Joe Biden was disingenuous during the debate about Hunter's ethical lapse here.
Hunter Biden acknowledges that he "may" not have gotten that board seat if his name hadn't been Biden. Really? What in the world did Hunter adjudge that sleazy outfit hope to gain by paying him 50K a month, if not political entree and influence? And as far as all these reports of "proof he did nothing wrong" are concerned: since when have we been able to prove a negative?
Without regard to the question of wrongdoing, Joe should have confronted the ethical issue straight on. Whether or not Hunter's bosses were able to cash in on their obvious desire to influence, Joe should have acknowledged definitively the corrosive impact of the appearance of impropriety on the public trust in our leadership, and unequivocally owned the error in judgment.
"Whataboutisms" about Trump are irrelevant and IMO a distraction, as modeled and honed by the lowest of the low ethical bars: Donald Trump.
3
This is totally corrupt. He was appointed to the boards solely because he was the son of the Vice President. Joe Biden should have stopped it and the fact that he did not cries Influence Peddling to the high heavens.
2
Unfortunately, these are the voters who will sit the 2020 election out (or cast a protest vote for an independent) as they did in 2016 if they don't get their "perfect, awe-inspiring" candidate.
3
Okay, the Bidens made a mistake and are moving on.
The country made a mistake in electing Trump so let's remove him and move on.
1
@sbanicki Sure, kid. Just wave your magic wand....
And now back to reality.
It'd be nice to have candidates who are not constantly engaged in marketing and damage control. It suggests to little old me, the voter, that they think I'm gullible.
Of course this was an ethical lapse. Do you need a written code of ethics to figure it out? Didn't Joe teach his children anything?
Hunter Biden is reported to have made $50,000 a month as a director of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. How much did the other non-employee directors get paid? How much time did Hunter Biden spend preparing for and attending board meetings?
5
An interesting scenario: the Democratic candidates in the debate clearly have the opportunity to take Joe Biden down tonight. Way down. Like, out. He might even threaten to take a challenger behind the school building. He might take a swing.
Who has the guts? It will take a Trumpian approach. Who will rise to the occasion? Who is not afraid to provoke him? Who has the chutzpah? Who can break out?
I am afraid, probably only one. Tulsi. She is the only one with the steely determination, and not afraid. The others are dissembling milquetoasts a la JEB!
4
To the many comments and critics who say that this is fishy because Hunter has no experience in energy so the board seat was a political payoff - you should look at the composition of most boards of directors. They typically have no technical expertise but sit on the board for other reasons like connections to finding sources, knowledge of government policy, the law, or public relations etc. Most corporate boards are full of people like Hunter: smart, connected, with name recognition. They meet a few times a year with management and generally discuss strategy and progress in executing strategy. They are not running operations or developing strategy, but a sounding board in most instances. Hunter is just the kind of person that boards like to have. There’s nothing illegal or unethical about it. It’s how business gets done and those on the right that are outraged know better. So does Trump.
25
@Tom
"Hunter is just the kind of person that boards like to have."
No. 100% unadulterated nonsense. Please, go online, do as many searches as you want, and tell me how many board members of large companies are:
- drug addicts
- alcoholics
- dishonorably discharged from the military for drug use
- deadbeat dads who fail to pay child support & alimony
- devoid of any other experience serving on a board
- sleeping with their dead brother's wife
These are Hunter Biden's "Qualifications"
12
@Tom
True in many cases but this guy is Biden's son and was hired when Joe was VP. So don't try to excuse it away.
6
@GMooG Well. he's apparently he's not the kind of person you would select. But I'm not sure you can speak for "boards" in general.
3
All over the world being a child of famous people opens doors for various opportunities. That is a simple fact. Because doors open doesn't mean you have to walk through them. Hunter Biden may not have done anything illegal but it'd hard for me to believe he wasn't aware of the ongoing corruption in Ukraine. He made money which is not a crime, but I think he should have known better and been more aware of the optics. Joe Biden has a reputation of being honest and trustworthy and it saddens me to see what is happening. The other sad fact is that perception of corruption seems to matter just as much as actual corruption. This is now more of a distraction than anything else and I believe the MSM should move on. The story is out there for people to make up there own minds. Also, why so little discussion of the Trump kids? MSM is allowing Trump to set the news agenda for the week. He is a master of distraction, and the MSM continue to allow Trump to lead them around by the nose. They should know better already and get over their addiction to Trumps tweets and lies.
@Linda "...get over their addiction to Trumps tweets and lies."
But then they would have to focus on the issues at hand.
This is so much more fun for them.
This was a missed opportunity. In stepping down from his position on the board of BHR Partners, Hunter Biden should have called on Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump to follow his lead. Biden's son should have called the current president's sons out for the tens of millions of dollars they've made in real estate deals involving Angela Chen's consulting firm, which has ties to Chinese government and military officials. He should also have mentioned the 16 trademarks granted by the Chinese government to Ivanka Trump, in the middle of her father's "trade war" with China. As for Jared Kushner, his shady dealings are too numerous to fit into the space allotted here. Beats me why they are rarely if ever mentioned in the so-called "liberal" media.
2
What a hall of mirrors, and what a display of cynicism and hypocrisy by Trump.
Trump accuses the Biden family of doing things that the Trump family is clearly doing themselves, presumably with the goal of smearing Biden with Democratic voters ... and it works!! Trump is using Democrats’ moral high ground against themselves. It’s brilliant and awful.
We’re truly all Trump’s puppets. As John Hodgman says elsewhere in this publication, Trump is best understood as a performer who never breaks character. He’s a creation of mass and/or social media and the media therefore can’t take him down.
The question is to what extent the office of the presidency is also a media creation these days. For fifty years or more packaging and producing the race for President has been a way for media outlets to make money. Is Trump the inevitable result? What comes next? I wish this debate were going to provide the answer.
most of the Democrats barely have a moral high ground when it comes to pay for play politics. Trump is just open about it that's the only difference between him and the other politicians in Washington.
@Sam oh yeah, he's quite a guy....the very model of virtue that every American mother wants for her son.
1
Hunter Biden has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction over most of his life, and has been in and out of rehab many times. Biden was dismissed from the US Navy Reserve in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine. In 2016, he had a gun pointed to his head while buying crack in Los Angeles. In 2017, police in Arizona found a crack pipe in his rental car after it was damaged in an accident.
So how does an addict and alcoholic person like Hunter Biden get a foreign gig making $50,000 a month? By being the son of Joe Biden.
This is very similar to how Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka Trump are making their money. It is why Jared Kushner works out of the White House. Close familial association with power elicits big money for political favors. It is known as graft, grift and corruption. Both the Democratic and Republican parties openly condone it. They want only the best for their kids.
2
@Joe Miksis "Both the Democratic and Republican parties openly condone it."
I haven't read that part of the story. Where can I find it?
1
To everybody here who pretzel twists in defense of the Bidens, and fortunately there are enough here who don't, this is not about Trump, or Hunter Biden. This is about Joe Biden. Joe Biden only, and Joe Biden alone.
Poor Joe. Obama told him, you dont need this, you dont need to run. Clearly Mr. Obama knew what he was talking about.
The higher they climb, the harder they fall.
4
Biden Jr. obviously doesn't know the difference between immoral and unethical. Much of the things Biden Jr. admits to may not be immoral but they are definitely unethical business practices based on today's political and financial situations in many countries. I really could not vote for Joe Biden if he can't see his son's problems and didn't at least consider they might cost him the votes to demonstrate Trump. This lack of even just strategic thinking scares me.
20
@sfw " the votes to demonstrate Trump. " HUH?
3
@sfw And look at all the things the current occupant of the WH has done such as Trump University, Trump Foundation, Ivanka was awarded trademarks by China at a meeting between her father and the leader of China. How much time do you have?
2
your point? we are not yet in a position where the choice is Joe or Trump. Joe is a tainted candidate who does not deserve the nomination exspecialy if he can't even effectively defend himself from Trump.
2
If you let Trump & family cause you to not vote for Biden, you have taken the bait. I feel Biden thought it let Trump have his moment, except it was weeks. I think Biden is trying to be the bigger man and I am thankful I don't hear nasty sound bites from his lips on the nightly news. He is a gentlemen and that would be a nice change. This will not change my decision on whether I will or won't vote for him. I do however, believe his does know how to be a President, world leader, husband and father. He knows how to speak with world leaders and really negotiates in good faith. He owns no hotel or businesses that people who want to deal with him have to stay there. ("no quid pro quo) If you compare the current holder, he is not a good husband (known wife cheater) and as being a father that is questionable also. His daughter from his liaison while married to his first wife does not seem to be part of the family. No government job for her.
1
Hunter ... you are part of the problem...but I think you believe you are part of the solution. Therefore it stinks....as do you and your daddy.
4
This is a deflection away from Joe Biden. The issue should not be about Hunter Biden's position on the board of a company in Ukraine. The issue is that both President Trump and then VP Joe Biden engaged in questionable tactics involving US support (vague or direct) with government officials in Ukraine. People get jobs, favors and special consideration on a regular basis because they are related to someone of prominence. Nothing unusual about that. So far we have not seen anything that shows Hunter Biden said, "Give me a position and I'll deliver support from the VP of the US." We have seen, in their own words, statements from both President Trump and Joe Biden about involvement in the internal workings of the government of Ukraine.
Draining the Biden swamp
3
Funny how Democrats are never investigated by the MSM or this Congress, LOL.
5
@M Not funny. Reasonable.
2
I have been following the news nonstop, like flies on bear scat here in the North Georgia mountains. I’ve seen almost no coverage of Jr. and his sibs shady business dealings that don’t hold a candle to Hunter’s dumb behavior.
Is this strategic on the part of Schiff? Waiting for the right time to drop the hammer. Curious about other thoughts.
@Scott Wetterhall Your curiosity is understandable. We're all still trying to figure out what you're talking about.
2
@kenneth
Very little coverage of Trump's kids and the use of their father's position to enrich themselves around the world.
I think this behavior is far more egregious than what Biden's son has done. So why have the Democrats been mostly silent about junior's greed and his taking advantage of their dad's influence.
Seems like a slam dunk to use junior's behavior in response to the GOP's criticism of Hunter. Just wondering when that will come up.
I will try to be more clear next time. Thanks
2
I would actually love to see Joe Biden campaign with his son. Or maybe have his son introduce him at a rally. "Donald, if you're listening. Here I am. And I'm proud to introduce your replacement. My father--Joe Biden." Just a fantasy. Probably impractical, but it would surely get the attention of Trump and his minions.
4
@GK
Oh, boy. You really have no sense of how the Biden thing is playing outside of your bubble. Are you a senior member of DNC leadership?
7
In my opinion the damage has been done, and this won't get any easier or cleaner. Trump and his acolytes, including his kids, will continue pounding on this issue through Nov 2020. If Joe Biden wants to remain in the race, he needs to get ready for street fight mode. Plain and simple.
2
Tonight's debate is Game Seven.
If Joe Biden doesn't come out immediately and forcefully about the nepotism and cronyism in the Trump administration (without defending himself and Hunter) - and then pivot straight to Trump's catastrophic foreign policy decisions, there will be enough doubt about the Bidens remaining to give Trump the contest against Warren next year that he believes he can win easily.
Will Biden deliver a knockout punch without any gaffes?
Will Warren step forward to demonstrate leadership as a candidate that she has not fully exhibited yet?
Syria is the ultimate example of Trump's mafia mentality - make friends with your enemies, and take your friends for granted. Let's see who speaks out tonight.
@sol hurok I tried that first paragraph of yours ("come out immediately") three times but ran out of breath each time.
Not exactly the work of an impressario.
2
I don't think the Founding Fathers wanted powerful people to be unable to influence other powerful people. But I think they also wanted the press to publicize ALL the ways powerful people influence other powerful people. Thanks, New York Times, for doing this, even when your own ox (the Democratic Party) is being gored!
3
@roger
Ox?
Gored?
Founding Fathers?
All this about somebody's son joining a comapny's board of directors?
Personally I hope that whatever democrat wins promptly hires all their heirs and Chelsea Clinton, gives them an office two doors down from the Oval Office and takes them with on all foreign trips. I will gleefully watch Fox News explode and republicans everywhere rant about conflicts of interest.
1
After reading the New Yorker piece on Hunter Biden, I lost all confidence in this family. Taking into account the addictions, dismissal from the service and the affair with the dying brother's wife, a lack of character, morals and ethics stares you in the face. Joe Biden's constant refrain of - if it makes you happy - is about the worst parenting mantra have ever heard.
A father son relationship with no regard to anyone but themselves and their ambition. Last thing the country needs.
Oh, and by the way, I still found this article, buried though it was.
6
@me and then, of course, there's Don Jr, our paragon of virtue.
2
Joe Biden is so weak. He says everything Trump says about his son is lies. I looked up Hunter on Wikipedia and he was thrown out of the military because of a failed drug test, so that wasn't a lie. He took a high paid job in The Ukraine, with no qualifications, so that isn't a lie.
It is contradictory for Hunter to say he will leave his China job if his father is elected, if there is nothing wrong with it, there would be no reason to resign.
It also took Joe an incredible long time to address the situation, and his response really wasn't true. I want a strong decisive leader and the way he handled this was not good. Hunter certainly took a long time to respond also, and I don't think his answers helped.
The odd thing about this all is that I'm not sure if this will help or hurt Joe. Now he can say Trump is more worried about me than anyone else. Only with him falling in the polls, I think Trump will have achieved his objective, to knock the person he feared the most out.
4
@Jerry S Somebody said that here yesterday. And the day before. All these Jerry S's and so little space.
2
Dems project themselves as being more honest, ethical etc. than Repubs. If that's what you tell everyone, it had better be true.
4
@James Okay, James. Thanks for the tip.
1
@kenneth
It's clearly escaped some Dems.
1
I'm sure all of these commenters would realize their own inappropriateness for $50k a month board seat if offered and turn it down. Bottom line is that a lot of people on this thread are claiming moral superiority for a question they will never have to answer and NO ONE has put an honest glove on Joe over this. He didn't appoint his utterly unqualified son-in-law to solve the problems of the Middle East. This whole issue is exactly what Trump wants: focus on this speck while I run around with a girder in my eye.
3
@Russell Okay. I'm "recommending," even though I have no idea what "a girder in my eye" is supposed to mean.
2
@kenneth Ha! It comes from this Biblical reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mote_and_the_Beam
1
Times have changed: Earth faces a mass extinction. The latter is the ultimate corruption, and our corrupt politicians let it happen naturally, as they wallop in legal corruption with their families, and the plutocrats who feed them. Way out: tighten up ethics. All over. Let's start with Biden, Trump, and their associates.
1
@Patrice Ayme Good idea. Tighten up ethics. That'll keep Earth out of Jupiter's way, and we will no longer face extinction.
@kenneth
Let me please inform you. The man made mass extinction has to do with the CO2 catastrophe, which could have been fixed, starting in the 1990s, with a combination of photovoltaics, nuclear energy and building a massive hydrogen economy (to store renewable energy).
Jupiter will not spiral down to earth before the Sun becomes a red giant in 5 billion years, passed your time.
It may sound smart to make fun of the viewpoint that the present ecological crisis was caused by the present oligarchic political system... and it is, as long as one belongs to it and as long as one has no moral sense. However, we pass a little time on this planet. Leaving only devastation and corruption behind us should be deeply unsatisfying, to normally constituted human beings. So I would recommend to forget about Jupiter, and concentrate instead on the corruption the oligarchic organization unavoidably bring.
