the myth of progress.
Everyone gets American logic. It's the Ukrainian logic that is truly baffling. Just how
stupid do the Ukrainians have to be to attack when anyone with a brain knows what will be the
outcome?
It makes all the difference when the revolving-door regulator-capture reframing is not
"USA/Nato vs Russia" -- but rather the more accurate "Raytheon (et al) vs Russia."
The modern truth is: Russia and China have governments in control of policy and industry.
The USA (and therefore also its yapping poodle collection) have Industry setting policy and
running government for their 1%-er shareholder benefits.
You can't do any Normal business with a Crime Syndicate like the USA/ EU and or Israel.
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others. Russia is so close to being self sufficient , they could
turn their back on the West and it's cut throat allies , and just look to the East until the
West implodes. They will have to destroy all armies within close proximity to their borders,
including the Ukrainian/Mercenary one. Moscow must still have Jew Oligarchy baggage, that is
making money on Wall Street and those ties need to break apart or come to a Pro Russian
agreement or else. Rename Kyiv to Berlin 1944, and Lviv to Dresden and take it from there
– and don't look back anymore. And PS : on way to Lviv, Agent Orange every F..n
Monsanto/Bayer, Dupont and Cargil farm – like they did to Vietnam.
Behind the fog of war, though, a clear scenario emerges: the deep state/NATO combo
using Kiev to start a war as a Hail Mary pass to ultimately bury NS2, and thus
German-Russian relations.
Yes but also the Ukraine needs to save those gas transit fees that will go kaput if NS2 is
completed and operational, so it is the Ukraine the one with the most immediate incentive to
start a war. Though they need just a small war, a little war to force the hands of the
Germans to cancel NS2. Problem is the Russians have promised to give the Ukrainians more than
what they bargained for. To save those gas transit fees the Ukrainians may end losing the
country to a puppet installed by the Kremlin.
Escobar, besides not naming the Jew, does not mention which side Israel is likely to
support. We can be pretty certain that whichever side Israel supports is going to be the
victor in this conflict. Turkey is also important because of the Bosphorus, and Turkey and
Israel are working together to exploit the Leviathan gas field to the detriment of Cyprus and
Syria, so Israel can jerk Turkey around like a pitbull on a chain.
The US has been moving drones into Ukraine and they now are right on the border with
Crimea. The US Marines also have a large presence in Romania, also likely including all kinds
of drones. The Israelis are among the planet's leaders in drone technology, and surely own
even more patents. Israel provides much of its drone technology to Turkey, and the
Azerbeijanis used Turkish and Israeli drones in their short war with Armenia. During this
short war the Azerbeijanis shot up all kinds of Russian equipment with their drones including
Pantsir's and ZSU-23's.
The US also has all kinds of stealth drones and missiles, likely that is one area where
they lead the entire planet.
If this assessment is correct (in Russian but comes out OK in Google translate), then the
US / NATO have to get involved to compensate for the lack of a Ukrainian air force –
and in fact the rest of their obsolete equipment.
Personally, I can't imagine US or NATO troops on the ground in the Ukraine – and I
don't see any planning for it, so what's the idea?
One possibility seems to be 1) to start the fighting 2) then start the real game, which
is a massive anti-Russian media barrage "heroic Ukrainian patriots", "Russian atrocities",
"killer Putin" etc. sufficient to finish with Nord Stream 2, divide Russia from
France/Germany, plus reanimate NATO and sanction Russia. Basically to force Europe back into
US hegemony, and away from independent decision making.
They won't have any problem with the UK (their most slavish follower) but at some point
the French and Germans are surely going to become tired of all this CIA/Neo-con BS.
[German Industrialists] are not exactly fond of Berlin becoming a mere hostage,
condemned to buy ridiculously expensive shale gas from the hegemon .
German Industrialists and financiers have been repeatedly shaken down by the hegemon for
fines related to a number of "infractions." The scuttlebutt I've heard from a number of them
is that it got old a long time ago; what point is it to participate in the US market when
your profits are repeatedly clawed back as "fines," and those in the US with whom you compete
are given a leg up not just in the US, but on the world stage. Left to most industrialists,
Germany might have gone its own way years ago. Oddly enough, it is the
Ossivergeltungswaffe who dithers over breaking ranks with the "ally" that openly spied
on her.
And even assuming there would be some sort of deal, Berlin is inclined to admit Putin's
judgment is correct: the Americans are "not agreement-capable." One just needs to look at
the record.
The most recent example would be the Doha agreement on the US withdrawal of forces and
personnel from Afghanistan. Apparently the Pentagon recently awarded a number of contracts
for contractor services in that country for some time well past the "agreed" withdrawal date,
strongly suggesting the agreement to leave was a ruse.
Unfortunately we live in a world where history is/was erased, facts don't matter or they
can be twisted to fit anything no matter how ridiculous, the present is what I say it is.
Thus US and its vassals are just interested in their today's narrative.
Ukrainian leadership is hopelessly incompetent and corrupt so will do anything Biden's gang
tells them. It's simply a depressing scenario.
Blinken poking the Ukies to attack is a Hail Mary to stop NS2. Maybe it will work,
maybe not. But a few hundred or a few thousand dead Ukies is worth the Russian boogeyman
psy-op for the empire.
""Ukraine and Russia may be on the brink of War blah blah""
Contrary to what Pepe asserts the rest of the world will not give a shit. Memories of
Chechnya? The sooner Putin over runs the place the better. You can bet the Ukrainian ruling
elite, for all their gumption, have their jets all fuelled and ready with flight plans for
the US via Switzerland...
"NATO puppets do not have the balls to get into an open conflict with Russia."
Sadly not so sure.
Some has it`s own agenda, like POland, Lithuania. Not even NATO/ US are in full control over
that, and needs no more than a misstep. Like activate some system which is potentionally
dangerous for Russia.
Or in different NATO/ US bases elsewhere in continental Europe.
"to provoke an irreparable fissure between Russia and the EU, under NATO auspices"
"When all fails, myth prevails. Enter the US Army occupying parts of Europe to "defend" it
against – who else? – those pesky Russians."
This sounds to be the real goal.
For long since the US is jealous to Europe as it became more and more equal in economic and
political power, and prevail better even with this "global pandemic".
EU wants more independence, US wants it`s colony to more obidient and follow commands.
If not just occupy, but "let" Europe partly destroyed even better: the treat of dominance
reduced, and again can be the "nice savior" who helps and "brings democracy".
So seems far too real in the Ukrainian conflict Ukraine is just a side character.
Good point. They simply can't "win" anything by attacking.
The (((US))) will provide plenty of encouragement and support as long as they get
mountains of Ukrainian corpses in return. Those corpses can then be photographed and the
photos broadcast all over the world as "proof" that Putin is Hitler. Basically, Ukrainians
are being funnelled into the meat grinder for a globohmo psyop opportunity. What a way to
die...
Are you referring to the Ukraine fiasco? Would that it were so that it was just a
distraction. Just apply some reverse engineering to how Germany and Russia have a pretext to
link up energy-wise when Ukraine was a perfectly serviceable transit point until NeoCon filth
started working their magic.
Indeed, let's not worry: German Chancellor Merkel spoke to President Putin yesterday and
apparently told him she wanted to see immediate de-escalation or else she might not sell Russia
any German cars; or buy Russian vaccine; or complete Nord-Stream 2 and tie the German economy
into Russian gas supplies. Isn't realpolitik a German word originally?
"Destiny guides our fortunes more favourably than we could have expected. Look there,
Sancho Panza, my friend, and see those thirty or so wild giants, with whom I intend to do
battle and kill each and all of them, so with their stolen booty we can begin to enrich
ourselves. This is noble, righteous warfare, for it is wonderfully useful to God to have such
an evil race wiped from the face of the earth."
"What giants?" asked Sancho Panza.
"The ones you can see over there," answered his master, "with the huge arms, some of which
are very nearly two leagues long."
"Now look, your grace," said Sancho, "what you see over there aren't giants, but
windmills, and what seems to be arms are just their sails, that go around in the wind and
turn the millstone."
"Obviously," replied Don Quixote, "you don't know much about adventures."
Or labour vs. capital; or realpolitik. But Happy Friday!
GreatCaesar'sGhost 1 hour ago
No nato troops will ever set foot in Ukraine. They're trying to pressure Russia into doing
something so they can force the Germans to stop nordstream. The Ukrainians can't win here and
they're being used. Not good.
USAllDay 56 minutes ago
Germans need the gas and Russia needs the revenue. These are facts that can not
change.
GreatCaesar'sGhost 53 minutes ago
US has gas to sell. Greater Israel and their Saudi partners believe that after they
overthrow Assad they will have gas to sell. I'm not sure the constantly virtue signaling
German government will buy Russian gas if there's a war.
BeePee 43 minutes ago
Russia already sells gas. This will continue. Mistake to destablize Russia's economy.
GreatCaesar'sGhost 53 minutes ago
US has gas to sell. Greater Israel and their Saudi partners believe that after they
overthrow Assad they will have gas to sell.
I'm not sure the constantly virtue signaling German government will buy Russian gas if
there's a war.
land_of_the_few 51 minutes ago (Edited) remove link
They should just mock them mercilessly.
Formation flypasts with rainbow colored smoke, Village People blasting from frigates
buzxing them, that kind of thing.
A senior official from Nord Stream 2 AG, the project company leading the Nord Stream 2 Russia to Germany natural gas
pipeline project,
has
reported
an uptick in "provocative" activity from warships and planes in the
area where the pipeline is being built
.
"Higher activity of naval vessels, airplanes and helicopters and civilian vessels of foreign states is observed in the work
area after restarted construction of the offshore segment of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, whose
actions
are often clearly provocative
," said Nord Stream AG official Andrei Minin,
according
to the Russian news agency TASS
.
Above: the pipe-laying vessel Fortuna, which is operated by the Russian company KVT-RUS
and recently targeted by US sanctions. Image via Reuters
Minin said a 1.5-mile safety zone is established around the construction area where vessels are not supposed to enter.
"Nevertheless, naval vessels of foreign countries are constantly registered near service ships performing work," he said.
He added that a Polish antisubmarine warfare airplane is
"regularly flying around
the work area at a small height and closely to the pipelay vessel."
Minin said in one provocation,
an unidentified submarine was above surface within
one mile of the pipeclay vessel Fortuna
, a ship that was
hit
with US sanctions on January 19th.
Minin said the activity indicates "obviously planned and prepared provocations."
Besides warships and planes, he said fishing vessels have also come dangerously close to the construction area.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline has been in the crosshairs of the US for years, but despite sanctions and threats, Nord Stream
AG reported on Thursday
that
the project is now 95 percent complete
. Construction restarted in December 2020 after being suspended due to threats of
US sanctions.
Although it's not clear if the US is involved in these provocations, it is likely. Washington seems willing to take extreme
measures to
stop
the project and is
threatening to sanction its ally Germany
. Besides
the US, another country keen to stop the project is Ukraine,
which
stands to lose up to $3 billion
a year in gas transportation fees if the pipeline is complete.
The original Nord Stream consists of two lines that run from Vyborg, Russia, to Lubmin, Germany, near Greifswald. The new
project would add two more lines, doubling the amount of natural gas Russia could export to Germany.
play_arrow
Be of Good Cheer
1 hour ago
$3
billion loss to the Biden Crime Family. No wonder he wants to stop NS2.
NoPension
1 hour ago
^^^^^!!!
Pair Of Dimes Shift
45 minutes ago
10% to the big guy would be $300M.
Damn right the big guy's handlers are pissed.
Rid'n Dirty
1 hour ago
The
US spends over $1 trillion on "defense" with over 800 bases worldwide, yet we have no control over who
illegally takes up residence here. America has become an ugly hegemon run by Wall Street and other
corporate whores. Almost 2/3rds of the world is under some type of US sanction designed to wreck
economies and starve innocent people (Houthis, Syrians and Iranians).
Let's see if Germany can do what's best for its economy for the first time since 1945.
Based Fren
1 hour ago
It's so tiresome. We just have to stick our finger in everyone else's business.
naro
1 hour ago
Have you heard of the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. Wars is their oxygen.....they are looking for
wars wherever they can find it.
ManOnFirst
59 minutes ago
a
Polish fishing vessel rammed a construction ship and blamed a faulty engine for the incident. I really
hate the Poles. They are the whiniest, most cowardly country in the world. They lament the fall of
their empire 1000 years ago and think they could still be a superpower if only the big, bad Russians
weren't so mean. Oh, and the big, bad Germans too.
SoDamnMad
27 minutes ago
I'm
surprised the Russians didn't throw a 3 liter gasoline jug with a burning rag taped to it down on that
fishing vessel. Your telling me no steerage and no engine control. Two can play this game. Poles best
not try to lay any communication cables in the next 20 years.
Games Without Frontiers
1 hour ago
(Edited)
Globalists from the US doing everything they can to prevent a more independent EU. The further away you
can get from a dying and dangerous empire the better.
2banana
1 hour ago
Established by whom?
Oh,
you just made that sh!t up in international waters in one of the most heavily used trade routes in the
world.
Minin said a 1.5-mile safety zone is established around the construction area where vessels are not
supposed to enter. "Nevertheless, naval vessels of foreign countries are constantly registered near
service ships performing work," he said.
Games Without Frontiers
1 hour ago
It's international waters but safety zones are always established on this type of industrial project,
it's hard to enforce in open waters but the West looks like a bunch of tools as usual.
not-me---it-was-the-dog
43 minutes ago
(Edited)
remove
link
....
Shipping
and shipping lanes In Danish waters, the proposed NSP2 route will run inside and along the TSS Bornholmsgat for
approximately 42 km close to the Swedish EEZ. The TSS Bornholmsgat carries most of the ship traffic to/from the
Baltic Sea and experiences over 50,000 ship passages per year. The proposed NSP2 route additionally crosses the
TSS Adlergrund in the Danish and German EEZs, which has approximately 7,000 ship movements per year. Safety
exclusion zones will be implemented around slow-moving construction vessels. Only vessels involved in the
construction of NSP2 will be allowed inside the safety zone; therefore, all other vessels not involved in
construction activities will be requested to plan their journeys around the safety zone. The shipping lanes
crossed by the proposed NSP2 route in Danish waters provide sufficient space and water depth for ships to plan
their journey and safely navigate around possible temporary obstructions. The impact on ship traffic associated
with the imposition of a safety zone is assessed to be minor and associated with local and temporary changes to
the traffic scheme. Therefore, it is assessed that there will be no significant transboundary impacts on Baltic
Sea ship traffic caused by the NSP2 project in Danish waters.
so....umm....since the work is being done in danish waters, well, gosh, i would guess the exclusion zones are set
up with......wait for it......danish authorities. and the last bits in german waters will require german
authorities to set up the exclusion zone.
Ukraine gets 3B a year in transit fees for Russian gas...
rejectnumbskull
15 minutes ago
Besides the US, another country keen to
stop
the
project is Ukraine,
which
stands to lose up to $3 billion
a year in gas transportation fees if the pipeline is complete.
Did
you not read this sentence in the article correctly?
Meanwhile Biden's son Hunter, the "smartest guy" his father knows, has his feet firmly in
his mouth in excerpts from an interview this Sunday about his 💻 that was full of
underage porn & business dealings involving his father when VPOTUS.
Nice work on pulling all the puzzle pieces together, b!
The really big problem will be weaning the Outlaw US Empire from its addiction to
Unilateralism, which is its primary mode of operation aside from a very brief interlude when
FDR was POTUS, devised the UN and its Charter, and got the Senate to ratify it so it would
become an integral part of the USA's fundamental law of the land.
All one need do to see the gravity of the bolded text is to examine the Outlaw US Empire's
behavior since FDR died--The USA immediately transformed into the Outlaw US Empire on 22
October 1945 when the UN Charter came into full force and the Empire was already in grave
violation of its fundamentals.
That those millions of violations have never seen the inside of a courtroom doesn't mean
they never occurred or aren't now happening globally.
"Nord Stream AG Says Warships, Submarines and Helicopters Tried to Disrupt Pipeline's
Construction":
"However, it seems that in March threats to the pipeline multiplied and became more
'real'.
"The construction site of Nord Stream 2 has been suffering harassment by various vessels
and aircraft in recent months, which nearly led to damage to the pipeline itself, according
to Nord Stream AG representative Andrey Minin. He stressed that the disturbances were
'clearly planned and thoroughly prepared provocations,' devised to stop the joint
Russian-European project in its tracks ." [My Emphasis]
Unilateral Act of War anyone?!! Yes, its the Poles once again.
IMO, it's sad b omitted mentioning the newly formed Friends of the UN Charter Group in his
article since it aims at drowning the "Unilateral, rules based international order" once and
for all time. My promotion of it isn't going to be enough. If all but the Neoliberal nations
become members, then they can jointly aver that there's only one system of international Law
and its based on the UN Charter and all relevant treaties thus shutting up the Outlaw US
Empire regardless its protests. Of course, a movement within the Empire that says the same as
the Friends would go a long ways to getting us where we as humans want to go to--a peaceful
planet that's concerned about the wellbeing of humans and all they need for support instead
of making the rich ever richer through the terror of unremitting Class War.
And if you don't think that War isn't based on Terror, then you haven't seen migrant
families busted up with the little kids being kidnapped and all put into concentration camps.
( China is
beginning to bark up that very inhuman tree watered so well by the Outlaw US Empire.)
"As it stands, Russia is very much focused on limitless possibilities in Southwest Asia,
as Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made it clear in the 10th Middle East conference at the
Valdai club [Link at Original]. The Hegemon's treats on multiple fronts – Ukraine,
Belarus, Syria, Nord Stream 2 – pale in comparison."
Awhile ago, I posted the following acutely correct adage: The USA treats business as war,
while treating war as business. I added what Coolidge was misquoted as saying in 1925--The
business of America is business (He actually said, "the chief business of the American people
is business.") So when the POTUS says its just business, you should prepare for war.
Back to the linked article. While reading it ought to be easy to see why the BRI
interconnectivity is seen as a huge threat to the two Outlaw Maritime Empires--UK/US--who
initially set forth the parameters of the Great Game. (BTW,
Lavrov's Great Game program interview English transcript is now complete.) They have no
seat at the table whatsoever. You'll also see why the Outlaw US Empire will try to remain in
Afghanistan forever as well as the reason why it can't admit the real reason for being
there--to interdict the BRI and the development boom it promises to bring to a great many
impoverished people throughout Eurasia. Talk about Human Rights!
But it looks like all the Empire's efforts will amount to little more than a mosquito
attacking an elephant for there's no way it can stop BRI or Eurasian integration; at best, it
can merely delay it and earn the enmity of the planet, including its own people. Clearly,
India will cease its role in the Quad as staying locks it out from what it needs
most--development that uplifts its impoverished tens of millions. And the loss of India means
the certain loss of the Great Game for the Outlaw Empire.
In the grand scheme of things, Ukraine is merely a tsetse fly as is NATO ultimately. The
real prize lies with the geoeconomic riches BRI and Eurasian Integration will generate and
being a partner with it, not an adversary.
More content below More content below More content below More content below More content below
More content below More content below More content below
BERLIN, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Gas contributes only a fraction of Germany's energy consumption,
and Russian gas only a fraction of that, so it is wrong to say that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline
will make Germany dependent on Russian energy, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said.
Asked about the flagship Kremlin project, which has been heavily criticised by the United
States and some European countries, Scholz on Monday restated the German government's position
that the pipeline was a private investment and should not be the target of U.S. sanctions.
The poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, blamed by most Western governments on
Russian state actors, has led to renewed calls for the nearly complete pipeline, built by
state-owned Gazprom, to be cancelled.
Critics of the pipeline say it increases Germany's reliance on Russian energy and deprives
transit countries Poland and Ukraine of crucial leverage over the giant country to their east.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
Germany is showing signs of an independent Russia policy. The main issue between the United
States, Europe, and Russia now is the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would carry gas from Russia
to Germany. The Biden Administration may impose
sanctions on companies that help build it, which
risks a blowup with Berlin .
Most Republicans want
even sterner measures . Senator Ted Cruz is
delaying confirmation of some of President Biden's officials unless he takes action.
Hostility towards Russia is one of the few issues that unite Republicans and Democrats
– along with support for
citizenship for illegal immigrants ,
interference in Syria, keeping
troops in Afghanistan , and thwarting
China . We can't count on Republicans or Democrats to stand up for Americans, but we can
count on support for invading the world and inviting the world. This combination of an
aggressive foreign policy and indifference towards citizens is why some call the current regime
the
Globalist American Empire (GAE). It may be based in Washington DC, but it has nothing to do
with the historic American nation or its interests.
However, what I call the " American Paradox "
may doom this "empire." It is run by people who seem to care nothing for the country; the
empire is built on sand.
...., the US neurotic dynamic is to escalate blindly until it achieves control. This is
the dynamic that must be defeated.
Yes that's problem all right, but can you ever defeat that dynamic given that the gorilla
owns 10,000 nukes and has no moral qualms whatsoever of using them? Until a near perfect
anti-nuke defense system is developed I surmise the world would just have to live with, and
get used to, the juvenile antics of King Kong because it has stated time and again it would
escalate all the way up to using its nukes, because that's what they are for according
to a former Sec. of State.
I'm a pessimist on this issue. I'm afraid we'll just have to endure and live with a wild
beast for a while to come.
i've been a reader of moa for quite a few years now, but never contributed to the forum.
mostly because after a while i found what i wanted to say anyway, and why pile on?
I really enjoy the civility of the forum, and it's internationality. And of course b's
insights. as a German myself I share many points of view with him in matters i have knowledge
in, or think that i do.
For example i think that trump sure might be seen as a disaster by many, but it was a gift
to Europe, and Germany in particular, because he opened the eyes of many, many people here
who for decades thought murrica is our friend, our big brother, who will always protect us
from the evil of the world - namely communism, Russia and lately china. a majority of the
people here, as well as in the rest of the so called "western world" have been brainwashed
for about 7 decades to think that way, even when America committed the most obvious, heinous,
horrible crimes against humanity and our civilization as a whole.
there was always a spin, "human rights", "democracy", "free trade" and so on, values that
had to be "defended" - when in reality it was always an offensive aggression or even a
"pre-emptive strike". people just swallowed what the media fed them and went on with their
daily chores.
Trump changed that, suddenly the ugly side of the empire became visible, and i will always
be grateful for that. because now it cannot be hidden anymore. it wasn't just the unruly
behaviour of a "new rich" and uneducated bully who accidentally became president.
politically, the general attitude was always the same, trump only worded it much more
obvious, making it harder for politicians and media to spin. that's why our politicians and
media (for the most part fed by trans-atlantic "think tanks") hated him almost more than
Americans themselves - he made their lies obvious and transparent. if it wasn't so sad, it
sometimes was almost funny to see them squirm, having to explain why our friend and protector
suddenly became so selfish and hostile.
All of them welcomed of course the new Harris administration, being so progressive, just
and friendly again - only to witness a change of paradigm they probably didn't even think
trump was capable of, or willing to: i think in later years, this week will mark the
"official" beginning of the new cold war era. this behaviour against Russia and china was not
a slap, but a punch in the face and will NEVER be forgiven nor forgotten. the only question
for europe is: does it finally have the balls to emancipate and stand up against the bully?
or will it submit and become a collateral damage of it's downfall? in form of a nuclear
wasteland maybe?
I think that Nord stream II is a turning point. If Germany caves in here, there's little
hope to get rid of the leash for it and the whole of Europe.
If it stands tall, europe might become a buffer instead of a frontline. knowing and seeing
our politicians, i'd say it doesn't look good.
"... Nord Stream 2 is of vital importance to Germany's energy security. The German public was rather hostile to President Trump and Biden's victory was seen with relief. But when it sees how Biden pursues the same policies, and with a similar tone, it will turn on him ..."
"... Since Washington is now in conflict with a goodly part of the public it sees that creating foreign policy crises and enemies as an excellent course of action to shore up support. Americans are always ready to react against enemies no matter how slender the proof of the wrongdoing ascribed to the enemy. There is never a penalty to pay for lying in the US if you are in the mainstream media or in the political arena. Since the CIA controls much of the European media and their ruling class it would take quite a lot for Europeans to drop their status as vassal states. ..."
Nord Stream 2 is of vital importance to Germany's energy security. The German public
was rather hostile to President Trump and Biden's victory was seen with relief. But when it
sees how Biden pursues the same policies, and with a similar tone, it will turn on him .
<-- b
However "hostile", Germany contributed to uni-lateral Trumpian sanctions, and so far,
North Stream 2 is the only beacon of independence. Take Ukraine: Germany and France form half
of Normandy Four, and provided name for Steinmeier formula. Ukraine resolutely resists
proceeding with any obligations under that formula. Germany is silent on that and support
annual extensions of sanctions, not to mention sanctions on Syria, Venezuela and whatever EU
sanctions.
Syria is an interesting example. It could be actually popular among German voters to
facilitate reconstruction in that country and return of the refugees to their homeland. Iran
and Russia are potentially good customers for German industry. Independence of German banks
and other companies from whimsical sanctions from USA would help too.
Seemingly, ingrained masochism is hard to overcome.
Thanks for posting Pepe's comments, some of which are in his current article I linked to
on the open thread. In my comment related to Pepe's article I noted his excerpt of Chinese
academic Jisi and this specific part:
"the Americans are eager to deal with problems before they are ready to improve the
relationship."
That observation is consistent with that of an entity that only wants its orders obeyed
and seeks no relationship or friendship with any other entity since it sees itself as Top
Dog, and #1 in every way. As with the Nord Stream project, we see the Gangster mentality--Do
as I say or else!
Not only does the Emperor have no clothes or much of a working memory, he's got erectile
disfunction too that's well beyond the ability of Viagra to fix.
So here we have Blinken, Winken and Nod providing direction for failing empire
Blinken is obvious
Winken is that behind the scenes, wink, wink, nod, nod (there ain't no class structure here)
type VP and
Nod is the new normal as US President.
I am sure they will try to take America to new places, yet to be dreamt of....will the
brainwashed of the West follow?
About Germany and Nord Stream II.....To a degree that I am not sure of, Germany is like
Japan, a fully owned colony of empire....this may be the time that the Germany nut gets
cracked wide open....interesting times indeed.
Where are the details of Blinken telling China how to behave? I can hardly wait for the
next act of Blinken, Winken and Nod
"Why, after so many bad words towards it, would China help the U.S. with solving the North
Korea problem? It has zero incentive to do so."
This (as well as the Germany/NS2 thing) sounds like a rather naive view. Western headlines
are for western internal consumption. And what's happening behind the scene, what incentives
are offered and what threats are made in exchange for what specific actions, we simply don't
know.
I notice a lot of accusations that Washington is "stupid" but that's not true. You have to
understand how Washington works before you make such statements. The Deep State knows that it
can control the minds of most Americans by inventing "truths" without any need to prove
anything.
Since Washington is now in conflict with a goodly part of the public it sees that
creating foreign policy crises and enemies as an excellent course of action to shore up
support. Americans are always ready to react against enemies no matter how slender the proof
of the wrongdoing ascribed to the enemy. There is never a penalty to pay for lying in the US
if you are in the mainstream media or in the political arena. Since the CIA controls much of
the European media and their ruling class it would take quite a lot for Europeans to drop
their status as vassal states.
Remember, Washington can throw endless amounts of money around and fund everything from
terrorism, crime waves, sexual indiscretions a la Epstein (the CIA had it's own whorehouse
which my father pointed out to me decades ago--it was in Roslyn Virginia and it used underage
girls and boys to improve its soft-power).
So far, no one has paid a penalty for lying or corrupt practices in Washington if they
were "made" men or women (Trump never got that far).
As long as Europe, Japan and some other countries continue to be vassal states the US can
and will get away with anything. Nordstream 2 is the issue that may change all that. Once
Germany rebels the rest may follow.
germany breaking rank will be first big turn in nato. nordstream is a non negotiable issue
for germany. meanwhile the US is not agreement capable. on anything and the vaccine hoarding
is a big F U in EU to so called allies. all the pieces are set. just need time to let it all
play out. the global south woke to it before the slower europeans can see the world anew.
as for the US china alaska meeting, it does seem to me that the US administration and deep
state or whatever you want to call it are not coordinated or fully aligned with each other.
the timing of the US sanctions on hk officials seem designed to thwart any possible dialogue.
as if some elements are working to ensure the meeting resolves nothing.
the china global times calls this move the US stick that comes down before any negotiation
and says it's a continuation of trump era tactics. maybe. I see it more as designed to make
the meeting fail instead of designed to achieve anything such as extracting concessions from
china. not being agreement capable because it is sabotaged from within.
but at this pt in the crumbling empire it is perhaps foolish to analyze its tactics in
terms of means and ends. its only 'rationale' at this pt is to just keep doing what it's
doing. sanctions wars threats coercion and moral grandstanding. it only knows it is right and
there is nothing else besides.
About Vlora to be an Alternative to NS2. Just a Fake from Radio France International, paid
for by french gov. France is now full play in US hand. Macron want NS2 [and soon NS1..] to be
shut down.
Nord Stream 1 is 55 Md.M3/y
Nord Stream 2 too.
110Md.m3/year
The biggest ship to deliver US GNL in Europe is 260.000 m3. 1m3 GNL is 600m3 natural
gaz.
It's me or my computer? 3 ship per day? How many ship necessary? 60? 80?
Not an economy, a nightmare.
American capitalism was plunder and is now parasitism.
In order to get energy, Germany need Russia. Nord Stream is a direct tie in order to avoid
"reliable" intermediate like Ukraine or Poland.
In order to get everything under control US need [reliable intermediate] to cut the tie
between [oil/gas fields] from Middleeast or Russia and Germany, the sole country in Europe
with Great industrial/technical capacity.
"Our calls for vigilance and boldness were heard in the US Congress, which pressed on
with measures designed to stop this dangerous, divisive project. We call on US
President Joe Biden to use all means at his disposal to prevent the project from
completion", the pair added.
They think they have a voice in the US Congress? Should apply for Statehood then.
The ministers suggested that if completed, the project will add to Russia's drive "to try
to convince the Ukrainian public that the West doesn't care about its own principles, and
ultimately, about the security and prosperity of Ukraine".
But wasn't the critique against socialism from the Soviet space that it was "utopian",
i.e. that it put its "principles" (ideology) before economic fundamentals?
Poland, Ukraine Urge Biden to Do His Best 'to Put an End' to Nord Stream 2 Project
vk @ 109. Congress of the USA to interfere with the completion of Russian-German Nord stream
II project because the LNG cartel in USA governed Texas, Lousisana , Oregon want to require
every man women and child in Europe to pay monopoly prices for LNG. As I see it failure of
Nord Stream II will be extremely dangerous to the survival of the solar and wind renewable
energy efforts; its a do it or die situation for dominate energy is the goal of the LNG
cartel...
Hunter Biden's laptop. The article is by Peter Van Buren, who indeed is not a nutcase.
Anyone here ever / currently a free lance? You'll love these details:
"for example, on September 28, 2018, Hunter ordered $95,000 transferred without
explanation), a "business" run by Jim Biden out of a residential address. Jim regularly
invoiced Hunter for office expenses and employee costs, as well as a monthly retainer cost of
some $68,000, plus other fees in the tens of thousands of dollars."
Sure: My accountant would have been ga-ga for that. Then there's this little tidbit in
which the CPA seems to believe that paying taxes is voluntary:
"The CPA's concern is that the IRS is sensitive to the fact that some try to conceal
income as loans to be written off as expenses later, especially if the amounts are large.
This can trigger an audit. If the loans are "forgiven," then they are income. If not
declared, that is potential fraud. The same note from the CPA indicates Hunter owes $600,000
in personal taxes and another $204,000 for Owasco and urges him to file a return even if he
is not going to pay the taxes."
The most charitable reading of the sleazy saga is that Joe Biden, one of the most powerful
men in the world, is an incredibly gullible idiot. (By
vasilis asvestas / Shutterstock)
Iread the files on Hunter Biden's laptop. They paint a sleazy picture of multi-million
dollar wire transfers, potential money laundering, and possible tax evasion. They raise serious
questions about the judgment and propriety of Jim Biden, the president-elect's brother, and Joe
himself. Call it smoke not fire, but smoke that should not be ignored. The files were supplied
to TAC by a known source previously established to have access.
Joe Biden is lucky a coordinated media effort kept Hunter out of the campaign. The FBI has
had the laptop since 2019, when they subpoenaed
the files in connection with a money laundering investigation. Federal investigators also
served a round of subpoenas on December 8, a month after the election, including one for Hunter
Biden himself. While the legal thrust of the investigation by the federal prosecutor in
Delaware is taxes, the real focus seems to be on Hunter's Chinese connections. This all comes
after the FBI has had over a year to examine some of the same files TAC looked at.
In the final weeks before the election, Hunter's laptop fell into Republican hands. The
story went public in the New York Post , revealing that Hunter Biden introduced his
father, then vice president, to a top executive at Ukrainian energy firm Burisma less than a
year before the elder Biden pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor
who was investigating the company. The meeting is mentioned in a message of appreciation that
Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Burisma, sent Hunter Biden about a year after
Hunter himself joined the Burisma board at a salary of $ 83,000
a month with no obvious work duties past making such introductions.
Nice work if you can get it, and to get it your dad better be vice president. If all that
alone does not meet the test of impropriety, we need a new test. Hunter Biden's value to
clients was his perceived access to the White House. His father Joe was at least a passive
participant in the scheme, maybe more than that.
The problem was many Americans never heard this story. Twitter led a social media charge to
not allow the information online. After years of salivating over every bit of Trump family
gossip, the mainstream media claimed the Biden story did not matter, or was Russian disinfo .
Surveys suggest the information could have swung the election if voters had known about it. One
survey showed
that enough people in battleground states would have changed their votes to give Trump 311
electoral votes and reelection.
No mind, really. As soon as it became clear Joe Biden was going to win, the media on all
sides lost interest in the laptop. The story became about the story. It devolved into think
pieces about the Orwellian role of social media and some online giggling about the sex tapes on
the laptop. But our short attention spans have consequences. The laptop still has a lot to tell
us.
00:11 / 01:00 Next Video First Panel, TAC's 7th
Annual Foreign Policy Conference What Does 2020 Mean For Foreign Policy Cancel Autoplay is
paused
Hunter's laptop was chock-a-block with video that appears to show Hunter smoking crack while
engaged in a sex act with a woman, as well as numerous other sexually explicit images. There's
evidence there that Hunter spent money on
escorts , some
$21,000 on cam sites, big plays on all sorts of
depravities . There is also Joe's car insurance information, Hunter's SSN, pages of call
logs, and lots of email addresses, bank account numbers, and personal information of prominent
people. None of the material is encrypted, just dumped on a standard MacBook Pro using the
password "Hunter02." The machine was regularly connected to the internet and might as well have
had an electronic sign on it saying "My dad is important, here's what you'll need to blackmail
me and others to get to him."
But there is more. The laptop shows Hunter, through a number of front companies, accepted
money from Chinese and Ukrainian entities and moved that money to the U.S. where it was
parceled out to other entities, including Joe Biden's brother. Some of it then went back to
Chinese hands. There is no way a simple read-through can tell if the money was legal consulting
fees or illegal money laundering and tax fraud. But it all smells bad: multi-million dollar
transfers to LLCs without employees, residences used as multiple business addresses, legal
tricks from Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands, and even a minor CIA connection.
Ask yourself if this demands more investigation. Ask yourself if voters might not have
benefited from knowing more about Joe Biden's side of all this.
The majority of the contents of the laptop are a jumbled record of Hunter's international
business ventures and financial records. Outstanding in the haystack are a large number of wire
transfers. Those with traceable addresses appear to be mostly anonymous shell companies run out
of lawyers' offices, with no employees and fuzzy public paper trails. One off the top involved
$259,845 traveling on April 2, 2018, from the Hudson West III in New York to a numbered account
held by Cathay Bank. Hudson West was created by Hunter Biden's own law firm, Owasco, with
several Chinese nationals, including a Ye Jianming associate, Gong Wendong. Ye Jianming is
chairman of CEFC China Energy, who reportedly
had close ties to both the Chinese government and the People's Liberation Army. He's been
arrested in China on corruption charges and has conveniently disappeared.
Biden in August 2018 also returned $100,000 back to CEFC in China via its own New York
subsidiary LLC, Hudson West V, whose listed address is 12 Foxwood Road, Great Neck, NY 11024.
That address is not a business office but instead a single family home worth over $6 million.
Phone records
suggest two people live there, including Gong Wendong. Money appears to move from physical
China to virtual Hunter back to virtual China in the U.S., starting and ending in accounts tied
to Gong Wendong after touching base with Hunter, a potential indicator of laundering. Chinese
money in China changed into Chinese money in America. Caution is needed; while what looks like
money laundering at first glance may indeed be so, it may be designed to hide the cash from the
Chinese government while staying inside American law, a quasi-legal service Hunter possibly
supplied.
That 12 Foxwood address shows up again on Biden's laptop as the mailing address for another
Gong Wendong venture, ColdHarbour Capital, which sent and received money to Biden. It is also
listed as the residence of Shan Gao, who appears to control accounts in Beijing tied to Hudson,
CEFC, and 12 Foxwood.
The most significant appearance of 12 Foxwood was as the mailing address for a secured VISA
card in the name of Biden's company, Hudson West III. The card is funded by someone unnamed
through Cathay Bank for $99,000 and guaranteed by someone's checking account held by Cathay
worth $450,000. Shared users of the card are Hunter and Gong Wendong. The card was opened as
CEFC secured a stake in a Russian state-owned energy company. Biden and others subsequently
used the credit card to purchase $101,291.46 worth of extravagant items, including airline
tickets and multiple items at Apple stores, pharmacies, hotels, and restaurants. A Senate
report
characterized these transactions as "potential financial criminal activity." Putting money on a
secured VISA card in lieu of a direct wire transfer to Biden may be seen by some as an attempt
to hide the source of the money and thus allow Biden not to claim it as income.
James Biden and Sara Biden were also authorized users of the credit card, though their
business connection to Hunter and Gong Wendong is unclear. Jim is Joe's brother, Sara his wife.
Jim over the years has been a nightclub owner, insurance broker, political consultant, and
investor. When he ran into financial
trouble having triple mortgaged his home, he was bailed out via loans from Joe and Hunter and
by a series of Joe's donors. Jim also received a loan of $500,000
from John Hynansky, a Ukrainian-American businessman and longtime donor to Joe Biden's
campaigns. This all was in 2015, at the same time the then-vice president oversaw U.S. policy
toward the country. As a senator, Joe Biden made use of a private jet owned by Hynansky's
son.
The 12 Foxwood address also appears on millions of dollars worth of bank transfers among
Cathay Bank, CEFC, and multiple semi-anonymous LLCs and hedge funds. One single transfer to
Hudson West III on August 8, 2017, represented the movement of $5 million from Northern Capital
International, which appears to be a
Chinese government-owned import-export front company.
Switch over to the CDB Bank folder and you see a wire transfer from Burisma for 36,000
euros, run through a bank in Cyprus, to Biden's own account on that island. Burisma is the one
company from the laptop that made the news. Hunter's role, what he actually did besides
introduce his father to other people, is still unclear.
Burisma must be an interesting place. Hunter's laptop partially exposes a complex web of
sub-companies in Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands such that figuring out who owns who is
near impossible. Hunter, speaking to his business partner, speculates about buying a Lithuanian
bank to receive the Ukrainian money, and he also notes that Joseph Cofer Black , former director
of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, sits on Burisma's board. Black previously served as vice
chairman at mercenary provider Blackwater Worldwide (now Academi).
All just business, right? Not everyone saw it that way. An email from Wells Fargo's
corporate compliance team (Wells Fargo handled many of the international wire transfers) asks
on September 20, 2018, what the actual business of Hudson West is, who its owners are, and
where it is located. Also asked is what the purpose of all the incoming wires is. It notes some
business accounts appear to be for personal expenses. It also questions numerous outgoing wires
to the Lion Hall Group (for example, on September 28, 2018, Hunter ordered $95,000 transferred
without explanation), a "business" run by Jim Biden out of a residential address. Jim regularly
invoiced Hunter for office expenses and employee costs, as well as a monthly retainer cost of
some $68,000, plus other fees in the tens of thousands of dollars.
There is no record of these questions being answered. It is possible to see the disbursal of
funds via credit card to Jim Biden as a way to diffuse the amounts away from Hunter, and via
Jim's invoices, a way to convert income from China into deductible business expenses for Hunter
in America, reducing his tax burden. The involvement of Lion Hall and Jim Biden also spreads
the money around, lowering its profile. If the invoices were shown to be fraudulent (i.e., Jim
did not actually consult for Hunter), the potential for tax fraud exists.
Besides Wells Fargo, others also had questions. Hunter's own CPA, preparing to file 2018
federal taxes, wrote to Hunter asking, "As far as Owasco [Hunter's law firm] is concerned there
were some receipts we classified as loans. Owasco received approximately $550,000 from Burisma
and paid about one half this amount to, I believe, someone named 'Devon.' I am not sure of the
payee The one half payment to 'Devon' was not recorded as income."
Devon is likely Devon Archer , co-founder and managing partner
of Rosemont Capital alongside Hunter. Who else was part of Rosemont? Christopher
Heinz , John Kerry's son. And, small world, Devon Archer sat on the board of Burisma
alongside
Hunter Biden. The CPA's concern is that the IRS is sensitive to the fact that some try to
conceal income as loans to be written off as expenses later, especially if the amounts are
large. This can trigger an audit. If the loans are "forgiven," then they are income. If not
declared, that is potential fraud.
The same note from the CPA indicates Hunter owes $600,000 in personal taxes and another
$204,000 for Owasco and urges him to file a return even if he is not going to pay the taxes.
Besides taxes, things did not always go well for Hunter. On March 6, 2019, he sent an email to
a friend saying, "Buddy do you have a cash app to send me $100 until wire goes. I have no money
for gas and I'm literally stuck at a rest stop on 95." He earlier had sought a $35,000 advance
from his regular "draw" out of Owasco. And keep an eye on Hunter's health -- he pays close to
$9,000 a quarter for life insurance.
Joe Biden is one lucky S.O.B. When the powers that be decided Barack Obama needed someone a
little more, you know, establishment, as his VP to calm voters, there was Joe, as white-bread
as the state he represented, vaulted into the White House that had otherwise eluded him. His
only controversial points came from having supported the status quo for so many years that it
had changed underneath him. Are we tough on crime, or do Black Lives Matter? Didn't matter to
Joe, just point him in the right direction so he knows what to agree with. And so in 2020, when
the Democrats realized exactly what kind of man they needed to wipe away the sins of two
dishonest and chaotic primaries, well, there was Joe again.
Joe was fortunate that the mainstream media memory-holed Hunter's story and conservative
media lost focus looking for a tweetable smoking gun when the truth was a bit too complicated
to parse out in a sentence or two. But there is still a story here.
The short version is there's a lot to suggest money laundering and tax fraud on Hunter's
part. The purpose of the money in and out was always unclear, with invoices for vague expenses
and lots and lots of "consulting." One could invent a legal explanation for everything. One
could imagine many illegal explanations. There is no way anyone could know the difference
without seeing Hunter's taxes, asking him questions, and doing some serious forensic
accounting. It is unlikely any of that will happen now that the election is over. Even to
Guiliani et al., it really doesn't matter any more. They took one shot, missed, and walked
away.
That will leave undigested the bigger tale of president-elect Biden, who ran in part on an
anti-corruption platform following the Trump family escapades. While Joe Biden no doubt regrets
what appears to have been a one-off meeting with the Burisma official, he did indeed take the
meeting as VP. It's always easier to apologize when caught than seek permission in advance in
Joe's world.
A 2017 email chain involving Hunter brokering an ultimately failed deal for a new venture
with old friend CEFC, the Chinese energy company, described a 10 percent set-aside for the "big
guy," whom former Hunter Biden partner Tony Bobulinski publicly identified as Joe Biden
. Joe also took Hunter to China with him on Air Force Two and met with Chinese leaders while
Hunter tried to make deals on his own. Joe also had Hunter and partner Devon Archer to the
White House only two days before they joined Burisma. It was Joe's donors and pals who bailed
out brother Jim over the years with sweetheart loans.
A lot of appearance of improprietous malarkey from a senior statesman who knows better. In
places like China and the Ukraine, where corruption is endemic, it is assumed the sons of rich
and powerful men have access to their father and that access is for sale. Hunter Biden traded
on those assumptions for millions of dollars, and Joe stood by understanding what was
happening. Every father wants to help his son, and Hunter, one can imagine, went to his dad
time after time pleading for just one more little favor to get him clear of his sordid past.
Joe, a decent man at heart, likely nodded. So a meeting. A handshake. An office visit, a posed
photo, whatever would help but was still plausibly deniable. Until the next time. Just one
more, Dad. Please?
Joe's larger role in all things Hunter needs to be questioned. Joe, as well as the Obama
State Department, knew about
Hunter's antics. Joe pretended Hunter's financial windfalls had nothing to do with their
relationship and were simply a constant series of coincidental lucky breaks for a ne'er-do-well
son who happened to fail upward while his dad was VP. Joe says he and his son never talked
about business. Maybe Joe assumed Hunter's Porsche was just a lucky find (his car payments are
on the laptop).
While, of course, Hunter is an adult with his own mind, his father was one of the most
powerful men in the world and yet apparently did nothing to stop what was going on among
Hunter, his brother Jim, the Chinese, the Ukrainians, and himself -- at minimum, the gross
appearance of impropriety over a period of years. Biden's defense has always been sweeping :
"My son did nothing wrong." That alone raises questions of judgment on the part of Joe Biden.
Not least because in a few weeks he becomes president of the United States. And if the
president does it, it's not illegal, right?
Maybe you can offer information that contradicts the assertions and alleged facts in
this article? Please make the effort to enlighten the rest of us. It'll force you to
seriously read the article and learn its contents in order to refute them. If you can't do
that then you haven't the courage to try and support your own assertions. It's hard to face
the possibility that you're wrong, but if you build a case maybe you'll actually change a
few minds here and there. As things stand right now you seem guilty to me of being "just
deluded enough to (not) believe it (the article) because it's what you want to (not)
believe."
That's exactly how I would have felt if Trump's kids had a strong appearance of selling
their father's influence for tens of millions of dollars! And if the Trump kids business
partners turned on them and gave testimony under oath to the FBI about it, and volumes of
documentary evidence supported it!
Nothingburger! I'm sure you and the media would have agreed with how I felt, and
completely ignored Trump corruption before the election. 'Cause that's the fair and
balanced media we all enjoy!
Silly vet. Trump's kids HAVE A STRONG APPEARANCE OF SELLING THEIR FATHER'S
INFLUENCE.
Have you been living under a rock? Why did Ivanka get several Chinese patents AT THE
SAME TIME Daddy was letting a Chinese company off the hook and hosting the Chinese leader
at Mar-A-Lago? Why is Jared Kushner jetting off to ME countries looking for investment
money while an active advisor in the West Wing? Why are Beavis and Butthead (Don Jr and
Eric) looking for foreign properties while Daddy is president?
Trump's children were actively involved in international business concerns long before
Trump ran for office. Hunter Biden is a low-life crack head who never achieved anything
until his daddy was VP. If you can't acknowledge the difference, you are incapable of
reason.
@Joe_Hubris Quite right, we all heard that donkey jr met with the Russians at Trump
Tower. There was ample evidence, before he let it out himself. But that wasn't exactly
conducting business, that was trying to steal an election.
Honest, Ivanka seems rather smart. Of course, Midlle Eastern money into Jared's businesses
will dry up, still, they'll save the furniture.
But, as soon as they are given the chance, Beavis and Butthead will do their best to blow
Trump Inc to smithereens and burn all that remains of it to the ground.
Oh, Hunter was in on the grift long before Joe became VP. He was brought into MBNA's
"Executive Training" program and made a member of the Board of AMTRAC while his daddy was
in the Senate.
I'm awake. Whenever there have been allegations of corruption against Trump's family,
I've tried to track the facts down (same as I've done with Biden, and before either of them
other candidates/Presidents).
There is one difference. My perception of major media the past four years is that with
Democrats, they've worked to minimize the damage on any story harmful to the left (Hunters'
laptop and Tara Reades' allegations of rape being prime examples), while any story
involving Trump they've exaggerated, left important facts out of their coverage, or
outright lied. So I believe that if there was any real corruption involving Trump, the MSM
would have covered it endlessly, just like they did with the bogus allegations of Trump
collaborating with the Russians to steal the election, and many other examples.
I'm not hiding from facts involving Trump family corruption. I just haven't seen
anything supporting it yet. I don't know if Jared Kushner was soliciting investment money
in the ME; that has been rumor and innuendo by his political enemies with no factual basis
so far. Ivanka having a fashion line and protecting it globally seems normal to me (China
is a huge market - bigger than the U.S.). Don Jr. and Eric seem like they're doing the same
things they were doing before DJT sought office, which is managing a normal business.
Everything about Hunter and Joe's brothers' business activities seem incredibly
suspicious to me, on the other hand.
Right! For example, I'm sure that Ivanka Trump got all of those lucrative licensing
deals in China SOLELY because of her amazing financial and business acumen!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Well,cwe know "covid"Joe isn't shy about doing business with them,bright? He said he had
more time with Chinese leaders than any modern president. And, using those chinese
connections,he had a virus made, and crazy Nancy Pelosi helped him spread it on her end of
the country. They used the impeachment, then the antics of the democratic socialists kicked
in, with Nancy calling him fat. And, when he tried to restrict flights from china, they
called him xenophobic and racist. Then distracted him more by inviting people to Chinese
new year! Before the virus, Trump was unstoppable. With ultra low unemployment rates, and
factories going strong, not to mention the legislation"Alzheimer's" Joe got going, causing
at least one man twenty years in prison for stealing a shovel! No one really considered
Biden to be a serious rival to trump then once they got the virus going, they used the
lowering of the presidents ratings and the virtual emptying of every other candidates, plus
the virus allowed them to get that mail in voting going, which is easier to tamper with
than electronic voting machines. Did you notice,with all the super sick people,we had the
highest turnout in history? Before you say it can't be true, another nugget to chew:right
before the election, about 90% of the bad things"Dirty" Joe did just know kinda "vanished
from social media!! We all know, if it shows up there, it never goes away, right? Wrong
when the democratic socialists control them...so in honoring Joe's greatest accomplishment,
I give to you....the JOVID virus...it's kinda...catchy, eh?but we need to shout out loud,
so he can hear, that everyone knows what he did last year! JOVID! JOVID! Put your hands in
the air like you just don't care and, with half the country hating this Biden clown we
should be as loud as Metallica in a phone booth!! Don't let them get away with it!!!!
Unlike Joe Biden's grifting clan, Trump's offspring had successful enterprises well
before their father entered into politics. And yes, in China and a number of international
countries also. Like their father, and unlike the Biden's, the Trump family didn't strike
it rich from political office. In fact, President Trump donated his entire presidential
salary of $400k/yr to charities all four years. Imagine Joe Biden doing that.
It is a sad state we find ourselves in today. Democrats whine about "white privilege"
against people who had nothing to do with slavery and in fact lost ancestors fighting it.
Meanwhile in a more real and present instance of privilege at the expense of other humans,
current vaccinations against Covid19 were developed using cell lines derived from aborted
human children. To my knowledge not a single vaccine is being offered that does not rest on
this heinous recipe.
Incisive and grim. As Mr. Putin observed, Presidents come and go but the policy stays the
same. But wait! I think there's more
WRT Iran. Iran recently announced that their sales of oil had increased substantially,
without, of course identifying how much or with whom. If they are doing these transactions in
national currencies, there's nothing other than piracy that the US can do, making the US more
dependent on our vassals to carry our water here. But
In other news, the EU has decided to stop supporting Guido. If some of the OAS vassals get
the idea that they, too, can stand on at least their two knees, maybe Mr. Maduro can get a
bit more of a break. The US is sure to be wroth.
PACE decided to pass a non-binding resolution of more sanctions against Russia for the
Navalny fiasco while Frau Merkel (and her likely successor) remains clear that Nord Stream II
must be finished. The German FM pointed out that they could face serious court battles since
the Pipeline consortium which includes other EU countries has all the permits they
require.
The results are in aaaaannnnnddd – thanx to Covid, for the first time in history
China had more Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) than the US. The US better hope that doesn't
keep up ..
@42 I'm sure Maduro would take dollars.....or gold. Of course buying Venezuelan oil from an
evil brutal socialist dictator would be a major climb down.
The USA doesn't pay for oil or gas. It takes over the mining company, demands the project
be funded by local or national borrowing from USA banks with sovereign guarantees, sells the
product to a separate US company that pays peanuts to the miner and then onsells for a major
markup (transfer pricing). Its called modern day stealing of other countries resources.
Look at the report on keystone that you cited at #39 where
The Canadian province that invested $1.1 billion of taxpayers' money in the controversial
Keystone XL project is now considering the sale of pipe and materials to try to recoup some
funds.
"If the project ends, there would be assets that could be sold, such as enormous
quantities of pipe," Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said in a press conference Monday.
Meanwhile the directors and shareholders got their fat checks and dividends from the
municipal loan funds ;)
The USA will not pay in gold until it is on its knees - it simply will not pay. See how
the USA 'bought' Tik Tok: blatant extortion/theft. The same as was done to Japan's high tech
in the 60's 70's or whenever. Thieves.
Policy to stop Nord Stream 2 will continue under Biden, although here we're told
Biden will extend New START Treaty by the same person, Biden's nominee for Secretary of
State, Antony Blinken.
Defense nominee Austin was also covered in this article where we can see he reads from
the same playbook as those who went before him. So it seems like continuity of its dystopic
imperial policy will be what we see from the Outlaw US Empire, although we'll soon see if
that also applies to Trump's Farewell boast that he was proud not to have started any "new"
wars.
@42 I'm sure Maduro would take dollars.....or gold. Of course buying Venezuelan oil from an
evil brutal socialist dictator would be a major climb down.
The USA doesn't pay for oil or gas. It takes over the mining company, demands the project
be funded by local or national borrowing from USA banks with sovereign guarantees, sells the
product to a separate US company that pays peanuts to the miner and then onsells for a major
markup (transfer pricing). Its called modern day stealing of other countries resources.
Look at the report on keystone that you cited at #39 where
The Canadian province that invested $1.1 billion of taxpayers' money in the controversial
Keystone XL project is now considering the sale of pipe and materials to try to recoup some
funds.
"If the project ends, there would be assets that could be sold, such as enormous
quantities of pipe," Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said in a press conference Monday.
Meanwhile the directors and shareholders got their fat checks and dividends from the
municipal loan funds ;)
The USA will not pay in gold until it is on its knees - it simply will not pay. See how
the USA 'bought' Tik Tok: blatant extortion/theft. The same as was done to Japan's high tech
in the 60's 70's or whenever. Thieves.
Hi b, Jim Kunstler has an interesting piece this week on the impact of EROI on the US
recovery or lack thereof in the US shake sector. Just not enough cheap energy to get their
economy going. Will Germany hold up against Trumps last minute sanctions against
Nordstream if Biden maintains them? If Germany doesn't won't that put Germany in the same
over expensive boat as US and lead to economic stagnation? Especially if all Russia's
cheap energy ends up in China, which it almost certainly will.
"Why do the USA, UK and Europe so hate Russia? How it is that Western antipathy, once
thought due to anti-Communism, could be so easily revived over a crisis in distant Ukraine,
against a Russia no longer communist? Why does the West accuse Russia of empire-building,
when 15 states once part of the defunct Warsaw Pact are now part of NATO, and NATO troops now
flank the Russian border? These are only some of the questions Creating Russophobia
iinvestigates. Mettan begins by showing the strength of the prejudice against Russia through
the Western response to a series of events: the Uberlingen mid-air collision, the Beslan
hostage- taking, the Ossetia War, the Sochi Olympics and the crisis in Ukraine. He then
delves into the historical, religious, ideological and geopolitical roots of the detestation
of Russia in various European nations over thirteen centuries since Charlemagne competed with
Byzantium for the title of heir to the Roman Empire. Mettan examines the geopolitical
machinations expressed in those times through the medium of religion, leading to the great
Christian schism between Germanic Rome and Byzantium and the European Crusades against
Russian Orthodoxy. This history of taboos, prejudices and propaganda directed against the
Orthodox Church provides the mythic foundations that shaped Western disdain for contemporary
Russia. From the religious and imperial rivalry created by Charlemagne and the papacy to the
genesis of French, English, German and then American Russophobia, the West has been engaged
in more or less violent hostilities against Russia for a thousand years. Contemporary
Russophobia is manufactured through the construction of an anti-Russian discourse in the
media and the diplomatic world, and the fabrication and demonization of The Bad Guy, now
personified by Vladimir Putin. Both feature in the meta-narrative, the mythical framework of
the ferocious Russian bear ruled with a rod of iron by a vicious president. A synthetic
reading of all these elements is presented in the light of recent events and in particular of
the Ukrainian crisis and the recent American elections, showing how all the resources of the
West's soft power have been mobilized to impose the tale of bad Russia dreaming of global
conquest. "By hating Russia, one hurts oneself. Swiss journalist Guy Mettan pieces together
the reasons of detestation of the Kremlin and of a rhetoric that goes back to Napoleonic
times despite the long list of aggressions perpetrated in the meantime by the West. And he
explains why pushing Moscow toward Asia is a very serious error." -Panorama, Italy "Like
Saddam Hussein's mythical weapons of massive destruction in 2003, Peter the Great's fake will
has been used to justify the aggressions and invasions that the Europeans, and now the
Americans, still carry out against Russia." -Liberation, France
"Not at all, the center of russophobia will now be Germany. In is not a surprise that
Russia recently declared that the center of russophobia in the EU are now France and
Germany."
Nord Stream 2 will be completed contrary to the opinions of four to five commenters on
here. This is Germany & Russia that you are talking about. Sanctions did not stop the
Crimean bridge. It makes no economic sense to deny European/West Asian (Russian produced)
Liquid natural gas in order to subsidise 'transit fees' to Ukraine. The U.S.Congress'
sanctions here are untenible, but don't expect Germany & Russia to publish how they will
do it until completion.
Reuters gleeful that Gazprom announced the possibility Nord Stream 2 won't be completed
due to "political pressure." But such a warning is part of all standard potential risks
announcements accompanying any prospectus--a fact Reuters ignored--which in this case is for
the issuance of Eurobonds, although I question the judgement in making them dollar
denominated.
Its not contrary to my opinion, but you appear to be young and naive person. There is
nothing new in that German policy, for example it supported the building of pipelines from
the USSR over President Reagan objections. Which does not mean that it wasn't enemy of the
USSR - its destruction was the key for taking control of Eastern Europe and turning it into
Germany's Latin America.
Someone can hate you and may want to make money at the same time too. But as soon as there
is weakness, they will pounce on you and stab you in the back.
As for the pipeline, it will remain under a puppet russian government. No loss there
too.
What the EU wants is to subdue Russia and later dismember it, taking hold of the
population and natural resources.
In the mean time, there is nothing wrong with making some money too. As the EU worships a
good living too.
46 Follow RT on Outgoing US
President Donald Trump has delivered his "parting gift" to the Moscow-led Nord Stream 2 gas
pipeline, with newly announced sanctions targeting a pipe-laying vessel and companies involved
in the multinational project.
The specialist ship concerned, named, 'Fortuna,' and oil tanker 'Maksim Gorky', as well as
two Russian firms, KVT-Rus and Rustanker, were blacklisted on Tuesday under CAATSA (Countering
America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) as part of Washington's economic war on Moscow.
The same legislation had been previously used by the US to target numerous Russian officials
and enterprises.
Russian energy giant Gazprom warned its investors earlier on Tuesday that Nord Stream 2
could be suspended or even canceled if more US restrictions are introduced.
However, Moscow has assured its partners that it intends to complete the project despite
"harsh pressure on the part of Washington," according to Kremlin press secretary Dmitry
Peskov. Reacting to the new package of sanctions on Tuesday, Peskov called them
"unlawful."
Meanwhile, the EU said it is in no rush to join the Washington-led sanction war on Nord
Stream 2. EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said that the bloc is not going to resist
the construction of the project.
"Because we're talking about a private project, we can't hamper the operations of those
companies if the German government agrees to it," Borrell said Tuesday.
Nord Stream 2 is an offshore gas pipeline, linking Russia and Germany with aim of providing
cheaper energy to Central European customers. Under the agreement between Moscow and Berlin, it
was to be launched in mid-2020, but the construction has been delayed due to strong opposition
from Washington.
The US, which is hoping to sell its Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to Europe, has hit the
project with several rounds of sanctions over scarcely credible claims that it could undermine
European energy security. Critics say the real intent is to force EU members to buy from
American companies.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
46 Follow RT on
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Fatback33 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:20 AM
The group that owns Washington makes the foreign policy. That policy is not for the benefit
of the people.
DukeLeo Fatback33 1 hour ago 19 Jan, 2021 02:06 PM
That is correct. The private banks and corporations in the US are very upset about Nord
Stream - 2, as they want Europe to buy US gas at double price. Washington thus introduces
additional political gangsterism in the shape of new unilateral sanctions which have no merit
in international law.
noremedy 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:22 AM
Is the U.S. so stupid that they do not realize that they are isolating themselves? Russia has
developed SPFS, China CIPS, together with Iran, China and Russia are further developing a
payment transfer system. Once in place and functioning this system will replace the western
SWIFT system for international payment transfers. It will be the death knell for the US
dollar. 327 million Americans are no match for the rest of the billions of the world's
population. The next decade will see the total debasement of the US monetary system and the
fall from power of the decaying and crumbling in every way U.S.A.
Hanonymouse noremedy 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 01:37 PM
They don't care. They have the most advanced military in the world. Might makes right, even
today.
Shelbouy 3 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 12:25 PM
Russia currently supplies over 50% of the natural gas consumed by The EU. Germany and Italy
are the largest importers of Russian natural gas. What is the issue of sanctions stemming
from and why are the Americans doing this? A no brainer question I suppose. It's to make more
money than the other supplier, and exert political pressure and demand obedience from its
lackey. Germany.
David R. Evans Shelbouy 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 01:58 PM
Russia and Iran challenge perpetual US wars for Israel's Oded Yinon Plan. Washington is
Israel-controlled territory.
Jewel Gyn 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:34 AM
Sanctions work both ways. With the outgoing Trump administration desperately laying mines for
Biden, we await how sleepy Joe is going to mend strayed ties with EU.
Count_Cash 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:20 AM
The US mafia state continues with the same practices. The dog is barking but the caravan is
going. The counter productiveness of sanctions always shows through in the end! I am sure
with active efforts of Germany and Russia against US mafia oppression that a blowback will be
felt by the US over time!
Dachaguy 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:24 AM
This is an act of war against Germany. NATO should respond and act against the aggressor,
America.
xyz47 Dachaguy 42 minutes ago 19 Jan, 2021 03:20 PM
NATO is run by the US...
lovethy Dachaguy 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 01:04 PM
NATO has no separate existence. It's the USA's arm of aggression, suppression and domination.
Germany after WWII is an occupied country of USA. Thousand of armed personnel stationed in
Germany enforcing that occupation.
Chaz Dadkhah 3 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 12:19 PM
Further proof that Trump is no friend of Russia and is in a rush to punish them while he
still has power. If it was the swamp telling him to do that, like his supporters suggest,
then they would have waited till their man Biden came in to power in less than 24 hours to do
it. Wake up!
Mac Kio 3 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 12:34 PM
USA hates fair competition. USA ignores all WTO rules.
Russkiy09 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 01:33 PM
By whining and not completing in the face of US, Russia is losing credibility. They should
not have delayed to mobilize the pipe laying vessel and other equipment for one whole year.
They should have mobilized in three months and finished by now. Same happens when Jewtin does
not shoot down Zio air force bombing Syria everyday. But best option should have been to tell
European vassals that "if you can, take our gas. But we will charge the highest amount and
sell as much as we want, exclude Russophobic Baltic countries and Poland and neo-vassal
Ukraine. Pay us not in your ponzi paper money but real goods and services or precious metals
or other commodities or our own currency Ruble." I so wish I could be the President of
Russia. Russians deserve to be as wealthy as the Swiss or SIngapore etc., not what they are
getting. Their leaders should stand up for their interest. And stop empowering the greedy
merchantalist Chinese and brotherhood Erdogan.
BlackIntel 1 hour ago 19 Jan, 2021 02:27 PM
America i captured by private interest; this project threatens American private companies
hence the government is forced to protect capitalism. This is illegal
Ohhho 3 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 12:15 PM
That project was a mistake from the start: Russia should distance itself from the Evil
empire, EU included! Stop wasting time and resources on trying to please the haters and
keeping them more competitive with cheaper Russian natural gas: focus on real partners and
potential allies elsewhere!
butterfly123 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 01:58 PM
I have said it before that part of the problem is at the door of the policy-makers and
politicians in Russia. Pipeline project didn't spring up in the minds of politicians in
Russia one morning, presumably. There should have been foresight, detailed planning, and
opportunity creation for firms in Russia to acquire the skill-set and resources to advance
this project. Not doing so has come to bite Russia hard and painful. Lessons learnt I hope Mr
President!
jakro 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:37 AM
Good news. The swamp is getting deeper and bigger.
hermaflorissen 4 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 11:49 AM
Trump finally severed my expectations for the past 4 years. He should indeed perish.
ariadnatheo 1 hour ago 19 Jan, 2021 03:06 PM
That is one Trump measure that will not be overturned by the Senile One. They will need to
amplify the RussiaRussiaRussia barking and scratching to divert attention from their dealings
with China
Neville52 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 02:01 PM
Its time the other nations of the world turned their backs on the US. Its too risky if you
are an international corporation to suddenly have large portions of your income cancelled due
to some crazy politician in the US
5th Eye 2 hours ago 19 Jan, 2021 02:03 PM
From empire to the collapse of empire, US follows UK to the letters. Soon it will be
irrelevant. The only thing that remains for UK is the language. Probably hotdog for the US.
VonnDuff1 1 hour ago 19 Jan, 2021 02:10 PM
The USA Congress and its corrupt foreign policy dictates work to the detriment of Europe and
Russia, while providing no tangible benefits to US states or citizens. So globalist demands
wrapped in the stars & stripes, should be laughed at, by all freedom loving nations.
"... , and author of several books, including ..."
"... Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran ..."
"... . @medeabenjamin; Nicolas J. S. Davies, an independent journalist, a researcher with CODEPINK and the author of ..."
"... Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq ..."
"... . @NicolasJSDavies; and Marcy Winograd of Progressive Democrats of America served as a 2020 Democratic delegate for Bernie Sanders,and is Coordinator of ..."
Yves here. Biden's nominees have skewed towards the awful, particularly on the foreign
policy front. But his plan to install Victoria "Fuck the EU" Nuland at State is a standout. For
those of you new to this site and not familiar with Nuland's sorry history, this post gives an
overview of her role in fomenting the coup in Ukraine and in putting relations with Russia on a
Cold War footing. The authors encourage readers to call their Senators and urge them to vote
against her nomination.
And before you get unduly excited by Biden nominating Gary Gensler to the SEC, I would much
rather have seem Gensler at Treasury. Gensler demonstrated at the CFTC that he's effective and
dedicated to combatting abuses by Big Finance. However, his best shot at making the SEC feared
and respected again is to appoint a tough head of enforcement, so keep an eye out for that
pick.
The problem that Gensler will have at the SEC is that it is the only Federal financial
services industry regulator that is subject to Congressional appropriations, rather that living
off its fees and fines (the SEC collects far more than Congress allows it). And Democrats, like
Joe Lieberman, then the Senator from Hedgistan, have been if anything more aggressive than
Republicans in threatening the SEC and in keeping it budget-starved.
I had said to Lambert that if Biden wanted to be Machiavellian, the way to pretend to reward
Elizabeth Warren while actually sandbagging her would be to make her SEC chair. Let's hope that
isn't his logic for appointing Gensler.
Photo Credit: thetruthseeker.co.uk Nuland and Pyatt planning regime change in Kiev
Who is Victoria Nuland? Most Americans have never heard of her because the U.S. corporate
media's foreign policy coverage is a wasteland. Most Americans have no idea that
President-elect Biden's pick for Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs is stuck in
the quicksand of 1950s U.S.-Russia Cold War politics and dreams of continued NATO expansion, an
arms race on steroids and further encirclement of Russia.
Nor do they know that from 2003-2005, during the hostile U.S. military occupation of Iraq,
Nuland was a foreign policy advisor to Dick Cheney, the Darth Vader of the Bush
administration.
You can bet, however, that the people of Ukraine have heard of neocon Nuland. Many have even
heard the leaked four-minute audio of her saying "Fuck the EU" during a 2014 phone call with
the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt.
During the infamous call on which Nuland and Pyatt plotted to replace the elected Ukrainian
President Victor Yanukovych, Nuland expressed her not-so-diplomatic disgust with the European
Union for grooming former heavyweight boxer and austerity champ Vitali Klitschko instead of
U.S. puppet and NATO booklicker Artseniy Yatseniuk to replace Russia-friendly Yanukovych.
The "Fuck the EU" call went viral, as an embarrassed State Department, never denying the
call's authenticity, blamed the Russians for tapping the phone, much as the NSA has tapped the
phones of European allies.
Despite outrage from German Chancellor Angela Markel, no one fired Nuland, but her potty
mouth upstaged the more serious story: the U.S. plot to overthrow Ukraine's elected government
and America's responsibility for a civil war that has killed at least 13,000 people and left
Ukraine the poorest
country in Europe.
In the process, Nuland, her husband Robert Kagan, the co-founder of The Project for a New
American Century , and their neocon cronies succeeded in sending U.S.-Russian relations
into a dangerous downward spiral from which they have yet to recover.
Nuland accomplished this from a relatively junior position as Assistant Secretary of State
for European and Eurasian Affairs. How much more trouble could she stir up as the #3 official
at Biden's State Department? We'll find out soon enough, if the Senate confirms her
nomination.
Joe Biden should have learned from Obama's mistakes that appointments like this matter.
In his first
term , Obama allowed his hawkish Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Republican Secretary
of Defense Robert Gates, and military and CIA leaders held over from the Bush administration to
ensure that endless war trumped his message of hope and change.
Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, ended up presiding over indefinite detentions without
charges or trials at Guantanamo Bay; an escalation of drone strikes that killed innocent
civilians; a deepening of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; a self-reinforcing
cycle of terrorism and counterterrorism; and disastrous new wars in
Libya and Syria
.
With Clinton out and new personnel in top spots in his second term, Obama began
to take charge of his own foreign policy. He started working directly with Russia's President
Putin to resolve crises in Syria and other hotspots. Putin helped avert an escalation of the
war in Syria in September 2013 by negotiating the removal and destruction of Syria's chemical
weapons stockpiles, and helped Obama negotiate an interim agreement with Iran that led to the
JCPOA nuclear deal.
But the neocons were apoplectic that they failed to convince Obama to order a massive
bombing campaign and escalate his covert,
proxy war in Syria and at the receding prospect of a war with Iran. Fearing their control
of U.S. foreign policy was slipping, the neocons launched a
campaign to brand Obama as "weak" on foreign policy and remind him of their power.
With
editorial help from Nuland, her husband Robert Kagan penned a 2014 New Republic
article entitled "Superpowers Don't Get To Retire," proclaiming that "there is no democratic
superpower waiting in the wings to save the world if this democratic superpower falters." Kagan
called for an even more aggressive foreign policy to exorcise American fears of a multipolar
world it can no longer dominate.
Obama invited Kagan to a private lunch at the White House, and the neocons' muscle-flexing
pressured him to scale back his diplomacy with Russia, even as he quietly pushed ahead on
Iran.
The neocons' coup de grace against Obama's better angels was Nuland's 2014 coup
in debt-ridden Ukraine, a valuable imperial possession for its wealth of natural gas and a
strategic candidate for NATO membership right on Russia's border.
When Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych spurned a U.S.-backed trade agreement with
the European Union in favor of a $15 billion bailout from Russia, the State Department threw a
tantrum.
Hell hath no fury like a superpower scorned.
The EU trade
agreement was to open Ukraine's economy to imports from the EU, but without a reciprocal
opening of EU markets to Ukraine, it was a lopsided deal Yanukovich could not accept. The deal
was approved by the post-coup government, and has only added to Ukraine's economic woes.
The muscle for Nuland's $5 billion coup was Oleh
Tyahnybok's neo-Nazi Svoboda Party and the shadowy new Right Sector militia. During her leaked
phone call, Nuland referred to Tyahnybok as one of the "big three" opposition leaders on the
outside who could help the U.S.-backed Prime Minister Yatsenyuk on the inside. This is the same
Tyanhnybok who once
delivered a speec h applauding Ukrainians for fighting Jews and "other scum" during World
War II.
After protests in Kiev's Euromaidan square turned into battles with police in February 2014,
Yanukovych and the Western-backed opposition
signed an agreement brokered by France, Germany and Poland to form a national unity
government and hold new elections by the end of the year.
But that was not good enough for the neo-Nazis and extreme right-wing forces the U.S. had
helped to unleash. A violent mob led by the Right Sector militia marched on and invaded the
parliament building , a scene no longer difficult for Americans to imagine. Yanukovych and
his members of parliament fled for their lives.
Facing the loss of its most vital strategic naval base at Sevastopol in Crimea, Russia
accepted the overwhelming result (a 97% majority, with an 83% turnout) of a referendum in which
Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia, which it had been a part of from 1783 to
1954.
The majority Russian-speaking provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine
unilaterally declared independence from Ukraine, triggering a bloody civil war between U.S.-
and Russian-backed forces that still rages in 2021.
U.S.-Russian relations have never recovered, even as U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals still
pose the greatest single
threat to our existence. Whatever Americans believe about the civil war in Ukraine and
allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, we must not allow the neocons
and the military-industrial complex they serve to deter Biden from conducting vital diplomacy
with Russia to steer us off our suicidal path toward nuclear war.
Nuland and the neocons, however, remain committed to an ever-more debilitating and dangerous
Cold War with Russia and China to justify a militarist foreign policy and record Pentagon
budgets. In a July 2020 Foreign Affairs article entitled "Pinning Down Putin," Nuland
absurdly
claimed that Russia presents a greater threat to "the liberal world" than the U.S.S.R.
posed during the old Cold War.
Nuland's
narrative rests on an utterly mythical, ahistorical narrative of Russian aggression and
U.S. good intentions. She pretends that Russia's military budget, which is one-tenth of
America's, is evidence of "Russian confrontation and militarization" and calls
on the U.S. and its allies to counter Russia by "maintaining robust defense budgets,
continuing to modernize U.S. and allied nuclear weapons systems, and deploying new conventional
missiles and missile defenses to protect against Russia's new weapons systems "
Nuland also wants to confront Russia with an aggressive NATO. Since her days as U.S.
Ambassador to NATO during President George W. Bush's second term, she has been a supporter of
NATO's expansion all the way up to Russia's border. She calls
for "permanent bases along NATO's eastern border." We have pored over a map of Europe, but
we can't find a country called NATO with any borders at all. Nuland sees Russia's commitment to
defending itself after successive 20th century Western invasions as an intolerable obstacle to
NATO's expansionist ambitions.
Nuland's militaristic worldview represents exactly the folly the U.S. has been pursuing
since the 1990s under the influence of the neocons and "liberal interventionists," which has
resulted in a systematic underinvestment in the American people while escalating tensions with
Russia, China, Iran and other countries.
As Obama learned too late, the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time can, with a
shove in the wrong direction, unleash years of intractable violence, chaos and international
discord. Victoria Nuland would be a ticking time-bomb in Biden's State Department, waiting to
sabotage his better angels much as she undermined Obama's second-term diplomacy.
So let's do Biden and the world a favor. Join World Beyond War , CODEPINK and dozens of other
organizations opposing neocon Nuland's confirmation as a threat to peace and diplomacy. Call
202-224-3121 and tell your Senator to oppose Nuland's installation at the State Department.
Nuland has also been declared persona non grata by Russia, so she would not be able to go
with Biden, were he to visit Moscow. Russian foreign minister Lavrov, actually refused to
shake her hand when she attended a US-Russia meeting with Kerry. She is poison to any attempt
to peaceful relationships.
Yes, I remember that meeting clearly. Can't cite the network, but it covered her closely
– body language only. I wonder where Biden stood on that act of diplomacy given his own
corruption, and also what John Kerry's thinking is about now. John Kerry's stepson was in
cahoots with Hunter Biden. It looked like Kerry brought her along for some rehabilitation and
Lavrov was having none of it. Instead he went directly to the delegation from Ukraine and
they stood in a circle all with their backs turned to Vicky who had no choice but to wander
over to the coffee table and pretend she wasn't totally uncomfortable. Totally excluded. How
can she recover from that?
If there is one thing that Russia hates it is fascists and that is because of the enormous
damage caused by them in WW2. We call those invaders Nazis but the Russians seem to call them
fascists. I sometimes wonder if it is part of their mother's milk this hatred. For people
like Nuland to help topple the government of a large, bordering country like the Ukraine and
install people that were literally fascists was too much for the Russians. These were fascist
of a very low order that had the old 1930s routines down pat, including the torchlight
parades. And there was Nuland, handing out cookies to the rioters, many of whom had been
trained in rioting tactics in Poland and were being paid about $100 a day by the US if I
recall correctly. Of course Nuland was not alone as there was also a Representative from the
EU also handing out cookies. The only equivalent that comes to mind is a violent revolution
in Canada using professional rioters and having diplomatic representatives from the Russian
Federation and China handing out donuts to the rioter. I wonder what Washington would say
about a stunt like that.
Nuland is a disgusting human being. Since she is a right winger, regardless of what party
may be listed on her voter ID, I don't think Bettridge's law applies here at all.
So glad all these 'woke' people put good old Uncle Joe back in office. Wonder how many
realized they were supporting people being burned alive by actual Nazis in doing so?
Thanks for this. Our "learned nothing/forgot nothing" Bourbon restoration will be led by
one of the dimmer Bourbons who couldn't even set up a good grift in Ukraine without boasting
about it and then angrily denying it. Should the press finally, improbably turn on him it
should make for some fun news conferences. But perhaps he'll merely be moving to the White
House basement from his Delaware basement.
CFTC's budgets are also set through congressional authorization and appropriations. Yes,
the CFPB is not subject to Congressional appropriations, but for good reasons. However, all
financial regulation can be overturned by the Congressional Review Act.
As for the article, citation needed. Sort of a laundry heap of questionable material. Make
no mistake, the Russo-Ukrainian War is a real war. Uniformed Russian armored infantry of
331st regiment of the 98th Svirsk airborne division dropped into Ukraine territory on 24
August 2014. From 25 to 27 August, Russian troops in civilian clothing, backed up by an
armored column [not in disguise] took Novoazovsk. This is about Russia not being able to
station 25,000 troops in Crimea as they had under Yanukovych. US troop levels in Europe have
been at their lowest for the last 20 years. The US would like to [nay, needs to] keep it that
way. However, the erosion of territorial integrity is a touchy subject in Europe given the
lasting peace of the post-war period in a place where the wars have a pre-fix like "Hundred
Years".
President Arseniy Yatsenyuk is of Jewish origin so the claims of coordination with Nazi
sympathizers is dubious. Not even going to get the boycotted unconstitutional Crimean
referendum.
As for WW III, Obama's defense department made it a priority to recover all the MANPADS,
such as the Chinese-made FN-6 [via Qatar], Russian-made Strela-2's and Igla-S's [via Libya]
from the FSA without so much as a thank you from the Russian Air Force. [Turkey, on the other
hand, armed the FSA with Stinger's.] It should be noted that the Syrian conflict's death
toll, in just four years, surpassed the 19-year death toll in all the Afghanistan, Pakistan,
and Iraq war theatres combined.
Think about this way: who needs NATO and the EU more to maintain his power structure, Joe
Biden or Vladimir Putin. Isn't it clear Americans don't care, and American business does not
look to compete in Russian anytime soon. The geography is wrong. But Putin must find a way to
engender ethnicities who do not like the Russian Empire, who had been cleansed by Stalin. One
way is to sell energy below cost to the republics and buy in back from political allies in
the form of electricity. Something upon which the EU frowns. [Personally, I did not care for
the way Putin early on systematically and indiscriminately starved Chechen civilians for
years. It was cruel on a level unseen outside of the Rwandan genocide. More importantly, it
was the Russian Federation abdicating its authority by not providing for its own citizens and
not letting NGO's fill the calorie gap. I'd like to think had Putin's admin not been so
wobbly the first few years, he might've let the Red Cross feed the children.]