The "poor judgment" label must be be put on Joe, not Hunter. Joe was VP at the time, and he should have told his son not to sit on boards of gangster-capitalist companies in foreign countries because I'm VP, and someday I might run for president. It's Joe I'm concerned about, not Hunter, who acts like a greedy little kid.
The best thing to come out of this is that it exposed the criminality of Mr. Trump. He committed impeachable offenses that would not have come to light if it were not for Hunter.
In baseball, a bunt sacrifice moves the runner ahead. Joe Biden, you and your son laid down a perfect bunt sacrifice by exposing Trump, but that also means you're out! The rest of the Democratic team (and the nation) thanks you.
2
@Sirlar As long as you know everything, Sirlar, can you honestly say that Joe Biden did NOT advise his son in that regard?
Dear Mr. Trump,
Thank you for making a case against nepotism and self-dealing in political families. You just disqualified both Mr. Biden and yourself from the Oval Office.
Something about glass houses ...
2
Go away Biden Family. Go away Clintons, esp Hillary. Trump will be re elected because of your grifting. And the Martha’s Vineyard Obamas? Silently grifting. We all suffer. Thus is the Dems’ fault.
5
@Rachelle Lane okay, rach. thanks for sharing. feel free to come back in '21 and remind us of your prediction.
1
I won't defend the Bidens on this matter. "Everyone does it" is no excuse for the self-dealing and nepotism of Ivanka, Jared, Don Jr., and Eric.
But Mr. Trump made a huge political mistake. Had he just brought up the Bidens publicly and focused the media on it, he would have succeeded in dragging down Joe Biden's campaign.
But that was not enough for Mr. Trump. He had to commit impeachable acts in order to push this narrative.
1. It is illegal to solicit campaign aid for a U.S. election from a foreign government.
2. It is illegal for a private citizen (Giuliani, at Trump's direction) to negotiate with a foreign government (Logan Act).
Oops!
27
@MidtownATL
The first charge is debatable, the second charge doesn’t apply...the Logan Act specifically mentions ‘unauthorized persons’, when in fact the President authorized Mr. Giuliani to intervene.
5
@MidtownATL
The Logan Act applies to private citizens not acting at US government direction. You will agree this is not the case here. You will agree I trust that the President is US government and the President is directing Giuliani. Your invocation of the Logan Act is nonsense.
Another fact: only one person in a hundred years was prosecuted under the Logan Act, and that person was not convicted. Something about free speech ....
The rest of your post has similar issues. Trump did not solicit campaign aid. As the chief law enforcement officer, he was examining whether a crime was committed by a government official named Joe as a result of a sweetheart deal for Joe's son Hunter, while Joe was an officer of the US government, to wit, VP. Good luck getting Trump impeached on that, let alone removed.
4
@J House
Mr. Giuliani was not authorized to work on behalf of the U.S. government. He is Mr. Trump's personal attorney.
Apparently, you believe the United States president is a King.
6
I too wonder about the qualifications necessary to earn $50K a month ...
And how any ordinary person would even think to apply for that position ...
Nothing illegal of course... but still ...
3
Dear Mr. Trump,
Those who live in glass houses should not cast stones.
3
So he got the sinecure because his name was Biden but he did nothing unethical? He just happened to be named Biden?
Go away, Joe.
1
The left is falling all over itself trying to say Hunter Biden's jobs were no big deal and Joe Biden had nothing to do with it.
ridiculous. Hunter Biden got the job in Ukraine and China because his name was Biden. It was a favor to Joe and when favors are given, favors are expected in return.
Joe had 3 choices: 1) force Hunter not to take those jobs; 2) recuse himself from Ukraine and China issues or 3), resign.
The appearance of corruption here is so overwhelming that it is ludicrous to attack Trump for inquiring about it when speaking with the new Ukrainian president about, corruption in Ukraine.
As for those who say,-- well look at the Trumps, so what? The Trumps have nothing to do with Biden -- but one does know for certain they were running their businesses years before Trump won. Whereas Hunter Biden's business was --- being Joe Biden's son. Which only works, of course, when Joe is in power. How well has the Clinton foundation done since HRC lost the presidency?
The Obama admin was riddled with corruption. We know about Joe, and we know about the Clinton foundation pay for play scheme. What else was going on that Obama overlooked? Loretta Lynch perhaps, meeting with Billy on the tarmac. Or Eric Holder refusing to appear before congress...or James Comey. What else might be out there for honest journalists to uncover.
6
The Democrats, the House. the media, and the Southern District of NYC, and the Democratic wing of CIA and FBI and DOJ all work overtime to prevent any serious investigations in the quid-pro-quos that happened between the Bidens and Ukraine's government and the two oligarchs at the helm of Burisma. So we have to conveniently take the Bidens's word for them.
4
@Alexgri Not if you'd rather take the don's word instead. Conveniently.
PURE AND SIMPLE:
"NEPOTISM !!!!!!!"
"Nepotism is the act of using one's power to get good jobs or unfair advantages for the members of your family when the members of your family do not deserve it or may not have the right skill, experience or motivation.
I
1
Jeb Bush has a daughter who is/was a drug addict. Mr. Bush, as a father, sat with her during every hearing, including her sentencing hearing.
Is Mr. Bush disqualified to run for office because his daughter is/was an addict?
@Allen82
I think it would be very hard to miss the point more than this comment did. Did Jeb's daughter get a lucrative board seat for which she was completely unqualified, in a part of the world where she had never been, in an industry she knew nothing about, where her dad had just been given special authority by POTUS?
3
So, Biden’s son won’t serve on any foreign boards, including Ukraine or China, while he is President, but it was okay while he was VP and conducting policy over Ukraine?
Got it.
Good luck tonight, Joe.
Go Liz !!!!
3
Obama well knew what was going on by the Biden's stunk to high Heaven in the Ukraine and China and tried to get them to stop.BUT like the Clinton's their thirst for money and power ws to strong.
4
I don't really understand all this pearl clutching. Since time immemorial the offspring of the rich and/or prominent have slipped into cushy well-paid jobs that are unavailable to those of us without such support. So Hunter took advantage of international job offers, business is international. If no impropriety has been discovered then he didn't do anything to besmirch the Biden name. The Trump kids seem to be different in that they haven't even tried to get out from under their father but are effectively living at home and working for dad. Give Hunter credit he got his own jobs.
I watched the Interview and didn't find him very intelligent. Certainly not intelligent enough to be on foreign Boards. It seems to me that he was capitalizing on his father. Unable to find his Net Worth online. It would be interesting given his less than successful career before his father became VP.
3
@Philip W Some people are more concerned with how they play the game and less with focusing on the scoreboard.
This issue is clear as day. It's as clear as a president's use of tax-payers' funds to extort a foreign leader to get his political advantage.
It's time for Biden to step out of the race. (It appears that he's not up to the job anyway.) for Trump's impeachment and then his conviction and eviction by the Senate, and for some very fresh new blood to enter the Democratic Party leadership.
When "leading" Democratic candidates move to the LEFT instead of towards the CENTER as they oppose far RIGHT Republicans, I wonder if they have any political "common sense".
5
I am afraid comparing former vice-pesident's and Hunter Biden's behaviour and actions to Trump's, his family's and Jared Kushner's behaviour will just widen the divide between Democrats and Republicans and hence, this should be a non starter. It does not get us anywhere. Yes, the optics of Hunter Biden's behaviour and actions are bad, however he publicly admitted his mistakes and takes corrective action while we have not seen such behaviour from Trump or his family and not Jared Kushner either. We all should just take a deep breath and avoid actions that divide us even more that is NOT to say that honest debates should be avoided, on the contrary, they may be helpful as long as they are conducted with civility and respectfully.
Classic Doublespeak ...
“I gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father,” he said. “That’s where I made the mistake. So I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever.”
1
So if nothing was tawdry about this I guess any mediocre lawyer could have waltzed into Ukraine and without any discernibly relevant experience landed a part-time gig sitting on the board of an unsavory energy firm for $600,000 a year. It sure beats driving an Uber. Joe Biden sat there and watched it happen, with checks coming in for years. How do you beat the Trumps with ethics like that? It's too late for Joe to make amends. He never even said he was sorry.
5
That Junior sees no "ethical lapse" in using his family name to secure positions in businesses in the Ukraine and China, with the implicit understanding that his name will provide access to his father's world and contacts in DC, with advantage to these foreign businesses is either astoundingly naive or repulsively disingenuous--that is, an ethical lapse if ever there was one. That Senior continues to represent himself as a stand-up ethical good guy while countenancing and perhaps encouraging his son's manipulations of the name they share is also repulsive. It may not be illegal, and it may not be of Trumpian porportions, but it says a lot about (and not favorably) Biden Senior's character that he has mentored his son this way
16
@sw "That Junior sees no "ethical lapse" in using his family name to secure positions in businesses ... is either astoundingly naive or repulsively disingenuous-"
Which Junior did you have in mind?
We need bi-partisan support for a bill to be passed that would prohibit anyone in all three branches of government from profiting from their public service, including foreign and domestic lobbying gigs, stock grants, speaking fees, book deals or any other business activity that stemmed from their time in office. It is time for ex Presidents, VPs, cabinet members and members of Congress (and their families) to end the corrupt gravy train that begins when your public service ends.
13
I noticed that you only covered former politicians.
I do hope that your omission about the current President and his family members profiting off of his Presidency was not on purpose.
@Manish
Trump has LOST a billion while in office.
How much does everyone here lose for the privilege of working?
@Manish
Not at all...if Trump truly believes in ‘draining the swamp’, he will sign this bill into law.
Let’s be realistic it was ‘pay to play’. Illegal but problematic. Are we also to believe that son did not mention to father the $50,000 per month for doing nothing to earn it??????
10
I mean, JaVanka made 82 MILLION on the presidency...
The Press seems to take some sort of supposed ethical pride in writing and interviewing endlessly about acts peripheral to the lives of presidential candidates.
In the scheme of things that qualify one to be president too much attention is paid to a DNA test, to a business choice by an adult son of a candidate, Joe, Sr.'s (or any other candidate) legislative votes from 30 years ago, or using Poupon on your burger, or windsurfing....
In the history of any person there is bound to be some error in judgement that can be dug up. People grow and change their minds about issues. I know I've changed about 180 degrees since I was 50...some 35 years ago.
1
I disagree that his taking board appoints is poor judgement...what is he expected to do, change his name? Yes, the fact that he is Joe Biden's son likely had something to do with his appointment, but until it's not who you know but what you know is the law of the land don't give me the ethics argument because of jealousy. That's how the world works.
3
@Steve
And having dad call up the president of the Ukraine to fire the prosecutor investigating l'il sonny's company is the way the world works, too?
2
Trump could not have beaten Joe Biden. But now Biden is finished. So he knocked out of contention the one person Republicans were truly worried about because they felt Biden could speak the language of Joe Flyover Guy.
Now just turn Elizabeth Warren into a Communist and he has a second term. This election is going to get really ugly from here on out. But the Republicans are masters of winning ugly. Democrats? You can be sure we’ll torpedo our own candidates.
5
I suggest that the folks yelling about Hunter Biden’s lack of quals take a deep breath, look at his Wikipedia page, and stop embarassing themselves.
If you’d like to argue that this looked bad, fine. Want to say we need legislation on cronyism and revolving doors? Nifty. But this guff about how the man never done nothin’...it’s just dumb. Easier than noticing the Trumps, though, I expect.
2
It is royal that Trump of all people is going after his political opponent’s child profiting off of his last name. Just royal.
9
Can anyone imagine having Trump or his despicable and corrupt offspring admitting to "poor judging"? Hardly right? So why does Biden, he really doesn't have to.
1
With all due respect: Hunter is a liar.
4
Hunter Biden is courted by Ukraine for a whopping 600K a year in hopes that the company will get favorable treatment by the U.S. govt., at some point in the future. Is he
qualified for that salary? LOL. He is probably as qualified for the board position as Ivanka is qualified as Special Advisor to the president. This is all noise and distraction though, to the real story: Trump's "request" (extortion) of the Ukranian president to fabricate dirt for the 2020 election. That doesn't change.
1
@Steve So a law degree from Yale isn't a qualification?
Here is a man, who has been a drug addict most of his life - who is a serial philanderer - without understanding any ordinary borders in life (if you don't believe me, look up who he has had relationships with - it will surprise you). This, together with his Dad's demands's that the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating his son be fired - how come the NY Times is almost silent on this whole issue? Instead - they have totally distorted the reporting of this - and have made it seem almost normal. Sorry - but a life-long drug addict does not get $50,000 a month to sit on a board - PERIOD - unless he happens to be the Vice President of the USA's son. Time to call a spade a spade.
6
Time for Joe Biden to drop out in favor of Mike Bloomberg. About time we had a sane NYer as President. Hate to break it to you, but Elizabeth Warren will never make it to the Oval Office, no matter how 'woke' she seems.
1
Does anyone think that George W Bush and Jeb Bush didn't get ahead because of Daddy? Because W didn't come across as the sharpest tool on the box.
What about Sarah Huckabee Sanders? Didn't her father's prominence in the GOP help?
Neil Gorsuch with his family connections certainly didn't hurt.
Entry to Harvard for Jared Kushner timed well with his family donations.
Lynn Cheney had a few contacts as well, to be sure.
This isn't proof that they did anything corrupt, but these insinuations about the Biden family require similar 'confessions ' from the top of the GOP. Having a parent connection to the head of government or political parties is going to be advantageous for college admissions, internships and getting ahead.
10
I cannot fathom the lack of attention that the Trump family’s grifting gets in the media.
The Biden situation pales in comparison, and all we hear about is the Biden “scandal”.
One has to wonder why this disparity in reporting.
Does the media want to avoid upsetting the Trump base?
Maybe we would have better, and more realistic reporting if media wasn’t a “for profit” industry.
Money corrupts everything.
If anyone understands this, please enlighten us.
I agree that the situation with Hunter Biden, while being technically legal, shouldn’t happen.
It’s actually pretty disturbing.
But let’s shine a light on the obscene grifting being carried on continually by the President’s family.
6
Politics and empire building don't mix. Either you're an honest, hard working politician, accepting the salary offered and happy and passionate about working for the people who voted you in or you're not. What politicians do once out of office with the connections they have made is fine, as long as it's not illegal. Getting into politics to enrich yourself and your family is just plain wrong.
2
I think the house democrats should immediately request several years of financial information from former Vice President Biden and his family. He admitted to doing nothing illegal, however democrats should investigate to know for sure. After all, one of the main reasons house democrats are requesting financial information of President Trump and family is to determine if they are illegally exploiting the office of the presidency for personal financial gain.
2
Why do the media people keep holding Hunter Biden's toes to the fire when it has been established that he did nothing illegal in Ukraine?
The media is playing Trump's game for him.
Trump's plan was to get everyone talking -- in a NEGATIVE way -- about his political rival, Joe Biden.
And that is exactly what the media outlets and people are doing.
With all the shady business deals Donald Trump and his family have engaged in by using Trump's power as President, I would think the media might START asking questions about the Trump family's business dealings in Russia, Ukraine and China.
They could start TODAY!
7
@Lilburne
"Why do the media people keep holding Hunter Biden's toes to the fire when it has been established that he did nothing illegal in Ukraine?"
Umm, because it has NOT been established that he did nothing wrong.
1
@GMooG
"Wrong" and "illegal" are two different things.
Please define "wrong" as you apply it here.
1
I love how there is all this discussion about Hunter Biden who didn't do anything wrong (Innocent until proven guilty, I thought) and yet the Trumps are over here wheeling and dealing with foreign governments left and right and everyone is fine with it.
5
I’m tired of seeing politicians’ kids. It’s like bring your kid to work day everyday lately.
3
Let's not make this about the Bidens. Thats what Trump wants. But given that he is the pot here, much more dangerously set to boil over, focussing on what may or may not be a kettle because Trump insists it is, is a distraction.
When laws change, evaluate Hunter Biden's future behavior.
Until then, this is a nothing burger.
2
How is this an issue but not Ivanka's and Jared's roles in the administration? What are their salaries, job descriptions, qualifications for those roles, etc? What are Don Jr and Eric doing to ensure no similar conflicts? (They're not.)
On an unrelated note, I assume Ben Stiller is rehearsing for SNL spoof of Hunter Biden interview.
5
Now that Credit Card Joe's campaign is tanking he's reduced to making one political blunder after another : when you're in a hole the last thing to do is dig. So how do you get out ? More to the point, how did you get in ?
3
Scranton, there is a problem. Biden's carefully crafted working class schtick appears to be a dissolving hollow mannequin. Cozy nepotistic perches way afield of experience remind me of another greedy gilded grifter, et al. It's Downton Abbey American Style. It will be curious tonight in the democratic debates to see if anyone has the clear-headed gravitas to state the obvious and scorch the thicket of the privileged that trump the system.
4
If Trump is to be brought down by his lack of ethics, it will be more difficult by a factor to do it if his opponent is Joe Biden. Making distinctions between what is ethical and what is legal, at a time when a lot of what is unethical is nonetheless legal, is asking voters to make some difficult judgments. And Trump has already moved directly into attack-dog mode (gee, is he ever in any other mode?). As has been asked elsewhere: Is Joe Biden the hill you want to die on? He needs to get out of the race; "Our guy is less unethical than their guy" is not a great campaign slogan.
26
@Bunk McNulty Trump will besmirch anyone he sees as a threat. Asking Joe to step aside won’t solve anything.
Hunter didn't break the law. His judgment is questionable, but that is true of 99.9 % of the people connected to Washington/politics.
Obama should have never sent Joe Biden to Ukraine with his son's involvement in Ukraine.
Biden should have never asked to have the Ukrainian Prosecutor fired.
Biden was the wrong man for the job. Terrible Judgement.
3
@P&L
But did JOE Biden "break the law" when he coerced the Ukraine president to fire the prosecutor investigating government corruption in Hunter Biden's company?
Clearly he did.
3
The difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans don’t have a purity test for their candidates; they will elect a guy like Donald Trump as president. Democrats, on the other hand, are so pure that we can’t live with The miss deeds of hunter Biden. And so while all the Republicans are circling the wagons around Donald Trump we Democrats have ordered a firing squad for Joe Biden. 
And that’s why the Republicans control all the state legislatures and the Senate and the executive branch. They don’t care that their guy is a con man and gangster. They just want that tax cut and conservative Supreme Court Justice that will overturn Roe V Wade. The Democrats want their candidates to be angels. 
32
@Oliver Tell me about the purity test on Bill and Hillary and their Whitewater deal.
4
@Oliver Democrats keep taking a pocket knife to a gun fight and wonder why they keep losing. Biden's son got the job only because of his father, it's obvious.
2
@Matt The deal that Starr and the GOP spent years and tens of millions of taxpayer money investigating, and found NO wrong-doing except Bill lying about a consensual extramarital affair? THAT Whitewater? Yeah, we remember the wasted effort and $$$ led by the radicals who took over the GOP.
3
Regardless of what you think about Hunter Biden or the fact that he's a symptom of a much larger problem, this debate is just playing into Trump's hands. He didn't actually need to find anything in Ukraine - the insinuation was enough. Democrats should defend anyone Trump attacks, just like they should vote for whoever gets the nomination. This isn't a philosophical exercise.
4
I would ask Hunter Biden, why resign from your position now if this has all been just a misunderstanding, and not an ethical lapse or error in judgement?
5
@J House
True.
The Trump family is doing far worse, and you know they couldn’t care less what anyone thinks.
3
Now you see why they spend millions to get jobs that pay $150,000.00.
If what Bidens did is not bribery, what is.
The Trump kids have been involved in multimillion dollar ventures long before dad even thought about running for President.
5
It might be worthwhile publishing an accounting of the amounts of money that the trump kids vs Hunter raked in from foreign sources while their father was in the WH. It would not legitimize anything but it would put the issue in a clear perspective.
2
The sad part of this is that Joe Biden is virtually faultless in this controversy because his son is an adult and nobody else is responsible for this actions. I'm not supposed to vote for Joe because Hunter arguably acted improperly? Getouttahere.
The other sad part is that the Trump family, and Trump himself in particular, have exceeded this alleged misconduct by a hundred-fold, and yet the focus is entirely on the Bidens. This is yet another instance of Trump projecting his faults onto others and the MSM taking the bait to help him focus public attention elsewhere.
4
@RunDog
"Joe Biden is virtually faultless."
- what planet are you on? Joe Biden coerced (extortion is a better word) Ukraine president to fire the prosecutor who was investigating government corruption with Burisma, the company that paid Hunter Biden millions!
Talk about quid pro quo!
1
@99percent -- Planet Earth, space cadet. You obviously have not been keeping up. That prosecutor was not investigating Burisma; whatever investigation that had been conducted to date was concluded or suspended with no evidence of wrongdoing. There was a call for removing the prosecutor from many directions other than the U.S. because he was not pursuing corruption aggressively enough. So, Biden's efforts to help remove him and have him replaced with someone who would pursue corruption more aggressively was, if anything, a negative for Burisma and, by association, his son Hunter if there was any wrongdoing to uncover. SMH
1
C’mon, how did his son get positions like that? It doesn’t rise to the level of Trump’s Ukrainian phone call but such poor judgement and hubris taking on a job like that with no qualifications. Again as always, wealth, privilege, and power.
@E Have you checked Hunter Biden's qualifications? Take a moment...I'll wait.
The Bidens are probably guilty of household level nepotism: but the Trumps have cornered the market on the industrial strength formulation.
3
"but that has not stopped Mr. Trump and other Republicans from raising questions about possible conflicts of interest"
"Raising questions" is a journalistic euphemism for the unqualified, unsupported and frequently blatantly false accusations made by Trump about former Vice President Biden and his son. Like the accusation that VP Biden "bragged" about "stopping" a prosecution--the exact opposite of the truth.
3
I don’t see Hunter Biden doing anything different than any other celebrity children. I turn on NBC Today show and see Jenna Bush. I can watch The View and see Abby Huntsman. These are just the ones that we see. How many other celebrity children get great jobs because of their last name and connections. This is another example of a college type scandal. I will say that Trump is calling the kettle black. Anyone who digs deep will see unethical behavior with the Trump clan.
4
It’s a simple question. Was he qualified for the board position on his own merit and qualifications?
If yes. Great
If no - it’s corruption. Might be legal, but it stinks
Fortunately I prefer the Ms Warren so this is all great news
5
How does Hunter Biden’s overseas employment compare with what the Trump brothers are doing. And Ivanka. And Jared. Why don’t we hear about the ethics of those situations?
4
The more the Bidens speak out on this, the more Trump wins with his vicious, lying spin. Yes, Hunter Biden probably made a mistake in optics by sitting on a foreign board. He has said that and vowed not to do it again if his father is president.
But where is the outrage about the Trump children? Their father is currently president, yet they are doing deals all over the world and their father is actively involved. That's the real outrage.
2
@Barbara
You miss the big issue here: Joe Biden forced the Ukraine president to fire the Ukraine prosecutor who was investigating Hunter Biden's company.
2
@99percent That theory has been discounted. The prosecutor was fired before Hunter Biden was on the board.
1
@99percent
That is an inaccurate statement. Biden was representing President Obama and the EU when he did this openly, at a time when his son's firm was not being investigated. The prosecutor, not a trained attorney, was failing to cut corruption.
1
How is this any different than what Trump’s children (or any children of wealthy, famous parents) enjoy? This is why the democrats are going to be in serious trouble when competing against Trump. Do you see any of the Trumps apologizing for using / abusing their position of power to their own benefit? Please...unless Dems get tougher they will be slaughtered. They are playing against a master of dishonesty, deflection and distraction.
3
Didn’t you guys learn your lesson with Robert Mueller, who showed his age before the entire country at the congressional hearings? Biden will be the same. Trump will drink his milk shake. He’ll drink it up.
6
It's not just a cushy job because of your dad. It's U.S. foreign policy if your dad is running our policy in those countries. We cannot allow to investigate our foreign policy.
1
What Biden's son did is nothing compared to what Trump's sons are doing now and what Trump himself is doing, exploiting the Presidency for personal gain and profits.
1
The vast majority of Americans -- of all political stripes -- earn an honest living. We do not grub for speaking fees and board seats from questionable patrons. We do not flirt with conflicts of interest or test the limits of ethics law. We are too proud to ask our parents for nepotism and too honest to cheat for our children. None of this is special or praise-worthy: it's just how normal people live their lives.
Is it too much to ask that our politicians be normal too?
41
@Sam Our military should be normal too. James Mattis rushed onto the board of the fake blood testing company Theranos whose CEO is now charged with fraud. He was pushing to have the military use the technology which was a scam but he was paid well for his position on the board.
4
@Sam is Captain Sully Sullenberger grubbing for speaking fees? How about special forces hero Marcus Luttrell? How about an athlete? What about someone who survives a misadventure? Speaking fees are paid all the time to all sorts of people with all kinds of backgrounds. Give me a break with this purity test.
2
Biden’s job was exactly like the union no-show jobs that the mob gets on big projects. They collect a check but no work is done. Shameful!
8
And you know this how?
The image of the son of a well connected politician enjoying business opportunities that stem from his father is contrary to the principles of American egalitarianism. We need to be undertaking serious investigations of the Trump children and their families to see just what boundaries have been crossed and what laws have been broken.
12
That must be why we never had two Presidents named Adams, Roosevelt or Bush.
1
Let me paraphrase an old idiom, 'People associated with public figures, like Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. Given the huge amounts of money that Hunter Biden received in Ukraine, and in view of his complete lack of prior knowledge of the ways of that country before he went there, the entire episode stinks and is a stain on both the father and the son. No amount of explaining can excuse that. Biden needs to remove himself from the presidential race.
13
Oh please. Of course the only reason that Hunter Biden got on any of those boards was because of his father. Don't insult our intelligence. To stay no those boards is even worse. Are we supposed to do a jig because Hunter will resign IF his dad becomes president? Why not resign now? I agree, this does make both Bidens look bad. But it isn't even the ONLY time. Why doesn't ABC news or the NYTimes do a story on Hunter's job with the credit card industry while his father was doing wrong to consumers with the so-called bankruptcy reform? Why is this interview airing now? Just a few hours before the debate? It seems like the Bidens are getting a pass.
12
Every story about Biden’s grown kids should include information about Trump’s grown kids.
15
There was no “ethical lapse”.... according to Hunter Biden. But your typical American voter may see it otherwise. I do
16
Sorry, but Hunter Biden came off as a blabbering idiot in spite of the softball questions tossed to him by ABC's Amy Robach. He even admitted that he wouldn't have gotten his high paying positions hadn't his last name had been Biden and it wasn't because his dad was an astute businessman either; he was the Vice President of the United States!
15
Well if Hunter Biden says so...
4
Please contact me when it is confirmed that Hunter Biden has been caught shooting someone on Fifth Ave. in New York City.
Otherwise, put him in a corner with the trump children and don't let them come out and play.
What next? Bengahzi?
5
Excuse me, but look at Trumps kids...I mean really look at them and what they are doing and have done and get away with. It's like the pot calling the kettle black....Biden's son maybe shouldn't have been put in that position, but I don't believe he did anything illegal while holding that position.....
7
‘Put in that position’. Grown man put himself in that position. Knew he did not have the skill set to be given (not earned) $50,000 per month. It was strictly pay to play.
2
@Betsy Trump's kids are NOT life long drug addicts - they are not sitting on foreign boards while their father is in the Whitehouse - any job at the Whitehouse is unpaid. There is NO valid comparison.
I am shocked that Hunter Biden did not admit "ethical lapse" !
And I am shocked Joe Biden did not acknowledge "ethical lapse" for forcing the Ukraine president to fire the prosecutor that was investigating corruption in the Ukraine gas company that paid Hunter $600,000/year !
And I am shocked that NYT/WAPO/MSNBC/CNN don't investigate the Bidens rather than support them !
12
Ya know what? I'll take Hunter Biden's word over Trump's any day. Any day and every day.
7
Why did they hire you, Hunter? Is there an innocent answer?
9
@RobertSF
Yes, of course there is an innocent answer. Here it is:
Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, was looking to add some diversity to its board. Up until then, the board was comprised of leading professionals who had experience with the Ukraine in general, and energy in particular.
However, Burisma felt a need to diversify the points of view represented by the BoD members. So, by adding Hunter, they became more diverse and inclusive by adding the following points of view:
- drug addicts
- alcoholics
-veterans dishonorably discharged for cocaine use
- deadbeat dads
-guys who sleep with their dead brother's wife
And to think they only had to hire one guy to represent all these diverse view points. I don't know about you, but I am impressed!!
20th Century Joe and offspring are clueless as to the “appearance” of white male entitlement and nepotism.
Amtrak Joe’s son sat on the board of Amtrak.
Illegal, no. Arrogant and entitled, yes.
14
I’d add Amtrak is a disgrace of a train company, unless you happen to live in the NE corridor. Here in California most anyplace you go in California “by train” requires you ride an Amtrak bus.
Some commenters say that the son of a potential President of the US accepting a sinecure from a foreign fossil fuel corporation is neither illegal nor unethical and is in fact "normal".
Given that fossil fuel induced climate change is perhaps the major threat to our planet, it is of extreme concern that someone so close to the potential POTUS is being paid to promote gas burning.
If the scion were to tilt the environmental policies of the president more in favor of greenhouse gas emissions, that would not only unethical but deleterious and perhaps out and out immoral. Sinecures for the rich and well connected may not be illegal or abnormal but they should be.
2
Well, Joe Biden has lost my support. After listening to him over the last few months, I don't feel that he's up for the run.
And his son should and could make his own way in the world without Dad, just as most of the the rest of us do.
And the rest of us don't start at $50K a month at any job, with no experience.
70
@Quandry "And his son should and could make his own way in the world without Dad, just as most of the the rest of us do."
Are you kidding? Most kids get some kind of boost from their parents when their parents are able to give it. You're not making sense.
"And the rest of us don't start at $50K a month at any job, with no experience."
Welcome to business as usual on Earth for, oh, thousands of years. Scions of the wealthy or powerful get sinecures, or even better when they actually have documented experience and ability. It's not always a corruption thing, or it doesn't have to be, unless mere privilege is to be considered corruption. The more a society is oligarchical, which capitalism lends itself to, the more it happens. Deal with it.
8
@Quandry Oh, come on. Let’s just ignore what’s happening in the current White House with flagrant nepotism, and look at other former presidents. Amy Carter went to Brown; Chelsea Clinton went to Stanford; Malia Obama is at Harvard; George W Bush went to Yale. Some may have made it into these schools on their own merit, but their family connection probably helped, don’t you think? We could go on. Of course these kids have advantages. So do the children of CEOs and investment bankers and Secretaries of this and that in the government and Senators. Should we do more to level the playing field? Absolutely. But I don’t think it does our country any good to change the rules on Joe Biden and Hunter Biden at this crucial point in our country’s history when Biden has so much to offer us as a leader. Biden’s son’s business doesn’t seem worthy of being a deal breaker.