Russia was never going to permit a US orchestrated coup in Ukraine without resistance. The
idea that Putin needs NATO more than Biden does seems unreasonable.
Talking about "citations", perhaps you could supply the readership of this site with some
credible citations and links for a few of the far fetched claims you're making here. Most of
this comment reads like pro-Ukrainian propaganda.
I heard about Gary Gensler, Samantha Power, and Victoria Nuland, and I immediately
thought, "The good, the bad, and the ugly."
Gensler surprised everyone when he was at the CFTC by doing his job, and doing it well,
and his running the SEC is a good thing.
Samantha Power is an aggressive war monger, and in her position at USAID, she will likely
have her fingers in regime change pie, since USAID is part of the deep state regime change
apparatus..
I've long suspected that NATO has existed since 1991 to allow the US/EU axis to control
Middle-Eastern and African resources. For example, the Rammstein military hospital is where
every Gulf War soldier was airlifted for major treatment and convalescence.
Also, there is a huge international trade in opium. It's grown in Afpak and shipped out in
every direction. I suspect that a fair amount of that flows through Ukraine and Crimea. If
you look at a topo map of Crimea, there's a lot of seashore that could be good "smuggler's
coves". Following this line of argument, Russia grabbing it from Ukraine was a gimme to
Russia's gangsters. This, as well as the "Pipeline Wars", gives Russia a strong reason to
encircle Ukraine.
"... Imagine for a while that Pompeo and Netanyahu were able to ignite the huge conflict with Iran which they have been trying to do for years. The wider Middle East would become a land of ruins, and on top of that we would have also the corona crisis. It would be the end for the Chinese project One belt One road and a very promising beginning for Trump’s programme of “decoupling” from China. The same could happen if we go to a Greek-Turkish war, the most probable result of which is enormous destruction in both states and also in Cyprus. Given the destructive capacity of the Greek and Turkish weapons and the impossibility of destroying them by a surprise first strike, the two countries, if they go to war, risk going back two or three hundred years. A conflict around Iran, or between Greece and Turkey would also put enormous pressure on Russia. ..."
"... Spreading Chaos is another way of staging world war when you cannot use ‘normal’, ‘frontal’ methods of war. The policy of Trump and his allies contributes greatly to preparing for world war by attacking the very institutions of bourgeois democracy, any kind of national or international rule, by attacking the very principles of Logic, Logos and Science, necessary in order to transform human societies into herds of wild animals, in a sui generis repetition of the Nazi experiment. ..."
"... The way to get Greece and Turkey to war is by sending them ‘false signals’, either encouraging and supporting them, or implying a threat from the other country. Somebody was able to persuade Ankara to down the Russian jet in 2015, which was a case of extreme miscalculation. It is easier to make a miscalculation regarding Greece and Turkey, and there is an enormity of contradictory signals emanating from the US and Israel towards the two capitals. ..."
"... PS. The above article provides a possible explanation of the present Greek-Turkish crisis. A second explanation is that big oil multinationals want to provoke a crisis in order to exploit the hydrocarbons of the region, but we have no serious indications that big reserves really exist and are exploitable economically. A third explanation, not mutually excluded from what we have analyzed, is that third forces are trying to provoke a war in order to overthrow Erdogan and also have all the other consequences we described. ..."
Twenty years ago, I was covering the Munich Security Forum as a journalist and I took an interview from Brent Scawcroft,
National Security Adviser for President Bush (the father). I believe he was one of the men who played a huge role in pushing
Boris Yeltsin to the crisis which culminated into the bombing of the Russian parliament in October 1993, thus opening the way to
the biggest looting in the history of mankind, the so-called Russian privatisations. I asked Scawcroft what the US policy
towards Russia and China should be . He answered: “We need to have better relations with Moscow and Beijing, than they can have
between themselves”.
The way for the Empire to dominate in the Eastern Mediterranean, imposing its pax or pushing for war, is by having better
relations with Athens and Ankara than they can have between themselves. Now they don’t have any at all.
Maidan Square, Kiev, 2014
The plane carrying the three EU Foreign Ministers, the French, the German and the Polish, had just taken off from Kiev when
the agreement they had negotiated for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Ukrainian crisis collapsed and the carnage began
in the Ukrainian capital. This was followed by the civil war and the unimaginable destruction of European-Russian relations.
The Ukrainian coup was a huge blow to Russia and the Ukraine, which is now in an extremely miserable state, a harbinger of
Nazi militias and mafia groups, but also, indirectly, to Europe, which, destroying its relations with Russia at the behest of
the Americans, is not only ridiculed, but has deprived itself of the possibility of an independent policy, an achievement which
it is now going to ‘complete’ with the Navalny affair, if it leads to the cancelling of the strategic pipeline project
NordStream II.
‘Fuck the EU’ was not only a phrase from Neocon Assistant Secretary of State Nuland to Ambassador Pyatt (then in Kiev, now
in Athens); it was in reality one of the main purposes of the Maidan operation, that is the inauguration chapter of the new Cold
War. Some weeks ago, Mike Pompeo repeated the Nuland coup, by using his influence on the Greek FM Dendias and on the Egyptian
dictator Sissi to blow up the moratorium between Greece and Turkey the German chancellor Merkel had negotiated. ‘Fuck Germany
and its moratoriums’!
The Coming War
The destruction of the Ukraine, Ukrainian-Russian and European-Russian relations was a very big step in the direction of
preparing for world war against Russia and China. This is the central plan that defines many of the individual crises and
episodes around the globe; and if one does not understand this, one cannot understand anything. As for Trump’s friendship with
Russia, we are afraid that it is of no more value than Hitler’s friendship with Stalin or the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact.
The war with China and Russia is the main project of the extremist, radical wing of the Western capitalist establishment. But
such a war cannot happen easily and it will not take a frontal form as WWI and WWII, because of the existence of nuclear
weapons. But it will take all other possible forms.
Imagine for a while that Pompeo and Netanyahu were able to ignite the huge conflict with Iran which they have been trying
to do for years. The wider Middle East would become a land of ruins, and on top of that we would have also the corona crisis. It
would be the end for the Chinese project One belt One road and a very promising beginning for Trump’s programme of “decoupling”
from China. The same could happen if we go to a Greek-Turkish war, the most probable result of which is enormous destruction in
both states and also in Cyprus. Given the destructive capacity of the Greek and Turkish weapons and the impossibility of
destroying them by a surprise first strike, the two countries, if they go to war, risk going back two or three hundred years. A
conflict around Iran, or between Greece and Turkey would also put enormous pressure on Russia.
Spreading Chaos is another way of staging world war when you cannot use ‘normal’, ‘frontal’ methods of war. The policy of
Trump and his allies contributes greatly to preparing for world war by attacking the very institutions of bourgeois democracy,
any kind of national or international rule, by attacking the very principles of Logic, Logos and Science, necessary in order to
transform human societies into herds of wild animals, in a sui generis repetition of the Nazi experiment.
You cannot wage war on Russia or China by any form of ‘liberal capitalism’. To wage such a huge war you need a totalitarian
regime in the West, and this is the real programme, the historic mission of Trump, Pompeo, Thiel, Netanyahu etc.
The way to get Greece and Turkey to war is by sending them ‘false signals’, either encouraging and supporting them, or
implying a threat from the other country. Somebody was able to persuade Ankara to down the Russian jet in 2015, which was a
case of extreme miscalculation. It is easier to make a miscalculation regarding Greece and Turkey, and there is an enormity of
contradictory signals emanating from the US and Israel towards the two capitals.
For example, a very strange article in the Foreign Affairs magazine states that the red line behind which Ankara
will not be permitted to go is south of Crete. This red light is indirectly a green light for Turkey to go to the east or
south-east of Crete. If Turkey sends its ships there the Greek government will be under tremendous pressure from both public
opinion and the Armed Forces to react. This is not something Foreign Affairs can ignore, making us wonder if in fact some
people want a war between Greece and Turkey to overthrow Erdogan, to weaken Turkey for decades, to attack Chinese projects and
the EU. We could multiply such examples, including Trump’s encouragement of Erdogan. Insofar as the Turkish President does not
want to go to a full rupture with the West, he is better prepared to accept as genuine any encouraging signals from Washington.
But they can be a trap, as happened for example with Milosevich or Sadam.
Russia, NATO and a Greek-Turkish war
The other day a friend told me that a conflict between Greece and Turkey would only harm NATO: only the Russians would
benefit, so it could not happen.
I replied that he was wrong. ‘If you are preparing for a world war, you do not even care so much about NATO. Instead you have
to tear down all the institutions of bourgoies society and of the liberal capitalist order, including the EU, maybe even NATO
itself, because they are not really made for such a war. They are certainly made to contain Russia, but not to play Russian
roulette with the very existence of the world. A world war will not be decided by a Senate, no matter how oligarchic it will be.
For such decisions you need Nero, Caligula, Heliogabalus. Such are Trump, Bolsonaro, Pompeo, Netanyahu and those behind them.
They would certainly prefer a Russia-Turkey conflict and have already tried to provoke it. But it is not easy.
A conflict with Greece is their second best alternative, because Greece has the means to destroy Turkey by destroying itself.
A war between the two countries will destroy them and would set them back 200 or 300 years.
It is doubtful, after all, that Russia would benefit from such a development, even if it would be a blow to NATO. First,
because Moscow would see the destruction of Hellenism, the main strategic ally of Russia in the Mediterranean for a thousand
years. Governments and regimes can change, but losing a nation is another matter.
Second, Moscow will likely see, as a result of a war, a pro-Western dictatorship set up in Ankara. Having contributed to the
destruction of a historic country like Greece, Turkey would not have the slightest future. It would be considered the outcast of
all civilised nations, like Germany after World War II.
And of course, the big victims of the war will be China, with the One Belt, One Road plans and Europe itself.
This is the Chaos Strategy. It remains to be seen whether her opponents also have a strategy or not.
PS. The above article provides a possible explanation of the present Greek-Turkish crisis. A second explanation is that
big oil multinationals want to provoke a crisis in order to exploit the hydrocarbons of the region, but we have no serious
indications that big reserves really exist and are exploitable economically. A third explanation, not mutually excluded from
what we have analyzed, is that third forces are trying to provoke a war in order to overthrow Erdogan and also have all the
other consequences we described.
In today's episode of 'Things that should have come out during the impeachment,'
just-released diplomatic memos reveal that Vice President Joe Biden's office was warned in 2015
that the Ukrainian oligarch who hired his son, Hunter, was deemed corrupt - and that the US
Justice Department had gathered evidence to support that conclusion, according to
Just The News .
"I assume all have the DoJ background on Zlochevsky," wrote former US Ambassador Geoffrey
Pyatt in Kiev in a 2015 letter to Biden's top advisers, referring to Burisma Holdings founder
Mykola Zlochevsky.
"The short unclas version (in non lawyer language) is that US and UK were cooperating on a
case to seize his corrupt assets overseas (which had passed through the US)," Pyatt added,
noting that the asset forfeiture case against the Ukrainian billionaire "fell apart" when
individuals in the Ukrainian prosecutor general's office "acted to thwart the UK case."
Talking points
Pyatt's email also includes responses to several talking points Joe Biden's Washington staff
crafted, should he be questioned about Hunter's role on the board of Burisma .
" Have you asked Hunter to step down from the board? Has he discussed that with you?" the
talking points anticipated being asked.
" I'm not going to discuss private conversations with my family. Hunter is a private
citizen and does independent work ," the memo recommended the vice president answer.
If pressed by a question asking whether Joe Biden thought "Zlochevsky is corrupt," the
talking points suggested the vice president respond, "I'm not going to get into naming names
or accusing individuals." -
Just The News
... ... ...
The memos, released last week by Senate committees investigating Hunter Biden, also reveal
that the US Justice Department was involved in the 2014 asset forfeiture brought against
Zlochevsky in the UK , right as Hunter Biden was hired to sit on the board of Burisma.
Multiple State officials have attested to the awkward appearance of conflict of interest
posed by Hunter's position on the board as the United States led efforts to fight corruption in
Ukraine. In a September, 2015 speech, Pyatt railed against Ukrainian prosecutors for thwarting
the UK asset forfeiture case against Zlochevsky.
Pyatt was recently deposed by investigators for the Senate Finance Committee and the
Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee about the Ukraine controversy.
Though his staff had reported an alleged Burisma bribe and believed the Bidens' conduct in
Ukraine created an apparent conflict, Pyatt said he never felt compelled to raise such
concerns with the vice president.
" So you never gave thought of raising a concern to the Vice President about this board
position his son had? " a Senate investigator asked Pyatt during the deposition back in
September.
"No," the ambassador answered. "He's the Vice President of the United States, and it would
have been wildly out of place for me to raise something like that, especially insofar as it
had zero impact on the work that I was doing ." -
Just The News
Meanwhile, let's not forget that according to evidence from Hunter Biden's laptop published
by the New York Post , Biden didn't just know about his son's business dealings in Ukraine and
elsewhere,
he participated in them .
And Democrats impeached Trump for asking Ukraine to investigate.
2 play_arrow
Max21c 26 minutes ago
Joe Biden Warned In 2015 That Son Hunter's New Employer And Burisma Boss Was Corrupt
This information might have been useful during the impeachment ...
But if the government secret police agencies revealed the truth to the public then how
would Washingtonians have been able to push the impeachment scam as far as they did... and
without the government distracted and bogged down in phony scandals and scams and lies and
distortions then the swamp people might not have been able to pulloff their election fraud
and seize power again. There might not even be as many dead people and as much damage to the
country and its economy without the impeachment getting in the way of the pandemic response
early on.
jammyjo 20 minutes ago remove link
C'mon man! Joe didn't know where his 50% was coming from.
rwe2late 40 minutes ago (Edited)
The Dems did not want a repetition of 2016 when the revelations of Hillary's misconduct
helped thwart her election bid.
Thus, any exposure of Biden's misconduct and corruption was to be smothered and prevented
from thwarting his election bid.
Hardly different than to stop showing the homecoming coffins and civilian casualties so
that the war racket can continue.
Obama is running the show and Joe will resign leaving Barack's honey pot running the
country. The election was fixed by Obama, he always was the smartest guy in the room when it
comes to making his dreams of destroying America come true. Obama only set people in place to
destroy America and now he can blame Uncle Joe and DR of Love Jill.
walküre 1 hour ago
Barrack Hussein Robert Mugabe Obama
NoSoyBoys 59 minutes ago
Barry is too inept and lazy to have thought any of this out.
HANGTHEOWL 58 minutes ago
Obaqama is irrelevant,,,,he is just an ex puppet with no power,,,,,,this world is run by
multi trillionaire Zionist bankers,,,peeon's like Obaqama are just used then disposed
of,,,
walküre 1 hour ago remove link
FFS, Hunter was/is a crack head. His mind is mostly gone. He couldn't run a lemonade
stand, let alone be a board member and understand the ramifications of major business
decisions at foreign companies.
Hunter does not have the wherewithal to be held accountable for any white collar
crimes.
Hunter's name on the documents is to conceal the identity of the real gangster, who is no
other than the head of the family, the Pretender-Elect in Depends Joe Biden.
Sickening to watch how Joe obviously is allowing his own son being fed to the lions.
Man up Joe! He's your son and you're responsible!
Giant Meteor 1 hour ago remove link
The big guy is responsible for his crimes, that is to say, being the head of the crime
family .. His son, being well, past the age of consent, is wholly responsible for his own
crimes ..
nope-1004 1 hour ago (Edited)
Biden = Clinton = Bush = Obama = Holder = Rice = Podesta = corruption
According to the regulator, the direct pipeline from Russia to Germany impedes competition
on European Union energy markets and "violates the interests of consumers." The fine
amounts to 10 percent of Gazprom's annual revenues – the maximum allowed penalty. Other
companies participating in the construction of Nord Stream 2 have been fined $100 million.
UOKiK gave Gazprom and its partners 30 days to terminate financing agreements and
"restore" competition.
"The construction of Nord Stream 2 is a clear violation of market regulations," UOKiK
head Tomasz Chróstny said in Warsaw on Wednesday, as cited by Bloomberg. Gas prices for
consumers must be "the result of fair competition, and, once Nord Stream 2 is operational,
it's likely that gas prices will increase and there'll be a risk of interruption to
supplies," he said.
Warsaw has long been opposing the expansion of the gas link directly connecting Russia with
Germany, Europe's biggest market for the fuel, arguing it would deepen Europe's dependence on
Russian energy. Meanwhile, many European nations have stressed that they want to diversify
their energy sources, and Nord Stream 2 could be one of the ways to achieve that.
In 2019, Poland's President Andrzej Duda met US President Donald Trump to discuss the
possibility of halting the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project. Warsaw also inked
several contracts with American companies to replace Russian supplies. The intention was to
make Poland the future center for the re-export of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the
region, according to US Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher.
The US administration has repeatedly criticized the Nord Stream 2 project, aiming to derail
it in order to boost sales of American LNG to Europe.
The construction of the project's two pipelines, which will extend from the Russian coast to
Germany and on to other European countries through the Baltic Sea, is nearing completion. It
will have the capacity to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year, and Berlin has
insisted it will help Germany meet its growing energy demand as it phases out coal and nuclear
power.
So neoliberal Dems gaslighted everybody with Russiagate for four years, staged Ukrainegate,
and now cry for unity. Funny, is not it
For four years, Democrats branded Donald Trump an illegitimate president and treated him as
such. Then-President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden plotted with FBI Director James Comey a
way to oust Trump's pick for national security advisor, Michael Flynn.
Now they face the results of the attempt to depose Trump via color revolution (aka
Russiagate), the result of neo-McCarthyism hysteria and cry uncle. To paraphrase Tolstoy: all
happy democracies may resemble one another, but every unhappy democracy is apparently unhappy in
its own way.
Wayne Dupree has been to the White House to talk to President Trump about race relations
and appeared at election events for him. He was named in Newsmax's top 50 Influential
African-American Republicans in 2017, and, in 2016, served as a board member of the National
Diversity Coalition for Donald Trump. Before entering politics, he served for eight years in
the US Air Force. His website is here: www.waynedupree.com . Follow him on Twitter @WayneDupreeShow
I've participated in eight elections including this one, and I've never before witnessed the
open hostility and vitriol that's been aimed at President Trump.
No president was ever abused like Trump was from day one. The Republicans didn't cooperate
with Barack Obama at all, but any thinking person can see the difference between the way Obama
was treated and the way Trump has been treated. The past four years have set a dangerous
precedent, and you know what they say about karma.
Representative Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer refused to work with President Trump
on anything, but now the socialists want the Republicans to work with them. Interpretation: we
want the Republicans to work with us as long as they believe everything we believe and do
everything to help us, even if, in their eyes, it destroys America. No dissent will be
accepted.
You really have to wonder about this arrogance from the Democrats and their call for unity,
don't you? Joe Biden is calling for unity because he doesn't want to face the constant
scrutiny the Trump administration faced. After all, do you think the hundreds of millions he
received in campaign contributions didn't come with strings attached?
Right now, there's not enough critical thinking for unity to happen; our emotions govern too
many of us. The media have played on that for four years. They convinced millions of
Americans they would have to be insane to consider re-electing Trump, even though most
Americans are sick of the establishment politicians and their big empty promises, sick of their
endless and expensive foreign wars, sick of a sluggish economy, and tired of the outsourcing of
American jobs.
How can unity happen when the rift between liberals and conservatives is larger than ever,
and the two sides envision this country's future in vastly different ways? How will half of
the American population ever again trust their sources of news and information when nearly
every outlet has lost all pretense of objectivity? Every bit of reporting has become an opinion
piece.
In marriage, they call these irreconcilable differences. It may not happen in my lifetime,
but this country would do well to consider a peaceful separation.
Our national media have failed us. And that's all media, including social. They caught us
all hook, line, and sinker. Why? Money. We are such a gullible species. The more people hear an
idea promoted, the more it sounds true. This is why our country is divided. We rely too heavily
on our media for information, true or not. They manipulate us with their words like modern-day
bards. Journalism is indeed dead, and it's been replaced by sensationalism. But it all boils
down to who's really at fault. To find that out, look in the mirror. Yes, we all let this
happen to us.
I wouldn't blame people for believing phony news. Think about it: why do companies spend
literally billions of dollars on commercials? Companies use commercials to change our buying
habits, and they work extremely well on a subliminal level. Likewise, the mainstream and
social media use misinformation, distortions, deceptions, and omissions to change people's
voting behavior on that same subliminal level. The only way to ensure legitimate elections in
the future is to destroy mainstream and social media's hold on our country.
In the past four years, the behavior of the Democrats has been that of junior high school
bullies with no adult supervision. What all men want most is power, and the Democrats will do
anything to get it. We can't take their low road, but should stand against their further
attempts to turn this into a one-party nation. We need a broad spectrum of ideas to keep our
country strong and our citizens cared for.
One party does not have all the answers, nor can they dictate to the other parties how to
worship, think, or even eat. When I was young, I was a Bill Clinton Democrat. I walked away
before the Obama administration and never looked back. I believe more and more people are doing
that, and, by the 2022 midterms – well, watch out, Dems!
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The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
In Lavrov's interview with Kommersant which was mostly about the conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, he was asked about the US Election and then about the dire state of
relations with the EU. Lavrov reiterates Russia's position:
"I repeat once again that Russia will respect the choice of the American people, and that
we are ready to establish constructive cooperation with the winner of the race for the White
House, regardless of his party affiliation. However, considering the current circumstances,
we realistically assess the prospects of bilateral cooperation and do not expect too much.
Anyhow, let's wait for the voting results. We don't have long to wait."
Yes, the interview was done prior to the vote counting anarchy. IMO, we can substitute the
Outlaw US Empire for the EU in Lavrov's answer about the current crisis in relations:
"Russia's relations with the European Union are in crisis – and it is not our fault.
The EU bureaucracy and individual member states are using any, even the most absurd, reasons
to enhance something they call 'containment' of Russia.
"New sanctions, illegitimate from the international law perspective, are being imposed.
Considering the number of sanctions imposed on our citizens under far-fetched pretexts, the
EU is second only to the United States. The European media continue a broad anti-Russia
campaign. In trade and economy, the Brussels bureaucracy is stepping up various protectionist
policies, violating WTO rules and introducing its openly politicised rules of the game as
they go.
"At the same time, we are being told that Russia can "earn" the right to have normal
relations with the EU by changing its behaviour. This cynicism is absolutely off the
scale."
Lavrov repeats it's up to the EU to alter its behavior:
"[O]ur European colleagues must clearly understand that any interaction is only possible
on an honest and equal basis and respect for each other's interests. We will not allow any
one-sided games here. There will be no unilateral goodwill gestures on our part. We still
hope that a rational approach and common sense will prevail, both in Brussels and in member
capitals. We are ready to wait for that as well."
Exclusive: How The Bidens Made Off With Millions In Chinese Cash
New
documents show that as regulators closed in, Hunter struck a fresh deal with his Chinese partners
World Food Program USA Board Chairman Hunter Biden speaks at the World Food Program USA's Annual McGovern-Dole Leadership
Award Ceremony at Organization of American States on April 12, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for
World Food Program USA)
The Senate's
report
on
Hunter Biden's activities released several months ago, which was
spun
by
the New York Times as having shown "no evidence of wrongdoing," nevertheless had several important gaps in the business
activities of the troubled son of the former vice president.
Draft legal documents and 2017 bank records obtained by The American Conservative show at least $5 million was transferred to
Hunter and Jim Biden from companies associated with the Chinese conglomerate CEFC, with millions coming after the company had
come under legal scrutiny both in the United States and China.
CEFC official Patrick Ho was arrested in November 2017 and charged by the Southern District of New York with corruption, and
was convicted last year. In addition, on or about March 1, 2018, CEFC Chairmen Ye Jianming was arrested in China for economic
crimes and hasn't been seen since. CEFC assets in China were seized by Chinese state agencies. In the U.S., major
beneficiaries were Hunter and Jim Biden.
What the following documents show is that as regulators moved to seize CEFC's assets, Hunter Biden attempted to take control
of the company founded in partnership with it. Instead, after striking a deal with two CEFC employees in the U.S., the funds
were disbursed over the next six months to his and his uncle's companies until it was all gone, in total at least $5 million.
2017 Bank Records
On August 5, 2017, the Bidens and CEFC entered into a 50-50 limited liability company agreement (Hudson West III) between
Owasco, Hunter Biden's company, and Hudson West V (CEFC). The Sep 22, 2020 report from the Senate Judiciary Committee (the
"HGSAC Report") surmised an agreement like this, but a copy can be seen, for the first time
here
.
In early 2017, CEFC was ranked as one of the top 500 corporations in the world.
Hudson West III set up two bank accounts with Cathay Bank, with the first set up on or about August 5.
A
company associated with CEFC deposited $5 million into the account on August 8; no contribution was made by the Bidens.
On
Nov 2, 2017, CEFC Limited deposited a further $1 million into the account. (Subsequently, the Hudson West III account shows a
wire of $1 million back to CEFC Limited on Nov 21, followed a few days later on Nov 27 by a credit memo for $999,938. The
HGSAC Report interpreted the Nov 21 wire transfer as a return of the $1 million, but appear to have omitted consideration of
the credit memo apparently reversing the return).
The
net result is that CEFC and its affiliates deposited almost exactly $6 million into Hudson West III in 2017.
In the 5 months between August 8 and Dec 31, 2017, Hudson West III disbursed almost $1.6 million to Owasco (Hunter Biden) in
wire transfers and credit card binges by the Bidens. The transfers appear to have been structured as $165,000 in monthly
payments, plus two other payments of $400,000 and $220,387.
Collated
screengrabs from Hudson West III bank statements showing payments to Owasco (Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC)
The HGSAC Report reported on the $99,000 credit card spree by the Bidens in early September 2017, but, in addition to that
spree, there was an additional $77,700 in credit card sprees, making a total of $176,700 for the five month period.
Figure
2. Screengrab from Hudson West III bank statements showing credit card disbursements
Total expenditures by Hudson West III in the five months were $1,947,439, of which $1,522,000 went to the Bidens (via Owasco
and credit cards).
Hudson
West III bank accounts contained more than $4 million in cash at the end of 2017.
March 2018 Deal
Shortly after the arrest of CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming on March 1, 2018, there appears to have been a rolling seizure of CEFC
assets. Even with the profligate spending by the Bidens, Hudson West III would still have had about $3.5 million in cash in
March.
On March 26, a Chinese-American employee who was fiercely loyal to Hunter suggested to him that Hunter and the two CEFC
employees in the U.S. (Mervyn Yan and Kevin Dong) figure out a way to appropriate the Hudson West III cash before it was
frozen by Chinese regulators or receivers:
you guys (You/Mervyn/Kevin)
figure out a way to have the money transferred to the right U.S. account before any restriction levied by Chinese
regulators or appointed new boss in charge of manage the enterprise Ye left behind.
In fact, Hunter had already begun the process of appropriating Hudson West III cash before a receiver could arrive. On March
18, Hunter's lawyer sent a letter to Mervyn Yan proposing that Hudson West V (the proximate CEFC entity) assign its interest
in Hudson West III to Owasco (Hunter), a transaction which would give control of all the cash to Hunter (see
here
,
and
here
).
On or about March 30, 2018, Hunter and the two Chinese appear to have worked out a different arrangement. Among the newly
available documents are redlined versions of an assignment agreement in which Hudson West V assigned its 50% interest in
Hudson West III to Coldharbour Capital Inc., with Kevin Dong the proposed signatory for Hudson West V, Mervyn Yan for
Coldharbour Capital and Hunter signatory for Owasco's consent to the assignment.
The HGSAC Report does not appear to have had access to these documents: they noted that ownership of Hudson West III at some
point was 50% Coldharbour, but does not appear to have been aware of the prior ownership of this interest by Hudson West V or
the assignment to Coldharbour in late March 2018.
During the next six months, the cash was completely drained into the accounts of Owasco and Coldharbour, spent on consulting
fees and expenses. According to the HGSAC Report, total payments from Hudson West III to Owasco amount to an astonishing
$4,790,375 by September 2018, when the Hudson West III accounts were totally depleted. In November 2018, Hudson West III was
dissolved by Owasco and Coldharbour.
From the 2017 bank records, we know that $1,444,000 had been transferred to Owasco in 2017 (excluding direct payment of credit
card sprees); thus, transfers to Owasco in the first eight months of 2018 were approximately $3,345,000.
The assignment of Hudson West V's interest in Hudson West III to Coldharbour and the dissipation of cash to the Hudson West
III managers would probably not have stood up to a determined receiver appointed by the Chinese parent company, but there
doesn't appear to have been any attempt by the parent company to stop or control the dissipation of Hudson West III's cash
reserves.
Lion Hall (Jim Biden)
Invoices
Included in the newly available material are invoices to Owasco and, separately, to Hudson West III from Jim Biden doing
business as Lion Hall Group. The HGSAC Report stated that, between Aug 14, 2017 and Aug 3, 2018, Owasco sent 20 wires totaling
$1,398,999 to Lion Hall Group. The newly available documents show that Jim Biden charged Owasco $82,500 per month as a
"monthly retainer for international business development":
Readers will recall that Hudson West III bank statements showed regular monthly payments of $165,000 for the last 5 months of
2017. The corollary is that Hunter split this regular monthly payment from Hudson West III 50:50 with Jim Biden. The HGSAC
Report notes that the payments to Lion Hall Group had been flagged by Owasco's bank (Wells Fargo) for potential criminal
activity. The new documents contain an inquiry email from Wells Fargo compliance, together with a reply from Hunter which was
unresponsive on the key compliance questions. By the time that Wells Fargo raised its compliance concerns, the Hudson West III
cash had been exhausted and with it, presumably the stream of 50-50 payments to Uncle Jim.
As noted above, in addition to the regular $165,000 monthly payments, Owasco received other large transfers in 2017 and
presumably in 2018. It is not known whether Uncle Jim split these 50-50 as well, or whether this was a side transaction by
Hunter.
Concurrent with this flood of
money from CEFC, Hunter continued to receive a lavish stipend from Burisma. Nonetheless, by the end of 2018, Hunter had
hundreds of thousands in tax liens. In March 2019, despite having received millions from Chinese business interests, Hunter
even had to plead with former partner Jeffrey Cooper to email him $100 for gas so that he wouldn't be stranded on the highway.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Arthur Bloom is editor of The American Conservative online. He was previously deputy editor of the Daily Caller
and a columnist for the Catholic Herald. He holds masters degrees in urban planning and American studies from
the University of Kansas. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The
Spectator
(UK),
The Guardian, Quillette, The American
Spectator
,
Modern Age, and Tiny Mix Tapes.
email
Not by the Conservative press. But certainly by the Liberal press. I was born in a country
where all the news sources were owned by one of the political parties. Now I live in a
country where we have the
de facto
situation. In
America we are very good at setting the standard as the
de
jure
state of affairs, while ignoring the
de facto
state
of affairs. Every country has its share of hypocrisy. But there are few places, if any, where
it is institutionalized as America. We need to do much better. Despite what the Conservatives
say, the Liberal press used to try to do journalism. But they have given up.
I'm old enough to remember when CNN was a pretty middle of the road news organization.
But Fox came along and proved that naked partisanship, half-truths, innuendo, and
brightening up the hate centers of the brain was a far more profitable way of doing
business. CNN just had to compete.
We do have the Fox "News" Network (Most watched cable news channel, or so the
continually brag, and with TV/cable being where most Americans get their news from that
makes them a pretty big player) and One America "News" Network. Ad in the Sinclair
Broadcasting Network--they have no problem sending out canned od-eds supporting Trump
so they should have no ideological objection to pursuing this story. Perhaps they could
do some investigating and reporting instead of filling their airtime with
unsubstantiated accusations made by others that they take at face value.
Not to mention there are some print sources--The Washington Times, the NY Post, the
Orange County Register, Des Moines Register, etc.
Right? Between Fox News, the Murdoch owned papers, Breitbart, the Daiky
Caller/Wire, and Sinclair, the idea that right isn't represented in the media is
frankly insane. Even Q Anon has a better reach in Facebook than the NYT and they
are a pure distillation of conservatism.
"There is no conservative media" is an idea about as tethered to reality as
conservative media is in general.
This is news. Hunter Biden is most likely a crook. And a well-known watchdog group has just filed a
12-page complaint with DOJ requesting an investigation. Also check out this TV appearance on
Newsmax.
Hunter Biden is most likely a crook. But what a person "most likely is" is not news. I used
to watch Newsmax because it is good to hear about stories that the liberal press doesn't
cover. And it is good to get varying perspectives on news events even if the liberal press
covers them. But I can't take tv news any more. They are all mostly useless for people like
me who detest both political parties. I watch only Newsy. You should try if you are really
interested in news.
"watchdog group" you say? And that is supposed to me make me think that there is a difference
between that and the Republican Party? The liberals pioneered that trick. Now everyone uses
it. That is, name (effectively) an arm of the Democratic Party a "watchdog" and that is
supposed to give it credibility. But the trick is subject to our First Law of Politics.
Whatever tactic one party deploys, as long as it is successful, the other party will deploy
it. No matter how much they denounced it previously. At best, they will rename it. But
usually, they don't bother.
In any case, unless this "watchdog group" is alleging a crime there is no basis for a DOJ
investigation. What is the criminal accusation?
I'm not gonna lie, I didn't even waste my time reading this piece. Arthur seems to have all of a
sudden become interested in corruption (which likely didn't even happen) in a way he expressed no
interest in for the last 4 years. Forgive me if I don't vote him as an honest broker.
It's just so weak. This isn't an October surprise -- this is like a turkey surprise casserole
served two weeks after Thanksgiving. Even if this were a game-changing piece of reporting, it
seems a dubious tactic to release it on the morning of the election on a website that
probably gets less views than some random 16 year old dancing on Tik-Tok.
TAC's pivot over the last couple years into Brietbart territory is embarrassing. A lot of rightwing
media and personalities held out for awhile on Trump, but eventually saw where the wind was blowing
and jumped in the deep end. I hope no one on the principled right or left ever lets them forget it.
No shelter for scoundrels....
Thanks for publishing this. I hope more such pieces appear here in the next few weeks. TAC's regular
readers from the Left don't like it. Good. Rub their noses in it.
I was mentioning Hunter Biden and his Ukraine dealings back in 2014 but I don't have a public forum
outside email and social media and no one thought it of interest till his dad was running for
president against a man who by many accounts has been a crook his entire adult life, and proud of
it.
So Hunter failed to register as a foreign agent. Isn't that what Mike Flynn got busted for
along with some other Trump campaign officials? And hasn't Trump demanded his people all be
forgiven for their transgressions cause it wasn't really a bad thing?
Out of curiosity, among the hundreds if not thousands of websites you could be reading right now,
apart from thousands of decent monographs and works of fiction, why are you spending time this
morning at this "nutjob site," going so far as to login to the comments section to express to the
other presumably "nut job" readers that you're better than them?
This speaks VOLUMES about your worth as a human being. When you wake up around 3 AM over the next
few nights, it'll hit you. Let it sink in. Let it marinate. From such truths character is built.
It's pretty extreme. TAC comment section has become unusable bickering and taunts even after
blocking half the content. I don't know what they are hoping to accomplish other than
confirming our worst guesses about their character.
Exclusive? Of course! No one in their right mind would print it. And the enemy of the state-fake news
outlets are all looking for scoops and looking to win major awards and prizes for breaking a
story-----and for some reason all of these thousands of journalists did not get this "exclusive."
all unproved nonsense.Where is the indictment, when, after all Trump and Barr woprk hand in hand...simply
BS stuff to support Trump. Should Trump lose, watch the legal stuff that he will confront. Now worry
about that
When did this site turn into The Tucker Carlson show ? Please return to the thoughtful conservative
thought that you are know for. Sign of the times I guess and how internet culture can demean us all.
It's the same delusion they engaged in with Trump. They overweight the feelings of their in
group and underweight the population as a whole. Tucker doesn't actually have many viewers in
the scheme of winning a national election. He couldn't appeal to moderates.
An email from the famous hard drive indicates a Chinese state-owned company wanted an
introduction from Rosemont Seneca Hunter Biden, from ABC News Nightline one year ago (
Source )
Back in March, I wrote a
column in these pages about the Chinese business entanglements of major media companies in
the U.S. By far the most seriously entangled is Comcast, the owner of NBCUniversal, parent
company of NBC and MSNBC, which is in the process of opening a Universal Studios theme park in
Beijing.
Portions of Hunter Biden's hard drive have now been shared with TAC. On the drive is an
email from president of Rosemont Seneca Eric Schwerin, a company co-founded by Hunter and John
Kerry's stepson, saying that Chinese state-owned enterprise CITIC was hoping they would make
introductions with Universal employees and propose the Beijing theme park.
"They'd like an introduction to Universal (Comcast) as they'd like to open a Universal
Studios China theme park outside of Beijing," Schwerin writes. "As I said, that one should be
easy via Melissa Mayfield/David Cohen [two Comcast executives]."
"She said they'd like to pay us for our help on these -- I told her we'd discuss whether we
could do that -- but were sure we could figure something out even if it was success fee based
on the US side but that I would talk to you," Schwerin added.
To what extent this was followed up on is at this point unclear. However, what it indicates
is that a company founded by two Democratic political scions was willing to facilitate a deal
for their friendliest media network, a network that has been unrelentingly hostile to Trump and
more or less completely ignored recent Hunter Biden disclosures. If Hunter helped facilitate a
sweet deal like this, it's only fair that they scratch his back too.
00:13 / 00:59 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Arthur Bloom is
editor of The American Conservative online. He was previously deputy editor of the Daily Caller
and a columnist for the Catholic Herald. He holds masters degrees in urban planning and
American studies from the University of Kansas. His work has appeared in The Washington Post,
The Washington Times, The Spectator (UK), The Guardian, Quillette, The American Spectator ,
Modern Age, and Tiny Mix Tapes.
Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop contained a 'treasure trove of top-secret material,
including his father's private emails and mobile phone numbers,' and was protected by the
password "Hunter02", according to the
Daily Mail .
The younger Biden's MacBook Pro was full of 'classic blackmail material' between
compromising sexual material and the private information of not only the Bidens, but also Bill
and Hillary Clinton.
Hunter's passport, driver's license, social security and credit card numbers were also on
the laptop, which revealed that he spent $21,000 on a 'live cam' porn website (while claiming
he was too broke to pay his stripper baby-mama child support?).
Via the Mail :
The material, none of which was encrypted or protected by anything as basic as two-factor
authentication, includes:
Joe Biden's personal mobile number and three private email addresses as well as the
names of his Secret Service agents;
Mobile numbers for former President Bill Clinton, his wife Hillary and almost every
member of former President Barack Obama's cabinet;
A contact database of 1,500 people including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Coldplay singer
Chris Martin, former Presidential candidate John Kerry and ex-FBI boss Louis Freeh;
Personal documents including Hunter's passport, driver's licence, social security card,
credit cards and bank statements;
Details of Hunter's drug and sex problems, including $21,000 spent on one 'live cam'
porn website and 'selfies' of him engaging in sex acts and smoking crack cocaine;
The article does not that while Hunter may have used his family name to boost deals with
Chinese and Ukrainian firms, there is nothing implicating Joe Biden in any wrongdoing (just a
massive like that he 'never spoke with Hunter' about his business dealings).
"'It's a data breach and dangerous to have this type of material floating around," one
former police commander told the Mail . "For someone prominent, there is not only a risk of
great reputational damage but also a risk of blackmail should the material fall into the wrong
hand s."
Hunter's laptop was filled with 11 gigabytes of material covering the period from when his
father was Vice President, to when Hunter dropped it off at a Mac Store in Wilmington,
Delaware. wee-weed up , 10 hours ago
"What laptop?" -- MSM
Macho Latte , 10 hours ago
The Progs are now using the MSM to broadcast the Biden corruption scandal so that they can
use it to justify elevating Queen Kam El Tow to POTUS very soon after the Biden inauguration.
He'll be gone before April 1. Queen Kami will give him a pardon within minutes of seizing
power. All investigations into the Criminal Elite will be disappeared and all evidence will
be destroyed.
Progs don't take a dump, son, without a plan.