5
@Quandry You’d turn down $50,000 per month if it was perfectly legal? Really? What about just long enough to pay off your mortgage? Or your medical bills, or kid’s college, or .....
3
Are we suggesting that if someone has a famous parent they are supposed to crawl into a barrel and not come out until that parent has been dead for a decade?
All children benefit from and get opportunities based on their parents status/ knowledge/ connections. Are we only going to ban that for children of politicians or will we expand it to entertainment and business (those kids have an even easier time exploiting their parents fame and connections).
The focus should be on the actually elected person. Did he or did he not put his own or his children's/family's financial gain above the duties of the elected office.
Amazing how the Trump distraction machine has moved the spotlight from him and his children's violations of ethics AND LAW to an ethical misjudgment by one of the former Vice-Presidents son's. This is not unlike the bothsiderism that make supposedly serious new organizations give equal time to climate change scientist and climate change deniers.
11
@Ivan
Don't compromise your morals because you hate Trump. Trump facilitating his children's businesses is unethical and so was Biden's.
1
@Pat
Don't compromise your ability to think logically just because you desperately want to excuse Trump and his children by equating what Biden's son did with the criminal acts of Trump and his family. Strong-arming anybody who want to do business with our country into staying at a Trump hotel is graft and breaking our laws. Nothing Hunter Biden and his father actually did comes even close to breaking the law (discounting the unsubstantiated rumors spreed by Fox).
1
The real problem is not Hunter Biden, but Donald and Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner who all all engaged in major "ethical lapses" including Donald's overt violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause. They have been raking in tens of millions of dollars from their hotels, resorts, and various brands in other countries that are well beyond "'poor judgment,'" but put our national security at risk, as their extensive holdings in Turkey indicate are much more than " a little conflict of interest" as Mr. Trump publicly admitted. They are the real "malefactors of great wealth," not the Bidens. To focus on the Bidens is to fall for the old Trump misdirection, "what about.." routine. It's time to investigate the Trumps and their questionable greed and self-dealing that are corrupting our foreign policy and our national security.
11
I guess if my daddy had set me up in cushy high paying jobs around the world I wouldn’t feel ethically compromised either. accidents of birth are always a nice thing unless they’re not. I for example was dropped off at an orphanage. At least it was American and at least it was shelter and three squares. But man, did I make use of publically funded education (which now is said to be a socialist plot to take rightful resources from the ultra wealthy). And I struggle as a doctor to keep my doors open because the Bidens of the world threw a few insurance crumbs to the poor masses and those crummy plans cost more to administer from a small office than they pay. I feel so sad for little Hunter.
6
It would have been the same story if Hunter Biden would have been on any American corporation board of directors.
Does it mean that all relatives need to stop working because the father, mother, brother, sister etc is an electoral official.
There is a big difference between nepotism and someone who works for a private corporation.
2
If the wives and children of every elected or public official in the US were examined, to say nothing of the wealthy, I am fairly confident the research would show that they all had privileges and opportunities opened to them that are not available to other citizens. Look at the Kennedy family, Bush family, and, oh yes, the Trump family. To conflate this automatically with corruption isn't fair. It's merely reality.
It is right out of the Trump playbook to put it out there that the Bidens are corrupt with no evidence whatsoever. People just assume, based on his position and their bias, that he is credible. It is patently obvious at this point that nothing could be further from the truth. Or unethical.
5
I watched the interview. These are my questions. What exactly does the board of a Ukrainian gas company do and how effective was Hunter Biden in his role. Were the other directors paid the same salary? was he hired for his rich rolodex of business and society connections? He's an attorney. Was he advising on business loopholes or business opportunities? Would this be a story if the salary was $85k/year?
3
It is hard to believe that Hunter Biden didn't discuss the appointment in Ukraine with his father prior to accepting it. If he did then it shows poor judgment on both their behalves. And more than that it demonstrates the type of nepotism and elitism many of us deplore. How will it play in the rust belt when Trump goes into attack mode?
7
It was extremely unethical for the son of a sitting Veep to seek and accept remuneration and equity investments from Ukraine and China, even as Biden was point person to address the corruption there. Furthermore it puts a stain on Obama’s pristine ethical legacy and now drags us all into his morass for our next election. Such an unethical person with access to the media just because of his father’s status is the last person to opine on his own moral character. It’s time for such entitled people to be publicly excoriated in the real press.
However, Trump is a Manchurian President putting us all at risk to corrupt ends and should be impeached and removed from office.
I believe Elizabeth Warren would be the best democratic candidate to face Pence in 2020 - she offers policies, intellect, and fighting spirit that are light years ahead of him, not to mention a refreshingly ethical character. Warren would beat Pence hands down next year.
5
@domplein2 Trump wants Warren to run, his machismo followers will never vote for a woman and her policies on illegal immigrants will sink the Democrats.
I would like to know Hunter Biden 's educational background, work history and what qualifies him for being on the board for an gas company. Now being involved in a private equity investment firm in China? It seems the only qualification for being in equity investments or hedge funds is the ability to be a vulture, scam people out of money and invest your money that does the most harm to societies across the globe.
The swamp is passed down to the next generations of elitists and many of them did not work for their riches
10
I think this is a distraction to the 2020 election. The Democrats need to focus on electing the best candidate and defeating the President. This endless discussion of Biden and his son distracts.
5
Mr. Biden, I’m a lifelong Democrat and this sickens me. In the context of arms-length dealings from your father, judgement and ethics are the same thing and you behavior compares to Donald Trumps children. Take responsibility for your actions.
9
Jimmy Carter sold the farm to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Let's set that as the standard.
Hunter Biden came in on his dad's muddied coat tails... nobody said entitlement had to be easy.
Neither Biden or Trump make my list.
8
Sorry, it may not be illegal but it is sleazy. I only wish the president's supporters would hold the same standards to Trump and his children. It's not like Joe Biden gave his son a security clearance he could not otherwise obtain. Now that's super-sleazy (and should be illegal).
10
The Bidens sadly are in serious studied ignorance of ethical principles. They have created the appearance of a conflict of interest --- actually a real conflict of interest. Here, when the Bidens say they didn't discuss matters, the public has no way of knowing whether that's true. It won't do to say, as your story does, that Trump's accusation is unsubstantiated: Trump does not have to substantiate this accusation. The burden is on the parties who have a monopoly on the key information: they must disprove the obvious suspicions that arise in these circumstances. Nor will it do to say that Trump has his own ethical issues. That is evident, and irrelevant to the Bidens situation. i'm sorry to realize that Joe must go under as long as he refuses to recognize his burden. Sad too, because he probably never will. Joe's apologists had better take the objective, ethical view.
7
The Trump kids commit worse acts of corruption everyday. They travel around the world making self-serving deals that would never happen if daddy were not president. But nobody cares. Why? Because they don't stop, don't back down, don't admit, don't apologize.
I hate to say it, but I think in this current climate it is a political mistake for Mr. Biden to leave the boards, even though it might be ethically correct.
5
Anyone get the feeling this country has lost its soul?
4
Readers who throw this back at Trump
are satisfied as long as Dems are corrupt. They want all the spoils for themselves. It’s wrong for all politicians. Can’t they see this? Guess not.
3
Biden and Biden needed to own and shut this thing down weeks ago. The delay pretty much sinks the candidate.
4
I don't think $50,000 is big money to pay a son of the U.S. vice president even if the dad knows nothing about the son's job.
@areader it was $50,000 a MONTH and the trouble is the son HIMSELF knew nothing about the job.
3
@areader
Really? You do realize that it was $50k/mo, right?
2
The distinctions here are between what a prior century (the late 1800s) called soft graft and hard graft or corruption. (See the history of Boss Tweed.). We need to move our standards and the Bidens, father and son, have been too accepting of “the way things have been done.” Hunter in particular stopped short of saying “I’m an idiot” but not by much.
Two wrongs do not make a right but it is my my view that for any non-closed mind their is a clear understanding that the Trump family offenses are More than the Biden family ones.
2
Mr. Biden seems to be confused about what is ethical, what is moral, and what is legal. He would be well advised to stick to discussing the legality of his actions, since the legality has been tilted in his favor by greedy, shameless politicians.
3
When it’s Trump’s children working abroad or with foreigners—like the infamous Trump Tower meeting with Russians—and there are ethical lapses, it’s ‘fake news.’ When it’s anyone else’s kid working with foreign entities it’s ‘corruption.’ The Democrats need to just lambast Trump’s own nonsense as fake news. He just makes things up to take control of the news cycle.
2
The question is what was the explicit or implicit quid pro quo that Joe Biden agreed to based on Hunter Biden getting this position.
You can say all you want that Hunter is an independent human being. If that is so, why was somebody paying him for a job he would never have gotten other than his father being VP? In other words, people do not pay for nothing. And since he had no skills that the board could have used, the something must have been something else.
Hunter is trying to say it was sort of for show. The “Biden name”. Nonsense. Ukrainians aren’t stupid.
Was it just implicit? Maybe. But let's look into it. After all he did not go on the board of an Italian company - that would have been conflict enough. But Joe was tasked with being the point man on Ukraine. This appointment reeks of intention. And Ukraine of all places? With all due respect, it's a backwater.
This smells. And don't change the subject by introducing Trump into the debate. That's a separate issue. This is about Joe Biden. Not even about Hunter Biden, he was just a tool. Joe Biden. What went down?
Maybe nothing. Let's take a look though. "If the Bidens did nothing wrong, what are they afraid of"? If that question works as applied to Trump, it works equally well applied to Biden.
10:46 am EST Tue
6
@John Xavier III
The same applies to China, by the way. "Not really a competitor" according to Joe Biden. Really? Maybe they became a non-competitor after Hunter went to China with Joe on Air Force Two.
1
Rich white trust fund babies cashing in on a family name is as American as apple pie. Here’s looking at you Rand Paul and Mitt Romney, Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Franklin Graham, and the Koch Bros. to name just a few.
3
I think he meant to say, “... when Daddy becomes president...”
2
Jared Kushner is put in charge of Middle East policy by Trump. That is a paid position of which he knows nothing. Oh right, he’s Jewish. That should qualify him. Then he cozy ups to the Saudis. Oh look what turned up. A loan from the Kingdom to help steady bad real estate choices in NYC made by Kushner.
Ivanka, has a paid position as a White House advisor too. What does she know? She knows she can illicit good trade deals for her baubles and trinkets that are manufactured in China. Travels with Dad and sits in at times as a proxy for her lazy, disinterested father with major world leaders. I’m feeling more secure now. Aren’t you?
Then there is Eric and Don Jr. What skills and abilities do they bring to any enterprise? Oh right. They work in the private sector for Dad currying favor for Trump projects with major international investors.
It’s all a big joke on us. Welcome to the bizarro world we have all become engulfed in.
Bring on the Trump impeachment so we can all see what corruption is writ huge, er large.
6
Keep telling us what a good son you are and did no wrong. Sounds like Hillary and her e-mails.
7
Hunter Biden pproaches his"mistakes" like his father does consistently. No ethocal lapses. Never admit you did wrong. (Father: Anita Hill, iraq, plagiarism, etc.) Stunning.
5
Watching Democrats practice Whataboutism is always fun. Pass the popcorn. Cue up the debates.
4
Hunter, ssometimes it’s best to keep your mouth shut. This seems like one of those times.
5
Joe Biden should have a battle with Donald Trump about whose kids benefit the most from nepotism. 
6
I’d watch that.
1
Hunter you are right it's not an ethic lapse, because you have to have some ethics in the first place and it clear you always lack any ethics. Did you not think of how or why you got those jobs? It's because of your daddy and his position and took advantage of that.
It's clear that are so called leaders from both parties have a problem with morals and ethics, it just a mad rush to line your pockets with as much gold as you can.
5
It is a hard and fast rule the world over that connections are valuable. There are times when who we know gets us further than what we know. Whether it's a job at the local ice cream store or a federal clerkship, personal connections matter.
I have my present job simply because I knew somebody. I was talented and very good at what I did, but having a connected person repeatedly put my name forward was what made the difference between getting an interview and my resume hitting the circular filing cabinet. Let's stop acting as if this isn't the case. And, unless you are breaking specific laws are ethical rules there's nothing wrong with using your connections to get ahead.
3
@Gail
No. You can be sure that the Ukrainians believe they bought the US VP by giving his son multi millions. Impossible that Joe Biden didn't know the Ukrainians thought that so why did he allow it unless he wanted the money?
I see no comparison with your situation.
2
there is something ethically wrong if you mean selling name and high office to troubled countries
1
Look, I don't think I've done anything wrong. That should be good enough for everybody else. And, a life of privilege and connections? What's wrong? Doesn't everyone have that?
There's nothing uniquely American here. This is the mindset of the elite, globally.
14
Hunter Biden, like many Americans, has struggled with alcohol and drug abuse. His difficult journey to sobriety and his love for America and respect for his father and the office of president were the interview highlights.
@nolongeradoc
As another poster mentioned-- connections are how things get DONE. If your friends mom is the manager at the local farm stand, you might well get a summer job there. If you happen to have gone to college with someone who is a bigwig at a widget co, you might get a job as a financial widget whiz. Should every job be filled blind, on the basis of paper descriptions of ones accomplishments? It's what you DO with those jobs thats important.
2
The likely result of Joe Biden running for President will be a Trump landslide. The $50,000 per month will be thought of as a bribe. The fact is that the second Ukraine prosecutor dropped the charges against Hunter's company with Joe Biden our VP and Hunter continuing to get the big money.
Democrats need to think and not put up another losing candidate. A second Trump term is a real risk to American values and ideals.
14
@Joe Canepa
"The fact is that the second Ukraine prosecutor dropped the charges against Hunter's company with Joe Biden our VP and Hunter continuing to get the big money"
What will give Trump the second term is that people like you call such a blatant set of lies for "fact". Our general population is ignorant and easy too manipulate. The majority are willing to take and discard information with no effort at all to how trustworthy it is - and they will call it "fact" if it supports their favorite narrative. Trump and his side are masters of these types of cons and manipulations whereas the Democrats always are held back by ethics concerns. That is why Trump will beat them.
1
@Joe Canepa More likely the Trump campaign was thinking that Biden was the only leading candidate among the Democrats that is centrist enough to attract enough independents and defeat Trump. If they could knock Biden out of contention, the rest of Democratic field could be portrayed as too "socialist" to be President. And if Biden somehow survives and wins the nomination, well Hunter (and Joe's frequent gaffes) are the gifts that keeps on giving.
3
"Many Democratic strategists and officials have warned that the scrutiny on the Biden family has become a significant distraction for the former vice president, and poses perhaps the greatest threat yet to a candidacy that until recent weeks was well ahead in the polls
"....And Trump and his defenders claim that this is not a "thing of value," and therefore not a federal campaign finance violation. Yeah right.
2
Again the media is doing trump's bidding putting the focus entirely on the Bidens. Their actions have been investigated intensely and nothing was found.
Meanwhile the trump kids run around the world cashing in on their daddy being president. You can bet every deal carries an unspoken and, maybe, sometimes spoken quid pro quo. These actions get almost no coverage.
10
Unfortunately, Trump’s son and son in law have been involved in Trump’s businesses for many years. They have experience with dealing with the problems of getting facilities approved. Hunter Biden had zero experience in the energy field but got a high paying job with the Ukraine government while his daddy was Vice President. Likewise, Hunter got a lucrative job with the Chinese.
It takes time for all of the hearings, NIMBY complaints, environmental issues, traffic issues, women’s business, small business, and minority business qualification of contractors, insurance etc. to go through. Everyone has to be taken care of.
Trump’s son and son in law have been negotiating the approval process for years.
Locally a small redevelopment project has been debated, modified, debated, and modified again for over two years and still is not approved. Why do people think that Trump projects started in 2014 and finally approved in 2017 are different? No new Trump projects have been started since Trump became President.
@Richard Wright
Jared has been given some very large loans to help him out.
Ivanka has received trademarks in China.
Last month, the Trump family business received approval from a local government in Scotland for a major expansion of its golf resort near Aberdeen, marking the largest real estate development financed by the Trump Organization since the 2016 election.
In August, President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr., flew to Jakarta to help kick-start sales at a pair of Trump-branded luxury resorts planned for Indonesia. He appeared at a private event with wealthy prospective buyers and joined his politically connected billionaire Indonesian business partner at a news conference.
And last year, Donald Jr. visited India to sell condos at future Trump-branded towers, appearing at an event that also featured India’s prime minister.
1
@Richard Wright What was the lucrative job in China and do you have proof of it?
Hunter Biden was paid nothing for his service as a director for the Chinese company and has yet to make a profit from his 2017 purchase of a 10 percent stake in that company, which he said is worth $430,000.
I guess he shouldn't have purchased a stake in that company but I didn't know that wasn't ethical.
As I said the trumps are running around the world cashing in. Countries, like Indonesia, know if you want anything from trump, you have to pay in some way.
We get the "leaders" whom we choose and we deserve: nothing more and nothing less. The people in the news are not the problem, they are a symptom. The problem is us, and who have become, or maybe we always were; but mostly I think, who we have stopped at least trying to be. Remember the old saying: "I wish I could be the person whom my dog thinks i am"? Too many of us have dropped the effort of trying to be that person. - C
3
There is a difference between an act being illegal and its being unethical. The Bidens do not seem to understand this difference. JB’s candidacy is flawed on many grounds, but this one may sink him - with good reason. Please, Democrats, don’t let him be your flag-bearer. Trump needs to be defeated and Biden is not the guy to do it.
10
Yes, it doesn't look good, yada, yada, yada.... Children of powerful and influential families always benefit from said power and influence. That's life. I don't care what Hunter did and how much he got paid whether he deserved it or not, as long as it was legal. Hunter wasn't even on the board when the company had been investigated. The fact that he resigned from the Chinese company board only demonstrates that he wants to eliminate a conflict of interest, albeit a bit late, which is better than never.
What I care about is defeating Trump, and currently, only Biden can do it because he is a centrist. The progressive agenda will write the republican ad campaign for free:
1) Democrats will decriminalize illegal border crossings and allow illegals to invade the country.
2) Democrats will raise your taxes to give free health care to illegals.
3) Democrats will raise your taxes to force you on government insurance and take your private insurance away.
4) Democrats will raise your taxes for free college
and on and on.
We need independents and moderates in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, at a minimum for 270 electoral votes. They will hold their nose and vote for Trump because they will reject this agenda.
9
There are several centrist with their hats in the ring, Klobuchar, Bennet, Bullock, who would make excellent nominees. Biden is only the most visible, thanks in part to the bias towards front runners in the debate formats. Maybe tonight’s debate will be more even handed.
@Weave
I agree. I hope these other centrists will getmore exposure. I don't like the fact that they had to meet certain criteria. 12 on the stage is ludicrous. It should be spaces over several days with fewer candidates.
Except for the very large glaring ethical lapse of having taken the work in the first place.
8
So much breathless tut-tutting from shocked Republicans and disappointed Democrats. How about checking in with a bit of reality:
1) Whether or not Hunter Biden's actions were "unethical" (no evidence of anything but dubious appearances resulted from his seat on the board at Burisma) what responsibility for those actions should rest with his father? (Answer: None.)
2) Hunter is a private citizen. Which legal restrictions on the behavior, associations, and business agreements of a private citizen would be appropriate, just because that citizen is the offspring of a public office holder? (Answer: None. )
3) What possible authority could the US have over Ukrainian or Chinese firms that choose to hire the son of a US official? (Answer: None)
Get over it folks. The rich and connected, and their families, always get plum jobs and cushy arrangements. This is a distraction from much bigger issues.
5
@Jeff G
There was nothing stopping Joe Biden from making a public statement that he did not like how it looked for his son to have that gig. "See no evil" is a bad excuse.
@Ginger It's no "excuse" at all. Joe has nothing to be "excused" over. He didn't do anything wrong.
Illegal, no. Unethical, yes. Greedy, spoiled brat, yes. What exactly does Hunter think he has been doing other than playing with money and undercutting his father's career? It is very sad, and I'll bet Joe wishes his son had pursued a different path. Perhaps the only good thing that comes out of this is that this whole debacle clears the way for Elizabeth Warren to win the primary and become our next president.
5
Sorry, I don't get it.
Why is the NYTs putting out articles like this when they have not on the "Trump Kids"?
No Biden is the president.
No Biden is the son of a president.
No Biden is married to the president's daughter.
Was this "poor judgment"?
Sorry, but I don't recall the Times saying that Mitt Romney was displaying "poor judgment" when he was running his hedge fund for the Chinese.
This country has had over 4 years to investigate the Trump's: The father, the daughter, the sons and the sons-in-law.
No one has greater connections to Ukraine or China.
Hunter Biden?
Not even close.
And my choice is Warren, but this smells of Trumpism.
Only one year left to register to vote.
14
It is great that you were able to avoid discussing how he offered racist and misogynistic remarks during his interview. And what did he actually “do” as a board member? Oh, right. That never came up.
8
Nepotism is illegal for the little people just like you and me.
If we hired family to have them benefit from our position, law suits fly.
If Joe Biden does the same, it’s all good baby ‘cos it’s legal.
The same thing happens every day in South East Asia, Latin America, Africa, Albania. And it’s also quasi legal there.
When I was a kid in Mexico every one complained about the PRI party, the party that bankrupted Mexico and remained in power for 70+ years, stealing from the treasury like it was theirs. I kept asking people why they kept voting PRI? Simple, they were hoping a friend of theirs would win the election, so they too would be given cushy jobs. They knew this was how the game rolls in Third World countries, and they all knew some one in politics that they hoped would win some day so they too could benefit from government corruption.
Just like Hunter Biden benefited from his daddy’s connection as VP and Senator, people in Mexico kept hoping ti would happen to them.
Is this the president we want, Mr ‘it’s wrong, but not illegal’?
No thanks.
10
@AutumnLeaf
Our tour guide in Lisbon Portugal last week said much the same thing about his government. It is very corrupt and "the sons get good jobs."
1
@AutumnLeaf JOE DID NOT APPOINT Hunter to anything! Trump has appointed his daughter and son-in-law to senior insider positions in the White House — THAT is NEPOTISM! Not only that, they couldn’t pass the security clearances due to their conflicts of interest, but Daddy overruled his own security experts to clear them. MORE nepotism!
Hunter Biden did nothing wrong. I'm sure Barack Obama can explain everything and defend him. We need it.
2
$50K per month, in Ukraine of all places, for being the son of the sitting Vice President at the time.
Add to it a fortune of money from China.
And he was 1000 pct qualified for both positions, right up until the story broke, right? Despite the booze, drugs, questionable taste in romantic partners, and complete lack of language skills in either place.
Drain the swamp!!
15
@Can We Get A Decent Party?
The current China position was UNPAID, please do your homework.
Correction on my reply. The carried interest is only on the profits. So, $2.5B x 2 = $5B profit x 0.2 (the carry) x 0.1 (Hunter’s share) = only $100 million to Hunter, not $150M. My mistake.
@judith loebel He has a 10% equity stake in the manager. $2.5B invested by big Chinese corporations. Assume 2X return (modest for emerging markets), that brings it up to $7.5B. 20% carry = $1.5B to the asset manager. 10% of that = $150M to Hunter. Nice work if you can get it.
For the record, Joe Biden's clueless candidacy was destined for failure long before the Trump Swamp committed Ukrainian treason to successfully smear the Biden name.
The reality is Americans are looking for a clean way out of the Trump Swamp, and fairly or unfairly, the Biden Swamp ramp is hardly an appealing exit ramp.
“Go buy Ivanka's stuff is what I would tell you,” said Presidential Family Salesperson Kellyanne Conway not long ago.
I'll take Ms. Ethics Elizabeth Warren over these clueless conflict-of-interest codgers.
7
@Socrates
Ivanka folded her company.
Golly Ginger, it’s a good thing Ivanka got all those trademarks from China, for allsorts, including Voting machines!
We wouldn’t want the little lady to have to scuff a nail or anything.
1
You can not seriously call this balanced journalism. Nothing to see here, Biden said so. I don't see anything news worthy here. The former Vice Presidents sons sitting on the board of a foreign corporation, was that done out of the goodness of his heart. I doubt it. So turn your head the other way. Heres an Idea investigate him, that seems to be ll congress is capable of doing and not very well I might add
7
"Nothing to see here, Folks..."
Oh...well...if Hunter said it ain't so...then it ain't so.
That's all there is to that.
4
One thing I don't get is that Biden must have known that there was a very high chance of him running for President so why tell the entire family: No deals with any Eastern European country, No deals with any Middle Eastern Country, No deals with any Asian country, (okay except Japan). You are either going to be solicited for a bribe etc. or have to turn one down and that means it is out there!
4
We recall that Joe Biden's commute everyday from Delaware to DC must have been arduous. But it's nothing compared to Hunter's commute to work in Ukraine and China.
7
Next thing you know, Trump will claim that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. and should never have been President.
You don't have to be from Scranton to know that Hunter Biden's business dealings don't pass the smell test.
10
Though I will give Hunter Biden the benefit of the doubt, I have to question his judgement when choosing whom to work for when his father was VP of the United States. Or did he believe that working for foreign firms posed less of a conflict of interest than domestic ones ? How about firms in friendly Western European nations ?
It’s also obvious that there is only one reason he got such a cushy job on the board of directors of these companies.
At least he finally figured out he needed to get out, though future work should not even be contingent on whether his father wins the election - shades of Trump’s promises there...
1
Ok, no " ethical lapse ", job acquired due to the highest qualifications of the applicant without any undue influence exercised by the applicant's father. Now that we have that out of the way, are there any CEO or CFO positions open here at home for this highly qualified applicant?
6
@BD The White House where nepotism reigns supreme.
Let’s tell it like it is:
If Hunter’s last name was not Biden, the Ukrainian company Burisma wouldn’t have hired him as the Board member and that too for such a phenomenal amount of money. Hunter shouldn’t have accepted this role because of potential conflict of interest for his father’s role regarding Ukraine as the VP. It was not a criminal act though. These incidents of influence peddling take place all the time.
Conversely, Donald Trump couldn’t have been such a successful Real Estate mogul if his father’s name was not Fred Trump. Trump family members also engage in influence peddling. That’s their shtick - specially now with Trump as the President. Trump and the Kushner family members are very well connected with very wealthy financiers from all over the world - undoubtedly, with a number of mutually beneficial business interests. Once again, it’s influence peddling - it’s not criminal.
Trump is just trying to smear the Joe Biden’s candidacy - it’s negative campaigning. It’s nothing new in our country. I still remember the racially charged “Willie Horton” campaign advertisements that George H W Bush’s campaign used against Michael Dukakis during the Presidential race in 1988. These advertisements were so racially offensive that Lee Atwater (George Bush’s campaign adviser) apologized from his death bed for authorizing these advertisements.
Final thought - Trump should just remember that: Those who live in Glass Houses - shouldn’t throw stones”
6
Trading on one's connection, family or otherwise, to make deals should be illegal. Even if there is no appearance of impropriety, there is always the possibility of influence on policy or gain without qualifications.
That said, if Hunter Biden must now acquit himself, so should the adult children and any non-official associates of the president.
6
Yes, it's unfair to place on Joe Biden the burden of the questionable judgment exercised by Hunter Biden in joining Ukrainian and Chinese companies where even Hunter says that he exercised "poor judgment".... but then life and, particularly, politics are unfair.
Apparently, before Joe Biden saw an opportunity to again pursue the presidency, he didn't object to Hunter's , now, "poor judgment".
Biden has enough issues already that prevent him from being a strong candidate, his son's business dealings are likely a burden too much.
It seems that Warren, for now, has the inside track on the nomination.
9
@GerardM Which means Trump gets re-elected.
2
@GerardM Which is exactly what Trump wants, hence his mud-slinging and lies about Hunter.
Hunter should have listen to his father and not taken that job. He was not qualified for it, and the people who hired him clearly had ulterior motives in mind.
That said, this would not prejudice my vote. Biden was never my first choice anyway, and I would urge everyone here to vote Warren in the primary to avoid the possibility of further scandal.
But even so, if Biden does become the nominee, I must still weigh this one appearance of impropriety against the very real corruption and nepotism that Trump has practiced with ALL his children, as well as the systematic bribery he has engaged in through his hotels and his illegal requests of foreign leaders.
1
I rarely see it mentioned that Hunter Biden was appointed to the board of directors of Amtrak by George W. Bush, which I think would provide helpful context about Hunter's qualifications to serve in other executive positions.
5
Perhaps Joe Biden will defeat Trump after all, just not at the ballot box. This might be the best out come for all involved. Hunter Biden may not have not done anything illegal, but the way in which Politician use their last names is very unethical. Hopefully, this time it will be used for the good of the country and the impeachment of this corrupt President along with the removal of most in his administration who are equally void of any morals and ethics!
2
This article is evidence that Trump and his team have gotten exactly what they wanted. It doesn't matter that the charges aren't true; it doesn't matter that Trump's adult children (and Trump himself) have engaged in far worse money-grubbing behavior; all that matters is that the story is out there, so the waters can be muddied. [sarcasm]Great job, all.[/sarcasm]
4
I am presuming we will have a similar interview about ethics of business dealings of Ivanka and Trump Jr. - and they will end it with announcing their intend to get out of any foreign business dealings right away.
Just kidding - I know they are swamp critters and nobody would hold them to a similar standard.
5
Joe Biden let his son ride on Air Force 2 for meetings with officials at foreign companies doing business with the US government. Hunter also introduced his father to people at these companies.
The Bidens can spin it anyway they want, it wasn't "poor judgment," it was corruption all the way back to the Bidens' dealing with bank and credit card companies in DE.
Wait until the press actually starts covering what Trump's children are doing. Government employees, Pence and military all staying at Trump properties is barely scratching the surface.
Americans are tired of corruption and Washington status quo. We want our country back.
13
@Hope How on earth can you people continue to carry Trump's water about the Bidens and ignore how much Trump and his children are master grifters who've gained millions and millions on this presidency -- it's NOT CLOSE, people, and while it's ok to criticize both sides, every last one of you who only attack the Bidens are hypocrites. Worse, letting Trump create this narrative and helping it succeed is simply unconscionable!
Hunter Biden claims not to have acted in a manner consistent with what might be an ethical lapse, and then goes on to say this:
“I gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father,...That’s where I made the mistake. So I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever.”