- Admiral Painter
systemsplanet , 9 hours ago
FBI was planning on using Hunter's laptop as Biden's control file.
ImGumbydmmt , 5 hours ago
And they are BOTH (Hunter and Hitlery) still walking out and about the world as free
people.
Sessions?
Barr?
Durham?
Wray?
Riiiiight.
ballot box?
Cartridge box is all thats left folks
Kan , 4 hours ago
Clinton crime family is still doing the 501.3c TAX dodge for trillions of dollars from the
gates foundation and over 100 universities in the jUSSA.... many other fun things.
BaNNeD oN THe RuN , 9 hours ago
Exactly, plus there is no way that the NSA did not have the IP and MAC address of every
computer that had ever downloaded every email to and from Hunter Biden. The "Big Guy" had
been on the Senate Intelligence Committee and already knew this which is why he insisted on
verbal directions only.
What "voters" don't fully understand is that elected representatives are the first line of
"useful idiots" for deep state.
BGen. Jack Ripper , 10 hours ago
The FBI and CIA are the real national security nightmare
Vivekwhu , 10 hours ago
Spot on! Good luck in claiming back the US Republic from these traitors at the top. This
must start this Tuesday or it is all done for.
Macho Latte , 9 hours ago
Too many people succumb to the psychological warfare that has been raging against us for 5
decades. It is very difficult to break free from the indoctrination regardless of
intelligence or education. The backbone of the DemonRat organization is a very strong emotion
that overcomes all logic and reason. It is HATE. Today it is called by the gentle name of
Identity Politics. Nevertheless, it is still a hate based psychological manipulation. Women
need to hate men. Blacks need to hate everyone. Whites need to hate themselves. Everybody
needs to Hate Trump.
Argon1 , 5 hours ago
They have power, they are corrupt, but such things are not absolute. Which is why people
are made examples of in law (pour encourager les autres ), but enforcement is minimal. Number
of Federal employees 2 million, population 330 million, number of FBI employees 35,000 of
which we can say only a 3rd will be available some are office staff, sick and others have
long term commitments. So these riots would have meant FBI would have been deployed even if
not used etc or would have been at the Mexican border since the wall closing has allowed a
much tougher border regime.
Proudly Unaffiliated , 6 hours ago
As represented by FBIbook and DNCIA.
LetThemEatRand , 10 hours ago
Countdown to charges being brought against everyone who ever possessed the hard drives....
Certainly more likely than anyone with the last name Biden getting in trouble. MSM has
already declared that there is no evidence that Joe had any involvement in Hunter's business
deals, which is demonstrably false. There's the "Big Guy" emails; there's the fact that these
foreign entities kept paying Hunter millions for his "name," and they would not have
continued to do so if they were getting nothing in return; there's the fact that Bobulinksi
has proof that Joe attended meeting with Hunter's employers; and that's just scratching the
surface with what we know now.
ponchoramic , 10 hours ago
The laptop/ hard drives were abandoned for more than 90 days, transffering ownership to
the shop owner, by law!
hashr_syndicate , 2 hours ago
@ Caloot
Crack is not purified, it is just changed to a base form which lowers it melting point
allowing someone to smoke it, hence the term free base. Smoking allows for a faster uptake
into the body giving more or a rush. The only way you can get the same rush with coke is to
shoot it up. The closest you could come your statement of it being true is to perform an
acid/base extraction by turning it into crack and then filtering contaminants and then using
an acid to drop the carbon back off and returning it to cocaine.
cabystander , 6 hours ago
To quote Schumer (+/-): the intelligence agencies have six ways from Sunday of getting
you.
That can be extended to the Government, in general. In spades.
Gobble D. Goop , 9 hours ago
Apparantly, C. Wray has an interest in keeping the laptop suppressed:
"This has all been debunked and we're not going to dignify it by responding to it."
- The Democrat News Media Complex
Floki_Ragnarsson , 9 hours ago
The FBI has NEVER had America's interests at heart. Ruby Ridge ring a bell?
invention13 , 9 hours ago
No, the FBI has it's own interests at heart. I would love to see the files that J. Edgar
had on everyone in Washington.
edotabin , 9 hours ago
Why are you surprised? You are dealing with a culture so corrupt, so rabid, so evil....
These people smell worse, are dirtier than and are harder to remove than than 6 months of cat
urine in an abandoned house.
Anyone who has dealt with cat urine in abandoned and severely neglected houses knows how
extensive the steps required are to remove the rot/stench.
Hint: When you open the doors and windows and run outside, you can still smell it 30-40
yards away. I've even had to use a jackhammer at an angle to chisel it out from the concrete
slab.
TBT or not TBT , 7 hours ago
The D after the name is the tell. It's a party of racketeers, pervs and grifters seeking
more power. The very best of them are merely amoral cynical AF Machiavellians.
Vivekwhu , 10 hours ago
And the FBI kept all this secret while Trump was being impeached over a phonecall to the
Ukrainian president? Why? So they could blackmail and control another US President, as in
this vile corrupt Biden creature, when he was quietly elected next week? This is the only
possible explanation for Wray and his band of corrupt leaders.
Just how rotten is the FBI, uh, the premier law enforcement agency in the world???
radical-extremist , 9 hours ago
"We'll be prepared to issue comments on Hunter Biden's laptops after the election. For
right now our focus is on dangerous white supremacist militias and hate crime hoaxes."
- C. Wray, Director of the FBI
J J Pettigrew , 9 hours ago
And why did Christopher Wray sit on this for ten months?
Comey protected Hillary
Wray protects Biden
novictim , 9 hours ago
"'It's a data breach and dangerous to have this type of material floating around," one
former police commander told the Mail . "For someone prominent, there is not only a risk of
great reputational damage but also a risk of blackmail should the material fall into the
wrong hand s."
Show of hands:
Who thinks that the CCP spy chief that the Bidens were in business with did not already
have all of this blackmail material?
The Bidens kept the secrets from the USA and even screwed that up. But the Ukrainians,
Russians and Chinese Communist Party had all of this all along. That is why China Joe is such
a great alternative to Trump for them. China Joe is totally and completely compromised and
millions have already voted for him. Which would be funny if not for the insane Deep State
that also seems to be owned by the Communists.
radical-extremist , 9 hours ago
Biden is in no way compromised because any evidence the CCP goes public with will never be
reported on, except by maybe Fox News.
cjones1 , 9 hours ago
Mueller was FBI Director when both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden were committing national
security violations and money grubbing, "pay to play" diplomacy - 2012 election interference
by the IRS, etc., too!
This "Deep State" complicity in and enabling of such corruption runs several levels deep
in our intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
J J Pettigrew , 7 hours ago
Comey protected Hillary
Wray protects Biden
and as luck would have it...both Democrats.
And the attacks on the GOP elected President...fake and falsified with the assistance
of......
those who protected Biden and Hillary.
Remarkable for an apolitical entity such as the FBI.
Shut. It. Down. , 9 hours ago
Stripper mama's lawyer needs to file a subpoena for access to the hard drive.
No telling what assets Hunter was hiding while trying to weasel out of child support.
Should be good for another couple mil.
LetThemEatRand , 10 hours ago
Note that the FBI investigation into Hunter is for "money laundering," as opposed to
anything involving public corruption or influence peddling. That tells me that they are
carefully avoiding anything that would involve Joe. And we all know that a year or two from
now or whenever this story settles down, there will be a page 8 newspaper article about how
the FBI found insufficient evidence of any criminal activity by Hunter to justify
charges.
They keep using the same script, and it always ends in a twist ending involving anyone
you've ever heard of doing nothing wrong other than "poor judgment."
quanttech , 8 hours ago
Biden values - bomb children in countries that never attacked us. tell supporters they're
organic, grass-fed love bombs.
Trump values - bomb children in countries that never attacked us. tell supporters we're
withdrawing from the wars while INCREASING the bombings.
American values - duuuuuuuh i dont care as long as inocent children are being bombed.
duuuuuuuh i'm so sad they cancelled keeping up with the khardashians. duuuuuuuuuuuh i need a
chicken sandwhich but i'm too fat to get out of my lazyboy duuuuuh
SummerSausage , 9 hours ago
CIA trailed Hunter to brothels and drug dens when he was overseas. They knew.
Foreign countries sucked electronic information off Hunters computers and phones when he
was overseas. They knew.
Jill and Joe kept Hunter away from children. They knew.
Kerry's step son was in business with hunter. They knew.
Obama spied on everybody. He knew.
American media covered up for Hunter & Joe for years. They knew.
Looks like normal Americans were the last to know.
J S Bach , 9 hours ago
"There is not only a risk of great reputational damage but also a risk of blackmail should
the material fall into the wrong hands."
Yep... and with this knowledge... ANYONE who votes for Joe Biden is a traitor to this
country whether they like it or not.
From Dante's "Inferno"...
The ninth (deepest) circle of hell is reserved for traitors...
"9). Treachery: The deepest circle of Hell, where Satan resides. As with the last two
circles, this one is further divided, into four rounds. The first is Caina, named after the
biblical Cain, who murdered his brother. This round is for traitors to family. The second,
Antenora -- from Antenor of Troy, who betrayed the Greeks -- is reserved for
political/national traitors. The third is Ptolomaea for Ptolemy, son of Abubus, who is known
for inviting Simon Maccabaeus and his sons to dinner and then murdering them. This round is
for hosts who betray their guests; they are punished more harshly because of the belief that
having guests means entering into a voluntary relationship, and betraying a relationship
willingly entered is more despicable than betraying a relationship born into. The fourth
round is Judecca, after Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ. This round is reserved for
traitors to their lords/benefactors/masters. As in the previous circle, the subdivisions each
have their own demons and punishments."
Not to take all of this literally, but it shows the wisdom of our ancestors and the
intense acrimony they felt towards this most nefarious act.
freedommusic , 7 hours ago
Imagine what was on Weiners laptop.
So let's review boys and girls.
The FBI now has Anthony Weiner's and Hunter Biden's laptops.
If Law enforcement and the DOJ do NOT do the jobs they swore an oath to, then who does
that leave to uphold the Constitution and Rule of Law?
Chew on that for a moment...
jeff montanye , 7 hours ago
don't forget seth rich's phone and laptop never looked at by either the d.c. police or the
fbi.
corruption in washington d.c. is like the hindus' turtle akupara on the back of a larger
turtle, on the back of . . .
Christopher Wray is directly implicated in the laptop emails. He recieved a 14% stake in
Rosneft shares. Arrest everyone in DC and get some rope.
OpenEyes , 8 hours ago
Yes, it's coming out that Wray was actually on the other side of the table in Hunter's
negotiation for his Chinese "chairman" in the deal to buy into the Russian energy company.
Wray was working for the law firm representing the Russian energy company (he made millions
there before coming into the FBI). Not only was Wray aware of the crime, he was a player in
that deal. No wonder the laptop, and all other evidence, has sat untouched in a dark vault at
the FBI for almost a year.
I'm hoping that Trump fires Wray, Haspel and Barr on Wednesday regardless of the election
outcome. Then I'm hoping that Wray is facing an indigtment before Christmas.
Floki_Ragnarsson , 9 hours ago
What REALLY sinks the Bidens is having to account for all of that cash that they a) never
paid taxes on and b) Potato Head Joe NEVER declared on his financial disclosure forms as
required by law!
BinAnunnaki , 8 hours ago
They both go to jail for not registering under FARA.
Just like Michael Flinn
OllieHalsall , 9 hours ago
Giving evidence to a criminal organisation like the FBI is like asking Joe Biden to
babysit your 11 year old daughter.
You wouldn't do it would you!
American2 , 9 hours ago
Immediately, ask for Bill Clinton, or Jeffery Epstein as his replacement.
Someone Else , 8 hours ago
Landslide for Trump!
desertboy , 9 hours ago
Anybody who could think the Biden's would be played by the CCCP in China business dealings
is a conspiracy theorist.
And everyone knows Joe Biden is too smart to be co-opted by his son in his dealings,
anyway.
(straight-face delivery)
Nunny , 9 hours ago
Bada-bing
UnicornTears , 9 hours ago
"Never underestimate Joe's ability to screw things up"
The MagicNegro
Ision , 9 hours ago
I wonder if Hunter ever held a government job, or appointment, which involved the handling
of classified information? I have no idea.
But, exactly how did Hunter get TS information on his computer?
No matter. The National Security Act of 1947 applies. Since it does, multiple felonies
have been committed. How many people are involved in the commission of these felonies,
besides Hunter?
Just like Hillary's illegal servers...the existence of which automatically gives rise to
dozens of felonies...Hunter's felonies are automatic with the existence of ANY TS classified
information, found outside of officially controlled, and authorized, locations.
If anyone planned to deliberately deliver such information to unauthorized individuals,
additional felonies are involved.
There is simply no excuse, or defense.
I say this as a former NSA field agent. It appears Hunter should be in prison, along with
Hillary.
MTGOPLAYER , 9 hours ago
According to the FBI, as long as his intentions were pure, no crime was committed.
vasilievich , 9 hours ago
I can't begin to describe how shocked and angry I am - and I've been involved to the
extent of risk to my life.
I've had one US Army person say to me: You were in...!?
Invert This MM , 7 hours ago
The crime families like to keep together. There are pictures on the laptop of Hunter doing
Malia Obama. Her cocaine riddled credit card was in the picture. Hunter has a tattoo of the
Finger Lakes on his back. That region is suspected of being an area heavy into child
trafficking. These people are sick.
9.0onthericterscale , 9 hours ago
Demlibs keep screeching out 'Russia Russia Russia!' like they have Tourettes Syndrome.
They can't help it anymore .It's so far past the point of meaningfulness you gotta feel
sorry for the little +ards.
Mzhen , 9 hours ago
Hunter took three laptops to the repair shop. And they were all wet . Which appears to
indicate a deliberate attempt by someone to destroy the data. Before there were second
thoughts. This period of time coincided with the final breakup with Hallie.
almostnuts , 9 hours ago
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Hmmmm. Hiding assets from child support, all those cozy names with phone
numbers attached, passport info, ss info, 21,000$ in **** sites. This isn't going to well huh
Robert? Anyhow the fbi has you covered, but your drug habit is going to kill you because you
are a liability to a lot of people, places, and things. From now on Robert i'd beware of
pretty women in a foreign land and don't sleep in the same place every night. You may be well
connected, but you're marked for disposal. Tah, tah, be reading about you.
DavidJoshimisk , 7 hours ago
So if I understand this correctly.........Hunter and Jim Biden were front men for the
Biden Family operations and the Big Guy was calling the shots. So...Obama and the FBI knew
nothing of this? Seems unlikely.
Oilwatcher , 10 hours ago
Dude must be baked hard all the time to go off and leave data like that at a repair shop
instead of coughing up an $80 repair bill.
Anonymous IX , 10 hours ago
Exactly.
"Baked hard" + arrogance (with having always gotten away with no consequences for all his
illegal/immoral actions in the past).
Sometimes the powerful and mighty fall hard. Evidently, we're in one of those epoches. He
may suffer very little criminal action against him, but he'll never recover...nor will the
Bidens...from a scandal of this magnitude and distasteful revelations.
ponchoramic , 10 hours ago
He probably hates his Pop. I think it's in some of his texts. Def the blacksheep of
family. Prob why he was on drugs in the first place.
HUNTER Biden rented a pricey Los Angeles mansion for a party and allegedly "broke his
sober streak" after fighting with his new wife weeks ago, according to a new report. Joe
Biden's son ...
glasshour , 8 hours ago
The Bidens are compromised.
Detain. Interrogate. Jail.
OpenEyes , 9 hours ago
It's coming out that Wray was actually on the other side of the table in Hunter's
negotiation for his Chinese "chairman" in the deal to buy into the Russian energy company.
Wray was working for the law firm representing the Russian energy company (he made millions
there before coming into the FBI). Not only was Wray aware of the crime, he was a player in
that deal. No wonder the laptop, and all other evidence, has sat untouched in a dark vault at
the FBI for almost a year.
I'm hoping that Trump fires Wray, Haspel and Barr on Wednesday regardless of the election
outcome. Then I'm hoping that Wray is facing an indigtment before Christmas.
OpenEyes , 8 hours ago
And Fauci too. God, I hope he gets rid of that slime-ball.
Hunter Biden's Story Could Help Hillary Clinton To Become Vice President
The recently revealed business deals of Hunter Biden will strongly influence politics after
an eventual Joe Biden win in tomorrows election.
On October 15 the New York Post published a story on Hunter Biden based on data from
a laptop Joe Biden's son had left with a repair shop. The Biden family has not disputed that
the laptop or the data on it is genuine. Next to
the porn on the laptop there were thousand of emails which
describe shady deals with a (now defunct) large Chinese energy company , CEFC.
Twitter , Facebook and other media
like the Intercept tried to prevent the distribution of the story. They falsely
claimed that the information was 'hacked' or unproven. The censorship inevitably made the story
more prominent and increased the number of people who learned of it.
A week after the NY Post story ran Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of
Hunter Biden,
went public with further allegations against him:
Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, said Wednesday night that he
can confirm details regarding his overseas business dealings, including that a reference to a
"Big Guy" in a May 13, 2017 email did, in fact, refer to Democratic presidential nominee Joe
Biden.
In a lengthy statement, Bobulinski identified himself as the CEO of Sinohawk Holdings, a
firm he described as "a partnership between the Chinese operating through CEFC/Chairman Ye
and the Biden family." He added that Hunter Biden and James Gilliar, another business
associate, brought him on as CEO of the venture.
"Hunter Biden called his dad 'the Big Guy' or 'my Chairman,' and frequently referenced
asking him for his sign-off or advice on various potential deals that we were discussing,"
Bobulinski said. "I've seen Vice President Biden saying he never talked to Hunter about his
business. I've seen firsthand that that's not true, because it wasn't just Hunter's business,
they said they were putting the Biden family name and its legacy on the line."
A number of outlets have each carried various snippets of the whole story of Hunter Biden's
very profitable dealings with foreign companies. That has created a confusing picture. Stephen
McIntyre, who has done useful investigative research on climate change, Russiagate, and the OPCW shenanigans in Syria, has
thankfully created a 19 pages long
timeline with all the Biden-China evidence that has so far seen the daylight. He
writes:
The Biden family was involved in two major Chinese deals:
a carried stake in Bohai Harvest Partners Investment Fund. Their interest in this deal
began in 2013. Hunter Biden, Devon Archer and James Bulger each had 10% interests. This
fund is still active. Bobulinski was not involved in this deal.
a second deal initiated in 2017 in which the Bidens received $5 million from Chinese
energy company CEFC and/or its officers. CEFC had, in a short period, become a huge company
and, even more quickly, disintegrated. This second deal was the one involving Patrick Ho,
who was arrested in Nov 2017 in US for corruption, Gongwen Dong and its chairman Ye
Jianming, who was arrested in China and/or disappeared in March 2018.
Nearly all of the interesting texts and emails from 2017 and Bobulinski's information
are limited to this second deal. These were only a small fraction of sleazy transactions by
Hunter Biden, Devon Archer and associates. Concurrent with this affair were transactions in
Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia as well as participation in major frauds by John Galanis and
Jason Sugarman in which Archer (but not so far, Hunter Biden) have been convicted. The texts
and emails have been released in a piecemeal and disorganized way. In this article, I'll
attempt to re-assemble a narrative of events for the CEFC affair.
...
Another timeline of the Hunter Biden affairs with slightly different material
has been collected by Seamus Bruner and John Solomon. They write:
The New York Post
broke news last week that Joe Biden himself may have benefited from his son's dealings.
The Post quoted a cryptic message from one of Hunter's partners, saying that "10 [percent]
held by H for the big guy?" The recipient of that message, Tony Bobulinski, says "there is no question"
that "H" stands for Hunter and the "big guy" is Joe Biden.
We gain further insight into the operations of Biden Inc. in emails provided to us by
Bevan Cooney, a former business associate of Hunter Biden. Cooney, who is currently in prison
for his role in the Indian Bond Scheme that is sending Hunter Biden business partner Devon
Archer also to jail, shared 26,000 emails that show what Hunter's role was in their business
ventures. The Biden name was considered "currency" for their foreign business ventures, and
was a "direct pipeline" to the Obama-Biden administration. Deals involving Hunter benefited
from the "Biden lift," the help that the name would provide in overseas dealings.
What might the Bidens' foreign benefactors have expected in return for all this largesse?
We can't say. But some may see a correlation between that foreign money and Joe Biden's
policy posture toward the sources of that money.
Stephen McIntyre has promised to update his timeline with the material revealed by the other
authors. As McIntyre is always diligent in his work his timeline can be taken as an
authoritative source.
While I am still digging through the above collections here my first thoughts on why these
matter.
The facts show that Hunter Biden and other traded on and profited from Joe Biden's position
by selling his 'influence' to foreign companies. It is likely that Joe Biden at least
indirectly also profited from that work.
A federal judge named Joe Biden as a possible "witness" along with his son Hunter in a
criminal fraud case last year that ended in the convictions of two of Hunter's business
partners, according to little-noticed court documents. The Democratic presidential
candidate's appearance on a witness list casts new doubt on his claims he knew nothing about
his son's shady business dealings.
As revenge for Russiagate the Republicans will use the affair to their utmost advantage.
There are only two ways for Joe Biden to prevent Republicans and independent media from
further digging into the affair and all the potentially illegal issues it reveals.
If Joe Biden loses the election the scandal will likely vanish as soon as he retreats
from the public view.
If Joe Biden wins the election the scandal will fester until he resigns.
The second case is especially interesting. Vice President candidate Kamala Harris has been
groomed by Hillary Clinton's inner circle since
2017 :
The Democrats' "Great Freshman Hope," Sen. Kamala Harris, is heading to the Hamptons to meet
with Hillary Clinton's biggest backers.
The California senator is being fêted in Bridgehampton on Saturday at the home of
MWWPR guru Michael Kempner, a staunch Clinton supporter who was one of her national-finance
co-chairs and a led fund-raiser for her 2008 bid for the presidency. He was also listed as
one of the top "bundlers" for Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, having raised $3
million.
Should the somewhat demented Joe Biden leave 'for health reasons' soon after he has been
sworn into office Kamala Harris would become President. She then could use the 25th Amendment
to select Hillary Clinton as the new Vice President.
If, after a Biden win in the election, Hillary Clinton supporters in the liberul media stop
censoring the Hunter Biden affair or even start to further expose it we can be sure that such a
scheme is on the verge of being implemented.
Posted by b on November 2, 2020 at 19:07 UTC |
Permalink
Bingo. The Clintons are never too far away from all political shenanigans that go on in the
US. They and their cohorts were called the Southern Mafia for a reason.
A Joe Biden impeachment if guilty of payouts from China would be a victory of our
system of checks and balances. Still not voting for Trump.
Steele Dossier update I read that the primary source for Steele was Ms. Galkina,
basically a nobody creating fiction for pay and not a 'a high ranking Kremlin official'. Does
this mean that the Trump Shills like Don Jr, Hannity, Ingraham, et al will stop calling it
Russian misinformation sent to the Democrats to attack Donald Trump?
It explains why they chose Joe Biden as presidential candidate even though he is clearly not
up to the job. He is to be the expendable Trojan horse through which some very unpalatable to
the public people will gain power they otherwise would not have been able to.
This should worry those who will vote for Biden. What they are voting for and what they
are going to get is not the same thing.
Useful clarity, b, as always.
Not sure I can agree that Republican reps will drag this into the light post election.
My impression was that they didn't go into Ukraine defense at impeachment was that the
campaign finance / money laundering / influence peddling gravy train there, as elsewhere,
probably, was and is bipartisan.
I can buy everything B is saying, but who exactly will investigate President Biden if D's win
both Houses of Congress?
Bill Barr could start an investigation, if one has not already been started, but
government moves slowly so it is hard to see the Trump administration bringing charges before
Biden is sworn in.
But if Hillary wants to throw Biden under the bus after the election, well she could
probably do so.
The best arguments against life extension science are people like Clinton, Biden, and Pelosi.
Imagine them as speaker or senator or Supreme Court justice for the next 1000 years.
Wouldn't the 25th amendment be the desired method of transferring power to Harris? Although
it has always struck me a wee bit odd that the computer repairman called the FBI after making
a copy, which in turn he gave to Rudy Giuliana. Do all computer repairmen have Rudy on speed
dial by any chance? Sadly the weird of the whole scenario is very Clintonian. How long til an
Arkancide or two happens. Can't the Clintons just go away for good?
The democrats will investigate and kick Biden out. The democrats knew all along that this
stuff about Biden was real but they had no chance to win with the other losers. So, the order
was given to the others to drop from the race and let strawman Biden beat Bernie. If Biden
gets elected, they will bring all his dirt up, impeach him and govern from the shadows
through Kamala who has no principles and questionable character (e.g., slept with Willie to
move her career up).
Or maybe Harris poisons Biden to speed things up and invites Micky Mouse to become her vice
president.
Come on B, this is really clumsy, below your standard. We all know that Biden is corrupt,
but we also know that Tronald is even more corrupt, that he is a fascist who has filled every
post in his administration with the most disgusting reactionary you can find in the country.
And that means something. The man belongs to scrap iron. One cannot reject the bad in favor
of the even worse. That is irrational.
Yes, this has been hinted on by my local conservative radio host since Pelosi introduced
legislation re: removing unfit presidents about a month ago.
It was always about removing Biden, if he were elected, not Trump.
Biden has never struck me during his whole campaign of a genuine interest in the
presidency.
It has always seemed more like he was doing it begrudgingly for "the cause."
Contrast this to the emotion Trump exhibited during his 2016 run when he gripped and
nearly ripped his notes in anger after a debate with Hillary Clinton ended. Or how he sat
stone-faced during Obama's speech during a white house correspondence dinner where Obama tore
into Trump and the audience roared with laughter. Trump just stared right back.
These are pieces any sane person can put together with the understanding that these men
are all still subject to egoism and revenge. It is not all elites against us as some
simpletons wish to boil it down to. It is much more subtle and so you must use discernment
and study their tells and what gives their true desires away.
Hillary is so unlikely to have authored the Foreign Affairs article. Staff work. Whose staff?
Uninteresting to pursue. Other than that appearance Hills has been very quiet. Suspiciously
quiet. Could be that Obama or whoever succeeded in shutting her up, that would have been
daunting and just plain hard. Better bet is her health is failing.
In short, Mark Simon took initiative and gave $10,000 to a guy called
Crhistopher Balding , an associate professor at Beijing University and late moved to
Vietnam on Fulbright Scholarship, to prepare and disseminate the "Aspen dossier"
detailing supposed Chinese influence ops targeting the Biden family basing an the
"info/disinformation" from a supposed Swiss investigator Martin Aspen.
After NBC article exposes Martin Aspen is actually an AI-created persona, Jimmy Lai, who
depends on the support from USG to continue his anti-China activities in HK, publicly
distance himself from the whole operation, and his trusted lieutenant Mark Simon, a possible
CIA agent, announced his resignation from Apple Daily after Balding exposed his involvement.
Detail
here
Okay, sleazy and yet very normal (one might say habitual) corruption in a US political
family. But by 2017, Joe Biden was out of office, and there is nothing that suggests that he,
rather than his repulsive son, was profiting before that.
The stake in the Bohai Harvest Partners Investment Fund (2013) does not name Joe Biden as an
investor at all.
This may be why the FBI, the media, and even Glenn Greenwald in his article, say that
there is nothing in this pile of dog crap that implicates Joe Biden at this point.
All very plausible, all very Byzantine and decadent. The "United States of America" is in the
midst of decay and breakup, which will occur no matter who is "elected" or otherwise gains
power, legally or militarily. It is only a question of which "gang in power" -to use Murray
Rothbard's phrase- is running your successor state.
According to The New Yorker, in June 2013, "[Jonathan] Li, Archer, and other business
partners signed a memorandum of understanding to create the fund, which they named BHR
Partners, and, in November, they signed contracts related to the deal. Hunter became an
unpaid member of BHR's board but did not take an equity stake in BHR Partners until after
his father left the White House →".
The Aspen Dossier was peddled by Balding to right wing websites, which then first
published in mid-Sept and now got the momentum.
The notion that the Democrats will allow their party name to be associated with a deposed
Democrat President seems more than far-fetched.
Far more likely is that the "investigation" will drag on long enough to fade from public
view, then quietly pardon everyone.
This Biden to Harris to HRC seems much more like a plot for a fantasy/spy novel.
Meanwhile...we are being distracted by the Huntergate ...an autum of terror in being
prepared in Europe...
At least 150 private military contractors have been transported to Europe on
Pentagon-chartered flights over the last weeks, including from Benghazi, #Libya via #Malta
to Sofia, #Bulgaria
Harris could simply resign some weeks after Clinton II gets the VP, Harris could do so for
any reason but if it was me writing the script I would cook up some mumbo jumbo about "clean
slate", "not yet ready", "for the sake of blah-blah" and so on.
That way Harris can come back and fill the gap between Clinton II and Clinton III (no
prizes for guessing who).
Not that I don't think the US won't be gone long before that can happen or won't be in a
civil war if any of it does or maybe from Biden or the "election" alone.
I agree with many here: looks like a typical political elite family corruption (Roman-style
corruption).
But I have a theory: with Reagan's hegemony (1980-1992), the old Democrat elites were
wiped out. The Democratic Party came near to extinction, the USA almost becoming a
single-party nation. Reagan looked invincible, the consensus he commanded among the American
people incontestable. He easily elected his successor (George H. W. Bush).
The Democrats were reborn, like a Phoenix, thanks to a huge transformation: the rise of
the so-called "Southern Democrats". This newly-born faction, much more conservative, had one
clear leadership: Bill Clinton, from Arkansas.
Bill Clinton then surprisingly won against George H. W. Bush and got extremely lucky: he
got the USSR in tatters, ready for the sack. The ransacking of the Soviet Sphere marked the
only time after the post-war miracle (1945-1974) when the USA registered a trade surplus
(+38%).
This ransacking, in my theory, generated the rise of a new set of families of a new
Democrat elite. All of then are vassals to the Clinton family (as we can deduce from the de
facto fusion between the Clinton Foundation and the DNC), but each got the right to a piece
of the ex-Soviet cake. Victoria Nuland, for example, got the telecommunication industries of
the ex-Yugoslavia through her husband. My guess is the Bidens are part of this new, "Southern
Democrat" elite, hence their casual connections with ex-Soviet states and mafias.
Everything must have been done quickly and hastily, as Bill Clinton wasn't able to elect
his successor (Al Gore). This realization that "time was short" may explain the apparent
amateurish partition of the ex-socialist cake by those families. Hence the laptop
episode.
The Obama phenomenon may be easily explained: the crisis of 2008 prompted Wall Street to
enter the field because they needed the bailout (Bush's Congress blocked the bailout in
November 2008, putting the Texan on his knees) to pass as soon as January 2009. Hilary
Clinton was senator for New York (you cannot be elected in NY without Wall Street's consent),
so it wasn't that she was in any position to rig the DNC at that moment. Penny Pritzker
somehow convinced Wall Street moguls Obama (senator from Illinois, USA's second financial
center) was the better candidate to the task. Even then, Hilary competed with Obama, and
there were primaries, so the process wasn't as smooth as many alt-rightists like to tell us
today. Plus, Hilary was still young, so she had time: she may have calculated Obama would be
left to clean the shit from the crisis and she would reap the economic recovery as his
successor; that Obama survived and easily got reelected is merely one of those windfalls of
destiny.
Anyhow, the fact is that Obama disappeared after his second term and the Clintons came
back to the forefront of the Democratic Party. This is an indication he was more of a detour
on the party's project, the Southern Democrats never really losing grip. I don't think the
Bidens are, therefore, part of Obama's entourage, but of the Clinton's.
- When I read that Hillary Clinton has put out a job application then I almost want Trump to
win the presidential election of 2020.
- There was one person who said that the choice between Clinton and Trump (in 2016) and Biden
and Trump (in 2020) was the choice between having typhoid and having cholera.
Its aim is to use Shanghai FTA to covert Chinese Yuan to dollar to invest overseas.
(Somehow, I personally doubt this kind of funds could be used by rich Chinese tycoons and
corrupt officials to shift their illegal gains out of China.)
Obviously, it looks rather nepotism, but isn't it the fact that lots of relatives of the
American (Chinese, European, Japanes, etc.) politicians have been doing these kind dubious
business deals all the time?
"Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall
nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of
both Houses of Congress," Section 2 of the amendment explains.
Penny Pritzker? Where do you come up with this stuff? She's a nasty piece of work all
right but that she moved Wall Street or played kingmaker is just absurd.
Penny couldn't even manage basic South Side real estate swindles without buckets of help.
Including from Obama. Who has a long family pedigree and outranks Pritzkers in every way.
I read that the primary source for Steele was Ms. Galkina, basically a nobody creating
fiction for pay and not a 'a high ranking Kremlin official'. Does this mean that the Trump
Shills like Don Jr, Hannity, Ingraham, et al will stop calling it Russian misinformation
sent to the Democrats to attack Donald Trump?
You might have missed this, but it has been established by U.S. scientists that Russians
are not animals. Russians is a giant fungal mycelium that may form animal mimic fruiting
bodies colloquially known as "Russian individuals". Thus, while it may appear to you that
Galkina is a separate organism, in reality "she" is a mere outgrowth of Russians. Any action
taken by "her" is an action of the entire organism. That is why any time a Russian fruiting
body misbehaves, the sanctions are imposed on the entire mycelium. Hope this helps.
Suddenly , some of the woke liberals and MSM journos start to doubt the corrupt Chinese
billionaire Guo Wengui aka Miles Kwok, a fugitive, and MSM's mostly beloved master of Chinese
"leaker", is working for CCP(!) and begin to expose his undemocratic behavour:
I think Biden was chosen, because no one wanted him, as a 'consensus candidate' against
Bernie Sanders. Sanders is a much more existential threat to the 'establishment' than Donald
Trump. And yeah, sheep dog etc. the point is the ideas behind Sanders - to begin mitigation
of corporate power - is the enemy.
Hillary Clinton? If the plan is to seal the deal for a third party movement to actually
rival the two-party monopoly, then good plan.
Yeah, no doubt they suckered Hunter, then saved the laptop for October while making up a
story for how they got it. I have always felt - I won't say thought - that the whole story
stunk, it was just too convenient, the timing too perfect, the scandal too juicy, and Trump
is a vindictive person, it's payback. Perhaps they enhanced the contents a bit too. If there
is an investigation, it could be interesting.
B's prediction that Joe Biden being pushed out early during his first term as President,
either because of Hunter Biden's scandals or his own worsening dementia, to be replaced by
Kamala Harris as President who would then nominate The Klintonator as her VP, will depend on
Biden winning the Presidency.
The way the election seems to be going - I have seen some news that an Australian news
reporter in the US, monitoring the news polls and speaking to people, is confused because
while the polls predict a Biden win, the majority of the people he talks to (I presume he
travels quite a lot and speaks to people of very different backgrounds and communities) are
voting for Trump - the results may be very close, they will depend on votes coming from US
voters casting votes overseas or mail-in votes, the Electoral College voting may be very
close and I hazard that the final result may not be known until December.
Plenty of time then for both Democrats and Republicans to accuse each other of stalling on
the results, for fighting to break out all around the nation, and cities to try to enforce
lockdowns to the extent of calling in the military. Perhaps when civil war breaks out,
someone will propose some kind of unity government, Congress in its panic will agree and
somehow The Klintonator manages to wangle her way into the Presidency or a position as
Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State.
here is a post from someone at sst - jersey jeffersonian - quoting from a website... i don't
know if or how much of this is true, but it goes with all of this..
"It seems now that Chris Wray's FBI was sitting on the Hunter Biden laptop, too.
And probably, beyond permitting the whole impeachment farago to plow ahead by hiding
evidence supportive of President Trump's actions, or lack thereof, in Ukraine, because
certain activities in which Wray had been involved earlier might come back to haunt him. Here
is a passage quoted from James Kunstler's blog post of this morning on this point:
"...here's a strange Swamp sidelight to all this: CEFC's main exploit during the Biden
hook-up years was the purchase of a 14 percent stake in Russia's oil-and-gas giant, Rosneft,
to help China circumvent US sanctions on Russia's oil sales. Guess who was one of the lawyers
working for Rosneft: Christopher Wray, just before he became FBI director. And guess who has
been sitting on Hunter Biden's laptop since at least December of 2019. Oh, the FBI. And guess
what else: the Rosneft files have since been deleted by Mr. Wray's old law firm, King and
Spalding."
Recall here Biden's negotiations with the head of CEFC, Ho Chiping, to establish a
humongous LPG facility in Louisiana (see the referenced blog post for more information)."
here is the website link as well for the specific quote - The Awful Reckoning
When the last serious dispute about who had won a presidential election occurred, in 1876,
they had four months between the election and the inauguration of the new president to
resolve the matter, and then the dispute was only resolved at the last moment, just before
the inauguration date.
Now, with the inauguration date moved back from March to December, they will have
considerably less time to resolve a dispute.
An attempt to assess the importance of the known evidence, and a critique of media lies
to protect their favored candidate, could not be published at The Intercept Oct 29 675 380
I am posting here the most recent draft of my article about Joe and Hunter Biden -- the
last one seen by Intercept editors before telling me that they refuse to publish it
absent major structural changes involving the removal of all sections critical of Joe Biden,
leaving only a narrow article critiquing media outlets. I will also, in a separate post,
publish all communications I had with Intercept editors surrounding this article so you can see
the censorship in action and, given the Intercept's denials, decide for yourselves (this is the
kind of transparency responsible journalists provide, and which the Intercept refuses to this
day to provide regarding their conduct in the Reality Winner story). This draft obviously would
have gone through one more round of proof-reading and editing by me -- to shorten it, fix
typos, etc -- but it's important for the integrity of the claims to publish the draft in
unchanged form that Intercept editors last saw, and announced that they would not "edit" but
completely gut as a condition to publication:
Subscribe
TITLE: THE REAL SCANDAL: U.S. MEDIA USES FALSEHOODS TO DEFEND JOE BIDEN FROM HUNTER'S
EMAILS
Publication by the New York Post two weeks ago of emails from Hunter Biden's laptop,
relating to
Vice President Joe Biden's work in Ukraine , and subsequent articles from other outlets
concerning the Biden family's pursuit of
business opportunities in China , provoked extraordinary efforts by a de facto union
of media outlets, Silicon Valley giants and the intelligence community to suppress these
stories.
One outcome is that the Biden campaign concluded, rationally, that there is no need for the
front-running presidential candidate to address even the most basic and relevant questions
raised by these materials. Rather than condemn Biden for ignoring these questions -- the
natural instinct of a healthy press when it comes to a presidential election -- journalists
have instead led the way in concocting excuses to justify his silence.
After the Post's first article, both that newspaper and other news outlets have published
numerous other emails and texts purportedly written to and from Hunter reflecting his efforts
to induce his father to take actions as Vice President beneficial to the Ukrainian energy
company Burisma, on whose board of directors Hunter sat for a monthly payment of $50,000, as
well as proposals for lucrative business deals in China that traded on his influence with his
father.
Individuals included in some of the email chains have confirmed the
contents' authenticity . One of Hunter's former business partners, Tony Bubolinski, has
stepped forward on the record to confirm the authenticity of many of the emails and to insist
that Hunter along with Joe Biden's brother Jim were planning on including the former Vice
President in at least one deal in China. And GOP pollster Frank Luntz, who appeared in one of
the published email chains, appeared to confirm the
authenticity as well, though he refused to answer follow-up
questions about it.
Thus far, no proof has been offered by Bubolinski that Biden ever consummated his
participation in any of those discussed deals. The Wall Street Journal
says that it found no corporate records reflecting that a deal was finalized and that "text
messages and emails related to the venture that were provided to the Journal by Mr. Bobulinski,
mainly from the spring and summer of 2017, don't show either Hunter Biden or James Biden
discussing a role for Joe Biden in the venture."
But nobody claimed that any such deals had been consummated -- so the conclusion that one
had not been does not negate the story. Moreover, some texts and emails whose authenticity has
not been disputed state that Hunter was adamant that any discussions about the involvement of
the Vice President be held only verbally and never put in writing.