It’s probably fair to surmise that Hunter Biden has no clue what ‘ethics’ are. Especially given the fact that he also openly acknowledges how unlikely his employment status would be were it not for his given surname.
“Everybody kind of thinks that somehow, whether it’s a compliment that we’re like the Kennedys or whether...”
No one thinks that the Biden’s are the Kennedys. But if they did, I doubt it would be in the complimentary manner.
8
How in the world does the mainstream media keep calling these claims of corruption "unsubstantiated"?
Lets piece this together again.
Father (Joe Biden) is vice-president of the most powerful country in the world and runs the American policy of Ukraine , who is relying on US money to fight Russia.
Son (Hunter Biden) sits on the board of a gas company in Ukraine despite having no expertise in the field. Gets paid 50G a month.
Lets ask again. How is that not a problem ?
8
Beyond the white privilege and societal unfairness problems of what Biden did and pretty much everybody else does, these practices condemn society to a downward talent spiral. The incapable of making it advance while the talented get pushed aside. Not a good way to advance society.
3
Sorry but you can't reconcile "Yeah I made a mistake ... and used poor judgment" with "no ethical lapse". And no, it's not "all a lie and fake news" and it has not "all been investigated" whatever that means. Unfortunately, the press is willfully blind to Hunter's Ukraine adventures and to the obvious graft involved in his being paid $50,000 a month when he knew nothing about energy business, but had a direct line to the VP who controlled foreign aid to Ukraine.
9
Give the money back.
Simple.
6
Agree or disagree with the ethics of Biden's role, hopefully the eventual Democratic nominee is preparing to throw Biden's "ethical lapse" right back at the Trumps.
How can the Trumps be allowed to get away with this hypocrisy?
5
Hunter Biden is also the guy who dated his brother's widow while he was still married. And he was discharged from the service for cocaine use. Not Joe Biden's fault but not great optics for the campaign trail. Putting him on national tv does not seem like the best campaign strategy.
6
If there was nothing ethically wrong about his board position in Ukraine, why is he pledging an about-face in China this time around if his dad is elected president?
4
Trump lies. Anything he accuses anyone else of he's already doing himself. Biden's not the issue; Trump is the issue.
4
How rich! Another spoiled, privileged child, with a famous parent trying to explain away his own greed and corruption.
Now, this doesn't by any means diminish the gravity and seriously compromising, potentially criminal behaviour of Trump and his acolytes.
In the rush to get Trump for his "high crimes and misdemeanors", let's not turn a blind eye to other people's corruption and graft even if those people happen to be a potential presidential candidate or members of his family.
Democrats can't point to the Republicans and their behaviour and then ignore their own. That is not being different or better than...
5
Answering President Trump question, where is Hunter Biden? Well he was on ABC answering questions to a friendly reporter and taking all the blame, ha!,ha. Can you believe it? The Son of the vice president making decisions on his own that involved receiving mega salaries from companies overseas without his father having anything to say about it. Whoever believe this ridiculous explanation, deserve to believe it.
5
The partisan Democrats that are still making excuses for Biden’s egregious ethical lapses apparently don’t understand just how far down the rabbit hole we’ve really tumbled.
The leading national headline should be the story of the video of Trump acting violently against his critics in the media.
You have a leader promoting violence and his supporters cheering like fans of sports teams.
Violence isn’t just being normalized, it’s being celebrated.
The ethical lapses in the nation’s capital over the last 40 or 50 years are why we have a president Trump.
Biden has played the role of affable good ol’ boy to benefit the plutocrats with aplomb and the sophisticated Democrats are savvy enough to understand that the Bidens deserve their victory lap collecting tribute from every foreign country doing business in the United States.
And if you think there’s anything unethical about that, then it’s proof of what an ignorant rube you are.
The grotesque ethical lapses on both sides of the aisle provided the Democrats with the perfect opportunity to stand up and say that they are serious about draining the swamp.
But the Democrats doubling down on “Hunter did nothing wrong!” have just branded themselves as a pack of jokers, sanctimoniously bringing gas cans to an already raging bonfire.
We don’t seem to have the wisdom to pull ourselves out of our current nosedive, so we should start praying that we can emulate Czechoslovakia instead of Yugoslavia.
8
Hunter Biden should never given this interview, he is feeding the beast.
2
If Hunter Biden’s multimillion dollar work for Ukrainian and Chinese interests was ethical, why pledge to end them if his Daddy becomes President ? Please follow the money . Why did a Ukrainian oligarch pay the drug impaired son of the VP millions of dollars. What were they buying ?
7
People have characterized Hunter Biden as arrogant and entitled. I find him to be rather casual, breezy, and blasé about his family corruption. No big deal.
6
No ethical lapse? Trading on your father's role as Vice President to earn money for doing nothing is not the definition of slime?
This is why people hate the Clinton family (think Saudi Arabia) and led to Trump's election.
This kind of insider trading is what draining the swamp refers to. [Except, of course, Trump has not done one bit of draining.]
3
“I don’t think that there’s a lot of things that would have happened in my life if my last name wasn’t Trump.”
Hey, that one works too!
2
Trump saying Hunter Biden had a conflict of interest is a serious case of the pot calling the kettle black.
4
While the most corrupt President in the history of the United States and his family loot the treasury, dismantle our democracy and undermine our national security, I’m supposed to worry about this? Let’s keep our eye on the ball, people.
3
I love the header. 'No ethical lapse' - says Hunter Biden. This settles the case. Nothing to see here folks, go home.
There will be no anonymous whistleblower reports. No exposés. No editorial opinions and 'crazy', 'frightened' and visibly shakened CIA operatives, who heard of the case from colleagues not authorized to speak on the matter.
Once NYT was a beacon of investigative journalism. This lack of enthusiasm by the editorial board speaks volumes.
9
Maybe the Bidens should now directly call on Trump’s family to do the same. Why is Joe Biden using “veiled references”? Call them out directly. Head to head. What about Ivanka’s business dealings in China? Don Jr. in Russia? Jared in Saudi Arabia?
1
@R Rhett
Ivanka sold her company. Exactly what Trump business bothers you? Hotel rooms?
If Hunter Biden is so clean let him release 5 years of tax returns.
5
Hunter Biden took advantage of his last name to make some money. If that's the worst we can come up with after digging and digging into his activities and his Dads, perhaps we should now take a look at the "ethical lapses" in the Trump family.
1. Trump U - scam
2. Trump Charitable Organization - scam
3. Trump Hotels - hosts foreign leaders
4. Trump Florida condos - rented to pregnant Russians - giving birth to American citizens
5. Jared Kushner real estate boondoggle - bailed out by Brookfield owned in part by Qatar.
And Ivanka Trump and her husband are clearly providing advice from their WH offices because of their deep knowledge of foreign affairs and understanding of international relationships, treaties, trade deals and their impact on our economy. Yup.
There is so much to work with in terms of incompetence, stupidity and corruption - in plain sight - in this administration - that it boggles the mind.
The real problem here is that the "resistance" doesn't know how to hammer it home the way Trump does. Maybe we need to learn how to shout louder, more often. We let stuff slide because Trump takes the oxygen out of the room. He takes the minutes out of the day. Time to regain the dialog with the truth.
1
Doesn't everyone's son who has been kicked out of the armed forces because of a cocaine habit, and who is going through rehab, get a 50 thousand a month job in a foreign country with no training or experience? Sure, happens every day! Nothing to see here. Move along!
11
@Joe
Joe Biden probably thought that military credential would help Hunter run for high office. So we dodged that.
Why did Vice President Biden not recuse himself from matters related to the Ukraine when his drug impaired son was being paid millions of dollars by a Ukrainian oligarch ?
5
It is not Hunter’s lapse in judgement that is at issue. That is a deflection from Joe Biden’s ethical lapse in allowing a conflict of interest with his official obligations. It is the former Vice President and not his son that must issue the mea culpa.
The high office occupied by Biden requires fidelity to the Constitution, Laws and best interests of the people of the United States. To assure that fidelity is protected, the office holder must avoid conflicts of interest that even present an appearance of impropriety. The fact that no actual criminal wrongdoing occurs is not the issue; fidelity requires that the office holder must avoid a situation where such wrongdoing is possible.
Trump has declared that such ethical constraints do not apply to his reign of error. In fact, he declared on day one that he could have no conflicts. What we learned from the Mueller report is how difficult it is to prove criminality. Therefore, the first and best defense against such activity is conformance to an ethical code of conduct.
Biden has stated he will if elected; unless he admits his past lapses he will be unable to challenge the unethical conduct of the Trump cabal.
17
By his recent statements, Hunter Biden has kept his father in the Democratic race. Will they be enough for Joe Biden to thump Trump? Maybe not.
Trump is a master of projection. Given opportunity, he accuses opponents of his own sins -- in this case, nepotism). The Bidens gave him opportunity. Hunter Biden has stanched the bleeding by saying that "in the larger context" he made a mistake but Trump will keep pouring salt in the wound.
The moderators must ask Democratic candidates tonight if they will adopt for their families the standard just adopted by the Bidens. If they say yes, then ask if they will, as President, propose a law to prohibit families of Presidents from engaging in profit making activities abroad. The issue must be dealt with tonight, or it will fester,
All Trump needs is for voters to believe the candidates for the Democratic nomination are no better than he. The persistence of this belief among independent voters is, after all, a principal reason Trump squeezed out a win over Clinton in the Electoral College in 2016. Democrats, who need the independent vote in 2020, must learn from history.
5
@Frank McNeil
Kept Biden in the race? Like Buttiegieg is still in the race? Like Klobachar is still in the race? He has NO Chance at the Nomination. He can stay in the race for a number of months IF he is unable to read the writing on the wall. He will not be the Nominee. He will not be the Democrat who Loses to Trump in 2020. That will be Warren.
1
The Biden family may be clean from a legal standpoint, and certainly cleaner than the Trumps from an ethical standpoint. However, Hunter Biden still profited tremendously due to his dad being who he is. I think the American people deserve better than this. Legal corruption is just a tad better than the illegal sort. Just because there aren’t laws against Biden’s family profiting, doesn’t make it right. It’s one of the reasons I think it would be a shame if Biden will be the Democratic nominee. I don’t think it’s good for the USA nor for the Democratic Party.
11
Enough explaining the Bidens and their compromised ethics. If we really value walking on the straight and narrow, we should not have a government of politicians. I don’t think there is a single political person who has not lied. But I want to live in a world where their wrong doings are artfully hidden. I want artistes in the White House, people who we can admire and delight in. So Biden should totally step down. It is nonsense to think republicans who hesitate on voting for Trump are so incapable of making future decisions regarding the individual they will vote for. Warren, may be brilliant, but she is also rigid and her stances on her personal life trouble me. It conveys to me, how when she believes in something, her belief becomes the only truth for all. She seems quite deaf to advice or alternative pathway.
I am backing Mayor Pete. Why should I settle for any nominee against Trump, when I can hope for not just a different world, but a really better one? We democratic voters should not settle for less.
5
Meena: “why should I settle for any nominee against Trump? Because the Democratic Party shall elect a candidate.
I am not a Biden supporter, but this method of attack is called propaganda. It overshadows what Trump is actually doing. I don’t want Joe Biden to win over his lack of great policy proposals, not because a corrupt administration wanted to win so badly that it used tax dollars to dig up dirt on private citizens.
Buttiege has his weaknesses. Just be clear that if he presents as threat to “winning”, he too will be subject to attack by whatever means necessary.
So as a lawyer, Hunter Biden does not understand the appearance of a conflict of interest? He has a professional responsibility to assess whether a conflict or the appearance of one exists, regardless of whether the conduct at issue is legal.
This crony capitalism gave rise to Sanders and Trump in 2016, even if Trump was lying. It doesn’t matter that the Trump kids are engaging in worse behavior. That’s an extremely low standard.
8
The double standard and the finger pointing is horrifically egregious when you have a sitting president and his family embracing and capitalizing on every single business opportunity they can get their selfish hands on. It would not be difficult for the President and his family to sell out the country in order to satisfy their lust for greed; they have already sold their souls.
5
Vice-President Biden and his son are not stupid men or political neophytes. Under the circumstances presented,the judgment exercised by both men leaves much to be desired.
10
Certainly Hunter Biden, based upon his own talents and wherewithal, would have qualified for these jobs in Ukraine and China even if his daddy wasn't the sitting vice-president.
I wonder how his commute to work was.
So, in essence, it looks like Trump was on to something.
4
@MIKEinNYC No, Hunter was qualified — read up on the role of corporate board members. They don’t run the oil drill, they have other expertise. His was his experience and expertise in corporate finance.
Who cares about the kids' employment? With my cancer pills costing $1,500 a day, you really think I’m going to be distracted and vote for the person that wants my insurance company to drop me for preexisting conditions because the ‘other’ politicians kid has a job too? Why don’t you try keeping your eye on the ball here?
9
@Jerry Sturdivant
It’s this system of crony capitalism that’s contributing to your predicament. Do you think the Bidens care about your healthcare costs?
4
@BK:
Yes, Biden cares. He's a Democrat and was a part of Obamacare that stops insurance companies from dropping people with preexisting conditions. Republicans, Bush2, made a deal with the pharmaceuticals; Donate to us Republicans and we'll prevent Medicare from negotiating prices. Bush even stopped busses of senior citizens coming back from Canada and took their cheaper medicine away from them.
1
Trump says Hunter Biden is "a dummy". Hunter graduated from the same law school as his two Supreme Court appointees.
My question is why Trump is appointing dummies to the highest court in the land? Is it an attempt at taking out an insurance policy against being held responsible for his crimes?
Trump, a real dummy, seems to think the S.C. can prevent the Congress from impeaching him. You would have thought that he would have at least read the document that he swore to protect and defend, but he hasn't. He just swore to faithfully defend the Constitution, the way he swore that all the disbursements by the Trump Foundation were for legitimate charitable purposes: he perjured himself.
That is Trump's grandest talent, perjury.
5
No evidence? Then why is he on TV admitting his “poor judgment?” For nothing?
5
Biden is the only candidate that I would be comfortable voting for, in my mind, anyway. Or was. $600,000/year, didn't even need to show up, what a gig! All because he had Joe Biden's ear. While I have no proof of any wrongdoings, the appearance of this....whatever it is.....is bad. I'm really surprised that Biden, his advisors, everybody that is involved with his campaign, even Hunter Biden himself, had to have recognized that someone would find out and use it against Joe Biden. Both sides are looking for anything to fry the other side.
2
"Well, he should say that, wouldn't he?"
1
Getting $50/mo for nothing is grift. It may be legal, but doing what is legal isn t always the same as doing what is right.
5
Guy gets kicked out of the military, and right off the bat becomes a hedge fund manager of a billion dollar fund using foreign dollars and sits on the board of foreign companies with giant salaries for doing so.
I don't like Trump. He is a baffoon. But this situation also stinks to high heaven.
And no one can figure out why people outside of DC call it the swamp?
8
@independent voter
I erred. He is on the board of a billion dollar foreign private equity company, not a hedge fund manager.
there, i fixed it before anyone calls me out! (i get too busy railing on wall street, it just comes off the fingertips too easily!)
1
@independent voter I agree with you. That’s why I’m supporting Mayor Pete. I think it’s high time we re-thought electing the very wealthy or entrenched politicians. How can we be surprised that they don’t empathize with normal people’s issues? Trump doesn’t care about our struggles with affordable housing or healthcare, or with paying our taxes. After all, he most likely hasn’t paid his in decades, and even if he did, they didn’t interfere with his lifestyle one bit.