Beyond that, the Journal's columnist Kimberly Strassel reviewed a stash of
documents and "found correspondence corroborates and expands on emails recently published
by the New York Post," including ones where Hunter was insisting that it was his connection to
his father that was the greatest asset sought by the Chinese conglomerate with whom they were
negotiating. The New York Times on Sunday reached a similar
conclusion : while no documents prove that such a deal was consummated, "records produced
by Mr. Bobulinski show that in 2017, Hunter Biden and James Biden were involved in negotiations
about a joint venture with a Chinese energy and finance company called CEFC China Energy," and
"make clear that Hunter Biden saw the family name as a valuable asset, angrily citing his
'family's brand' as a reason he is valuable to the proposed venture."
These documents also demonstrate, reported the Times, "that the countries that Hunter Biden,
James Biden and their associates planned to target for deals overlapped with nations where Joe
Biden had previously been involved as vice president." Strassel noted that "a May 2017
'expectations' document shows Hunter receiving 20% of the equity in the venture and holding
another 10% for 'the big guy' -- who Mr. Bobulinski attests is Joe Biden." And the independent
journalist Matt Taibbi published an
article on Sunday with ample documentation suggesting that Biden's attempt to replace a
Ukranian prosecutor in 2015 benefited Burisma.
All of these new materials, the authenticity of which has never been disputed by Hunter
Biden or the Biden campaign, raise important questions about whether the former Vice President
and current front-running presidential candidate was aware of efforts by his son to peddle
influence with the Vice President for profit, and also whether the Vice President ever took
actions in his official capacity with the intention, at least in part, of benefitting his son's
business associates. But in the two weeks since the Post published its initial story, a union
of the nation's most powerful entities, including its news media, have taken extraordinary
steps to obscure and bury these questions rather than try to provide answers to them.
The initial documents, claimed the New York Post, were obtained when the laptops containing
them were left at a Delaware repair shop with water damage and never picked up, allowing the
owner to access its contents and then turn them over to both the FBI and a lawyer for Trump
advisor Rudy Giuliani. The repair store owner confirmed this narrative in
interviews with news outlets and then (under penalty of prosecution)
to a Senate Committee; he also provided the receipt purportedly signed by Hunter. Neither
Hunter nor the Biden campaign has denied these claims.
Publication of that initial New York Post story provoked
a highly unusual censorship campaign by Facebook and Twitter. Facebook, through a long-time
former Democratic Party operative, vowed to suppress the story pending its "fact-check," one
that has as of yet produced no public conclusions. And while Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey apologized
for Twitter's handling of the censorship and reversed the
policy that led to the blocking of all links the story, the New York Post, the nation's
fourth-largest newspaper, continues to be locked out of its Twitter account, unable to post as
the election approaches, for almost two weeks.
After that initial censorship burst from Silicon Valley, whose workforce and oligarchs
have
donated almost entirely to the Biden campaign, it was the nation's media outlets and former
CIA and other intelligence officials who took the lead in constructing reasons why the story
should be dismissed, or at least treated with scorn. As usual for the Trump era, the theme that
took center stage to accomplish this goal was an unsubstantiated claim about the Kremlin
responsibility for the story.
Numerous news outlets, including the Intercept ,
quickly cited a public letter signed by former CIA officials and other agents of the security
state claiming that the documents have the "classic trademarks" of a "Russian disinformation"
plot. But, as media outlets and even intelligence agencies are now slowly admitting, no
evidence has ever been presented to corroborate this assertion. On Friday, the New York Times
reported that "no
concrete evidence has emerged that the laptop contains Russian disinformation" and the paper
said even the FBI has "acknowledged that it had not found any Russian disinformation on the
laptop."
The Washington Post on Sunday published
an op-ed -- by Thomas Rid, one of those centrists establishmentarian professors whom media
outlets routinely use to provide the facade of expert approval for deranged conspiracy theories
-- that contained this extraordinary proclamation: "We must treat the Hunter Biden leaks as if
they were a foreign intelligence operation -- even if they probably aren't."
Even the letter from the former
intelligence officials cited by The Intercept and other outlets to insinuate that this was
all part of some "Russian disinformation" scheme explicitly admitted that "we do not have
evidence of Russian involvement," though many media outlets omitted that crucial
acknowledgement when citing the letter in order to disparage the story as a Kremlin plot:
Despite this complete lack of evidence, the Biden campaign adopted this phrase used by
intelligence officials and media outlets as its mantra for why the materials should not be
discussed and why they would not answer basic questions about them. "I think we need to be
very, very clear that what he's doing here is amplifying Russian misinformation," said Biden
Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield about the possibility that Trump would raise the Biden
emails at Thursday night's debate. Biden's senior advisor Symone Sanders similarly warned on
MSNBC : "if the president decides to amplify these latest smears against the vice president
and his only living son, that is Russian disinformation."
The few mainstream journalists who tried merely to discuss these materials have been
vilified. For the crime of simply noting it on Twitter that first day, New York Times reporter
Maggie Haberman had her name trend all morning along
with the derogatory nickname "MAGA Haberman." CBS News' Bo Erickson was widely attacked even by
his some in the media simply
for asking Biden what his response to the story was. And Biden himself refused to answer,
accusing Erickson of spreading a "smear."
That it is irresponsible and even unethical to mention these documents became a pervasive
view in mainstream journalism. The NPR Public Editor, in an anazing
statement representative of much of the prevailing media mentality, explicitly justified
NPR's refusal to cover the story on the ground that "we do not want to waste our time on
stories that are not really stories . . . [or] waste the readers' and listeners' time on
stories that are just pure distractions."
To justify her own show's failure to cover the story, 60 Minutes' Leslie Stahl resorted to
an entirely different justification . "It can't be verified," the CBS reporter claimed when
confronted by President Trump in an interview about her program's failure to cover the Hunter
Biden documents. When Trump insisted there were multiple ways to verify the materials on the
laptop, Stahl simply repeated the same
phrase : "it can't be verified."
After the final presidential debate on Thursday night, a CNN panel mocked the story as
too complex and obscure for anyone to follow -- a self-fulfilling prophecy given that, as the
network's media reporter Brian Stelter noted with pride , the story
has barely been mentioned either on CNN or MSNBC. As the New York Times noted on
Friday : "most viewers of CNN and MSNBC would not have heard much about the unconfirmed
Hunter Biden emails.... CNN's mentions of "Hunter" peaked at 20 seconds and MSNBC's at 24
seconds one day last week."
On Sunday, CNN's Christiane Amanpour barely pretended to be interested in any journalism
surrounding the story, scoffing during an interview at requests from the RNC's Elizabeth
Harrington to cover the story and verify the documents by telling her: "We're not going to do
your work for you." Watch how the U.S.'s most mainstream journalists are openly announcing
their refusal to even consider what these documents might reflect about the Democratic
front-runner:
These journalists are desperate not to know. As Taibbi wrote on Sunday
about this tawdry press spectacle: " The least curious people in the country right now appear
to be the credentialed news media, a situation normally unique to tinpot authoritarian
societies."
All of those excuses and pretexts -- emanating largely from a national media that is all but
explicit in their eagerness for Biden to win -- served for the first week or more after the
Post story to create a cone of silence around this story and, to this very day, a protective
shield for Biden. As a result, the front-running presidential candidate knows that he does not
have to answer even the most basic questions about these documents because most of the national
press has already signaled that they will not press him to do so; to the contrary, they will
concoct defenses on his behalf to avoid discussing it.
The relevant questions for Biden raised by this new reporting are as glaring as they are
important. Yet Biden has had to answer very few of them yet because he has not been asked and,
when he has, media outlets have justified his refusal to answer rather than demand that he do
so. We submitted nine questions to his campaign about these documents that the public has the
absolute right to know, including:
whether he claims any the emails or texts are fabricated (and, if so, which specific
ones);
whether he knows if Hunter did indeed drop off laptops at the Delaware repair store;
whether Hunter ever asked him to meet with Burisma executives or whether he in fact did
so;
whether Biden ever knew about business proposals in Ukraine or China being pursued by
his son and brother in which Biden was a proposed participant and,
how Biden could justify expending so much energy as Vice President demanding that the
Ukrainian General Prosecutor be fired, and why the replacement -- Yuriy Lutsenko, someone
who had no
experience in law ; was a crony of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko; and himself
had a history of corruption allegations -- was acceptable if Biden's goal really was to
fight corruption in Ukraine rather than benefit Burisma or control Ukrainian internal
affairs for some other objective.
Though the Biden campaign indicated that they would respond to the Intercept's questions,
they have not done so. A statement they released to
other outlets contains no answers to any of these questions except to claim that Biden "has
never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any business
overseas." To date, even as the Biden campaign echoes the baseless claims of media outlets that
anyone discussing this story is "amplifying Russian disinformation," neither Hunter Biden nor
the Biden campaign have even said whether they claim the emails and other documents -- which
they and the press continue to label "Russian disinformation" -- are forgeries or whether they
are authentic.
The Biden campaign clearly believes it has no need to answer any of these questions by
virtue of a panoply of media excuses offered on its behalf that collapse upon the most minimal
scrutiny:
First , the claim that the material is of suspect authenticity or cannot be verified -- the
excuse used on behalf of Biden by Leslie Stahl and Christiane Amanpour, among others -- is
blatantly false for numerous reasons. As someone who has reported similar large archives in
partnership with numerous media outlets around the world (including the Snowden archive in 2014
and the
Intercept's Brazil Archive over the last year showing corruption by high-level
Bolsonaro officials ), and who also covered the reporting of similar archives by other
outlets (the Panama Papers, the WikiLeaks war logs of 2010 and DNC/Podesta emails of 2016), it
is clear to me that the trove of documents from Hunter Biden's emails has been verified in ways
quite similar to those.
With an archive of this size, one can never independently authenticate every word in every
last document unless the subject of the reporting voluntarily confirms it in advance, which
they rarely do. What has been done with similar archives is journalists obtain enough
verification to create high levels of journalistic confidence in the materials. Some of the
materials provided by the source can be independently confirmed, proving genuine access by the
source to a hard drive, a telephone, or a database. Other parties in email chains can confirm
the authenticity of the email or text conversations in which they participated. One
investigates non-public facts contained in the documents to determine that they conform to what
the documents reflect. Technology specialists can examine the materials to ensure no signs of
forgeries are detected.
This is the process that enabled the largest and most established media outlets around the
world to report similar large archives obtained without authorization. In those other cases, no
media outlet was able to verify every word of every document prior to publication. There was no
way to prove the negative that the source or someone else had not altered or forged some of the
material. That level of verification is both unattainable and unnecessary. What is needed is
substantial evidence to create high confidence in the authentication process.
The Hunter Biden documents have at least as much verification as those other archives that
were widely reported. There are sources in the email chains who have verified that the
published emails are accurate. The archive contains private photos and videos of Hunter whose
authenticity is not in doubt. A former business partner of Hunter has stated, unequivocally and
on the record, that not only are the emails authentic but they describe events accurately,
including proposed participation by the former Vice President in at least one deal Hunter and
Jim Biden were pursuing in China. And, most importantly of all, neither Hunter Biden nor the
Biden campaign has even suggested, let alone claimed, that a single email or text is fake.
Why is the failure of the Bidens to claim that these emails are forged so significant?
Because when journalists report on a massive archive, they know that the most important event
in the reporting's authentication process comes when the subjects of the reporting have an
opportunity to deny that the materials are genuine. Of course that is what someone would do if
major media outlets were preparing to publish, or in fact were publishing, fabricated or forged
materials in their names; they would say so in order to sow doubt about the materials if not
kill the credibility of the reporting.
The silence of the Bidens may not be dispositive on the question of the material's
authenticity, but when added to the mountain of other authentication evidence, it is quite
convincing: at least equal to the authentication evidence in other reporting on similarly large
archives.
Second , the oft-repeated claim from news outlets and CIA operatives that the published
emails and texts were "Russian disinformation" was, from the start, obviously baseless and
reckless. No evidence -- literally none -- has been presented to suggest involvement by any
Russians in the dissemination of these materials, let alone that it was part of some official
plot by Moscow. As always, anything is possible -- when one does not know for certain what the
provenance of materials is, nothing can be ruled out -- but in journalism, evidence is required
before news outlets can validly start blaming some foreign government for the release of
information. And none has ever been presented. Yet the claim that this was "Russian
disinformation" was published in countless news outlets, television broadcasts, and the social
media accounts of journalists, typically by pointing to the evidence-free claims of ex-CIA
officials.
Worse is the "disinformation" part of the media's equation. How can these materials
constitute "disinformation" if they are authentic emails and texts actually sent to and from
Hunter Biden? The ease with which news outlets that are supposed to be skeptical of
evidence-free pronouncements by the intelligence community instead printed their assertions
about "Russian disinformation" is alarming in the extreme. But they did it because they
instinctively wanted to find a reason to justify ignoring the contents of these emails, so
claiming that Russia was behind it, and that the materials were "disinformation," became their
placeholder until they could figure out what else they should say to justify ignoring these
documents.
Third , the media rush to exonerate Biden on the question of whether he engaged in
corruption vis-a-vis Ukraine and Burisma rested on what are, at best, factually dubious
defenses of the former Vice President. Much of this controversy centers on Biden's aggressive
efforts while Vice President in late 2015 to force the Ukrainian government to fire its Chief
Prosecutor, Viktor Shokhin, and replace him with someone acceptable to the U.S., which turned
out to be Yuriy Lutsenko. These events are undisputed by virtue of a video of Biden boasting in front of an
audience of how he flew to Kiev and forced the Ukrainians to fire Shokhin, upon pain of losing
$1 billion in aid.
But two towering questions have long been prompted by these events, and the recently
published emails make them more urgent than ever: 1) was the firing of the Ukrainian General
Prosecutor such a high priority for Biden as Vice President of the U.S. because of his son's
highly lucrative role on the board of Burisma, and 2) if that was not the motive, why was it so
important for Biden to dictate who the chief prosecutor of Ukraine was?
The standard answer to the question about Biden's motive -- offered both by Biden and his
media defenders -- is that he, along with the IMF and EU, wanted Shokhin fired because the U.S.
and its allies were eager to clean up Ukraine, and they viewed Shokhin as insufficiently
vigilant in fighting corruption.
"Biden's brief was to sweet-talk and jawbone Poroshenko into making reforms that Ukraine's
Western benefactors wanted to see as,"
wrote the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler in what the Post calls a "fact-check." Kessler
also endorsed the key defense of Biden: that the firing of Shokhin was bad for Burima, not good
for it. "The United States viewed [Shokhin] as ineffective and beholden to Poroshenko and
Ukraine's corrupt oligarchs. In particular, Shokin had failed to pursue an investigation of the
founder of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky," Kessler claims.
But that claim does not even pass the laugh test. The U.S. and its European allies are not
opposed to corruption by their puppet regimes. They are allies with the most corrupt regimes on
the planet, from Riyadh to Cairo, and always have been. Since when does the U.S. devote itself
to ensuring good government in the nations it is trying to control? If anything, allowing
corruption to flourish has been a key tool in enabling the U.S. to exert power in other
countries and to open up their markets to U.S. companies.
Beyond that, if increasing prosecutorial independence and strengthening anti-corruption
vigilance were really Biden's goal in working to demand the firing of the Ukrainian chief
prosecutor, why would the successor to Shokhin, Yuriy Lutsenko, possibly be acceptable?
Lutsenko, after all, had "no legal background as general prosecutor," was principally known
only as a lackey of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, was forced in 2009 to "resign as
interior minister after being detained by police at Frankfurt airport for being drunk and
disorderly," and "was subsequently jailed for embezzlement and abuse of office, though his
defenders said the sentence was politically motivated."
Is it remotely convincing to you that Biden would have accepted someone like Lutsenko if his
motive really were to fortify anti-corruption prosecutions in Ukraine? Yet that's exactly what
Biden did: he personally told Poroshenko that Lutsenko was an acceptable alternative and
promptly released the $1 billion after his appointment was announced. Whatever Biden's motive
was in using his power as U.S. Vice President to change the prosecutor in Ukraine, his
acceptance of someone like Lutsenko strongly suggests that combatting Ukrainian corruption was
not it.
As for the other claim on which Biden and his media allies have heavily relied -- that
firing Shokhin was not a favor for Burisma because Shokhin was not pursuing any investigations
against Burisma -- the evidence does not justify that assertion.
It is true that no evidence, including these new emails, constitute proof that Biden's
motive in demanding Shokhin's termination was to benefit Burisma. But nothing demonstrates that
Shokhin was impeding investigations into Burisma. Indeed, the New York Times in 2019 published
one of the most comprehensive investigations to date of the claims made in defense of Biden
when it comes to Ukraine and the firing of this prosecutor, and, while noting that "no evidence
has surfaced that the former vice president intentionally tried to help his son by pressing for
the prosecutor general's dismissal," this is what its reporters concluded about Shokhin and
Burisma:
[Biden's] pressure campaign eventually worked. The prosecutor general, long a target of
criticism from other Western nations and international lenders, was
voted out months later by the Ukrainian Parliament .
Among those who had a stake in the outcome was Hunter Biden , Mr. Biden's younger son, who
at the time was on the board of an energy company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch who had been
in the sights of the fired prosecutor general .
The Times added: "Mr. Shokhin's office had oversight of investigations into [Burisma's
billionaire founder] Zlochevsky and his businesses, including Burisma." By contrast, they said,
Lutsenko, the replacement approved by Vice President Biden, "initially continued investigating
Mr. Zlochevsky and Burisma, but cleared him of all charges within 10 months of taking
office."
So whether or not it was Biden's intention to confer benefits on Burisma by demanding
Shokhin's firing, it ended up quite favorable for Burisma given that the utterly inexperienced
Lutesenko "cleared [Burisma's founder] of all charges within 10 months of taking office."
The new comprehensive report from journalist Taibbi on Sunday also strongly supports the
view that there were clear antagonisms between Shokhin and Burisma, such that firing the
Ukrainian prosecutor would have been beneficial for Burisma. Taibbi, who reported for many
years while based in Russia and remains very well-sourced in the region, detailed:
For all the negative press about Shokhin, there's no doubt that there were multiple active
cases involving Zlochevsky/Burisma during his short tenure. This was even once admitted by
American reporters, before it became taboo to describe such cases untethered to words like
"dormant." Here's how Ken Vogel at the New York
Timesput it in May of
2019:
"When Mr. Shokhin became prosecutor general in February 2015, he inherited several
investigations into the company and Mr. Zlochevsky, including for suspicion of tax evasion
and money laundering. Mr. Shokin also opened an investigation into the granting of lucrative
gas licenses to companies owned by Mr. Zlochevsky when he was the head of the Ukrainian
Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources."
Ukrainian officials I reached this week confirmed that multiple cases were active during
that time.
"There were different numbers, but from 7 to 14," says Serhii Horbatiuk, former head of
the special investigations department for the Prosecutor General's Office, when asked how
many Burisma cases there were.
"There may have been two to three episodes combined, and some have already been closed, so
I don't know the exact amount." But, Horbatiuk insists, there were many cases, most of them
technically started under Yarema, but at least active under Shokin.
The numbers quoted by Horbatiuk gibe with those offered by more recent General Prosecutor
Rulsan Ryaboshapka, who last year said there were at one time or another "
13 or 14 " cases in existence involving Burisma or Zlochevsky.
Taibbi reviews real-time reporting in both Ukraine and the U.S. to document several other
pending investigations against Burisma and Zlochevsky that was overseen by the prosecutor whose
firing Biden demanded. He notes that Shokhin himself has repeatedly said he was pursuing
several investigations against Zlochevsky at the time Biden demanded his firing. In sum, Taibbi
concludes, "one can't say there's no evidence of active Burisma cases even during the last days
of Shokin, who says that it was the February, 2016 seizure order [against Zlochevsky's assets]
that got him fired."
And, Taibbi notes, "the story looks even odder when one wonders why the United States would
exercise so much foreign policy muscle to get Shokin fired, only to allow in a replacement --
Yuri Lutsenko -- who by all accounts was a spectacularly bigger failure in the battle against
corruption in general, and Zlochevsky in particular." In sum: "it's unquestionable that the
cases against Burisma were all closed by Shokin's successor, chosen in consultation with Joe
Biden, whose son remained on the board of said company for three more years, earning upwards of
$50,000 per month."
The publicly known facts, augmented by the recent emails, texts and on-the-record accounts,
suggest serious sleaze by Joe Biden's son Hunter in trying to peddle his influence with the
Vice President for profit. But they also raise real questions about whether Joe Biden knew
about and even himself engaged in a form of legalized corruption. Specifically, these newly
revealed information suggest Biden was using his power to benefit his son's business Ukrainian
associates, and allowing his name to be traded on while Vice President for his son and brother
to pursue business opportunities in China. These are questions which a minimally healthy press
would want answered, not buried -- regardless of how many similar or worse scandals the Trump
family has.
But the real scandal that has been proven is not the former Vice President's misconduct but
that of his supporters and allies in the U.S. media. As Taibbi's headline put it: "With the
Hunter Biden Exposé, Suppression is a Bigger Scandal Than the Actual Story."
The reality is the U.S. press has been planning for this moment for four years -- cooking up
justifications for refusing to report on newsworthy material that might help Donald Trump get
re-elected. One major factor is the undeniable truth that journalists with national outlets
based in New York, Washington and West Coast cities overwhelmingly not just favor Joe Biden but
are desperate to see Donald Trump defeated.
It takes an enormous amount of gullibility to believe that any humans are capable of
separating such an intense partisan preference from their journalistic judgment. Many barely
even bother to pretend: critiques of Joe Biden are often attacked first not by Biden campaign
operatives but by political reporters at national news outlets who make little secret of their
eagerness to help Biden win.
But much of this has to do with the fallout from the 2016 election. During that campaign,
news outlets, including The Intercept, did their jobs as journalists by reporting on the
contents of newsworthy, authentic documents: namely, the emails published by WikiLeaks from the
John Podesta and DNC inboxes which, among other things, revealed corruption so severe that it
forced the resignation of the top five officials of the DNC. That the materials were hacked,
and that intelligence agencies were suggesting Russia was responsible, not negate the
newsworthiness of the documents, which is why media outlets across the country repeatedly
reported on their contents.
Nonetheless, journalists have spent four years being attacked as Trump enablers in their
overwhelmingly Democratic and liberal cultural circles: the cities in which they live are
overwhelmingly Democratic, and their demographic -- large-city, college-educated professionals
-- has vanishingly little Trump support. A
New York Times survey of campaign data from Monday tells just a part of this story of
cultural insularity and homogeniety:
Joe Biden has outraised President Trump on the strength of some of the wealthiest and most
educated ZIP codes in the United States, running up the fund-raising score in cities and
suburbs so resoundingly that he collected more money than Mr. Trump on all but two days in
the last two months....It is not just that much of Mr. Biden's strongest support comes
overwhelmingly from the two coasts, which it does.... [U]nder Mr. Trump, Republicans have
hemorrhaged support from white voters with college degrees. In ZIP codes with a median
household income of at least $100,000, Mr. Biden smashed Mr. Trump in fund-raising, $486
million to only $167 million -- accounting for almost his entire financial edge....One Upper
West Side ZIP code -- 10024 -- accounted for more than $8 million for Mr. Biden, and New York
City in total delivered $85.6 million for him -- more than he raised in every state other
than California....
The median household in the United States was $68,703 in 2019. In ZIP codes above that
level, Mr. Biden outraised Mr. Trump by $389.1 million. Below that level, Mr. Trump was
actually ahead by $53.4 million.
Wanting to avoid a repeat of feeling scorn and shunning in their own extremely
pro-Democratic, anti-Trump circles, national media outlets have spent four years inventing
standards for election-year reporting on hacked materials that never previously existed and
that are utterly anathema to the core journalistic function. The Washington Post's Executive
Editor Marty Baron, for instance,
issued a memo full of cautions about how Post reporters should, or should not, discuss
hacked materials even if their authenticity is not in doubt.
That a media outlet should even consider refraining from reporting on materials they know to
be authentic and in the public interest because of questions about their provenance is the
opposite of how journalism has been practiced. In the days before the 2016 election, for
instance, the New York Times received by mail one year of Donald Trump's tax returns and --
despite having no idea who sent it to them or how that person obtained it: was is stolen or
hacked by a foreign power? -- the Times reported on its
contents .
When asked by NPR why they would report on documents when they do not know the source let
alone the source's motives in providing them, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David Barstow
compellingly
explained what had always been the core principle of journalism: namely, a journalist only
cares about two questions -- (1) are documents authentic and (2) are they in the public
interest? -- but does not care about what motives a source has in providing the documents or
how they were obtained when deciding whether to reporting them:
The U.S. media often laments that people have lost faith in its pronouncements, that they
are increasingly viewed as untrustworthy and that many people view Fake News sites are more
reliable than established news outlets. They are good at complaining about this, but very bad
at asking whether any of their own conduct is responsible for it.
A media outlet that renounces its core function -- pursuing answers to relevant questions
about powerful people -- is one that deserves to lose the public's faith and confidence. And
that is exactly what the U.S. media, with some exceptions, attempted to do with this story:
they took the lead not in investigating these documents but in concocting excuses for why they
should be ignored.
As my colleague Lee Fang put it on Sunday : "The partisan
double standards in the media are mind boggling this year, and much of the supposedly left
independent media is just as cowardly and conformist as the mainstream corporate media.
Everyone is reading the room and acting out of fear." Discussing his story from Sunday, Taibbi
summed up
the most important point this way: "The whole point is that the press loses its way when it
cares more about who benefits from information than whether it's true."
Glen, I just paid for a subscription so that I can say this one FACT. The PODESTA EMAILS
WERE NOT THE RESULT OF A HACK.
Please stop reporting this nonsense. The cover story was all part of the plan (approved by
HRC) to shift attention to a Trump-Russia collusion narrative that has always been fiction.
Guccifer 2.0 was created out of this same scheme. The meta data on the files prove that it's
impossible that those emails were hacked, they had to be downloaded on a local device
(thumbdrive most likely).
The FISA Abuse, the spying on Trump, The plan to implicate collusion, the Flynn frameup, the
Impeachment, The Mueller investigation were not the base crimes, those were all part of a cover
up. By you insinuating that the DNC server got hacked (which there is zero evidence for), you
are wittingly or unwittingly complicit in perpetuating the lie that it was. You're missing a
much, much bigger story here. The biden laptop isn't even the tip of the icebeg here.
Ask yourself this; "Why would dozens of high level DOJ, FBI, CIA and Whitehouse officials in
the Obama Administration put their careers on the line and commit literally hundreds of
felonies all in an effort to obstruct/neutralize Trump?" That is first question any true journo
should be asking right now.
I became a fan of yours when I was in law school at UC Hastings in 2003. Your the best, for
sure. But fuck...
I got to be honest...I'm glad the press is ignoring this story. There's just too much at
stake. Biden might be losing his edge, his family might be trading in his name, but who gives a
shit? The alternative is worse by light years.
And yeah, I don't trust the "people" out there to get it right. The "people" are rubes.
Those idiots voted for this piece of shit once before, they'll do it again, in a heartbeat.
More importantly, you really want to do Rudy Giuliani's work for him? I don't know, I don't
get it...why so eager to make the campaign's case for them? It's not a rhetorical question. I
just don't get it.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmed Wednesday the
information exposed by former Hunter
Biden business associate
Tony Bobulinski that connects the former Vice President to companies and ventures in China.
But you wouldn't know it by following the main stream press.
Bobulinski's bombshell interview with Fox News host
Tucker Carlson Tuesday, along with Carlson's follow up exclusive on Wednesday, revealed
that Democratic candidate Joe Biden was aware of his son's business questionable overseas
business dealings. It should be a huge story. After all, Joe Biden has publicly denied knowing
about his son's business ventures in China, Ukraine and other parts of the world.
So why isn't this story on the front page of every newspaper and covered by every cable
network?
How is it possible that the majority of main stream media outlets, newspapers and cable
networks had no problem running unsubstantiated stories about President Donald Trump, his
family and his businesses only to find out later – without corrections- that the
information they published was bogus.
Here, there is an eye witness to the Biden family operations: Bobulinski. He has come
forward and shown his credibility. He has verified documents, photos, receipts from Hunter
Biden's hard drive that the FBI had obtained, along with President Trump's friend and personal
lawyer former New York City Mayor Rudy
Giuliani.
Why hasn't the FBI done anything with this before the election? The bureau has had it for
almost a year. Giuliani then did the only thing he could do – he turned over the
documents to The New York Post. Those documents obtained from Hunter Biden's laptop are the
massive breadcrumbs to a real political scandal.
These documents raise serious questions as to whether or not our possible future president
really is compromised by foreign adversaries, or whether or not he was using his position in
government to profit his family.
Still, it's only crickets from the main stream media. At the same time, big tech giants like
Twitter, Google and Facebook are also working diligently to squash the story and keep the truth
from the American people.
Tucker Carlson had the highest ratings – historic ratings – at Fox News Tuesday
night with more than 7 million viewers tuning in for the Bobulinski story. Yet, the Bobulinski
interview wasn't trending on Twitter, and in fact, it appeared that his story was non-existent
on the other networks.
Not even the Senators, who held a hearing on Wednesday, could get a straight answer from
Twitter's CEO
Jack Dorsey on why his platform banned The New York Post stories.
Sen. Ted Cruz said on Twitter "What @Jack told the Senate, under oath, is false."
"I just tried to tweet the @nypost story alleging
Biden's CCP corruption. Still Blocked."
Censorship in full force. However, this is not like the old
Soviet censorship – this is a bizarre new self-censorship by elitist leftists who
believe they know what's best for the American people.
Think about this – what if this story was about information these news agencies
discovered on Donald Trump Jr. or Eric Trump. How would they treat it?
Let's start with the most widely discussed and central to the issue of alleged corruption
was Hunter Biden's paid position on the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma Holdings.
Despite the fact Hunter Biden had no background in energy he was being paid more than $50,000 a
month and in some instances as much as $83,000 a month.
What about the most concerning connection for the Biden's with China's CEFC, an energy giant
that is compared to Goldman Sachs. It is directly connected to the Chinese Communist Party and
according to Bobulinski, as well as senior lawmakers investigating, possible used as leverage
against the Bidens by the communist government.
"Joe Biden and the Biden family are compromised" said Bobulinski in Tuesday night's hour
long interview with Carlson. He said he turned over evidence to the FBI and openly spoke about
his alleged meetings with then Vice President Joe Biden. Biden is referred to by his son Hunter
Biden in emails obtained by the FBI and first published by The New York Post as the 'Big Guy'
and or 'the Chairman.'
Bobulinski revealed that he "held a top-secret clearance from the NSA and the DOE. I served
this country for four years in one of the most elite environments in the world, the Naval
Nuclear Power Training Command, and to have a congressmen out there speaking about Russian
disinformation or Joe Biden at a public debate referencing Russian disinformation when he knows
he sat face-to-face with me, I traveled around the world with his son and his brother. To say
that and associate that with my name is absolutely disgusting to me ."
Joe Biden, however, has publicly denied having any financial gain from his son's, Hunter,
business ventures. He said at the second Presidential debate, "I have not taken a penny from
any foreign source ever in my life." However, Biden has refused to answer any questions
regarding the allegations or address some of the accusations against him or his son.
The American public has the right to know if their next president has been compromised by
their families business dealings with the communist Chinese. Moreover, many of the business
ventures his son was connected with were during his tenure as Vice President.
Our nation has been divided but not by President Trump. It's been divided by an army of
bureaucrats, liberal elites, the New Democratic socialists, special interests and more
importantly a biased partisan media.
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For now, Americans will be left in the dark. On Wednesday committee Chairman Sen. Ron
Johnson, R- WI, told The Daily Caller, that Bobulinski will not be called to testify before the
Nov. 3 elections. He said the committee is working to review all the information that has been
provided to the committee by Bobulinski.
The information has to be verified, as it is subject to the same false information to
Congress laws that verbal or written testimony does.
However, a Johnson spokesperson told the Caller that all the material provided by Bobulinski
to the committee is legitimate and verified .
The committee has "also" not come across any "signs" or evidence to suggest the content
Hunter Biden and Bobulinksi content is false , the spokesperson added.
It's tragic to think that if by chance – a small remote chance – that Biden
actually wins the election justice will never be served and our nation will fundamentally
change.
America will be at a crossroads on November 3. The main stream media is doing its part to
ensure that the American people are not informed, so it is up to you to vote your conscience
and seek out the truth.
Col. Leghorn CSA , 9 hours ago
I suggest enabling RICO charges against any media that conspires to hide the truth.
"... If you want a quick rundown of the Burisma op and Hunter's role in it, check out this 2019 report in the Wall Street Journal. This respectable news outlet might not have called what he did there as "corruption" or "graft," but that's exactly what it was: Hunter traded his dad's name and access for money. ..."
What's
truly scandalous about this whole Hunter thing is that it shows just how normalized elite
corruption is in our imperial society and how little anyone at the top cares.
Last week I stepped away from the Internet for 24 hours and came back to find the most
ridiculous thing took place: Twitter decided to just straight up censor a New York Post story that
weaponized Hunter Biden's boring rich kid degenerate life and his corrupt dealings in Ukraine.
This crude attempt at
censorship only inflamed interest in this obvious h
Glenn, was curious for your take on Yasha Levine's piece on the matter. As far as the
censorship angle goes, I think you are both in agreement, but as far as just how big a story
this really is, he seems to be a little more jaded. https://yasha.substack.com/p/yes-hunter-biden-is-corrupt-its-one
It's unclear at this point how much Joe knew about what was going on. For my part, I suspect
he knew but was not actually directing Hunter's activities. I actually also doubt that he has
any idea that a piece of the China deal was being held for him, if indeed it was.
That said, I think it is clear that he knew that Hunter was throwing the Biden name around
to gin up business deals and he didn't tell him to stop it.
I think it's also clear that the media in general is desperate to avoid any mention of the
story...which is, in my mind at least, the best argument to vote for Trump. A lapdog media is
no check on the crazy stuff that happens in DC
If you want a quick rundown of the Burisma op and Hunter's role in it, check out this
2019 report in the Wall Street Journal. This respectable news outlet might not have called what
he did there as "corruption" or "graft," but that's exactly what it was: Hunter traded his
dad's name and access for money.
So it's strange that people have been getting so worked up over this New York Post story.
Even if the emails end up being fake or some details were fudged, it's doesn't change anything
because they're riffing on something real. If Hunter hadn't sold his access to a Ukrainian
oligarch, there would be no story here -- fake emails or no. And that's what's truly scandalous
about this whole Hunter Biden thing: It shows just how normalized elite corruption is in our
imperial society and how little anyone at the top cares about it.
Watching liberals deflect this reality by screaming about some devious foreign plot to
subvert democracy well, it's hard to be shocked or outraged anymore. All you can do now is mock
it and laugh.
-- Yasha Levine
PS: Aside from all the other problems, screaming about "the Russians" every time Hunter's
corruption comes up is yet another example of the xenophobia and racism that's become totally
normalized among our liberal elite.
Each time I read about Hunter's scandal in Ukraine, I have to think of VP Joe Biden and his
family! They all, in this way, traded in VP Biden's name and position! So the real question is,
why is this behavior so widespread amongst these family members?! Honestly...without
cooperation from the VP, would that have happened to the degree it did?!
Let's see...."If you don't fire the prosecutor, you're not getting the one billion
dollars!"
Also, I see that you brushed on the fact that it might be corruption, but it's been
legalized: "But they also raise real questions about whether Joe Biden knew about and even
himself engaged in a form of legalized corruption."
So what Levine is saying is that - yeah it's bad, but it's not only legal - it's been going
on for years and across both parties.
from a purely political standpoint, the reason once credible liberal/mainstream sources seek
to suppress/malign right wing and conservative voices is simple: these voices would inform
policy as most americans would embrace those voices. most people want to hear tucker carlson
call looters...looters - especially when no one else is saying it. and want to see fair and
impartial handling of media. so every viewpoint is ignored, or derided...this isnt to say that
righwing voices are always correct - just that they appeal to a deep seated need that is
missing on the left: simplicity. not everything has to be analyzed to death. not everything has
shades of white supremacy. not everything reeks of...the list goes on and on. some things are
just simple. we need safety. we need a good economy. the truth is multiplex and evolving, and
not everything is just because a dark web of college educated journalist elitist say so. trump
and his supporters exist because of msm. they enabled him, they created this massive nationwide
gaslighting of simple straight forward policies and ideas that most people have held peacefully
for decades (like the fact that censorship is indeed bad). and if he wins, it'll be because of
the deeply corrupt media elites. and i hope he wins. they deserve it.
on this article, it looks like hunter did some shady stuff, but as for this story, it lacks
real credibility, and as a consumer of news in america, i'd ask the question why msm ran with
russiagate for 3 years with zero credible evidence but is silent now. the truth is simple. we
don't need to go further.
UPS has found
documents that went missing in transit to Tucker Carlson, putting to rest questions about the
whereabouts of a trove that the Fox News host had called "damning" of presidential candidate
Joe Biden's family.
"After an extensive search, we have found the contents of the package and are arranging
for its return," a UPS spokesman told the
Daily Beast on Thursday. "UPS will always focus first on our customers and will never
stop working to solve issues and make things right."
While the successful search resolved the issue of the documents' whereabouts, questions
remain about how they disappeared from a package sent to Carlson in California from a producer
in New York -- and who, if anyone, was behind it. Without naming the company involved or
specifically saying the papers were purposely targeted and stolen, Carlson suggested on his
show on Wednesday night that the disappearance wasn't coincidental.
"As of tonight, the [shipping] company has no idea and no working theory even about what
happened to this trove of material – documents that are directly relevant to the
presidential campaign just six days from now," Carlson said. The company's executives
"seemed baffled and deeply bothered by this, and so are we."
Carlson described the package as containing confidential documents about the Biden family
and said they were "authentic, real and damning." He said he asked a Fox producer in New
York to send the documents to him in Los Angeles, where he had traveled to interview former
Biden business associated
Tony Bobulinski on Tuesday. The package didn't show up on Tuesday morning, prompting UPS to
begin an exhaustive search.
Mainstream media critics mocked Carlson for saying the documents had disappeared, including
some who suggested that they never existed. HuffPost said Carlson "concocted yet another
conspiracy
theory " to explain the disappearance of documents related to what they called his
"conspiracy theory" about Biden's son, Hunter.
Carlson devoted his entire show on Tuesday night to the Bobulinski interview, which provided
more specific allegations about the Biden family's business dealings in China following an Oct.
14
New York Post report on the ventures. Although Bobulinski provided legal documents, text
messages and recordings to back up his claims, the interview was largely ignored by other
mainstream media outlets.
Tuesday night, we heard at length and on camera from one of the Biden family's former
business partners. His name is Tony Bobulinski. He's a very successful businessman and a Navy
veteran.
Bobulinski spoke to "Tucker Carlson Tonight" for a full hour. He told us he met two
separate times with Joe Biden himself. Not just with Joe
Biden's son or his brother, but with Joe Biden -- the former vice president and the man now
running for president -- to discuss business deals with the communist government of China .
That's a very serious claim, and whatever your political views, it's hard to dismiss it when
Tony Bobulinski makes it because Bobulinsky is an unusually credible witness. He's not a
partisan, he's not seeking money, he's not seeking publicity. He did not want to come on our
show.
But when Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and the Biden campaign accused Tony Bobulinski of
participating in a Russian disinformation effort, he felt he had no choice. That was a slander
against him and against his family. So Bobulinski came to us. He arrived with heaps of evidence
to bolster the story he was telling. He brought contemporaneous audio recordings, text
messages, e-mails, many financial documents.
By the end of the hour, it was very clear to us that Tony Bobulinski was telling the truth
and that Joe Biden was lying. We believe that any honest person who watched the entire hour
would come to the same conclusion.
Well, on Wednesday, a
Senate committee confirmed it . The Senate Homeland Security Committee reported that all of
Tony Bobulinski's documents are, in fact, real. They are authentic. They are not forgeries.
This is not Russian disinformation. It is real.
Bobulinski told a remarkable story. Joe Biden -- who, once again, could be president of the
United States next week, was planning business deals with America's most formidable global
opponent. And when he was caught doing it, Joe Biden lied. And then he went further. He
slandered an innocent man as a traitor to his own country. It is clear that Joe Biden did that.
That's not a partisan talking point uttered in bad faith on behalf of another presidential
campaign. It's true.
So the question is, what is Joe Biden's excuse for doing that? What is his version of this
story? Everyone has a version and we'd like to hear it, but we don't know what Joe Biden's
version of the story is, because no one in America's vast media landscape has pressed Joe Biden
to answer the question. Instead, reporters at all levels and their editors and their publishers
have openly collaborated with Joe Biden's political campaign. That is unprecedented. It has
never happened in American history.
Wednesday morning, the big papers completely ignored what Tony Bobulinski had to say. So did
the other television networks. Not a single word about Bobulinski appeared on CNN or anywhere
else. Newsweek decided to cover it, but came to the conclusion that the real story was about
QAnon somehow. This is Soviet-style suppression of information about a legitimate news story.
Days before an election, the ramifications of it are impossible to imagine. But we do know the
media cannot continue in the way that it has.
No one believes the media anymore and no one should. You should be offended by this, not
because the media are liberal, but because this is an attack on our democracy. You've heard
that phrase again and again, but this is what it looks like. In a self-governing country,
voters have a right -- an obligation -- to know who they're voting for. In this case, they have
the right to know the Democratic nominee for president was a willing partner in his family's
lucrative influence-peddling operation, an operation that went on for decades and stretched
from China and Ukraine all the way to Oman, Romania, Luxembourg and many other countries. This
is not speculation once again, and it's not a partisan attack. It's true, and Tony bobulinski
confirmed it.
Bobulinski met with Joe Biden at a hotel bar in Los Angeles in early May of 2017, and when
he did, Joe Biden's son introduced Bobulinski this way: "Dad. Here's the individual I told you
about that's helping us with the business that we're working on and the Chinese."
Now, written documents confirmed this is real. At one point, Joe Biden's son texted Tony
Bobulinski to say that Joe Biden, his father, was making key decisions about their business
deals with China.
CARLSON: When Hunter Biden said his chairman, he was talking about his dad.
BOBULINSKI: Correct, and what Hunter is referencing there is, he spoke with his father
and his father is giving an emphatic 'no' to the ask that I had, which was putting proper
governance in place around Oneida Holdings.
CARLSON: So, Joe Biden is vetoing your plan for putting stricter governance in the
company. I mean, and it's it's right here in the email.
BOBULINSKI: Yes, Tucker, I want to be very careful in front of the American people. That
is not me writing that. That is not me claiming that. That is Hunter Biden writing on his own
phone. Typing in that 'I spoke with my chairman,' referencing his father.
All this is spelled out in the clearest possible language in documents that Bobulinski
provided us, documents that subsequently federal authorities have authenticated as real.
On May 13, 2017, for example, Hunter Biden got an email explaining how his family would be
paid for their deal with the Chinese energy company. His father, Joe Biden, was getting
10%.
BOBULINSKI: In that email, there's a statement where they go through the equity, Jim Biden's
referenced as, you know, 10%. It doesn't say Biden, it says Jim. And then it has 10% for the
big guy held by H. I 1,000% sit here and know that the big guy is referencing Joe Biden. It's,
that's crystal clear to me because I lived it. I met with the former vice president in person
multiple times.
That was three years ago, and we still don't know where all that money went, because the
media haven't forced Joe Biden to tell us. But Tony, Bobulinski did add a telling detail. Joe
Biden's brother, Jim, saw his stake in the deal double from 10% to 20%. Was Jim Biden getting
his brother's share again? It might be worth finding out.
We also know that according to an email from a top Chinese official, this one written on
July 26, 2017, the Chinese proposed a $5 million dollar interest-free loan to the Biden family,
"based on their trust on [sic] BD [Biden] family." The e-mail continued, "Should this Chinese
company, CEFC, keep lending more to the family?" And indeed, CEFC was supposed to send another
$5 million dollars to the Bidens' business ventures. Apparently, that money never made it to
the business. Where did it go? A recent Senate report suggests it went to Hunter Biden
directly. And from there, who knows? Again, no one's asked.
Tony Bobulinski also told us he learned Hunter Biden became the personal attorney to the
chairman of CEFC, Ye Jianming, just as they were tendering 14% of a Russian state-owned energy
company. That was a deal valued at $9 billion dollars. It's pretty sleazy. It's pretty amazing,
actually, that this happened and no one noticed.
We're not going to spend the next six months leading you through a maze of complex financial
transactions. This isn't that complicated: Millions of dollars linked directly to the Communist
Party of China went to Joe Biden's family, and not because they're capable businessmen. Jim
Biden's one business success appears to have been running a nightclub in Delaware that
ultimately went under.
No, the Bidens were cut in on the world's most lucrative business deals, massive
infrastructure deals in countries around the world for one reason: Because Joe Biden was a
powerful government official willing to leverage his power on behalf of his family.
Now, if that's not a crime, it's very close to a crime and it's certainly something every
person voting should know about. The Bidens didn't do this once. They did it for decades. So
the question is, how did they get away with it for so long? Tony Bobulinski asked Jim Biden
that question directly. To his credit Jim Biden answered that question honestly.
BOBULINSKI: And I remember looking at Jim Biden and saying, 'How are you guys getting
away with this?' Like, 'Aren't you concerned?' And he looked at me and he laughed a little bit
and said, 'Plausible deniability.'
CARLSON: He said that out loud.
BOBULINSKI: Yes, he said it directly to me. One on one, in a cabana at the Peninsula
Hotel.
"Plausible deniability." In other words, "we lie." We get away with selling access to the
U.S. government, which we do not own, because we lie about what we're doing. And as we lie, we
try to make those lies plausible. That's why we call it "plausible deniability." That is the
answer that Joe Biden's brother gave when asked directly.
So the question is, what is Joe Biden's answer to that question? We wish we
knew.
ForFoxSake!!! 1 hour ago Everything that is happening right now is because Trump was
right about the swamp, the media, and the ruling class families who have been selling out
America for decades. ohhappyday657 1 hour ago Tucker is doing this country a great service. The
FBI doesn't seem to want to engage. Mr. Bobulinski is a patriot and we are lucky he came
forward. The Bidens need to be called out for their high crimes and misdemeanors. Joe should be
impeached for his time as VP. Thank you Tucker. resipsaloquitor ohhappyday657 29 minutes ago
You can smell the desperation on the Trump supporters. The lies, the distortions and the
grasping, pathetic search for the proverbial Hail Mary to salvage the quickly sinking ship. If
Mr. Bobulinski is the best you have the Democrats will 'trump' you with: 227,000 dead
Americans, close to 9 million more infected and an economy in tatters. The day of reckoning is
approaching and a dozen Bobulinskis won't change that. Trump and his unseemly administration
are doomed.
On Tuesday night, Tucker Carlson did something he'd never done before: he dedicated his
entire show to a single interview. The person he interviewed was Tony Bobulinski, an
experienced international businessman who found himself working with Hunter Biden, James Biden,
and others on a deal between the Biden group and CEFC, a Chinese energy company with ties to
the communist government and the military. Bobulinski powerfully confirms that Joe Biden was
deeply involved in the transaction, which had its beginnings when Joe was still vice
president.
Fox News has not yet uploaded (and may never upload) the interview in its entirety. However,
the four videos below bring together almost everything from the interview.
Tucker opened by making the point that he was dedicating his show to the Bobulinski
interview because the rest of the American media are assiduously ignoring the story,
downplaying it, or claiming it's a Russian smear. The leader of the Russian smear approach is,
naturally, Rep. Adam Schiff, a man who has all the hallmarks of a conscienceless psychopath.
Ironically, it was Schiff's smear about Hunter Biden's hard drive that led Bobulinski, a
Democrat, to go public with his story.
If you can't watch the interview, here's a brief overview:
Bobulinksi is a former naval officer with a Q clearance. That's an extremely high clearance
level for people working in the Department of Energy -- and Bobulinski worked in the Navy's
nuclear program. He comes from a military family and is very proud of that legacy.
After leaving the Navy, Bobulinski became an international businessman. His expertise led to
Hunter Biden and his people wooing Bobulinski to give them the business expertise they needed
to get their partnership up and running.
The partnership, SinoHawk, was intended to bring together CEFC and the Biden family. Both
Hunter and James Biden, after all, brought nothing to the table other than their last name and,
with it, the promise that China would have access to political influence at the highest level
of American government.
Bobulinski's name recently became public knowledge when James Gilliar, another businessman
working on SinoHawk, sent an email to Tony Bobulinski, setting out the terms Gilliar had been
negotiating with CEFC. What caught everyone's interest was the statement that Hunter would hold
"10[%] for the Big Guy." Bobulinski confirmed that Joe Biden was the "Big Guy."
At this point, Schiff, the media, and Joe Biden, none of whom ever denied the legitimacy of
the email, claimed that the whole thing was a Russian smear. This unfounded accusation got
Bobulinski's dander up. As a naval officer from a military family and a true patriot, being
smeared as a Russian agent was beyond the pale.
Bobulinski demanded that Schiff retract the insult, and when Schiff failed to do so, he went
public and did a full document dump. Bobulinski had saved everything -- every document, every
email, and every text.
That's the quick background to the interview with Carlson, during which Bobulinski said
that
Hunter and James Biden brought nothing to the deal other than the Biden family name.
What China wanted was the Biden family name.
Joe Biden was involved in the business deal, so much so that he had veto power over
negotiations.
In 2017, Bobulinski met Joe Biden twice when the Biden side of SinoHawk was courting him
to step in and act as CEO.
Bobulinski also spoke at length with James Biden, Joe's brother.
When Bobulinski asked James how they could get away with this kind of deal, which seemed
to be falling into dangerous territory, given that Joe could run again for president, James
announced, "Plausible deniability."
The Biden group stiffed Bobulinski, leaving him out of pocket for all his expenses while
channeling CEFC's money into another entity that did not involve Bobulinski.
If we had a decent media establishment, this story would be on every front page and at the
top of every news hour. Instead, Bobulinski is trying desperately to get Americans to know that
he is not a Russian agent and that Joe Biden was in bed with the communist Chinese government,
starting when he was vice president and continuing after he left the White House. This screen
shot from Memeorandum shows that
none of the legacy media outlets is touching the story:
(As an aside, and separate from the Bobulinski interview, a former CIA operations office
believes it's entirely possible that Biden
was already doing China's bidding in 2012, when the Obama administration gave China free
rein in the South China Sea.)
In case the embedded videos do not play, you can find them here ,
here ,
here ,
and here
.
We've always known that Joe Biden is an odd bird. Just think of the lies, the egotistical
boasting, the offers to fight people, the skinny-dipping, and the way he fondles and sniffs
little girls. He is a genuinely creepy man.
It speaks volumes about Washington, D.C. and the Democrat party that Joe spent 47 years in
the swamp and rose to the second highest office in the land. What we've learned now, though,
irrefutably and without any Russian hokum, is that Joe Biden is also a profoundly corrupt man
who willingly sold out America and her allies to enrich himself and his sleazy, incompetent
family.
Fox News has not yet uploaded (and may never upload) the interview in its entirety. However,
the four videos below bring together almost everything from the interview.
Tucker opened by making the point that he was dedicating his show to the Bobulinski
interview because the rest of the American media are assiduously ignoring the story,
downplaying it, or claiming it's a Russian smear. The leader of the Russian smear approach is,
naturally, Rep. Adam Schiff, a man who has all the hallmarks of a conscienceless psychopath.
Ironically, it was Schiff's smear about Hunter Biden's hard drive that led Bobulinski, a
Democrat, to go public with his story.
If you can't watch the interview, here's a brief overview:
Bobulinksi is a former naval officer with a Q clearance. That's an extremely high clearance
level for people working in the Department of Energy -- and Bobulinski worked in the Navy's
nuclear program. He comes from a military family and is very proud of that legacy.
After leaving the Navy, Bobulinski became an international businessman. His expertise led to
Hunter Biden and his people wooing Bobulinski to give them the business expertise they needed
to get their partnership up and running.
The partnership, SinoHawk, was intended to bring together CEFC and the Biden family. Both
Hunter and James Biden, after all, brought nothing to the table other than their last name and,
with it, the promise that China would have access to political influence at the highest level
of American government.
Bobulinski's name recently became public knowledge when James Gilliar, another businessman
working on SinoHawk, sent an email to Tony Bobulinski, setting out the terms Gilliar had been
negotiating with CEFC. What caught everyone's interest was the statement that Hunter would hold
"10[%] for the Big Guy." Bobulinski confirmed that Joe Biden was the "Big Guy."
At this point, Schiff, the media, and Joe Biden, none of whom ever denied the legitimacy of
the email, claimed that the whole thing was a Russian smear. This unfounded accusation got
Bobulinski's dander up. As a naval officer from a military family and a true patriot, being
smeared as a Russian agent was beyond the pale.
Bobulinski demanded that Schiff retract the insult, and when Schiff failed to do so, he went
public and did a full document dump. Bobulinski had saved everything -- every document, every
email, and every text.
That's the quick background to the interview with Carlson, during which Bobulinski said
that
Hunter and James Biden brought nothing to the deal other than the Biden family name.
What China wanted was the Biden family name.
Joe Biden was involved in the business deal, so much so that he had veto power over
negotiations.
In 2017, Bobulinski met Joe Biden twice when the Biden side of SinoHawk was courting him
to step in and act as CEO.
Bobulinski also spoke at length with James Biden, Joe's brother.
When Bobulinski asked James how they could get away with this kind of deal, which seemed
to be falling into dangerous territory, given that Joe could run again for president, James
announced, "Plausible deniability."
The Biden group stiffed Bobulinski, leaving him out of pocket for all his expenses while
channeling CEFC's money into another entity that did not involve Bobulinski.
If we had a decent media establishment, this story would be on every front page and at the
top of every news hour. Instead, Bobulinski is trying desperately to get Americans to know that
he is not a Russian agent and that Joe Biden was in bed with the communist Chinese government,
starting when he was vice president and continuing after he left the White House. This screen
shot from Memeorandum shows that
none of the legacy media outlets is touching the story:
Update (1745ET): President Trump just took a minute away from the campaign trail to weigh in
on the 'coming out' of Miles Taylor, the formerly "anonymous" op-ed writer and self-proclaimed
leader of the internal White House #resistance,
"Who is Miles Taylor?" President Trump wrote, before recounting Taylor's association with
various adversaries of the administration. He added that "they should fire, shame, and punish
everybody associated with this FRAUD on the American people" - a group that would presumably
include some members or former members of his own inner circle, as well as the editors of the
NYT.
A photo of Taylor and Trump has been circulating on Twitter since before Trump published his
tweet, and we imagine Trump's response to the inevitable reporter question will be his usual
"so what?".
Meanwhile, CNN has reportedly decided not to fire Taylor, even though he lied on air to one
of the network's anchors (anderson cooper, clip below) despite being a paid employee of the
company.
It's still unclear what Google's response will be.
* * *
Roughly two years have passed since an anonymous Trump Administration insider
published an op-ed - then later, a whole book - warning Americans how President Trump was a
danger to the nation, primarily due to his "lack of character".
Well, on Wednesday afternoon, with six days left until the big day, the MSM and their
political operative allies, orchestrated the public coming-out of Miles Taylor, a former senior
official within Trump's Homeland Security Department who, before today, was best known as the
first former senior administration official to endorse Joe Biden for president.
In the year since Taylor has left the White House, he has parlayed his national security
bona fides (which were burnished during a stint working for Dick Cheney in the Bush White
House) into a top job working for Google, as well as a lucrative contract to appear as a
talking head on CNN and...did we mention the book deal?
Shortly following a teaser from George Conway, who called his fellow conservative Republican
a "true patriot"....
...Buzzfeed Ben - excuse us, Ben Smith - the former top man at Buzzfeed who left that
struggling media company to take the coveted job as the NYT's media columnist (a position
formerly held by both Brian Stelter and, before him, the legendary American media reporter
David Carr), was the first to confirm Taylor's identity, followed by a tweet from Taylor
acknowledging that it was all true.
Taylor published a statement on his reasoning for "why I'm no longer 'anonymous'" via his
new Medium page, which is strange, considering he now works for CNN, technically. In the
statement, Taylor wrote that Trump "sees personal criticism as subversive" followed by a Teddy
Roosevelt quote condemning those who say the president must not be criticized as "not only
unpatriotic and servile, but...morally treasonable to the American public." Later in the piece,
he quoted Abraham Lincoln.
Though Taylor acknowledged that he has been a life-long Republican, and that he "wanted this
president to succeed", he said Trump is "a man without character", and "his personal defects
have resulted in leadership failures so significant that they can be measured in lost American
lives."
More than two years ago, I published an anonymous opinion piece in The New York Times about
Donald Trump's perilous presidency, while I was serving under him. He responded with a short
but telling tweet: "TREASON?" Trump sees personal criticism as subversive. I take a different
view.
As Theodore Roosevelt wrote, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile,
but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about
him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant,
about him than about anyone else." We do not owe the President our silence. We owe him and the
American people the truth. Make no mistake: I am a Republican, and I wanted this President to
succeed. That's why I came into the Administration with John Kelly, and it's why I stayed on as
Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security. But too often in times of crisis, I saw
Donald Trump prove he is a man without character, and his personal defects have resulted in
leadership failures so significant that they can be measured in lost American lives.
I witnessed Trump's inability to do his job over the course of two-and-a-half years.
Everyone saw it, though most were hesitant to speak up for fear of reprisals. So when I left
the Administration I wrote A Warning, a character study of the current Commander in Chief and a
caution to voters that it wasn't as bad as it looked inside the Trump Administration -- it was
worse. While I claim sole authorship of the work, the sentiments expressed within it were
widely held among officials at the highest levels of the federal government. In other words,
Trump's own lieutenants were alarmed by his instability.
Much has been made of the fact that these writings were published anonymously. The decision
wasn't easy, I wrestled with it, and I understand why some people consider it questionable to
levy such serious charges against a sitting President under the cover of anonymity. But my
reasoning was straightforward, and I stand by it. Issuing my critiques without attribution
forced the President to answer them directly on their merits or not at all, rather than
creating distractions through petty insults and name-calling. I wanted the attention to be on
the arguments themselves. At the time I asked, "What will he do when there is no person to
attack, only an idea?" We got the answer. He became unhinged. And the ideas stood on their own
two feet. To be clear, writing those works was not about eminence (they were published without
attribution), not about money (I declined a hefty monetary advance and pledged to donate the
bulk of the proceeds), and not about crafting a score-settling "tell all" (my focus was on the
President himself and his character, not denigrating former colleagues). Nevertheless, I made
clear I wasn't afraid to criticize the President under my name. In fact, I pledged to do so.
That is why I've already been vocal throughout the general election. I've tried to convey as
best I can -- based on my own experience -- how Donald Trump has made America less safe, less
certain of its identity and destiny, and less united. He has responded predictably, with
personal attacks meant to obscure the underlying message that he is unfit for the office he
holds. Yet Trump has failed to bury the truth.
Why? Because since the op-ed was published, I've been joined by an unprecedented number of
former colleagues who've chosen to speak out against the man they once served. Donald Trump's
character and record have now been challenged in myriad ways by his own former Chief of Staff,
National Security Advisor, Communications Director, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense,
Director of National Intelligence, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others he
personally appointed. History will also record the names of those souls who had everything to
lose but stood up anyway, including Trump officials Fiona Hill, Michael McKinley, John Mitnick,
Elizabeth Neumann, Bob Shanks, Olivia Troye, Josh Venable, Alexander Vindman, and many more. I
applaud their courage. These are not "Deep Staters" who conspired to thwart their boss. Many of
them were Trump supporters, and all of them are patriots who accepted great personal risks to
speak candidly about a man they've seen retaliate and even incite violence against his
opponents. (I've likewise experienced the cost of condemning the President, as doing so has
taken a considerable toll on my job, daily life, marriage, finances, and personal safety.)
These public servants were not intimidated. And you shouldn't be either. As descendants of
revolutionaries, honest dissent is part of our American character, and we must reject the
culture of political intimidation that's been cultivated by this President. That's why I'm
writing this note -- to urge you to speak out if you haven't.
While I hope a few more Trump officials will quickly find their consciences, your words are
now more important than theirs. It's time to come forward and shine a light on the discord
that's infected our public discourse. You can speak loudest with your vote and persuade others
with your voice. Don't be afraid of open debate. As I've said before, there is no better screen
test for truth than to see it audition next to delusion. This election is a two-part
referendum: first, on the character of a man, and second, on the character of our nation.
That's why I'm also urging fellow Republicans to put country over party, even if that means
supporting Trump's Democratic opponent. Although former Vice President Joe Biden is likely to
pursue progressive reforms that conservatives oppose (and rest assured, we will challenge them
in the loyal opposition), his policy agenda cannot equal the damage done by the current
President to the fabric of our Republic. I believe Joe Biden's decency will bring us back
together where Donald Trump's dishonesty has torn us apart.
Trump has been exactly what we conservatives always said government should NOT be:
expansive, wasteful, arbitrary, unpredictable, and prone to abuses of power. Worse still, as
I've noted previously, he's waged an all-out assault on reason, preferring to enthrone emotion
and impulse in the seat of government. The consequences have been calamitous, and if given four
more years, he will push the limits of his power further than the "high crimes and
misdemeanors" for which he was already impeached.
Trust me. We spent years trying to ameliorate Trump's poor decisions (often unsuccessfully),
many of which will be back with a vengeance in a second term. Recall, this is the man who told
us, "When somebody's president of the United States, the authority is total." I believe more
than ever that Trump unbound will mean a nation undone -- a continued downward slide into
social acrimony, with the United States fading into the background of a world stage it once
commanded, to say nothing of the damage to our democratic institutions.
I was wrong, however, about one major assertion in my original op-ed. The country cannot
rely on well-intentioned, unelected bureaucrats around the President to steer him toward what's
right. He has purged most of them anyway. Nor can they rely on Congress to deliver us from
Trump's wayward whims. The people themselves are the ultimate check on the nation's chief
executive. We alone must determine whether his behavior warrants continuance in office, and we
face a momentous decision, as our choice about Trump's future will affect our future for years
to come. With that in mind, he doesn't deserve a second term in office, and we don't deserve to
live through it.
Removing Trump will not be the end of our woes, unfortunately. While on the road visiting
swing states for the past month, it's become clear to me how far apart Americans have grown
from one another. We've perpetuated the seemingly endless hostility stoked by this divisive
President, so if we really want to restore vibrance to our civic life, the change must begin
with each of us, not just with the occupant of the Oval Office. Fortunately, past generations
have lit the way toward national reconciliation in even harder times.
On the brink of a civil war that literally split our nation in two, Abraham Lincoln called
on the people not to lose sight of one other. He said in his Inaugural Address:
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it
must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every
battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land,
will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the
better angels of our nature.
Heed Lincoln's words. We must return to our founding principles. We must rediscover our
better angels. And we must reconcile with each other, repairing the bonds of affection that
make us fellow Americans.
Mere minutes after Taylor's big coming-out, the online backlash began. Even members of the
'#resistance' slammed Taylor for his involvement in executing Trump's child-separation policy,
and for waiting this long to speak up.
As it turns out, Google execs reportedly misled their own employees when they insisted that
Taylor wasn't involved with the child-separation policy, an issue that ranks as Trump's
paramount sin among denizens of Silicon Valley.
Many also complained about the NYT hyping up the identity of the "anonymous" insider to try
and suggest that he was a top-level staffer, prompting speculation about Rex Tillerson, John
Kelly or even James Mattis. Trump's current chief of staff Mark Meadows,
And journalist Judd Legum with the extended version of that explanation, in which he
denounces "Anonymous" as little more than a grifter, who played a "critical role" in the family
separation policy, now working to parlay his brief time in the Trump Administration into a
quick buck.
Some were incredulous that Taylor left the administration and now works for Google and
CNN.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-18&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1321546046363721728&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fanonymous-author-outs-himself-liberal-media-immediately-slams-him-child-separating&siteScreenName=zerohedge&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
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With Taylor now outed as a child prison guard, as we have no doubt he will be branded by the
left, we imagine Google will need to make a statement at some point about whether Taylor will
continue on in his role, or be...fired.
play_arrow Unknown User , 58 minutes ago
A typical Neoliberal incapable of comprehending loyalty and ready to sellout anyone for a
dollar.
Everybodys All American , 1 hour ago
This little man operates like a CIA agent. I'd be shocked if that's not the case. He
actually said he believes in Joe Biden's' decency. No one in their right mind is saying that
...
gmrpeabody , 50 minutes ago
Biden's decency..? Now THAT'S funny...
JLee2027 , 1 hour ago
Just another one who betrayed his country for bucks and fame. Hope it was worth it.
Perseus-Reflected , 1 hour ago
Looks like a latte-drinking little b!tch to me.
aspen1880 , 58 minutes ago
he "identifies" with bish
chelydra , 4 minutes ago
The epitome of an effete, preening dandy.
hot sauce technician , 1 hour ago
Everything the biden campaign is doing seems to backfire on it.
LVrunner , 58 minutes ago
Should be giving away puppies soon like Hilary did at this point.
Redhotfill , 1 hour ago
Working for Google, CNN, Book deal yeah Pay Offs! Surprised no Netflx stock options.
44magnum , 1 hour ago
Or a seat on the board
mrslippryFIST , 1 hour ago
The year isnt over yet.
OGAorSAD , 1 hour ago
And we care why? Should be a headline with Section 230 being repealed, and multiple
indictments of Biden's, Clinton's, and Obama's
nope-1004 , 54 minutes ago
Never heard of him.
The fact that he's a documented public liar and democrat makes complete sense though.
mrslippryFIST , 1 hour ago
Hah, little beta cuck didn't get his 15mins so he outs himself to get his 15 mins of
fame.
This is what participation ribbons gives you.
Willie the Pimp , 1 hour ago
What else would you expect from an obvious jizz guzzler? The LGBT have destroyed the
USSA.
pictur3plane , 1 hour ago
SOY BOY NOTHING BURGER.
JRobby , 52 minutes ago
Oh! Look! He shops at Amazon!!!
Pop this prick and dump him in a landfill
Friedrich not Salma , 54 minutes ago
DNC probably asked him to reveal himself to eat up Teevee time and distract from Hunter's
story.
Md4 , 53 minutes ago
Zactly.
Where's Hunter?
Boxed Merlot , 31 minutes ago
...Where's Hunter?...
Chillin with Mr. Corzine? You remember that guy don't you? He's another GS Vice President
and Mr. Obama's prized confidant in his financial wizardry that ripped off his "investors" to
the tune of frn1B and slunk out of the public eye.
Who are these people? Look at the way they dress. Look at the smug arrogant look on their
faces.
They are caught in a bubble and are totally divorced from reality.
It should be requirement of every individual who enters government to spend at least one
year unclogging apartment building sewer stoppages.
Having a basic grasp of reality and a first hand look at where sewage actually goes is
vital to a healthy reality based outlook on life.
Peace
Salsa Verde , 1 hour ago
Scumbags gonna scum.
EnoughBS21 , 56 minutes ago
How's it feel, little traitor? You threw Trump under the bus and now your "new friends"
are tossing you away.
A Mister nobody!
Md4 , 54 minutes ago
And was " anonymous".
Credible?
44magnum , 1 hour ago
Trump has no character and Biden is senile.
So he picks Biden and the whore? She is definitely a character.
I am more equal than others , 1 hour ago
Judging character from afar. It is an amazing skill that has never existed.
novictim , 46 minutes ago
On the scales of justice, Trump is light as a feather while these Leftist
infiltrator-traitors and grifters, China-stooges and bribe takers, are lead weights on the
American Republic. There is no parallel to the corruption that has been revealed about the
Russia-Collusion hoax and now the truth about Biden's sale of US' China-policy in return for
the CCP padding the Biden family nest egg.
Watergate has nothing on these latest scandals. And Trump comes away from all of this like
a shining star.
JmanSilver.Gold , 44 minutes ago
Just another leftwing swamprat.
Floki_Ragnarsson , 46 minutes ago
So this weasel turd creates the problem, whines about it, and then makes a book deal, bags
a CNN job, etc?
Obviously a slimy Democrud.
Teamtc321 , 51 minutes ago
***** shadow man talks about character? Typical Demshelvic POS.
Joe Biden is burning down.
zerozerosevenhedgeBow1 , 1 hour ago
Ahh... Wallet before country, honor and integrity. I see a trend of "Public Service".
Delete his security clearance before he tries to change genders, because politically then you
probably couldn't afterwards.
Hipneck911 , 45 minutes ago
So a minor level DHS obama holdover who is a lifelong democrat-donated to Obamas
campaign-and probably had all of maybe ONE meeting where the President was present. AKA
typical leftist LOSER.
Imagine That , 1 hour ago
Big fuss about a chicken-sh*t nobody, who the world will forget before he changes his silk
panties.
Pvt Joker , 45 minutes ago
"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies"
Yeah, Imma say this guy and any one who thinks like him is my enemy.
Occams_Razor_Trader_Part_Deux , 47 minutes ago
You had me till Vindman.................... you're an operative .....................
Blaster09 , 55 minutes ago
Another POS!!!
lwilland1012 , 1 hour ago
Give people enough time, and they will always show you their true colors. Just watch and
listen.
novictim , 42 minutes ago
But the election is on Tuesday. Millions have already voted.
The MSM has betrayed every American in ways unthinkable just a decade ago.
Dindu Nuffins , 45 minutes ago
Not worth changing the news cycle from the laptop. No one cares who this rat is,
undifferentiated as he is from the many others.
October 28, 2020 Tucker Carlson's interview with Tony Bobulinski is must-see TV By
Andrea
Widburg
On Tuesday night, Tucker Carlson did something he'd never done before: he dedicated his
entire show to a single interview. The person he interviewed was Tony Bobulinski, an
experienced international businessman who found himself working with Hunter Biden, James Biden,
and others on a deal between the Biden group and CEFC, a Chinese energy company with ties to
the communist government and the military. Bobulinski powerfully confirms that Joe Biden was
deeply involved in the transaction, which had its beginnings when Joe was still vice
president.
Fox News has not yet uploaded (and may never upload) the interview in its entirety. However,
the four videos below bring together almost everything from the interview.
Tucker opened by making the point that he was dedicating his show to the Bobulinski
interview because the rest of the American media are assiduously ignoring the story,
downplaying it, or claiming it's a Russian smear. The leader of the Russian smear approach is,
naturally, Rep. Adam Schiff, a man who has all the hallmarks of a conscienceless psychopath.
Ironically, it was Schiff's smear about Hunter Biden's hard drive that led Bobulinski, a
Democrat, to go public with his story.
If you can't watch the interview, here's a brief overview:
Bobulinksi is a former naval officer with a Q clearance. That's an extremely high clearance
level for people working in the Department of Energy -- and Bobulinski worked in the Navy's
nuclear program. He comes from a military family and is very proud of that legacy.
After leaving the Navy, Bobulinski became an international businessman. His expertise led to
Hunter Biden and his people wooing Bobulinski to give them the business expertise they needed
to get their partnership up and running.
The partnership, SinoHawk, was intended to bring together CEFC and the Biden family. Both
Hunter and James Biden, after all, brought nothing to the table other than their last name and,
with it, the promise that China would have access to political influence at the highest level
of American government.
Bobulinski's name recently became public knowledge when James Gilliar, another businessman
working on SinoHawk, sent an email to Tony Bobulinski, setting out the terms Gilliar had been
negotiating with CEFC. What caught everyone's interest was the statement that Hunter would hold
"10[%] for the Big Guy." Bobulinski confirmed that Joe Biden was the "Big Guy."
At this point, Schiff, the media, and Joe Biden, none of whom ever denied the legitimacy of
the email, claimed that the whole thing was a Russian smear. This unfounded accusation got
Bobulinski's dander up. As a naval officer from a military family and a true patriot, being
smeared as a Russian agent was beyond the pale.
Bobulinski demanded that Schiff retract the insult, and when Schiff failed to do so, he went
public and did a full document dump. Bobulinski had saved everything -- every document, every
email, and every text.
That's the quick background to the interview with Carlson, during which Bobulinski said
that
Hunter and James Biden brought nothing to the deal other than the Biden family name.
What China wanted was the Biden family name.
Joe Biden was involved in the business deal, so much so that he had veto power over
negotiations.
In 2017, Bobulinski met Joe Biden twice when the Biden side of SinoHawk was courting him
to step in and act as CEO.
Bobulinski also spoke at length with James Biden, Joe's brother.
When Bobulinski asked James how they could get away with this kind of deal, which seemed
to be falling into dangerous territory, given that Joe could run again for president, James
announced, "Plausible deniability."
The Biden group stiffed Bobulinski, leaving him out of pocket for all his expenses while
channeling CEFC's money into another entity that did not involve Bobulinski.
If we had a decent media establishment, this story would be on every front page and at the
top of every news hour. Instead, Bobulinski is trying desperately to get Americans to know that
he is not a Russian agent and that Joe Biden was in bed with the communist Chinese government,
starting when he was vice president and continuing after he left the White House. This screen
shot from Memeorandum shows that
none of the legacy media outlets is touching the story:
(As an aside, and separate from the Bobulinski interview, a former CIA operations office
believes it's entirely possible that Biden
was already doing China's bidding in 2012, when the Obama administration gave China free
rein in the South China Sea.)
In case the embedded videos do not play, you can find them here ,
here ,
here ,
and here
.
We've always known that Joe Biden is an odd bird. Just think of the lies, the egotistical
boasting, the offers to fight people, the skinny-dipping, and the way he fondles and sniffs
little girls. He is a genuinely creepy man.
It speaks volumes about Washington, D.C. and the Democrat party that Joe spent 47 years in
the swamp and rose to the second highest office in the land. What we've learned now, though,
irrefutably and without any Russian hokum, is that Joe Biden is also a profoundly corrupt man
who willingly sold out America and her allies to enrich himself and his sleazy, incompetent
family.
Fox News has not yet uploaded (and may never upload) the interview in its entirety. However,
the four videos below bring together almost everything from the interview.
Tucker opened by making the point that he was dedicating his show to the Bobulinski
interview because the rest of the American media are assiduously ignoring the story,
downplaying it, or claiming it's a Russian smear. The leader of the Russian smear approach is,
naturally, Rep. Adam Schiff, a man who has all the hallmarks of a conscienceless psychopath.
Ironically, it was Schiff's smear about Hunter Biden's hard drive that led Bobulinski, a
Democrat, to go public with his story.
If you can't watch the interview, here's a brief overview:
Bobulinksi is a former naval officer with a Q clearance. That's an extremely high clearance
level for people working in the Department of Energy -- and Bobulinski worked in the Navy's
nuclear program. He comes from a military family and is very proud of that legacy.
After leaving the Navy, Bobulinski became an international businessman. His expertise led to
Hunter Biden and his people wooing Bobulinski to give them the business expertise they needed
to get their partnership up and running.
The partnership, SinoHawk, was intended to bring together CEFC and the Biden family. Both
Hunter and James Biden, after all, brought nothing to the table other than their last name and,
with it, the promise that China would have access to political influence at the highest level
of American government.
Bobulinski's name recently became public knowledge when James Gilliar, another businessman
working on SinoHawk, sent an email to Tony Bobulinski, setting out the terms Gilliar had been
negotiating with CEFC. What caught everyone's interest was the statement that Hunter would hold
"10[%] for the Big Guy." Bobulinski confirmed that Joe Biden was the "Big Guy."
At this point, Schiff, the media, and Joe Biden, none of whom ever denied the legitimacy of
the email, claimed that the whole thing was a Russian smear. This unfounded accusation got
Bobulinski's dander up. As a naval officer from a military family and a true patriot, being
smeared as a Russian agent was beyond the pale.
Bobulinski demanded that Schiff retract the insult, and when Schiff failed to do so, he went
public and did a full document dump. Bobulinski had saved everything -- every document, every
email, and every text.
That's the quick background to the interview with Carlson, during which Bobulinski said
that
Hunter and James Biden brought nothing to the deal other than the Biden family name.
What China wanted was the Biden family name.
Joe Biden was involved in the business deal, so much so that he had veto power over
negotiations.
In 2017, Bobulinski met Joe Biden twice when the Biden side of SinoHawk was courting him
to step in and act as CEO.
Bobulinski also spoke at length with James Biden, Joe's brother.
When Bobulinski asked James how they could get away with this kind of deal, which seemed
to be falling into dangerous territory, given that Joe could run again for president, James
announced, "Plausible deniability."
The Biden group stiffed Bobulinski, leaving him out of pocket for all his expenses while
channeling CEFC's money into another entity that did not involve Bobulinski.
If we had a decent media establishment, this story would be on every front page and at the
top of every news hour. Instead, Bobulinski is trying desperately to get Americans to know that
he is not a Russian agent and that Joe Biden was in bed with the communist Chinese government,
starting when he was vice president and continuing after he left the White House. This screen
shot from Memeorandum shows that
none of the legacy media outlets is touching the story:
A collection of confidential documents related to the Biden family mysteriously vanished
from an envelope sent to Fox News host Tucker Carlson , the host said on
Wednesday night.
Carlson's team allegedly received the documents from a source on Monday. At the time,
Carlson was on the West Coast filming an interview with Tony Bobulinski, the former business
partner of Hunter Biden and James Biden. Carlson requested the documents to be sent to the West
Coast.
According to Carlson, the producer shipped the documents overnight to California using a
large national package carrier. He didn't name the company, saying only that it's a "brand name
company."
"The Biden documents never arrived in Los Angeles. Tuesday morning we received word from our
shipping company that our package had been opened and the contents were missing," Carlson said.
"The documents had disappeared."
The company took the incident seriously and immediately began a search, Carlson said. The
company traced the package from when it was dropped off in New York to the moment when an
employee at a sorting facility reported that the package was opened and empty.
" The company's security team interviewed every employee who touched the envelope we sent.
They searched the plane and the trucks that carried it. They went through the office in New
York where our producers dropped the package off. They combed the entire cavernous sorting
facility. They used pictures of what we had sent so that searchers would know what to look
for," Carlson said.
"They far and beyond, but they found nothing."
"Those documents have vanished," he added.
"As of tonight, the company has no idea and no working theory even about what happened to
this trove of materials, documents that are directly relevant to the presidential campaign
just six days from now."
Executives at the shipping company were "baffled" and "deeply bothered" by the incident,
Carlson said.
Carlson's interview with Bobulinski aired on Tuesday night. In the interview, Bobulinski
opined that Joe Biden
and the Biden family are compromised by China due to the business dealings of Hunter Biden and
James Biden. Joe Biden has not publicly responded to Bobulinski's allegations, but during a
presidential debate on Oct. 22 said he had "not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in
my life."
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Bobulinski provided more than 1,700 pages of emails and more than 600 screenshots of text
messages to Senate investigators and handed over to the FBI the smartphones he used during his
business dealings with the Bidens. The documents detailed a failed joint venture between a
billionaire tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a company owned by Hunter Biden,
James Biden, Bobulinski and two other partners.
While the corporate documents don't mention Biden by name, emails sent between the partners
suggest that either James Biden or Hunter Biden held a 10 percent stake for the former vice
president. In the email, the stake is assigned to "the big guy," who Bobulinski says is Joe
Biden.
_arrow NoDebt , 3 minutes ago
I heard Tucker talk about this earlier tonight and realized we are FULLY controlled now.
Whatever the **** is going on, whether this is true or not doesn't matter. We are just
unwitting participants in some kind of TV reality show now. Everything is meaningless.
lwilland1012 , 5 minutes ago
Please tell me he was smart enough to make copies...
CatInTheHat , 1 minute ago
Ok.
What was IN the documents and from whom?
This is an inside job. Probably a never Trumper at Fox. There are a few.
quanttech , 3 minutes ago
If Trump loses, Fox will go full Dem. Trump will start TrumpTV, and Tucker will need a
job....
btw, Tucker should get the Nobel Peace Prize for keeping us out of Iran for the last 3.5
years.
Nona Yobiznes , 4 minutes ago
This story doesn't make sense. You sent confidential, highly sensitive documents via post?
Because Tucker was on the west coast? You couldn't scan them in? Were they originals, and are
there copies? This doesn't smell right.
icolbowca , 6 minutes ago
Takes a special kind of moron to send something like that via mail...
"... Biden's campaign earlier this month said Biden never had a meeting with an executive at a shady Ukrainian gas company, Burisma Holdings, while he was the vice president and his son sat on the board of the firm. A report from the New York Post, citing alleged Hunter Biden emails, suggested Hunter Biden had arranged a meeting between him, the executive, and Joe Biden. ..."