1
I could care less that Hunter Biden was grossly over paid for his board seat on Burisma or that he was involved in business in China.
This is truly all about elitism in America.
It stinks on both sides of the aisle.
1
From the beginning of time the offspring and relatives of the rich and famous have benefited from their connections. It is utopian to believe there are full proof ways of preventing this. Leonid Brezhnev showed his mother his collection of antique automobiles from the West; where did this peasant get the dough? I think you know.
1
This represents everything that is wrong about American politics, that it is okay to get rich and/or give favors because you or your relatives got elected. The sole purpose of the elected official is to represent all of the people that he or she represents.
The disclosures of the appointments really reflects poorly on both Joe Biden and Hunter Biden as they practice a policy of being okay with having privileges that are not available to others because of Joe Biden’s elected office.
116
@Jasmine
Well said and dead on.
8
@Jasmine Can you point to any evidence that Hunter Biden "got rich" at the expense of any Americans? How did him cashing in on his name effect you or any American interests?
6
@Jeff G
it showed inherent corruption in American political class, thereby deleveraging our (citizen) representative power in foreign relations. Any other questions?
10
How many congressmen's children are sitting on boards or have lucrative jobs or are in positions of power just because they have a parent or parents who are in positions of power? How many of our congressmen have gotten very rich just because they are in positions of power? Hunter Biden is right when he says that many things have come his way just because his name is Biden. That's the way it has always been and I doubt that that will change anytime soon. Jenna Bush is lovely and does a good job working in television, but I'm sure she jumped over many other very qualified young people because of who she was.
I'd like to see a list of what other congressmen's children are serving on boards and getting a high salary, in the US or in other countries.
The president's middle name is corruption. Joe Biden's is not.
8
It is a fact that there is rampant corruption in Washington. I sincerely believe Joe Biden is an honest and good person, just not sure if he's the right candidate to be President. As I have stated before I cannot find a single Democratic candidate to support because of their stance on immigration.
Trump is not fit to be President. Besides his obvious failings I have 2 major complaints against him. 1) Nepotism 2) Tweeting.
In my mind he would be a much better candidate if he stopped those 2 things. Having said that, the Democratic candidates' pandering to minorities(of which I am one) and blatant support for illegals will I hope make them lose the election. ( I supported Hillary the last election).
3
One crucial difference between Biden and Trump is that Trump has legitimate business interests, and every dime he pays his children is earned by them as his employees. Biden neither owns nor runs a business but simply peddles his connections as a politician which he has used to benefit his ne’er-do-well son. If that’s not corruption, I don’t know what is. But, of course, there’s “no evidence.”
5
Hunter Biden is an adult who makes his own decisions. Even if his decisions raise ethical concerns (and frankly these do), it is unreasonable to blame his father for them. I see zero evidence Joe Biden himself did anything ethically debatable here.
Contrast this with Trump, who hired his own family members on the taxpayer dime--straight-up nepotism.
164
@M. Joe hid it. He just doesn't know how to hide as well as I do.
3
@M.
Joe Biden could have stopped it. His "see no evil" excuse is lame.
5
@M.
At this point, any candidate that has ANY business connections with ANY Chinese, Ukranian, Turkish, Russian, or Saudi entities through family, or otherwise should not be calling themselves a Democrat.
These countries have been 'making it rain' on corrupt politicians from both parties for long enough.
Being less shameless than Trump's corruption is not good enough.
Biden entered the race knowing this was going to be an issue, so his ethics lapse was bestowing his personal baggage upon the Democratic party.
3
Either you have propriety or you don’t. Trump and his minions aside, what Hunter Biden did speaks volumes about his character. He traded on his name and his father’s position for personal gain. That it was legal is irrelevant. Possessors of honor and integrity avoid at all costs even the appearance of conflict of interest. Hunter Biden failed that test miserably.
8
This is precisely why Joe Biden should not be running. He is of the old school, where favors such as cushy jobs for his family are deemed OK. What is going on with the Democratic party? They tried foisting the most unlikeable candidate ever on us for the last election, and now they are pressing hard for Biden. Give it up already. Times are changing, and these party hacks need to step aside and let folks with new ideas run the show.
5
I’m just wondering if the media is aware that hunter is not a candidate. Hunter is a grown man who makes his own choices. Just like the darling trump children.
4
Hunter Biden's salaried presence in a foreign company while his father was Vice-President was entirely unethical. Even if he had just been an unpaid "advisor", it would have been wrong and unethical. There is no way around this. Repeating over and over that it was ok is also unethical.
If Joe Biden is the candidate, I'll vote for him, but...with deep reservations and nose firmly held.
28
If he was working honestly and breaking no laws, how is it even remotely unethical? Ethics aren’t defined by appearances, but rather actions.
2
Hunter Biden is a symptom of a broader problem.
While I don't buy his argument that there was no ethical problem with him taking the Ukraine gas gig, the reality is that he did nothing that hundreds of other "friends and family" of prominent politicians have done before -- and continue to do today. I've spent too much time with senior politicians not to become cynical about their awareness of why so many corporations, both American and foreign, are happy to pay their friends and family exorbitant salaries for doing essentially nothing.
I remember having dinner with one of the top leaders in Congress. He was with his relatively new wife (his 3rd or 4th) who was working as a waitress when he met her. Now that they were married, she was pulling down a healthy six-figure salary as the "Senior Vice President for Strategy" for a Fortune 500 company.
Members of Congress are quick to defend themselves and their family members by declaring that since there is no explicit 'quid pro quo' involved in the hiring, there is no ethical problem. At least a few, however, have been honest (or sure enough of their entitlement) to add that one of the perks of writing laws is that Congress can define what is ethical any way it likes.
I disagree. Congress may be able to pass whatever laws it likes, but the practice of politicians enriching themselves and family members is, and will always be, unethical and a betrayal of public trust.
58
@Ken what is with the snide remark about the number of wives. You do know who Donald trump is, right? And one more time....hunter Biden is not running for president or any other public office.
4
@Ken I think you make a great point. I was in public service for 30 years, and I have to admit I never saw any evidence of corruption in the institutions for which I worked. But what I did see was loads of nepotistic opportunism. In my case, the people involved did have some qualifications but would they have gotten the jobs in straight up competition? Doubtful. Frankly since it is not possible to eliminate completely, I prefer relatively mild forms of nepotism (which in the case of the waitress turned 6 figure company figurehead is not mild) to the corruption of public institutions and their servants that we arguably see in the Trump administration.
Honest leaders make an enormous invaluable difference in the proper leadership of public (and private) institutions.
1
@John I agree. Trump's unprecedented corruption means that he exploits and greatly increases every weakness in the system. While he rants about Hunter Biden, his kids made a reported $7 million a month last year. Jared used his WH office to seek foreign 'investors' for his failing properties, Ivanka magically received piles of nearly impossible to get Chinese trademarks, and countless groups, both domestic and foreign, dropped big cash on Trump hotels and spas to ingratiate themselves. The unethical behavior of others is peanuts in comparison to Trump's limitless greed and corruption.
A question needs to be asked of Mr Trump: If he knows so much about conflict of interest and knows it is wrong to behave unethically, why then is he knee-deep in conflicts of interest and behaving unethically.
41
@Amelinixon
I would love to see that question put to Trump! Brilliant.
3
@Amelinixon
Examples please.
Only a neoliberal elite completely out of touch with the lives of ordinary people could possibly think that the "everybody does it" corruption of the Bidens in China and the Ukraine won't hamstring their ability to make a case against Trump's own massive corruption.
When you are the son or daughter of a famous and powerful politician and are showered with opportunity, whether you deserve it or not, that is of course nepotism, but it is also plain and simple corruption. Hunter Biden's starting out as a corporate lawyer for one of his Senator father's biggest donors, later becoming a lobbyist for that donor, and still later with his father now Vice-President and pointman for administration policy in the Ukraine gaining a lucrative seat on a Ukrainian energy company board without any prior experience in energy or that country, is corruption. Ivanka Trump's traveling with her President Dad to China, meeting with top Chinese officials including the Premier with her President Dad, and coming away with lucrative Chinese trademark deals for her businesses, is corruption.
Such casual elitism and entitlement, met only with candidate cries of "well, we're bad, but they're worse," just causes the average person to tune out from both. That is how a democracy and a government for the people and by the people dies. Such naked greed by the ruling class is why democracy is in full scale decline not just in the United States, but throughout the West, and in the world.
27
What is Hunter Biden doing today, in October 2019, to earn a living? Is he current on paying his support obligations to his children and his ex-wife? Where is he getting the money for the support payments?
It’s probably never a good time for HB to sit down for an interview. But doing it a few hours before the Democratic debate where Joe Biden is struggling to hold onto his lead is probably not the best decision.
5
Hunter doesn't think there are lots of things that happened in his life were his name not Biden. The many of us in the U.S. who don't have a special name are not so excited that $50K a month for sitting on a board is handed out for having that special name. It may be the way the system works and not illegal, but it truly IS unethical, unfair, and will cause me to not vote for a the blue blood waffler that Biden is.
17
@Lazlo Toth - public companies traditionally pay their outside directors a fee for sitting on their board. Go to the SEC website and look at director compensation. Exxon Mobil pays in the range of 230,000 to 720,000 (with some of it being restricted stock). Is that unethical, unfair?
1
Hunter resigned from the board of a Chinese investment company because "I have to sit here and answer these questions".
Apparently answering questions is not part of his job requirements. Like father, like son.
"That’s why I have committed that I won’t serve on any board or work on any foreign entities when Dad becomes president. That’s the rule I’m going to adhere to.”
So, unless we elect Joe Biden, Hunter will continue to work for foreign entities.
Ridiculous.
21
“I don’t think there’s a lot of things that would have happened in my life if my last name wasn’t Biden,” Mr. Biden told Amy Robach of ABC.
And the Democratic "operatives and activists" want fluency from the Bidens? Parse Hunter Biden's quote. I think he means, "A lot of things would not have happened in my life if my last name weren't Biden".
As vague as that statement would be, it's not as bad as the expected meandering syntax of Joe Biden, standing next to the ever-precise Warren on the debate stage.
Tonight probably won't be pretty for Joe in the debate, nor Hunter in the interview that will air just prior to the debate.
There is no excuse for either of them who have tried to hide the omnipresent entitlement that voters plainly see.
7
Probably not illegal, but flagrant misuse of family connection for unearned power, influence and money. The fact that Joe still seems to think this is fine reminds us that his time is long past. He's playing right into Trump's hand. It's time for a new generation of leadership.
16
Trying to compare Hunter's activities to the flagrant unethical activities of the Trump kids is futile. We have known about Trump's kids' business activities since he was elected, but to my knowledge no one in congress has done anything to stop them. So we just accept it. Did Hunter act foolishly and greedily? Yes. I'm guessing he never expected his father would run for President. Trump will never let it go. Is it fair? No. And it's frustrating.
15
@jeanne maiden
i do not know if Trump "kids" are paid but at least they are working for the administration on behalf of the country. like it or not.
2
@Louis Samuels Good grief, they are corrupt to the core...one example: Ivanka couldn’t get Chinese copyrights for her shoe line (made in China, not Ohio)...she’s appointed by Daddy to the West Wing, and bingo! The copyrights came thru...and she makes $$$ while in office. The Trumps are total Swamp Creatures and most of us know it.
Hunter's activities sound like Bill Clinton's $500k speaking fees when his friend (I mean wife) held high office.
Fact is, high office has become a road to millions in personal net worth--Mitch McConnell, Clintons,Obamas and,nearly,Bidens.
It must stop. Meanwhile vote for billionaires where possible (Trump, Romney,Bloomberg ) who need not profit from the office.
8
Trumps kids are not profiting from their dad being President???
1
@Frued You fell for Trump’s line? He’s not a ‘billionaire’ AND he’s using his office and our taxpayer money to benefit his resorts, golf courses, foreign building licenses, etc. Ask yourself: why won’t he reveal his tax returns?
"The louder he talked of his ethics, the faster we counted our anti-corruption foreign aid contributions", said Ralph Waldo Emerson on behalf of the people of the United States.
4
Does Biden have the energy and wherewithal to fight this properly ? Every day he should be out trolling Trump from morning, noon, till night hammering him in simple understandable phrases with no one in his orbit being exempt. If he’s worried about it being bad form then step aside. Tired of a Trump controlling the narrative.
3
@MLB
Exactly!
While there is no evidence Hunter Biden committed wrongdoing and he shouldn't distract from what the President did, it is clearly not ethical to be paid insane sums of money from foreign companies based on the sole fact that he is the son of the Vice President of the United States.
21
A kid gets a job that other people wouldn't have gotten because of his family privilege? If that's a problem, you have to restructure all of America.
26
@Joe Exactly. Thank you.
3
Last I checked Biden is a candidate, not elected yet. How much and why Hunter was paid is beside the point at this point. The issue is ethics. Did anyone question HRC's ethical judgment as a 2016 candidate based on how Chelsea leveraged the Clinton brand? Same goes for DJT being judged by what Ivanka did, and she did a lot BTW. Hunter is right, in the grand scheme of things this issue is a yawner.
5
Questions:
How many board meetings did he attend?
Did he attend in person or through video conferencing?
Where and when did the board meetings take place?
What language was used during the meetings?
Why did he work for a company contributing to global warming by the product and transportation of a carbon based fuel?
Hopefully these very basic questions were asked by the reporter.
5
@Mandrake
Don’t hold your breath. The interview was stage managed by Bidens for damage control. The questions were always going to be softballs.
3
Way too little, way too late. I, and I believe many other Americans, are sick and tired of political "families" , where relatives with little political or business experience, somehow show up with lucrative jobs in areas that they have little or no expertise. This is the reason I will vote for someone other than Biden.
19
Kicked out of the Navy for drug use and known to have substance abuse problems, are not hallmarks of ethical behavior. Hunter Biden was not hired for his business acumen. However, his job was no different than ones the Trump children have, feeding off the fame and fortune of their parents Presidential office.
6
Biden shouldn’t have accepted any responsibility or mad any apologies. You just had a Bush serve as well resident through daddy’s contacts, even had them as secretaries in the administration, you have another with his own children, who even takes government business to his hotels every weekend. And then the Biden’s apologize? For what?! Isn’t Biden’s son supposed to make a living? Can’t he work anywhere around the world? Is he now a prisoner? Yes, if there’s something direct with his company he can perhaps step aside, but to apologize the way they’ve done i think they shouldn’t.
2
If anyone needed to be investigated it is the President's family who are all deeply in the trough of self indulgence and enrichment. Biden was cleared of any conflicts of interest, and should have walked away from this instead of trying to defend a spurious accusation. This is the same President who floated the "birther" myth which was ALWAYS false.
Defending yourself against Trumps libelous accusations is wasting your time. This is just diversion and misdirection by a corrupt President.
14
Child of privilege who got a direct commission in the Navy Reserve at 43 and was discharged for testing positive for cocaine. Check.
Gets appointed to the board of a foreign energy company in a nation where he does not speak the language, has no expertise in the industry, but is the son of the Vice-President of the United States. Check.
Gets on a Chinese government-connected company board without speaking the language or having expertise in the business. Check.
The Poster child for all that is wrong with America. It is who your parents are and the zip code you grew up in that all too often determines your opportunities in life.
28
@David Gregory CHECK!