Delivery giant UPS
confirmed Thursday it found a lost trove of documents that Fox News' Tucker Carlson said would
provide revelations in the ever-growing scandal involving Joe Biden 's son Hunter and his overseas
business dealings.
UPS Senior Public Relations Manager Matthew O'Connor told Business Insider on Thursday
afternoon that the documents are located and are being sent to Carlson.
"After an extensive search, we have found the contents of the package and are arranging
for its return," he said in a statement.
"UPS will always focus first on our customers, and will never stop working to solve issues
and make things right. We work hard to ensure every package is delivered, including essential
goods, precious family belongings and critical healthcare."
It came after Glenn Zaccara, UPS's corporate media relations director, confirmed Carlson
used the company to ship the materials before they were lost.
"The package was reported with missing contents as it moved within our network," Zaccara
said before they were located. "UPS is conducting an urgent investigation."
During his Wednesday night broadcast, Carlson said that a UPS employee notified them that
their package "was open and empty apparently, it had been opened."
"The Biden documents never arrived in Los Angeles. Tuesday morning we received word from
our shipping company that our package had been opened and the contents were missing," Carlson
also remarked. "The documents had disappeared."
On Tuesday night, Carlson interviewed former Hunter Biden associate Tony Bobulinski, who
claimed that the former Democratic vice president could be compromised by the Chinese Communist
Party due to Hunter and brother James Biden's business dealings in the country.
Joe Biden has not responded to Bobulinski's allegations. Last week during his debate with
President Donald Trump, he said he had "not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my
life."
Biden's campaign earlier this month said Biden never had a meeting with an executive at a
shady Ukrainian gas company, Burisma Holdings, while he was the vice president and his son sat
on the board of the firm. A report from the New York Post, citing alleged Hunter Biden emails,
suggested Hunter Biden had arranged a meeting between him, the executive, and Joe Biden.
It's now possible that a special counsel will investigate Joe Biden should he win the
presidency.
"You know, I am not a big fan of special counsels, but if Joe Biden wins the presidency, I
don't see how you avoid one," Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.)
said . "Otherwise, this is going to be, you know, tucked away, and we will never know
what happened. All this evidence is going to be buried."
UPS did not provide further details about the apparent mishap.
"... Hunter Biden is the modern equivalent of the pre-Reformation papacy selling indulgences. Cash in exchange for unfettered passage into the promised land ..."
"Former Biden insider Tony Bobulinski allegedly has a recording of Biden family operatives
begging him to stay quiet , or he will "bury" the reputations of everyone involved in Hunter's
overseas dealings.
According to The Federalist 's Sean Davis, Bobulinski will play the tape on Fox News'
"Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Tuesday , when Carlson will devote his show 'entirely' to an
interview with the Biden whistleblower."
"According to a source familiar with the planning, Bobulinski will play recordings of Biden
family operatives begging him to stay quiet and claiming Bobulinski's revelations will "bury"
the reputations of everyone involved in Hunter's overseas deals."
As The Federalist notes:
The Federalist confirmed with sources familiar with the plans that Bobulinski, a retired
Navy lieutenant and Biden associate, will be airing tapes of Biden operatives begging
Bobulinski to remain quiet as former Vice President Joe Biden nears the finish line to the
White House next week.
Bobulinski
flipped on the Bidens following a Senate report which revealed that they received a $5
million interest-free loan from a now-bankrupt Chinese energy company .
According to the former Biden insider, he was introduced to Joe Biden by Hunter, and they
had an hour-long meeting where they discussed the Biden's business plans with the Chinese, with
which he says Joe was "plainly familiar at least at a high level." " Zerohedge
--------------
First of all, Bobulinski is NOT a "retired Navy lieutenant." He is a former Navy
Lieutenant.
Well, folks, it's up to you to watch TC's show tonight if you want to learn about this.
Tucker's show is the most watched news show in the history of cable television, so the pain
should not be too great, pl
I don't watch cable TV so I'll have to depend on the objectivity of observers. I'll be
curious who / what is a "family operative"? are they traceable like a military
chain-of-command?
in related news, we can get a fix on the play between private / public behaviors & the
pace of Justice winding.
Tucker Carlson's show is my favorite news/commentary show. I try not to miss it. Because
of the fact that he seems to try hard to verify his sources--and the people he interviews, I
trust him. He also tries to provide guests from the left in an attempt to be fair.
He's definitely not a Hannity, who is the one who turns many off of FOX (though Hannity
comes right after Tucker).
Hunter Biden is the modern equivalent of the pre-Reformation papacy selling
indulgences. Cash in exchange for unfettered passage into the promised land .
Thank goodness the Federal Judge has allowed the lawsuit by the private citizen and
writer, based on the 1990s allegation, to procede without government interference. I'm sure
nobody will do that to democrats in the future. Meanwhile in the Flynn case the DOJ confirms
that the govenment documents and discovery exhibits are ture and correct. I'm sure Judge
Sullivan will procede expeditiously with granting the unopposed motion to dismiss that
case.
This story interests me because I believe he is the first to leave the sinking ship but
not the last.
There would be no reason for this if he thought Joe would win and the investigation would be
snuffed out.
If Trump wins there will most likely be a new version of "Let's Make A Deal" being aired on
the nightly news.
I am down to one package of popcorn. I need to restock.
Actually, indulgences were more akin to BitCoins. Especially after 1567, when His Holiness
the Pope finally officially banned them... but they had been still produced and sold in large
quantities. In France only Richeliue put a stop to this con.
Serve me my plate a Crow. Maybe.
He is saying now that he is 2nd generation military and that they pissed him off claiming he
was a Russian asset.
That is plausible.
Maybe it is both?
Regardless it seems he has a great deal of proof.
I was convinced during the interview. Bobulinsky seemed pretty convincing in his concern
for his own reputation, having been associated with the Biden "Mafia" in the first place.
It was clear during the interview that he had provided Tucker verification for his
claims.
I am more concerned that this revelation comes too late and that many, many people have
voted early. He referenced some hearings that will be held in Congress. I doubt that will
affect the election, given the slow pace of anything getting done in Congress. I voted early,
but I am not personally concerned because I did NOT vote for Biden; however, I am concerned
that those who voted early for Biden could not now change their votes.
SO, if I understand the situation correctly, Bobulinski was essentially sought after, used
and then screwed by the Bidens, which seems risky on the part of the clan. But I guess if Joe
wins the election, they will have gotten away with it as I can't imagine, in spite of any
damning evidence, the Bidens will suffer the same punishing rectal examination-like scrutiny
and vilification the Trump family's been subjected to.
Col Lang,
Hoping you write about your assessment of B and what he had to say.
I found him to be generally credible. All of his motives for singing largely make sense to
me. I think he's a patriot. Some good supporting evidence. He's sharp. I liked him. He's the
kind of guy I'd enjoy working with.
I don't know anything about the realm of international deal making and finance. I'm
wondering how a Navy O3 works his way to enjoying yachts in Monaco while making $millions. Is
he an Annapolis guy? Tight with the right classmates? Not a lot to be found on him via
Google.
He was no longer in the navy when he was messing around with the Biden familia. He was
probably in the Navy three or four years. He ought to lay off on that. I'll think it over
tonight.
Once Wray's FBI gets done with the Rusty Wallace Noose Case they'll have time to deep dive
the laptop he's had for almost a year.
Col.,
Bobulinski seemed awful polished during that interview. Almost too good to be true. Hunter
being a druggy and Burisma payments being real certainly lend an air to credibility.
Turns out Patrick Ho Hunters partner in CEFC had a FISA warrant on him when he was nabbed
in New York awhile back. His first call was to Hunter to seek legal advice and Hunter
represented him. So them scumbags in the FBI have been sitting on this for awhile and will
use it on Joe (if elected) when needed. Must be modus operandi at the FBI in gathering dirt
on all politicians via FISA's, Hoover is still there.
As with all of us Bobulinski is not lily white but is making an effort to clean his act and
those around him. Lily White always comes in degrees. Not much in the NY Times, Wash Post or
WSJ this morning but the WSJ deserves a little credit with McBurn's editorial.
Bobulinski obviously comes from a military family thus his harping on his Navy creds. Guess
when your in that much sunshine you fall back strongly on anything available.
I don't doubt his credibility and it's good that he at least got on Tucker Carlson to
provide some much needed answers, but he's not a known quantity and I have hard time
imagining his revelations will change minds.
I think the FBI sandbagging the whole affair is what holds back this story getting the
attention it deserves from the public. The president I'm sorry to say has been badly served
by Wray, Haspel, and company. I think he should have replaced them months ago and waiting
until reelection to do it may have been a mistake.
Tuesday night, we heard at length and on camera from one of the Biden family's former
business partners. His name is Tony Bobulinski. He's a very successful businessman and a Navy
veteran.
Bobulinski spoke to "Tucker Carlson Tonight" for a full hour. He told us he met two separate
times with Joe
Biden himself. Not just with Joe Biden's son or his brother, but with Joe Biden -- the
former vice president and the man now running for president -- to discuss business deals with
the communist government of China .
That's a very serious claim, and whatever your political views, it's hard to dismiss it when
Tony Bobulinski makes it because Bobulinsky is an unusually credible witness. He's not a
partisan, he's not seeking money, he's not seeking publicity. He did not want to come on our
show.
But when Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and the Biden campaign accused Tony Bobulinski of
participating in a Russian disinformation effort, he felt he had no choice. That was a slander
against him and against his family. So Bobulinski came to us. He arrived with heaps of evidence
to bolster the story he was telling. He brought contemporaneous audio recordings, text
messages, e-mails, many financial documents.
By the end of the hour, it was very clear to us that Tony Bobulinski was telling the truth
and that Joe Biden was lying. We believe that any honest person who watched the entire hour
would come to the same conclusion.
Well, on Wednesday, a
Senate committee confirmed it . The Senate Homeland Security Committee reported that all of
Tony Bobulinski's documents are, in fact, real. They are authentic. They are not forgeries.
This is not Russian disinformation. It is real.
Bobulinski told a remarkable story. Joe Biden -- who, once again, could be president of the
United States next week, was planning business deals with America's most formidable global
opponent. And when he was caught doing it, Joe Biden lied. And then he went further. He
slandered an innocent man as a traitor to his own country. It is clear that Joe Biden did that.
That's not a partisan talking point uttered in bad faith on behalf of another presidential
campaign. It's true.
So the question is, what is Joe Biden's excuse for doing that? What is his version of this
story? Everyone has a version and we'd like to hear it, but we don't know what Joe Biden's
version of the story is, because no one in America's vast media landscape has pressed Joe Biden
to answer the question. Instead, reporters at all levels and their editors and their publishers
have openly collaborated with Joe Biden's political campaign. That is unprecedented. It has
never happened in American history.
Wednesday morning, the big papers completely ignored what Tony Bobulinski had to say. So did
the other television networks. Not a single word about Bobulinski appeared on CNN or anywhere
else. Newsweek decided to cover it, but came to the conclusion that the real story was about
QAnon somehow. This is Soviet-style suppression of information about a legitimate news story.
Days before an election, the ramifications of it are impossible to imagine. But we do know the
media cannot continue in the way that it has.
No one believes the media anymore and no one should. You should be offended by this, not
because the media are liberal, but because this is an attack on our democracy. You've heard
that phrase again and again, but this is what it looks like. In a self-governing country,
voters have a right -- an obligation -- to know who they're voting for. In this case, they have
the right to know the Democratic nominee for president was a willing partner in his family's
lucrative influence-peddling operation, an operation that went on for decades and stretched
from China and Ukraine all the way to Oman, Romania, Luxembourg and many other countries. This
is not speculation once again, and it's not a partisan attack. It's true, and Tony bobulinski
confirmed it.
Bobulinski met with Joe Biden at a hotel bar in Los Angeles in early May of 2017, and when
he did, Joe Biden's son introduced Bobulinski this way: "Dad. Here's the individual I told you
about that's helping us with the business that we're working on and the Chinese."
Now, written documents confirmed this is real. At one point, Joe Biden's son texted Tony
Bobulinski to say that Joe Biden, his father, was making key decisions about their business
deals with China.
CARLSON: When Hunter Biden said his chairman, he was talking about his dad.
BOBULINSKI: Correct, and what Hunter is referencing there is, he spoke with his father
and his father is giving an emphatic 'no' to the ask that I had, which was putting proper
governance in place around Oneida Holdings.
CARLSON: So, Joe Biden is vetoing your plan for putting stricter governance in the
company. I mean, and it's it's right here in the email.
BOBULINSKI: Yes, Tucker, I want to be very careful in front of the American people. That
is not me writing that. That is not me claiming that. That is Hunter Biden writing on his own
phone. Typing in that 'I spoke with my chairman,' referencing his father.
All this is spelled out in the clearest possible language in documents that Bobulinski
provided us, documents that subsequently federal authorities have authenticated as real.
On May 13, 2017, for example, Hunter Biden got an email explaining how his family would be
paid for their deal with the Chinese energy company. His father, Joe Biden, was getting
10%.
BOBULINSKI: In that email, there's a statement where they go through the equity, Jim Biden's
referenced as, you know, 10%. It doesn't say Biden, it says Jim. And then it has 10% for the
big guy held by H. I 1,000% sit here and know that the big guy is referencing Joe Biden. It's,
that's crystal clear to me because I lived it. I met with the former vice president in person
multiple times.
That was three years ago, and we still don't know where all that money went, because the
media haven't forced Joe Biden to tell us. But Tony, Bobulinski did add a telling detail. Joe
Biden's brother, Jim, saw his stake in the deal double from 10% to 20%. Was Jim Biden getting
his brother's share again? It might be worth finding out.
We also know that according to an email from a top Chinese official, this one written on
July 26, 2017, the Chinese proposed a $5 million dollar interest-free loan to the Biden family,
"based on their trust on [sic] BD [Biden] family." The e-mail continued, "Should this Chinese
company, CEFC, keep lending more to the family?" And indeed, CEFC was supposed to send another
$5 million dollars to the Bidens' business ventures. Apparently, that money never made it to
the business. Where did it go? A recent Senate report suggests it went to Hunter Biden
directly. And from there, who knows? Again, no one's asked.
Tony Bobulinski also told us he learned Hunter Biden became the personal attorney to the
chairman of CEFC, Ye Jianming, just as they were tendering 14% of a Russian state-owned energy
company. That was a deal valued at $9 billion dollars. It's pretty sleazy. It's pretty amazing,
actually, that this happened and no one noticed.
We're not going to spend the next six months leading you through a maze of complex financial
transactions. This isn't that complicated: Millions of dollars linked directly to the Communist
Party of China went to Joe Biden's family, and not because they're capable businessmen. Jim
Biden's one business success appears to have been running a nightclub in Delaware that
ultimately went under.
No, the Bidens were cut in on the world's most lucrative business deals, massive
infrastructure deals in countries around the world for one reason: Because Joe Biden was a
powerful government official willing to leverage his power on behalf of his family.
Now, if that's not a crime, it's very close to a crime and it's certainly something every
person voting should know about. The Bidens didn't do this once. They did it for decades. So
the question is, how did they get away with it for so long? Tony Bobulinski asked Jim Biden
that question directly. To his credit Jim Biden answered that question honestly.
BOBULINSKI: And I remember looking at Jim Biden and saying, 'How are you guys getting
away with this?' Like, 'Aren't you concerned?' And he looked at me and he laughed a little bit
and said, 'Plausible deniability.'
CARLSON: He said that out loud.
BOBULINSKI: Yes, he said it directly to me. One on one, in a cabana at the Peninsula
Hotel.
"Plausible deniability." In other words, "we lie." We get away with selling access to the
U.S. government, which we do not own, because we lie about what we're doing. And as we lie, we
try to make those lies plausible. That's why we call it "plausible deniability." That is the
answer that Joe Biden's brother gave when asked directly.
So the question is, what is Joe Biden's answer to that question? We wish we
knew.
ForFoxSake!!! 1 hour ago Everything that is happening right now is because Trump was
right about the swamp, the media, and the ruling class families who have been selling out
America for decades. ohhappyday657 1 hour ago Tucker is doing this country a great service. The
FBI doesn't seem to want to engage. Mr. Bobulinski is a patriot and we are lucky he came
forward. The Bidens need to be called out for their high crimes and misdemeanors. Joe should be
impeached for his time as VP. Thank you Tucker. resipsaloquitor ohhappyday657 29 minutes ago
You can smell the desperation on the Trump supporters. The lies, the distortions and the
grasping, pathetic search for the proverbial Hail Mary to salvage the quickly sinking ship. If
Mr. Bobulinski is the best you have the Democrats will 'trump' you with: 227,000 dead
Americans, close to 9 million more infected and an economy in tatters. The day of reckoning is
approaching and a dozen Bobulinskis won't change that. Trump and his unseemly administration
are doomed.
" ... the former CEO of SinoHawk Holdings, which he said was the partnership between the
CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming and the two Biden family members.
"I remember saying, 'How are you guys getting away with this?' 'Aren't you concerned?'" he
told Carlson.
He claims that Jim Biden chuckled.
"'Plausible Deniability,' he said it directly to me in a cabana at the Peninsula Hotel," he
said.
In the interview, he outlines how an alleged meeting with Joe Biden took place on May 2,
2017.
Fox News first reported text messages that indicated such a meeting. Bobulinski said that
it was the Bidens, not him, who had pushed the meeting.
"They were sort of wining and dining me and presenting the strength of the Biden family to
get me engaged and to take on the CEO role to develop SinoHawk in the U.S. and around the world
in partnership with CEFC," he said.
He went at length into how Joe Biden arrived for a Milken conference, partly held at the
Beverly Hilton Hotel, and how he was introduced by Jim and Hunter Biden to the former vice
president.
"I didn't request to meet with Joe" Biden, he said. "They requested that I meet with Joe
[Biden ]. They were putting their entire family legacy on the line. They knew exactly what they
were doing."" FN
-----------
Bobulinski is a successful international business hustler. I know the type well. The Biden
familia wanted him in this China deal for the purpose of having him hold the reins of this
enterprise even as they looted it for the purpose of quickly enriching the fam.
A TV commentator remarked last night after watching the interview that this defection from
the Biden camp is reflective of an old business truth which can be stated as "don't screw your
partner if he has enough material to sink you."
I am unimpressed with selfless patriotism as Bobu's most basic motivation in sticking it to
Joe, Jimmy and Hunter Biden. A sense of betrayal in a business deal wrecked by the Bidens'
overwhelming greed and their desire to consolidate family riches as fast as they could is a
more plausible. motivation.
This does not mean that Bobu is not telling the truth. His collection of e-mails addressed
to him and incriminating memoranda is most impressive.
IMO, what has been revealed is a truth with regard to the Biden crime family. They are
nouveau riche grifters who will have a much grander stage for their efforts if Joe is elected
as a presidential figurehead. pl
Did Hunter Biden's young business partners bring anything of value to the table, or were
they just name brand ride-alongs too. Archer, Conley, Heinz, etc. Biden was running a very
leaky ship, with such a large but relatively unsophisticated and compromised entourage.
I am, and I'm sure this is not an original observation, because it's as the Col notes,
singularly unimpressed with the entire lot of them. Bobo, Jim B, Hunter B, Duncan Hunter, Joe
B, Bulger's nephew, I've seen more gravitas among bookies, juicemen, and fences, that I grew
up with in NYC. And I mean that. Not a throw away line. And THESE guys will run the show? And
Harris I find singularity creep, artificial, and somehow just down right inappropriate. I
would not select any of them to run a post office.
I got a little tired of the man making so much of his "service to his country." Not that
it isn't worth quite a lot and I respect him for it, but four years... I served six years,
and what I dwell on is how much I loved serving in submarines and the enormous degree that it
contributed to building my character. The degree to which my service benefited my country was
trivial. It benefited me enormously.
Like you, I think he is telling the truth in that interview.
After 4 plus years of the intelligence agencies and MSM looking under every conceivable
rock, you think that there is anything left to find about Trump? You are delusional and
headed for a massive case of buyer's remorse if swiss-cheese-for-brains gets in.
Thank you for asking that question. I was about to ask it myself. My understanding is that
Trump's children are working for him as he is President for little pay. They may be still
handling Trump business accounts; but it seems they work for his White House office and its
many functions--and for his campaign.
I still believe in the American middle class, the people who make American run. These are
the people at his rallies, wearing MAGA hats, and showing up in overflow numbers.
They are not people who are easily swayed by "false prophets."
Trump keeps pointing out how well our economy was doing UNTIL China sent the virus (and, I
DO believe they sent it). He promises the return of that economy.
That is why Biden now is totally into frightening people about COVID and pushing masks and
social distancing. He is afraid that Trump will indeed be able to bring back a good economy.
He doesn't know how to do that, as is clear by this desperate attempt to cover up his shady
dealings with first Ukraine and now China.
Where I live, a large percentage of our population are clearly very tired and bored with
the COVID scare. We still do as our DEMOCRAT Governor, who hails from the People's Republic
of Boulder, Colorado, and the University of Colorado, where Socialist, Marxist, and Ultra
Feminists rule in the Arts and Humanities. We call Boulder "forty square miles surrounded by
reality." Unfortunately, the Boulder/Denver triangle contains the largest voting block. We
used to be able to count on Colorado Springs, but the universities in that area and into
Pueblo have also been taken over by the leftists.
What is also clear is that Biden's real hope was to build his own family dynasty by using
the Presidency as nothing but a cash cow for him and his inept and useless son.
I don't care really what Bobulinski's motives were for coming forward with his documents
and emails, I'm just thankful that he did. I hope it wasn't too late. And I'm thankful he
chose Tucker Carlson's show as the place to do it.
Joe Biden doesn't seem to be the brightest bulb for someone with a JD. To wit: why didn't
he just offer that he's given his son some fatherly advice about business now and then?
Instead, he's repeatedly and categorically denied discussing ANYTHING with his son about his
business dealings, which we now know is provably false. I'm no lawyer but I'd think Joe's
repeated lying infers a tacit admission of guilt. Deniability doesn't seem plausible in this
case.
I'd even go so far as to infer that Joe's gotten away with business dealings of this
sordid sort for SO long that he's become sloppy (e.g., the braggadocio ON VIDEO of
withholding US aid to Ukraine until its solicitor investigating Burisma, which was paying his
son $50-80 thousand per month, was fired.) He obviously has the [justifiable] expectation of
never being held accountable.
Did anyone else clock his comment that he wasn't being paid, not even expenses, for all
these trips. He said he was funding them himself, presumably until the $5M arrived.
Then it didn't but the Bidens got their $5M. The Bidens arrogance just piles onto their
stupidity. Did they really think that kind of operator would take it lying down?
With one foot in Colorado Springs, I'd like to suggest that you may be overstating the
weight of the local colleges in ColSpr's growing Democrat numbers. El Paso county election
results have remained fairly reliably Republican, if not by as sure a margin as once.
Population growth may be more significant mover, the high rate of in-migration to
Colorado, esp Denver. The seven county Greater Denver-Boulder area, with a population of 3.3
million, grew 1.1% last year, and has grown as fast or faster in the previous ten years. In
number, the Denver population has grown faster than anywhere else in the state. In the past
ten years the population of Denver Co alone increased 21%.
Colorado Springs/ El Paso Co. has grown quickly in the same period, but not as much as
Denver. The current population of 720,000 increased 16% from ten years ago. A good part of
this growth has been driven by Denver's growth and skyrocketing housing prices. A house costs
much less in El Paso County.
Too many Denverites are choosing to commute an hour+ from ColSpr to Denver, as seen by the
explosion of new housing at the north end of El Paso County and the now-daily traffic crawl
at rush hour on I-25 between ColSpr and Denver. Just try to get up to the speed limit on that
stretch. The state is adding extra lanes as fast as it can. It appears that Denver attitudes
move in with many of these commuters. Is ColSpr fated to become a bedroom community?
Finally, Colorado appears to be one of the places attracting migrants from the blighted,
overbuilt, overdetermined coasts. Again, newcomers arrive with attitudes from the places they
left.
I am hoping that the open skies and spaces, the particular self-reliance of rural
Colorado, and the more democratic openness to citizen initiatives via the ballot will mellow
their views.
This level of population growth and shifting politics, lacking a concommitant growth in
productivity of local biz and industry, is not viewed with equanimity by older inhabitants of
ColSpr. IMO It would be best if Colorado remained independent, with reasonable political
compromise and collaboration between parties, as before it has been.
Is a comparable dynamic underway north of Denver in your direction?
In reference to Trump's reputation as a grifter, I offer the following sample:
- He paid $2 million in fines and had to close down the Trump Foundation for using it as a
personal piggy bank.
- The Eric Trump Foundation was forced to close for similar grift. It was funneling money
into Trump family businesses and accounts. It's wasn't like the family directly stole money
from kids with cancer, but it ended up doing just that.
- His friend Bannon's recent grift with his Build the Wall Foundation, along with Manafort's
tax and bank fraud convictions, and Cohen's conviction for paying hush money for Trump's
sexual escapades.
- The sham Trump University was forced to close with a $25 million settlement to two class
action lawsuits and a NY civil lawsuit.
None of this sunk Trump. What it did do was inure the American public to the increasing
shittyness of our politician's behavior. Hunter's antics would have caused Joe to withdraw
from public life ten years ago, but today it's just par for the course.
-
TTG
My friend, as I have told you before, you have no real knowledge of practice in the business
world. Nobody says Trump has sold the US for his family's profit.
RNC's national spokesperson Liz Harrington battled CNN's Christiane Amanpour for
refusing to engage with allegations of corruption against Joe Biden and his family after years
of hyping unverified Trump-Russia allegations.
"Why don't you want to report this? This is one of the most powerful families in
Washington," she asked. "And you're okay with our interests being sold out to profit Joe Biden
and his family, while we're suffering during a pandemic from communist China?"
Former Hunter Biden business associate Tony Bobulinski is going to turn over his electronic
devices and business records to the FBI and appear Friday before two Senate committees
investigating accusations centered on content from a laptop linked to Hunter.
"Tony Bobulinski will announce that he will turn his electronic devices and records of
business dealings with Hunter and Jim Biden over to the FBI"
Bobulinski, a retired Navy lieutenant and CEO of Sinohawk Holdings, will hold a briefing in
Nashville, Tennessee, as he attends Thursday night's debate as a guest of President Donald
Trump, Roberts also reported.
And both the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Senate Finance
Committee will hear testimony from Bobulinski in their investigations into a purported
pay-for-play scheme that some have alleged also benefited former Vice President Joe Biden.
Committee Chairmen Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, issued the
following statement Thursday, announcing Bobulinski's cooperation Friday:
"As part of the committees' efforts to validate the authenticity of recently publicly
released emails involving the Biden family's international financial entanglements, we sent
letters to five individuals identified in the emails. Those letters were sent [Wednesday],
and the deadline is Oct. 23, 2020. So far, the committees have received a response only from
Mr. Tony Bobulinski, who appears to be willing to fully cooperate with our investigation.
"In fact, Mr. Bobulinski has already agreed to appear for an informal interview by the
committees tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020."
Ted Crus: "This whole issue is not about Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden by all appearances has
led a troubled and challenging life. This whole inquiry is about Joe Biden who wants to be
President and whether Joe Biden was personally corrupt," Cruz said. "One of the most striking
things is what Joe Biden isn't saying... Biden has not denied that he personally met with the
Ukrainian oligarch he repeatedly swore he never met.
Former Vice President Joe Biden used his son Hunter Biden as a "bag man" and got 50% of the
"bribe money" from foreign entities, Rudy Giuliani told Newsmax TV .
Appearing Tuesday on "Greg Kelly Reports,"
Giuliani, who says he is in possession of a copy of a hard drive purportedly belonging to
Hunter Biden, said the current Democrat presidential nominee could have used several "flunkies"
as a "bag man" rather than his own son, but instead involved Hunter in a purported bribery
scheme with Chinese businesses.
"Ten percent of the money that was being whacked up, that was $10 million a year, and then
50% of the profits with three Chinese Communists, one of whom was a Chinese intelligence
operative -- that 10% of that was going to H. for 'the big guy,'" Giuliani said.
"The big guy" has been identified by a Fox News source as Joe Biden, and Giuliani said his
team has identified Joe Biden by other means as well.
Pressed by host Greg Kelly for more revelations, Giuliani demurred, saying he has only been
able to look through about half the hard drive so far.
Giuliani said the hard drive -- which he noted has never been denied as authentic by Joe or
Hunter Biden -- contains evidence of about "five major federal crimes" and "$30-40 million"
going to the Biden family as bribes.
The hard drive is said to have come from a laptop left at a Delaware repair shop by a man
described by the owner of the shop as Hunter Biden. It was never picked up, and the original
drive was given to the FBI.
In one purported email, Hunter Biden complains he receives no respect for his work, but
tells his family he will not make them pay him "half your salary" like "Pop" did.
"This is not about Hunter," Giuliani said, but about what a criminal and "horrible father"
Joe Biden is.
"These are major bribes in which he sold out the United States to China."
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"... The "real issue" is the elite culture that produced and supports Biden. Looking at the family, you can tell it's just a bunch of degenerate mobster politicians. They're not even good at what they do. Who's behind them? Who is pushing Joe forward? ..."
"... It's a vampire squid of globo-homo kleptocracy and militant neoliberalism. Unfortunately the only other contender is our ziostooge DJT. ..."
"... I wouldn't call it the "elite culture" but one created by the CIA/FBI. They know who's doing what to whom and for how long and they've got the pictures, videos and confessions to prove it. If those agencies aren't shutdown or cleaned up, it won't matter who we elect...they will control them. ..."
"... It's a "culture" because it involves thousands of people: bureaucrats, journalists, politicians, attorneys, businessmen, bankers, and religious leaders. There is a conspiracy, but most of these people instictively know what to do and don't require orders. This basic class of people has been in power since Woodrow Wilson was put in the WH by Baruch and House. ..."
"... The politicians are like the Intel Agencies' zoo animals. ..."
A few days ago, the MSM and their political allies in the Democratic Party celebrated the
release of a "compromising" photo
appearing to show former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani with his hands down his pants. Giuliani
claimed that he was merely retucking in his shirt after removing some recording equipment, but
nevertheless, the whole news cycle played out in full view of the public as social media giants
like Twitter and Facebook looked the other way, allowing the photo, and links to news stories
covering the controversy (orchestrated by "Borat" prankster Sasha Baron Cohen) to circulate
widely.
However, just days later, a Chinese digital media company has published footage showing a
man who looks identical to Hunter Biden engaging in a sex fetish act with an unidentifiable
woman (along with a photo purporting to show what appears to be the same man engaging in sex
with a Ukrainian prostitute). But instead of allowing discussion and links to the video to
circulate, Twitter has scrubbed all links and photos related to the video and story, and is
suspending accounts that appear to be trying to spread the video or screenshots from the
footage.
Some background: Late Saturday afternoon, a mysterious link surfaced on Reddit purporting to
be the vaunted Hunter Biden sex tape - or at least, one of the Hunter Biden sex tapes (whispers
about more footage have so far gone unsubstantiated).
In it, a naked Hunter Biden can be seen, smoking crack, and laying with an unidentified
woman, possibly a prostitute. The woman's face is blurred out, making it impossible to tell
whether or not she appeared to be underage.
Footage of the sex act is preceded by footage of Guo Wengui at the national press club
raging over a Chinese takeover of the US, "9/11 times a thousand," he says, before
transitioning to a screed slamming Western politicians who collaborate with the CCP, and
warning about the dangers of American kleptocrats falling sway to CCP "influence" (blackmail
etc).
During the opening minutes if the video, Hunter can be heard complimenting the woman on her
technique. "That's so professional," Hunter exclaims. "You can't even find that on there," he
laughs as he gestures toward something off camera.
A few minutes in, the man who is allegedly Hunter Biden can be seen firing up a crack
pipe.
The reaction on Twitter was swift. Users who tried to share the link and photos were quickly
blocked (even though Twitter famously allows porn and nudity). Some cracked jokes about Hunter
Biden receiving what appeared to be a 'footjob', while shrugging off the video as simply
evidence that Biden has been victimized by revenge porn.
Others simply noted the disparity in treatment between the Hunter Biden story and the
"Borat" revelations about Giuliani, and wondered aloud how Twitter might be handling this if
those photos were of Donald Trump Jr., not Hunter Biden.
Of course, twitter didn't simply ignore the Giuliani photo; the news became one of the top
trending topics (thanks to the fact that Twitter's user-base skews toward young leftists).
At any rate, the group that released the footage and the above-mentioned screenshot are
promising to release more compromising material, while the MSM and Big Tech rallies to Hunter
Biden's defense.
rtb61 , 2 hours ago
It is not like you were not warned before hand and could have investigated how Biden stole
the primary through postal votes, when Gabbard by proposing new legislation to block that
electoral fraud. The corporate Democrats are utter ****e, worse than the Republicans and the
Libertarians are way better than the Republicans and of course in the USA the Greens are by
far the best of them all (what a real political party should look and of course be like and
just corruptly and ruthlessly attacked by the corporate Democrats showing how truly evil the
corporate Demcrats are, denying Americans democracy).
Krink26 , 3 hours ago
What a train wreck. The real issue is his father. He sold out the second highest seat in
the land. And he'd do it all again if he gets into the top spot.
TBT or not TBT , 3 hours ago
His dad had the presidential level judgement to bring this mess of a person on Air Force 2
diplomatic missions to corrupt countries to be the point man for family deal making. Stellar
judgement!
Propaganda Phil , 1 hour ago
What? You don't want to see pics of Hunter smoking crack in the White House?
Didymus , 3 hours ago
The "real issue" is the elite culture that produced and supports Biden. Looking at the
family, you can tell it's just a bunch of degenerate mobster politicians. They're not even
good at what they do. Who's behind them? Who is pushing Joe forward?
It's a vampire squid of globo-homo kleptocracy and militant neoliberalism. Unfortunately
the only other contender is our ziostooge DJT.
Gerrilea , 3 hours ago
I wouldn't call it the "elite culture" but one created by the CIA/FBI. They know who's
doing what to whom and for how long and they've got the pictures, videos and confessions to
prove it. If those agencies aren't shutdown or cleaned up, it won't matter who we
elect...they will control them.
Didymus , 2 hours ago
It's a "culture" because it involves thousands of people: bureaucrats, journalists,
politicians, attorneys, businessmen, bankers, and religious leaders. There is a conspiracy,
but most of these people instictively know what to do and don't require orders. This basic
class of people has been in power since Woodrow Wilson was put in the WH by Baruch and
House.
palmereldritch , 1 hour ago
The politicians are like the Intel Agencies' zoo animals.
is a game and tech journalist from the US. Aside from writing for RT, he hosts the podcast
Micah and The Hatman, and is an independent comic book writer. Follow Micah at @MindofMicahC
It's safe to say that Hunter Biden, the son of former vice president and current
presidential candidate Joe Biden, is having a rough time. After the contents of his laptop,
including details of his international business dealings, came into the public domain, it
transpired that the computer had been the
subject of a subpoena in a money-laundering investigation. Now, former business partners
are beginning to turn on him, and one of them has said that he's turning "
everything " over to the FBI and the Senate. Another one claimed that Biden was
consulted with regard to Hunter's foreign deals.
During the second and final presidential debate, Biden made a key mistake when it came to
addressing these issues. Instead of simply stating that he had no comment to make, he decided
to
blame Russia for the fact that Hunter's emails had been leaked from the laptop's hard
drive. Ah yes. So we're back to that old 'reliable' narrative. I'm assuming that Joe may have
missed the embarrassment that was the Mueller
investigation .
Maybe Biden doesn't like Russia. Whether he does or doesn't is inconsequential. It is a very
bad idea to blame his problems on a foreign power. In fact, it's not the proper behavior of
someone who wants to be president. Here's the truth. Hunter Biden's dealings across the pond
likely had some issues. It's hard to say exactly what these might be, because there's an
ongoing investigation. I don't think that Biden is so dumb that he doesn't realize that this
hurts his chances of the presidency. However, there is a big lack of responsibility here.
Blaming what's happening on anyone except Hunter is a bit silly. I'd even argue that it's
incredibly irresponsible.
What's even more obvious is the desperation. Biden and the Democrats in general want this
story, whatever it is, to be squashed. It's why you have seen so little coverage on
left-leaning TV networks. If Donald Trump Jr was in a similar situation it would be a story on
every single one of them, and likely the subject of a Don Lemon lecture or five.
What Biden may not realize is that when voters see something being blamed on Russia, they
tend to roll their eyes. It invokes the image of Boris and Natasha grabbing a laptop in the
hopes of finally grabbing the moose and squirrel. It's cartoonish. And what happens if the
worst-case scenario for Biden comes true and his son is indicted for something? Well, at that
point it's more than just a ' Russian disinformation campaign' . It's very real
indeed.
And this is where Biden could end up with plenty of egg on his face. If he and his son are
in trouble, then no amount of blaming another country is going to change that. And it wouldn't
surprise me if this becomes a major factor in the upcoming election. Why would you vote for
someone who can't, or won't, take responsibility for what is going on with their own
family?
What Biden needs to do at this point is come clean on what his level of involvement was, and
simply be a dad to his son instead of a politician. Then again, Biden has been a politician
longer than he's been a father, so it's hard saying which hat he plans on wearing for the next
two weeks.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
MakeAmericaFree 1 day ago The world is witness
to the blatant corruption and deceit at the highest levels of American government. Trump has
tried to clean things up and he has a lot more left to do. We should wish him well in those
efforts. I am starting to think Attorney General William Barr has capitulated though. Where are
all the indictments, Mr. Barr? Reply 14 ariadnatheo MakeAmericaFree 1 day ago Barr? The CIA
offspring? He does what he is told, not necessarily by his official boss SJMan333 1 day ago If
Joe is running against another regular Republican politician, Hunter Biden's corruption would
have been a non-issue. The US politics is a cesspool of corruption, money laundering, sex and
all forms of moral decay. Each politician is in it for self-serving purposes. Position, power,
money, etc etc. A big section of naive Americans believe their politicians are there to serve
the people's interests. Politicians from both sides of the aisle have a tacit understanding NOT
to cross a red line. They will never accuse their opponents of corruption. 'You make your
money, I make mine.' is their omerta. They put up huge shows of debating with each other in
public purportedly in defense of the people's welfare and benefits. Behind closed door, they
celebrate their loots from the nation's tax money and illegal brides from businesses in
camaraderie together. I don't like Trump. But his exposure of the alleged crimes of the Biden
family is something to be applauded, even he's doing it for self-serving purposes. DukeLeo 1
day ago Joe Biden is using Hillary's methods. Not wise. You don't use the same fraud twice.
shadow1369 DukeLeo 1 day ago Well the CIA have used the same lies for 75 years. White Elk
shadow1369 1 day ago Must be a bit worn out by now. Reply 2 shadow1369 White Elk 1 day ago You
would think so, you would also think that everybody would have seen through them by now, but
not at all. The CIA orchestrated coup in Kiev used exactly the same methods as the one they
orchestrated in Iran in 1953. The details of Operation Ajax are now publicly available, but few
bother to look into it. allan Kaplan White Elk 1 day ago Not worn out but perfected! Lois
Winters 1 day ago I am not surprised at anything Biden says after seeing his performance in
these debates. He is obviously a tired old man and relies on sheafs of notes with the same old
so called empathic statements to the citizens of America. It is a wonder that he's a
presidential candidate at all. After all the original candidates finally were eliminated, no
one but these two want this thankless job. allan Kaplan 1 day ago Now that the shameless "mind
managers" the msm propagandists are in the opens, we, the people (an old cliche) must start
making noises of holding these anti-American mouth pieces accountable. Compel to change the FCC
Rules to take away their broadcasting licensees, penalized those self proclaimed journalists of
zero integrities, jailed most of them, and never again allow such ego bloated nincompoops ever
to come near the radio and TV stations and banned them from entering any newspaper offices as
well. Other punitive measures must be enacted to deface and disregard these paid mouths of fake
news and disinformation msm Complex! I'm starting a business of manufacturing toilet bowls and
the pubic urinals with the faces impregnated into the ceramic of all those who exploited
American freedom of speech to advance their personal careers and that would certainly include
almost all the politicians and the tech giants etc. What do you think as a statement to test
the real FREE SPEECH?
there has been no gov accountability in the USA for any party since Abe
ponchoramic , 19 minutes ago
Only people who are genuinely interested in the skulduggery will understand the reality of
any political situation. The rest of the public will just scratch & sniff their way
through.
General public sentiment: It's politics, they're all the same. Bunch of liars. Lalala.
The Democrat party is an existential threat to the United States of America
Cheap Chinese Crap , 3 hours ago
And, no, I don't feel bad for R. Hunter Biden, nor is he a victim.
He is a WLLLING PARTICIPANT in his father's vast corruption schemes and lived mega-large
while the living was good.
The Devil doesn't steal souls. They are sold by their owners.
He could have walked away but he didn't.
And it makes me wonder how corrupt his brother was since that was Joe's fair-haired boy
until he died from spending too much time on a cell phone.
Make_Mine_A_Double , 2 hours ago
Yeahhhh, might have to revisit the autopsy and death certificate on that one.
Though Hunter didn't waste any time bangin' deceased bros wifey - what a fambly.
Anno Domini , 3 hours ago
The Hunter sex stuff merely illustrates that there is mega Kompromat on the Bidens. It
gets worse.
Here, just 2 weeks after DJT wins the White House, old Joe is recorded telling Ukraine's
leader to clean up the evidence BEFORE Trump gets wind of it. This is it. Pure guilt on
display-- it's always the coverup.
Means nothing without INDICTMENTS! Get off your keister and do something useful for once
in your life, Barr, you sad Swamp sack of garbage!
Totally_Disillusioned , 3 hours ago
The Bidens are so owned by the Chinese CCP it's almost unfathomable...and they are so
stupid.
aspnaz , 2 hours ago
Worrying about Russians while the CCP are infesting the country.
Totally_Disillusioned , 3 hours ago
Hunter is free and 21 yrs old and can engage in any sexual perversions with a consenting
adult. What he can't do however is sell his father's political influence to foreign govts.
That's treason.
quanttech , 3 hours ago
correct, and all the sex stuff takes the focus away from the financial crimes.
...For years, I watched one betrayal after another, as politicians like Joe Biden sold
out American Workers at every turn -- shattering the lives of millions of American families
while THEIR families raked in millions of dollars...
Excerpted from the book: 'Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party Is Reshaping
the World'
In 2018 the well-connected
Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin pointed out that China had been building networks of influence in
the United States over many years, and that the U.S. government "is preparing for the
possibility that the Chinese government will decide to weaponize" them to get what it wants.
(Although Beijing is not known to use Russian-style "active measures" in the West, deploying
them is only a matter of political calculation.)
One of the CCP's most audacious penetration operations, Chinagate in 1996, saw a top
intelligence operative meeting a naive President Clinton in the White House, along with
donations to the Clinton campaign made through people with ties to the Chinese military.
Beijing has been working to gain influence in the U.S. Congress since the 1970s. Through the
activities of the CCP's International Liaison Department, and Party-linked bodies like the
China Association for International Friendly Contact, China has made some influential friends.
Nevertheless, Congress has for the most part remained skeptical of China, although its voice
has been muted at times by the influence of "pro-China" members. The president, the White
House, the bureaucracy, think tanks, and business lobby groups have all been targeted by
Beijing, to good effect.
Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden gestures as he speaks during the
final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 22, 2020. (Jim
Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
Until recently, almost all players in Washington D.C. and beyond were convinced by the
"peaceful rise of China" trope, and the value of "constructive engagement." The common belief
was that as China developed economically, it would naturally morph into a liberal state. This
view was not without foundation, because the more liberal factions within the CCP did struggle
with the hardliners, but in the U.S. it reinforced a kind of institutional naivety that was
exploited by Beijing. Many of those who stuck to this view even after the evidence pointed
firmly to the contrary had a strong personal investment in defending Beijing.
The billionaire businessman and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg was a late entrant in
the contest to become the 2020 Democratic Party candidate for U.S. president. He is the most
Beijing-friendly of all aspirants. With extensive investments in China, he opposes the tariff
war and often speaks up for the CCP regime.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg addresses his staff and the media
after announcing that he will be ending his campaign, in New York City, on March 4, 2020.
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
His media company has suppressed stories critical of CCP leaders, and Bloomberg himself
claimed in 2019 that "Xi Jinping is not a dictator" because he has to satisfy his
constituency.
The
Washington Post 's Josh Rogin argued that "his [Bloomberg's] misreading of the Chinese
government's character and ambitions could be devastating for U.S. national security and
foreign policy. He would be advocating for a naive policy of engagement and wishful thinking
that has already been tried and failed."
In May 2019 Joe Biden distinguished himself from all of the other candidates for the
Democratic Party's presidential nomination by ridiculing the idea that China is a strategic
threat to the United States. "China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man," he told a
campaign crowd in Iowa City. Biden had for years adopted a soft approach to China. When
President Obama's secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, was taking a tougher position towards
China's adventurism in Asia, Vice President Biden was urging caution. Biden had formed a warm
personal relationship with Xi Jinping when Xi was vice president and president-in-waiting.
Hunter Biden (R)
with then President Barack Obama (L) and Vice President Joe Biden during a college basketball
game at the Verizon Center in Washington on Jan. 30, 2010. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
In his second term, Obama replaced Clinton as secretary of state with the more accommodating
John Kerry. The dynamics help to explain why Obama's 2012 "pivot to Asia" was a damp squib. The
United States stood back while China annexed islands and features in the South China Sea and
built military bases on them, something Xi had promised Obama he would not do. Breaking the
promise has given China an enormous strategic advantage.
Joe Biden cleaves to the belief, now abandoned by many China scholars and most Washington
politicians, that engagement with China will entice it into being a responsible stakeholder.
The University of Pennsylvania's D.C. think tank -- named, for him, the Penn Biden Center for
Diplomacy and Global Engagement -- aims to address threats to the liberal international order,
yet China is absent from the threats identified on its website
: Russia, climate change and terrorism. Biden has spoken about China's violation of human
rights but still clings to the idea of China's "peaceful rise."
So does it matter if Joe Biden has a different view of China? It does, because there is
evidence that the CCP has been currying his favor by awarding business deals that have enriched
his son, Hunter Biden. One account of this is given by Peter Schweizer in his 2019 book "Secret
Empires." Some of his key claims were subsequently challenged
and Schweizer refined them in an op-ed in the
New York Times (famous for fact-checking). In short, when Vice President Biden travelled to
China in December 2013 on an official trip, his son flew with him on Airforce Two. While Biden
senior was engaging in soft diplomacy with China's leaders, Hunter was having other kinds of
meetings. Then, "less than two weeks after the trip, Hunter's firm which he founded with two
other businessmen [including John Kerry's stepson] in June 2013, finalized a deal to open a
fund, BHR Partners, whose largest shareholder is the government-run Bank of China, even though
he had scant background in private equity."
The Bank of China is owned by the state and controlled by the CCP. Hunter Biden's exact role
in the company is disputed, but one expert has said that his share in it would be worth around
$20 million.
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However, the point here is not the ethics of the Bidens (as the news media have framed it)
but the way in which the CCP can influence senior politicians. This "corruption by proxy," in
which top leaders keep their hands clean while their family members exploit their association
to make fortunes, has been perfected by the "red aristocracy" in Beijing .
Cover of the book "Hidden Hand" by Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg.
In the crucial years 2014 and 2015, Beijing was aggressively expanding into the South China
Sea while Obama, Kerry, and Biden were sitting on their hands...
Exactly correct and some of the biggest enemies the USA has are inside the fence .
They include most MSM , "higher education ' , climate change con men , and all levels of
government
that are infiltrated or bought .
The intel agencies see the political gong show as theatre to be ignored unless they stage
a coup like the one on Trump .
Oldwood , 1 hour ago
Globalism is not nationalism. It pervades all economies, all borders.
This election is NOT a choice between democrat and republican. It is a war to retain
America as a constitutional sovereign republic versus capitulation to a globalist regime
comprised of unelected elitist organizations unaccountable to anyone. A illusory democracy
will remain, where voting will be simply a certification of indoctrinated themes and agendas,
and contradictory voices will be expunged as threats to peace and "harmony ", if acknowledged
at all.
NoDebt , 1 hour ago
In his second term, Obama replaced Clinton as secretary of state with the more
accommodating John Kerry.
Because there are some thing so distasteful even a Clinton won't do them?
Sinophile , 35 minutes ago
Neolib: Russia, Russia, Russia.....
Neocon: China, China, China.....
Redpilled: DC, DC,DC.....
Only one of the three admits the truth.
Russia did not destroy America.
China did not destroy America.
Washington DC destroyed Amerika.
Handful of Dust , 57 minutes ago
Allegedly, Bloomberg himself is in some of those videos of Pedo Parties with underage
Chinese girls.
The FBI will crucify a soccer Mom for trying to get her baby daughter into college, yet
ignores widespread pedophilia of some of our top politicians and their sons.
Soloamber , 1 hour ago
Biden was in political power the entire time millions of USA jobs were sent to China .
Pay back is a bitch especially when your kid gets rich from pay to play .
Whiskey Tango Texas , 1 minute ago
An anti-CCP group called "The New Federal State of China" is now releasing Hunter Biden
sex tape footage in order to show the depth of CCP infiltration and how compromised / owned
the Bidens are specifically.
Two China-bashing neocons getting an excerpt of drivel from their book printed in Falun
Gong's propaganda megaphone The Epoch Times - what an amazing coincidence.
Well, I suppose weekend Tyler must have bills to pay like anyone else...
East Indian , 1 hour ago
You may expose the hidden hand or any other part of anatomy, but people of America do not
seem to care or notice; if they ever notice, then that story is disappeared by the tech
giants; and if the story escapes black out, then a counter-story breaks, whereby America will
be caught doing the same things in China...
The time for taking a firm stand is approaching. Whosoever takes a firm stand will
survive...
Parrotile , 1 hour ago
Big drama! The Chinese are copying US decades-old policy!
Yes, Non-Communist China is certainly reshaping the World, despite the US's efforts to
stop them (which includes the US -made "China Virus" - NO credible evidence that there was
any "leak" from the Wuhan facility, but ZeroHedge just keeps on trotting out the anti-China
rhetoric to keep the Republican cretinocracy happy!)
America drops record quantities of munitions on those who don't bend the knee to their
"rulers", whilst China has the One Belt, One Road program (and by fortifying the Spratley
Island chain, has shown that they are very aware of how the US goaded Japan into the Pearl
Harbour incident.
China provides added value via trade, the US indulges in frank piracy.
When the end comes (and it will), may your God help you, since you may rest assured that
the rest of the civilised World will be cheering in the streets (and rightly so).
(This is the first in a series of articles exploring Hunter Biden and Chris Heinz's
business dealings with Chinese entities. Additional reporting and research have been provided
by RedState's Scott
Hounsell . Links to additional pieces are at the bottom.)
A nearly 60-page intelligence report dated October 2 and provided to RedState late
Wednesday, October 21 details the relationship between multiple Chinese State-Owned Entities
(SOE's) and companies owned by Hunter Biden, Chris Heinz (stepson of former Secretary of State
John Kerry), Devon Archer, James Bulger, and suspected Chinese intelligence asset Michael Lin.
Despite what Hunter Biden's attorney claimed in 2019 , Hunter started traveling to China
shortly before the Big Guy became Vice President and signed contracts with SOE's while the Big
Guy was Vice President.
According to Christopher Balding, Associate Professor at Peking University HSBC School of
Business Shenzhen – who notes that he did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016 and will not
be voting for him this year – who reviewed the report before publication:
Lost among the salacious revelations about laptop provenance is the more mundane reality
of influence and money of major United States political figures. Ill-informed accusations of
Russian hacking and disinformation face the documented reality of a major Chinese state
financial partnership with the children of major political figures. A report by an Asian
research firm raises worrying questions about the financial links between China and Hunter
Biden.
Beginning just before Joe Biden's ascendancy to the Vice Presidency, Hunter Biden was
traveling to Beijing meeting with Chinese financial institutions and political figures would
ultimately become his investors. Finalized in 2013, the investment partnership included money
from the Chinese government, social security, and major state-owned banks a veritable who's
who of Chinese state finance.
It is not simply the state money that should cause concern but the structures and deals
that took place. Most investment in specific projects came from state-owned entities and
flowed into state-backed projects or enterprises.
According to the report Hunter Biden made incredible profits for essentially doing nothing,
including a tidy sum off of a copper mine in the Congo and another healthy bundle for allowing
the Bank of China to allocate its share of an IPO in Hong Kong to his venture capital firm,
BHR. So he's either the world's savviest investor or there are some
shenanigans/influence-peddling going on.
These activities were directed by people at the highest levels of the Chinese Communist
Party, according to the report.
The entire arrangement speaks to Chinese state interests. Meetings were held at locations
that in China speak to the welcoming of foreign dignitaries or state to state relations. The
Chinese organizations surrounding Hunter Biden are known intelligence and influence
operatives to the United States government. The innocuous names like Chinese People's
Institute for Foreign Affairs exist to " carry out government-directed policies and
cooperative initiatives with influential foreigners without being perceived as a formal part
of the Chinese government."
Balding, an American who lived in China for nine years, says of the report's veracity:
I did not write the report and I am not responsible for the report. I have gone over the
report with a fine-tooth comb and can find nothing factually wrong with the report.
Everything is cited and documented. Arguably the only weakness is that we do not have
internal emails between Chinese players or the Chinese and Bidens that would make explicit
what the links clearly imply.
Hunter Biden still owns a 10% share of BHR, (conservatively) estimated value $50
million
Hunter Biden served on the board of Heinz and Archer's Rosemont Realty, a large US-based
commercial real estate firm that was then sold to a Chinese company
A Chinese company affiliated with Hunter Biden acquired electric vehicle technology and
assets from two US companies that were in bankruptcy and which had defaulted on
government-backed loans
Suspected Chinese intelligence asset – and Hunter Biden business partner and
frequent travel partner – Michael Lin had official meetings with Joe Biden while he was
Vice President
Balding says this information is easily discoverable, that "there is no secret method for
discovering this data other than actually looking," and that knowing how the Chinese government
operates, the links between Beijing and the Bidens are very worrisome:
Having lived in China for nine years throughout the Xi regime's construction of
concentration camps and having witnessed first hand their use of influence and intelligence
operations, the Biden links worry me profoundly.
Whether Joe Biden personally knew the details, a very untenable position, it is simply
political malpractice to not be aware of the details of these financial arrangements. These
documentable financial links simply cannot be wished away.
Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar has called for defunding National Public Radio after the
outlet officially refused to cover the Hunter Biden laptop scandal (while happily peddling
anti-Trump rumors for years) - calling it a ' waste of
time. '
"It's time to defund @NPR. This is appalling. #DefundNPR," Gosar tweeted on Thursday.
Gosar joins a growing chorus of conservative voices who are furious over the outlet's
decision to censor perhaps the biggest political bombshell in decades .
NPR public editor Kelly McBride
published an inquiry on its website Thursday from a listener who did not understand why the
outlet was ignoring the story.
"Someone please explain why NPR has apparently not reported on the Joe Biden, Hunter Biden story in the last
week or so that Joe did know about Hunter's business connections in Europe that Joe had
previously denied having knowledge?" listener Carolyn Abbott asked.
McBride responded in saying there are "many, many red flags" in an investigation carried out
by the New York Post, which last week published reports that were sourced from the alleged
laptop hard drive. NPR then went on to repeat claims that Russia is attempting to interfere in
the election.
" Even if Russia can't be positively connected to this information, the story of how Trump
associates Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani came into a copy of this computer hard drive has not
been verified and seems suspect. And if that story could be verified, the NY Post did no
forensic work to convince consumers that the emails and photos that are the basis for their
report have not been altered," McBride said, adding: "But the biggest reason you haven't heard
much on NPR about the Post story is that the assertions don't amount to much."
Her response included a statement from NPR managing editor Terence Samuel.
" We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories , and we don't want
to waste the listeners' and readers' time on stories that are just pure distractions. And quite
frankly, that's where we ended up, this was a politically driven event and we decided to treat
it that way," Samuel said.
The claims that the reports are part of a Russian disinformation plot were dismissed by
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
The FBI, meanwhile, did not dispute Ratcliffe's statements earlier this week.
FBI Assistant Director Jill C. Tyson sent a letter to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of
the Senate Homeland Security Committee, in response to Johnson's request for more information
about the emails, reports around which have alleged that Hunter Biden tried to introduce a
Ukrainian businessman to his father when he served as vice president in the Obama
administration. The law enforcement agency
said it has "nothing to add at this time" to Ratcliffe's statement.
A number of conservatives and allies of President Donald Trump criticized NPR following its
decision to publish the inquiry .
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" Wow. Foreign corruption from a major party is not considered news for taxpayer-funded
#fakenews NPR, " wrote the America First PAC on
Twitter in response.
It came as Twitter and Facebook also announced they would either block or limit the reach of
the NY Post's reports. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany's account and a Trump
campaign account were also blocked. The Senate Judiciary Committee, as a result, voted to issue
subpoenas on Thursday to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to appear
before the committee after raising concerns about censorship and election interference.
Biden's campaign has
denied that he ever met with a Ukrainian gas company official, which was allegedly revealed
in a trove of emails that purportedly were found on a laptop hard drive belonging to his son,
Hunter, who sat on the company's board while his father was the vice president. The NY Post
also obtained a hard drive containing the emails from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Other allegations have surfaced in recent reports over the days,
including from a former Hunter Biden associate who confirmed the legitimacy of an
email.
"The Attorney General of Delaware's office indicated that the FBI has 'ongoing
investigations regarding the veracity of this entire story.' And it would be unsurprising for
an investigation of a disinformation action involving Rudy Giuliani and those assisting him to
involve questions about money laundering, especially since there are other documented inquiries
into his dealings," the campaign said.
TheFederalistPapers , 22 minutes ago
I work way too hard to fund these ****ers. NPR is owned by the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting (CPB) and sneak a peek at their Board of Directors https://www.cpb.org/aboutcpb/leadership/board
Take Nord Stream II. If Trump hadn't taken the oath, it would have been up and running
years ago. Would that it were so that this was a gift to Russia and Germany, but it's much
worse than that. Why isn't anyone else curious as to who got what in return?
The blockage of Nordstream 2 is about The Dark Heart of Europe not Russia...
This is one of Putin's few serious errors. He would be much better off pushing gas
projects that flowed east...
Europe is a glove on the US hand and is easily led around by its nose by the CIA and MI6
that infest the MSM and run one false flag after another.
Politicians in the EU are mediocre creatures that crave the dollars stuffed into their
pockets by the US. They are enjoying the ride while it lasts until they go down with the
US.
During the years that Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. was helping the credit card industry win
passage of a law making it harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy protection, his son
had a consulting agreement that lasted five years with one of the largest companies pushing
for the changes...
It was a savage piece of legislation, and Joe Biden even worked to block an amendment that
would have offered bankruptcy protection to people with medical debt. The bill also blocked
people from discharging private student loan debt under bankruptcy. Total student loan debt
was under $400 billion in 2005; it surged in the wake of the law's passage and is now over
$1.5 trillion.
The bank was MBNA. I know from personal experience that MBNA charged a late penalty on
online payments for their credit card on the last day due, illegally calling the payment late
even though the Federal Reserve Bank has a rule that if you make payment before the cut-off
time on the last date due, your payment must be considered as processed that date. MBNA also
kept funds that should have been transferred to the state's Abandoned Property Fund, to boost
its bottom line while its criminal owners were trying to sell the bank to Bank of
America.
l. Joe Biden's compromising partnership with the Communist Part}' of China runs
via Yang Jiechi (CPC's Central Foreign Affairs Commission). YANG met frequently
with BIDEN during his tenure at the Chinese embassy in Washington.
2. Hunter Biden's 2013 Bohai Harvest Rosemont investment partnership was set-up
by Ministry' of Foreign Affairs institutions designed to garner influence with foreign
leaders during YANG's tenure as Foreign Minister.
3. HUNTER has a direct line to the Politburo, according to SOURCE A, a senior
finance professional in China.
4. Michael Lin brokered the BHR partnership and partners with MOFA foreign
influence organizations.
5. LIN is a POI for his work on behalf of China, as confirmed by SOURCE В and
SOURCE С (at two separate national intelligence agencies).
6. BHR is a state managed operation. Leading shareholder in BHR is a Bank of China
and BHR's partners are SOEs that funnel revenue/assets to BHR.
7. HUNTER continues to hold 10% in BHR. He visited China in 2010 and met with
major Chinese government financial companies that would later back BHR.
8. HUNTER's BHR stake (purchased for $400,000) is now likely be worth approx.
$50 million (fees and capital appreciation based on BHR's $6.5 billion AUM).
9. HUNTER also did business with Chinese tycoons linked with the Chinese military
and against the interests of US national security.
10. BIDEN's foreign policy stance towards China (formerly hawkish), has since turned
positive despite China's country's rising geopolitical assertiveness.
Hunter, Ivanka, and especially Kushner are essentially apples from the same goverment
corruption tree. The problem is much deeper the Biden Family of Trump family.
Former Hunter Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski has confirmed that an email published
in the
New York Post 's bombshell exposé is indeed genuine - something the Biden camp
hasn't disputed, and that the "Big Guy" described in one of those emails is none other than Joe
Biden himself . Bobulinski also says Joe Biden was lying when he said he and Hunter never
discussed business dealings.
"My name is Tony Bobulinski. The facts set forth below are true and accurate; they are not
any form of domestic or foreign disinformation. Any suggestion to the contrary is false and
offensive. I am the recipient of the email published seven days ago by the New York Post,
which showed a copy to Hunter Biden and Rob Walker. That email is genuine .'
-New York Post
Bobulinski issued the statement late Wednesday, affirming that, contrary to Joe Biden's
claims that he never discussed business dealings with Hunter, the former Veep actually profited
from his son's dealings, which were undertaken with the full support of the Biden family.
Bobulinski claims cash and equity positions and 10% stakes in dealings were set aside for "
the big guy ," - aka Joe Biden .
Bobulinski said: "I've seen Vice President Biden saying he never talked to Hunter about
business" - "I've seen firsthand that that's not true."
" I've seen firsthand that that's not true, because it wasn't just Hunter's business, they
said they were putting the Biden family name and its legacy on the line."
According to Bobulinski, he was the CEO of Sinohawk Holding, a holding company partnership
between now-bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co. and the Biden family. He said the Chinese weren't in
partnership for any kind of commercial purpose: they were there to pay for "influence" in the
US.
"I realized the Chinese were not really focused on a healthy financial ROI. They were
looking at this as a political or influence investment. Once I realized that Hunter wanted to
use the company as his personal piggy bank by just taking money out of it as soon as it came
from the Chinese, I took steps to prevent that from happening"
In the final weeks of the presidential campaign, Joe Biden has labeled Hunter Biden's emails
as a "smear" campaign against him, and Democrats like Adam Schiff have accused these reports of
being linked to a Russian intelligence operation, even though intelligence officials have said
there's no evidence that this is true.
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Here is Bobulinski's statement in full ( emphasis ours ):
My name is Tony Bobulinski. The facts set forth below are true and accurate ; they are not
any form of domestic or foreign disinformation. Any suggestion to the contrary is false and
offensive. I am the recipient of the email published seven days ago by the New York Post
which showed a copy to Hunter Biden and Rob Walker. That email is genuine .
This afternoon I received a request from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Government Affairs and the Senate Committee on Finance requesting all documents relating to
my business affairs with the Biden family as well as various foreign entities and
individuals. I have extensive relevant records and communications and I intend to produce
those items to both Committees in the immediate future.
I am the grandson of a 37 year Army Intelligence officer, the son of a 20+ year career
Naval Officer and the brother of a 28 year career Naval Flight Officer. I myself served our
country for 4 years and left the Navy as LT Bobulinski. I held a high level security
clearance and was an instructor and then CTO for Naval Nuclear Power Training Command. I take
great pride in the time my family and I served this country. I am also not a political
person. What few campaign contributions I have made in my life were to Democrats.
If the media and big tech companies had done their jobs over the past several weeks I
would be irrelevant in this story . Given my long standing service and devotion to this great
country, I could no longer allow my family's name to be associated or tied to Russian
disinformation or implied lies and false narratives dominating the media right now.
After leaving the military I became an institutional investor investing extensively around
the world and on every continent. I have traveled to over 50 countries. I believe, hands
down, we live in the greatest country in the world.
What I am outlining is fact . I know it is fact because I lived it. I am the CEO of
Sinohawk Holdings which was a partnership between the Chinese operating through CEFC/Chairman
Ye and the Biden family . I was brought into the company to be the CEO by James Gilliar and
Hunter Biden. The reference to "the Big Guy" in the much publicized May 13, 2017 email is in
fact a reference to Joe Biden. The other "JB" referenced in that email is Jim Biden, Joe's
brother.
Hunter Biden called his dad 'the Big Guy' or 'my Chairman,' and frequently referenced
asking him for his sign-off or advice on various potential deals that we were discussing .
I've seen Vice President Biden saying he never talked to Hunter about his business. I've seen
firsthand that that's not true, because it wasn't just Hunter's business, they said they were
putting the Biden family name and its legacy on the line.
I realized the Chinese were not really focused on a healthy financial ROI. They were
looking at this as a political or influence investment. Once I realized that Hunter wanted to
use the company as his personal piggy bank by just taking money out of it as soon as it came
from the Chinese, I took steps to prevent that from happening.
The Johnson Report connected some dots in a way that shocked me -- it made me realize the
Bidens had gone behind my back and gotten paid millions of dollars by the Chinese, even
though they told me they hadn't and wouldn't do that to their partners.
I would ask the Biden family to address the American people and outline the facts so I can
go back to being irrelevant -- and so I am not put in a position to have to answer those
questions for them.
I don't have a political ax to grind; I just saw behind the Biden curtain and I grew
concerned with what I saw. The Biden family aggressively leveraged the Biden family name to
make millions of dollars from foreign entities even though some were from communist
controlled China.
God Bless America!!!!
All of which will likely be "muted" in tonight's highly anticipated debate.
Truther , 2 hours ago
So, a presidential candidate with 47 years of non-accomplishments, turns out to be a
CCP minion...
jumpnjon , 2 hours ago
And the amazing thing is they can't see how idiotic they are. Or they are just plain
EVIL.
FreeMoney , 2 hours ago
It is TDS or NPC "orange man bad."
No Democrat is voting FOR Biden. He is obviously corrupt and sun downing.
Trump is partially trying to wreck the existing system by eliminating regulation, and
unwinding bad trade or military support deals. He shoots holes in just about every
international organization that the lefties all love unconditionally, UN? WHO? NATO? WTO?
while openly discussing tearing apart the lefties favorite charity of open boarders,
unlimited welfare, and permanent communist voter block creation.
Democrats are voting against Trump.
Deck , 1 hour ago
The blind delusion and hypocrisy of trumptards never ends.
Which one of you MAGA-bots want to talk about Ivanka getting sweet business deals in
China when she flew there on your dime?
Which one of you wants to talk about trumps deals there, or Kushner's cushy job where
he has influenced policy that has harmed your families and communities?
Which one of you wants to talk about Trump's Chinese dealing or the taxes he pays
there, or that he sells EOs and state department favors at $250,000 a pop out of Mara
Lago?
Non of you care about these things, because both sides do them. The only reason you're
talking about this you want YOUR corrupt guy in there, but the reality is showing
favoritism to kids is as old as time, in politics and in the private sector.
Leroy Whitby , 1 hour ago
In the Biden family, they are both stupid and evil. They are nowhere near as smart as
the Obamas or Clintons. The Clintons are just evil. They have heard right and wrong at
church and otherwise, and chose to sell out their nation...
HellKitty , 1 hour ago
I am still having a hard time to understand why Biden Jr, left his MacBook (not only
one, but 3!) at the repair shop and never picked them up. I wish some criminal
psychologist stand up and explain that irrational behaviour.
Stormtrooper , 53 minutes ago
He was probably high on crack-cocaine when he dropped them off and couldn't remember
where he took them
AutoLode , 52 minutes ago
If hunter is making millions upon millions can't he buy a new MacBook Pro or dozens of
them if he's prone to spilling stuff on them
and none of his partners are smart enough to tell him to not let go of his hard drives
?
weird
CallingDrFraudschi , 1 hour ago
In order to make an equivalent analogy, you'd have to figure out a way to become
business partners with people in Ukraine and in China and make a personal profit from
leveraging your political connections all the while selling away the livelihoods of the
Americans you purport to support.
Whilst you may not like the way Trump files & "pays" taxes, it's all legal within
the tax code framework here in the US. Selling out your country for millions to Ukraine
& China however IS NOT.
That's treason and sedition!
BaNNeD oN THe RuN , 1 hour ago
A WWE wrestling match. If you pretend it is anything else you are deluded.
Trump gets 4 more years, unless he demands more in exchange for putting up with the
abuse that Deep State is prepared to pay. Hence the delay in releasing final election
results. For now, it has to appear that it could go either way.
You think Deep State did not already know what the Bidens and the rest of the Obama
crew were up to in 2008-16? Of course they did... the extra grift they collect is part of
the reward system for doing as they are told.
DefinitelyNotAFed , 2 hours ago
The Clintons are more corrupt than the Biden's. So far, there is no evidence of human
trafficking of the kind the Clintons were/are involved in.
The Biden's real crime is being dumber and getting caught in their treasonous
corruption.
Pandelis , 43 minutes ago
Bobby Kennedy knew what he was up to and still continued on his fight. John might not
have known the full extent of what he was up against, but Bobby certainly did because he
saw what happened to his brother etc. It is a long subject it seems to me you are not as
tuned in as you think you are... there is plenty out there to read and learn the truth
from.
On trump's minions "communications logged, travel, meeting logged" ... for what??
anybody cares or able to check on them ... get real.
do they have a security clearance ... ever ask WHY was not able to obtain one?
without a security clearance and to have the power of the White House beyond you is
really corrupt to me ... a bag of money is nothing, here we are talking billions and
trillions
Ex-Oligarch , 1 hour ago
There's nothing "dirty" about exposing your competitor's misdeeds.
It is "fighting dirty" to accuse your competitor of things he didn't actually do .
There doesn't seem to be much dispute that the emails are genuine.
Also, the media seems to be starting up a counter-narrative that Trump should be
focusing on policy disputes rather than Biden's corruption. But Biden himself has been
avoiding policy issues because his party is split between far-left extremists and
moderates, and he can't afford to alienate either one. He has flip-flopped over and over
trying to appease both constituencies. Instead, his strategy has been to present a choice
of personalities, in the hope that the public is so fatigued from the constant hostility
directed towards Trump and the president's rough style that they will opt for him
instead, regardless of his policy positions.
knightowl77 , 1 hour ago
Except that the media was FINE with the Dems investigating Trump for 4 years for his
Alleged misdeeds.....the misdeeds that were actually done by Klinton & Hiden.
They even impeached Trump for allegedly doing what Biden actually did in the
Ukraine...This FARCE has gone on long enough, and It ALL must be exposed to the public
Now!
For 4 years they have accused Trump of everything that they themselves have actually
done. ENOUGH!
FreedomWriter , 43 minutes ago
That's a pretty weak strategy for Creepy Joe. Do you think it will stand up when his
son is arrested for CP possession, sexual assault, corruption, and human trafficking?
But then again, we are talking about Dem voters here.
gordo , 59 minutes ago
Hunter's laptop reveals
Joe Biden gets a 10-50% cut of the loot
Hunter banged his 14 year old niece Natalie while smoking his crack pipe and texted Joe
about it.
Joe Biden gets a cut of the Burisma loot
Joe Biden gets a cut of the Chinese loot
The CCP has all the dirt on Joe that makes Epstein look like amateur hour.|
Lesley Stahl "DISCREDITED HERSELF" She repeatedly cited the Senate GOP Report on Biden corruption
@realDonaldTrump : "Do you think it's OK for the mayor of Moscow's
wife to give him millions?" Lesley falsely says "no real evidence of that" It's in the VERY report she cites! 225K views 0:02
/ 2:14 1.4K 11.3K 25K
NPR covered the fake Steele Dossier. But won't cover the real Hunter Biden emails. "Journalism." Quote Tweet NPR Public Editor
@NPRpubliceditor · 12h Why haven't you seen any stories from NPR about the NY Post's Hunter Biden story? Read more in this week's
newsletter https:// tinyurl.com/y67vlzj2 Show this thread
THREAD. Lesley Stahl's completely ignorant and partisan and indefensible performance in this interview is an embarrassment to
journalists, while also very typical of journalists. Quote Tweet Byron York @ByronYork · 10h In '60 Minutes' interview, Trump
says the Obama administration 'spied on my campaign.' Leslie Stahl tells him, 'There's no real evidence of that.' 1/3 https://
facebook.com/153080620724/p osts/10165668067695725 Show this thread 1.3K 9.5K 21.2K
How would you like to run for president against an incumbent who did so well on foreign policy that the debates don't even need
to include that topic? That's actually happening. 349 6K 20.8K
Last night, Hunter Biden's business partner went *on the record* about corrupt foreign business deals involving the Democrat nominee
for President of the United States. How many mentions did the story get on CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC and CBS this morning? ZERO. 2K
10K 20.1K
"Chinese Energy Firm Gives Biden Crime Family $5 Million "Interest-Free" Loan Through
Investment Vehicle Described as 'Consulting Fees' to Hunter Biden."
That Hunter must be a brilliant guy! He's being paid a fortune to sit on boards and
provide consulting to a number of institutions all over the world!
Enraged , 10 hours ago
An email dated May 15, 2017 sent from Jim, Joe's brother, to Hunter and his team revealed
the list of key domestic contacts for phase one target projects in the Biden family business:
Harris, D-Calif.; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.;
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo;
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio; former Virginia Gov. Terry McCauliffe.
So, Joe... all of those incriminating emails on your son's laptop aren't proof of
"profiting off your family name", huh?
The lying never ceases with these wretches. It's all they know how to do.
Their father in hell awaits them all.
HANGTHEOWL , 2 hours ago
They know to just keep lying,,the media will cover for them and so will the
government,,,both sides will,,even though they will make it seem like they are doing
something about it,,,,,
snatchpounder , 2 hours ago
Yes the Biden crime family has years of experience yet Boobus Americanus will dutifully
line up and vote for the demented old crook.
radical-extremist , 2 hours ago
Because they know they're protected by the Democrat Media Complex.
Reaper , 3 hours ago
Hunter was his father's bagman.
Bay of Pigs , 2 hours ago
Joe's denial isn't going to work. Why?
Evidence, that's why.
markar , 1 hour ago
Hunter used daddie's name to bilk the poor Sioux tribe out of $60 mill in a fraudulent
bond deal. His partner Cooney took the fall and is now in prison for it. He's spilling the
beans. The other partner in the scam, Devon Archer lost his appeal and is going to prison in
Jan for the same crime. Where's Hunter?
BOOM! Rudy Giuliani Drops a Bomb -- Joe Biden Broke the Law by NOT Notifying Officials of
Hunter's Naked Crack Smoking and Sexual Abuse of Minors (VIDEO
In a Tuesday interview, former Vice President Joe Biden claimed that there was no basis
"whatsoever" to claims that his son, Hunter, profited off the family name .
When asked local Wisconsin TV station WISN if there was any legitimacy to comments by Sen.
Ron Johnson (R-WI) that Hunter " together with other Biden family members, profited off the
Biden name ," the former Vice President replied " None whatsoever, " adding (without finishing
the sentence) " This is the same garbage Rudy Giuliani, Trump's henchman... "
"It's the last ditch effort in this desperate campaign to smear me and my family."
Except, Hunter admitted he profited off his family name!
"If your last name wasn't Biden, do you think you would've been asked to be on the board of
Burisma?" asked ABC News ' Amy Robach in an October 15, 2019 interview.
"I don't know. I don't know. Probably not, in retrospect," said Hunter. " I don't think that
there's a lot of things that would have happened in my life if my last name wasn't Biden ," he
added, " because my dad was Vice President of the United States. "
"There's literally nothing, as a young man or as a full-grown adult that -- my father in
some way hasn't had influence over."
What's more, the former President of Poland and Burisma board member Aleksander Kwasniewski
said last
November that Hunter was picked to sit on the company's board because of his name .
"I understand that if someone asks me to be part of some project it's not only because I'm
so good, it's also because I am Kwasniewski and I am a former president of Poland. ... Being
Biden is not bad. It's a good name ," he said.
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Let's also not glaze over the fact that both Joe and Hunter said that Joe had 'no knowledge'
of Hunter's international business dealings, while recently released emails from Hunter's
laptop prove that Hunter 'introduced' Joe to a top Burisma executive - a meeting Biden's camp
says never happened. Joe also met with a
CCP-linked delegation of Chinese investors arranged by Hunter and his business partners,
according to emails released by imprisoned ex-Hunter business associate, Bevan Cooney.
Banana Republican , 3 hours ago
I'll tell ya Joe -- it's not Hunter we're after. It's you.
And you're about to meet your well-deserved demise.
ALLLIVESSPLATTER , 3 hours ago
Isn't that what they said about Hillary.
Banana Republican , 3 hours ago
Good point. Then again, we don't hear much from her these days.
Awakened Saxon , 3 hours ago
Still alive. Still rich. Still unpunished. Still out of prison.
She won.
Joeman34 , 3 hours ago
BS, the fact that she never realized her ultimate dream of becoming President is proof
she lost. Fine, she's rich and she's not in prison where she should be. At least history
isn't tainted by another Clinton presidency. I still hold out hope her, and Bill's, day
of reckoning will come. It's just taking a lot longer than it should.
BorisTheBlade , 2 hours ago
Losing power for power-hungry people is a very punishment. She imagined herself first
female president and got her desire crushed. That must've hurt quite a bit, not that I
sympathize given how many people she crushed.
Biden's global pay for play schemes using his drug addict son as bagman spanned Ukraine,
Romania, Poland, Kazakhstan, and the grand daddy of all, China makes him a national security
risk. The fact he's this close to being president is a sad commentary on how far the country
has fallen into the abyss.
DefendYourBase4 , 51 minutes ago
what is sad is the FBI do nothing. The FBI is a criminal organization as far as i am
concerned, and they are not to be taken seriously. ive already had multiple visits with them
and i laugh in their face
markar , 1 hour ago
Joe Biden was the architect of a 1986 crime bill that specifically targeted Blacks with
very stiff sentences for small amounts of crack cocaine. Biden is the spawn of the KKK and a
long time racist. Look up his vile comments over the years including recently. That BLM
supports this scumbag is proof they care little about the well being of Black people.
Things just took a very dark turn in the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.
While the alleged crack, cronyism, corruption was enough to spark the biggest media
suppression in history, and no denials whatsoever from the Biden camp, the bombshell that Rudy
Giuliani just dropped, if true, is egregious to say the least (not just with regard Hunter
Biden but the law enforcement authorities who have allegedly had this information since before
Trump's impeachment but done nothing about it).
In an interview this evening with Newsmax TV, former NYC Mayor and current attorney to
President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani announces he has turned over Hunter Biden's laptop
hard-drive to Delaware State Police due to pictures of underage girls and inappropriate text
messages.
In one of the texts, Hunter Biden allegedly says to his sister-in-law (also his lover) that
he face-timed a 14-year-old girl while naked and doing crack - "she told my therapist that I
was sexually inappropriate."
Giuliani adds, "this would be with regard an unnamed 14 year old girl," adding that "this is
supported by numerous pictures of underage girls."
Watch the full interview below (the above exchange begins around 5:20):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/coFx3ZDXWrg
Furthermore,
JustTheNews' John Solomon reports that former New York Police Department commissioner
Bernard Kerik joined him when he delivered photographs and text messages to the New Castle
County Police Department.
"I told them other details about what appears to be an inappropriate sexual relationship,"
he said in an interview. "They told me it would be investigated."
Law enforcement officials in Delaware told
Just the News that Giuliani's concerns have been forwarded to the state Department of
Justice.
"The FBI has had this for a long time," Giuliani said.
"No indication they did anything about this, so I went to the local police and said, 'What
are you going to do about this?'"
Perhaps the most damning statement from Giuliani, with regard the election, was the former
mayor alleging that:
"I will tell you the evidence I gave them states it was reported to Joe Biden. What did he
do about it?"
Before this is wholly dismissed as yet more Russian disinformation or 'Giuliani' lies, we
remind readers that
we previously reported that Hunter Biden's alleged laptop contents included a curious piece
of evidence - a photograph of an FBI subpoena which bears the signature of the agency's top
child porn investigator, special agent Joshua Wilson.