1
Was Hunter Biden asked what value, other than the fact his father was the vice president of the United States, he added to a Ukrainian natural gas company? What personal expertise did he have to improve this company’s bottom line? The left and the mainstream media love to scream “there is no evidence the Biden’s did anything wrong,” but you never hear this line when it comes to Trump. Imagine if on the subject of Russian “collusion,” the media had repeated that same mantra with equal zeal “there is no evidence Trump colluded with Russia!” Instead we had two years of an exhaustive and arguably suspect search for evidence. (If which none was found.) The same thing is happening now with this impeachment “inquiry.” One imagines if Joseph Biden (or Obama) were President now and had said word for word the exact same thing to Zalensky as Trump did, the mainstream media would be repeating ad infinitum: “There is no evidence Biden did anything wrong.” Likewise, If one of Trump’s son’s sat on the board of a Ukrainian company and were making $50,000 a month, the Dems would be crying campaign finance violations among other things... and ad to that the outrage if Trump were caught bragging that he told Ukraine that if they didn’t fire a prosecutor that had shown interest in investigating his son’s company, that they flat out weren’t getting $1B in aid. The double standards in all of this are stunning.
13
@David T I have read that Biden was hired, as a lawyer, which he is, to coordinate the newly restructured legal team and to bring in more transparent best practices as this was post the investigation.
1
@judith
And when you read that, did you recognize it as the corporate gobbledygook nonsense that it is, or did you just feel a need to parrot it here on the NYT?
1
"No ethical lapse"? C'mon. That's exactly what it was.
There certainly wasn't anything illegal about accepting the Ukrainian and Chinese board positions but ethically it just doesn't look good. He need not worry about being locked up but he should feel shame.
11
Hunter is guilty of the same smugness as the Clintons were. How did that work out? Trump is baldface in his corruption. By the way Hunter, your mistakes in the "grand scheme of things" may cost us in an election that will destroy our democracy.
4
So Hunter Biden says nothing to see here folks, keep moving. Gee, sorry if I don't buy the Party line. Let's be honest, Joe Biden and his entire family have been cashing in on his government service for decades. It's just a fact. Democrats do themselves a disservice trying to deflect attention and acknowledgment of this well-documented fact while simultaneously attacking Trump, with justification, for his own corruption. The Trump people can easily play the old video clip of Biden, smiling sheepishly, saying he tried to "prostitute" (his word) himself and take the money from corporations and oligarchs, but was told that he was too young and to come back in a few years. Well, Biden did return and he took the money. Sure, it was technically legal under our corrupt political finance laws, but let's be honest, he took the money and has been taking it ever since, along with his family. What Hunter Biden did was not illegal, probably, but isn't THAT the real issue here. We excoriate Trump and his family, rightly so, for doing the same thing. Let's not have a double standard. It only makes Democrats look weak, compromised, and worst, hypocritical.
8
Are we really going to fall for the same dirty tricks again?
Trump and his campaign vilified the Clinton Foundation as a pay to play, quid pro quo, shady operation, effectively diverting attention from the totally corrupt and self-serving Trump Foundation which has since been shut down with the members of the Trump family prohibited from ever sitting on the board of anything like it again.
Now they are going after Hunter and Joe Biden because of political and business nepotism.
I suggest that we not take the bait and instead look more closely at the shady and most likely illegal profits currently being made by the Trump family due to their new positions of power.
14
The fact that Hunter had a high level job may or may not have been because of his father, however Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka who suffer from affluenza, did and do have high level jobs because of their father, before and after he became president.
6
Trump has accomplished what he wanted. He needed the media to amplify the story whether it had merit or not. Then once the story is in the echo chamber it takes on a life of its own and becomes impossible to defend.
But if Trump were in Biden’s shoes he would call it a “hoax” or “witch hunt” and then let that seep into the media and into the consciousness of the electorate. That’s what happened with the Mueller investigation and is now happening with the Ukraine situation.
Trump knows how to play the media. He knows the media can’t resist him because he is the equivalent of a car accident.
So now he has effectively gotten rid of Biden. The Democrats will blame each other for this. Moderators will blame the liberal media and liberals will blame moderates for Joe Biden. They will say he is another Hillary Clinton.
In Trump’s mind, with Biden out of the way he can easily beat Elizabeth Warren because, with the help of the media, he will turn socialist policies into “communism” to scare suburban soccer moms.
Working class whites would benefit from Warren’s policies, but Trump will manage to tie Warren to AOC and the gang, thus driving a cultural wedge between those voters and people of color. In that case it is right out of the Republican playbook.
So if Trump is a “stable genius” he is because he plays the media as if it were a musical instrument.
12
Ivanka is an annoying self promoter and it irritates me that she is a "senior adviser" in the White House BUT the comparison with the Bidens obvious graft is ridiculous. She folded her company so she never used the trademarks from China that people bring up. She must have applied for them before he became president. Her husband's family business and the Trump hotels/resorts/ whatever were going concerns before he became president.
I am mystified that anyone sees a comparison with Biden's son getting twice what an Exon board member makes for doing . . . What? The $2 billion investment fund from the Chinese government stinks on ice. Demand to see all records please. Saying "I did nothing wrong" isn't going to be the end of this.
His father darned well should have stopped this. President Obama should have stopped it. And they could have.
9
@Ginger
Ivanka Trump traveled to China with her dad the President and came away with lucrative trademark deals—in the middle of a trade war, no less. That’s corruption and that, like Hunter Biden, is the Swamp.
So the Trumps and the Bidens, like the Trumps and the Clintons, is a race to the bottom.
1
@Oliver she folded her company so how is she making money off those trademarks? She applied for them well before he took office so it's just a non sequitur. The Biden stuff is graft, straight up graft.
So maybe Hunter Biden wasn’t peddling influence in the Ukraine but it’s a sure bet somebody over there was looking to buy some. This issue should have been averted by the Bidens when the board position was offered in the first place.
6
There was just enough here to allow Trump and the Republicans to muddy the water, and Biden as a life-long politician should have realized it. The shocking thing is how the Dems have allowed Trump and the Republicans the running room to exploit the issue. Dems and Biden should have been ready for this knife-fight from the day the Ukrainian transcript was released, including highlighting the self-dealing by Trump and his children.
109
@Dan88 Dems never learn and always lose. I bought stock in the maker of Kleenex.
5
@Dan88 When the Ukraine whistleblower allegations first came out, I thought the Left was trying to get a 2-for, i.e., knock both Trump and Biden out of the 2020 race. Now I realize that the Dems are so tone-deaf, they thought Biden would skate through this. Silly me!
3
Ethics these days is in the eyes of the beholder. Too many voters who would have otherwise forgiven VP Biden for his decades old political decisions, and his more current gaffes, might not look past his son becoming enriched solely for the use of his Biden name- from China! We appreciate the personal things Biden has suffered, and admire his political longevity. But then there is his age to consider, as well as the President he worked for keeping mum on praise. I for one don’t want to hear about Hunter Biden for the next year, any more than I want a Trump presidency.
3
This unrelenting attack on Hunter Biden shows Trump and Guiliani at their most base level. They know Biden stayed out of the 2016 election because he was still grieving the loss of his other son, Beau. So, they figure Joe has a weakness around his love for his sons. Weakness? Attack him through his other son, Hunter. Never mind the hypocrisy of Trump family dealings. Never mind that Hunter did not break the law. Just keep throwing mud and hope it sticks. The level of Trump administration corruption is disgusting.
If there is a bright spot in all this, it will be when he is wiped from office and we can repair and improve our government so that this kind of mob boss presidency can not be enabled again.
27
Really? How did do-nothing Biden's son get those plum "jobs" in the first place? Joe Biden's political self dealing to help a relative who failed on his own, had been DISHONORABLY discharged from the Navy, fathered a son out of wedlock and only conceded to recognize him after he was legally mandated a DNA test, etc etc. Joe Biden has egregious history of back-room self-dealing, sexism, racism and backslapping segregationists. We will never forget his character assassination of Anita Hill--just for starters.
23
Good thing the Trumps would never do this. Right?
When the Trump administration's strategy is to just make up things to hurt political opponents - no matter how outrageous - there is not much you can do except answer bluntly and honestly. Trump accuses others of the same corrupt behaviors he exhibits every day. He uses his bully pulpit to claim he can do nothing wrong and is being treated unfairly. In his mind, he can do not wrong. What is wrong with this picture?
10
@Doug What did he 'make up' when it comes to what Hunter Biden did?
1
Isn't it astonishing that Mr. Hunter Biden served as a Director to a Ukrainian natural gas firm for five years?
Is he a petrochemical engineer? Does he speak Ukrainian? Did he have a notable background in Ukrainian laws and regs? Did he receive board meeting materials in Ukrainian? Did Mr. Biden attend board meetings? Were the board meetings conducted in Ukrainian?
Did Mr. Biden serve on one or more board committees, such as Nominations, Compensation or Audit?
Can Mr. Biden describe any actions that enabled him to earn substantial fees, upwards of $50.0K/month? For example, did he tour the firm's facilities or take comparable actions to familiarize himself with the firm and its operations? Did he pen an analysis of one or more aspects of the firm? Did he lead or oversee a special project or two?
Did he represent the firm in business negotiations or in discussions with governmental or regulatory authorities?
Who else was on the board during Mr. Biden's tenure? Can any of those board members describe what they saw as Mr. Biden's contributions? Can they recall conferring with Mr. Biden on any matters?
Instead we hear that it was only "poor judgement."
Meanwhile, Mr. Joe Biden has gone on record as asserting he never discussed his son's involvement. Never in five years? That is more than astonishing.
Mr. Joe Biden is well aware of the concept of the appearance of impropriety. He ignored that concept for five years. He is now paying a high price.
51
There’s a huge amount of ignorance about what board members do. Anybody who’s been on a board, as I have, or appointed to one, knows that there are two kinds of members: famous ones who appear on the letterhead for public relations purposes and rarely if ever attend meetings, and working members, who do the actual board work of hiring the CEO and making decisions about company structuring, etc. Neither of those groups necessarily has technical knowledge of the company’s work. Yes, Biden was hired because of his name. That does not mean he did anything criminal. Whether it was a conflict of interest is another question.
5
This is a distraction. Your guy is dirtier than Nixon ever dreamed.
1
Although I agree that ivanka and Jared have no business being in the WH, the Trump family, prior to his presidency, have always worked closely with dad in building the Trump empire. The trump sons are now running the business For better or worse. At least they’re working legitimately. I have no idea what Hunter did for employment before the Burisma fiasco, or what he will do next. And I don’t care. But joe and hunter behaved in a totally unethical, legal manner, and knew it.
17
@Pvbeachbum: “always worked legally”. Actually there is good evidence that they have not been working legally - false advertising in real estate by Ivanka and one brother was investigated by Cyrus Vance. Hunter at least was not doing anything illegal.
5
@Andrew
Always worked “legitimately.” The courts will decide anything “illegal.” Cyrus Vance has always been anti-Trump.
1
@Pvbeachbum Donald Trump did NOT give up control of those companies. His sons are running it for him, he continues to profit from them, and he remains at the top of the corporate totem pole. Talk about corruption! Other presidents put their holdings in a blind trust while in office, with NO family input while serving in the White House.
He says he didn't receive any compensation-but doesn't he have an equity play that will yield millions in the future?
11
If any lasting lessons come out of the Trump administration or this presidential campaign in general, it’s that ethics (private and business) matter. Appearances matter. When one decides to participate in public service, the standards must be set a little higher — and behavior more closely scrutinized — for the good of the country. We are seeing how compromised ethics can affect national and foreign policy — this “old-fashioned” concept still has important ramifications, as much as it is downplayed in this society.
While not a Biden supporter, I really don’t want to see his campaign sidetracked by this issue. The younger Biden has admitted to and is rectifying the problem. Biden himself has said what he will do. But I’m afraid he will now be playing constant defense — because that is how Trump rolls when dealing with opponents, despite his own sins — which may affect Biden’s electability going forward. Trump, to say the least, is a master at controlling the narrative, no matter how many fingers are also pointing back at him in the meantime.
11
@MDB
Ethics DON'T matter or Donald Trump would not have been elected president. Fraudulent business practices were this man's stock in trade, skipping out on vendors, leaving other's paying his debt, never put his assets in a blind trust once elected, shills for his properties from the White House foreign governments and those doing business with the US government spend big bucks at Trump Hotel in DC, Jared Kushner does his family's banking business from his WH office and coddles Khahsoggi's murderer because Saudi Arabia underwrites his family -- and Trump still has 85% percent approval of the Republican party. Disabuse yourself of the notion that ethics matter, except when the totally compromised Republican party members wag their fingers and clutch their pearls with gross exaggerated claims against Democrats.
The first most compromised, corrupt public official ever, the Grifter in Chief identifying Rudy Giuliani, the second most corrupt, compromised man in the country, as rooting out corruption wherever it exists is laughable beyond measure--yet still 86% approval rating for this garbage from Republicans.
Repubs voted for a man who would not release his tax returns because they could care less about what those financial entanglements would show--ethics mean nothing.
1
Even more unpalatable than Joe and Hunter Biden denying anything untoward in his selling access to the White House is so many of my fellow anti-Trumpers resorting to "what-aboutism" to prop up one of "our" guys. Let's not forget that there really is a swamp. Let's recognize that it really does need to be drained. Personally, I am considering only candidates with a track record of fighting for campaign finance reform and the rooting out of corruption. Eliminating influence peddling and bribery is the only way we will ever move on majority-supported issues like climate change reversal, healthcare reform, tighter gun laws, universal human rights, and an end to constant war.
12
I don’t think it’s whataboutism to call out the hypocrisy of Republicans criticizing the Bidens for a behavior also found among members of the current administration.
Whataboutism isn’t a valid defense of that behavior, either. What is needed is to drain the swamp on both sides of the aisle. Unfortunately, the rich and powerful have always used their positions to gain more wealth and power, which they justify by believing that they deserve it because they’re better, not just more fortunate, than everyone else.
“The rich are different.”
“Yes, they have money.”
1
Joe Biden should retire. Now. I never thought he should run, then his reaction to the complaints about his touching were less than acceptable. His continued commitment to be dismissive of young people and respond to women in public places according to their looks or age and not their questions or concerns is also troublesome.
But mostly, we do not want to be the party of "Not as bad as Trump". This is rather excessive nepotism no matter how you look at it. That is unethical, if not illegal. And like his dad, Hunter apologizes without any real apology. He's saying "I'm sorry that people are upset about what I did even though what I did was perfectly fine".
31
If you’re gonna play with fire, don’t cry when you burn your fingers. Hunter Biden may be true hearted in his interview. But the whole ‘perception’ of unethical dealings, the whole avoidance of conflict-of-interest, the whole using one’s office to advance one’s personal financial position were thrown out the door by the Biden family. These principles have been around for a century or more in US politics.
7
Hunter Biden has a valuable list of contacts outside of the Obama administration. Big business contacts are a a valuable commodity. the CEOs you meet at cocktail parties; play tennis with, etc. If the salary had been 100k a year this would be a nonissue. Hunterr spoke with real feeling about huis country and his journey to sobriety. I wish him well.
6
Sad is the political environment where Democrats have to hold themselves to a higher standard than the Republicans but we do. Hunter taking the board seat was unethical just as the Trump children continuing to trade on their name around the world is. Regardless Biden can’t be the candidate. He should have asked the tough questions of his son even though Trump is incapable of doing the same with his. It’s a disqualifier. I will add from an optics perspective Hunter’s board seat is worse than what Jr, Ivanka, and Eric are doing. He was totally unqualified for that seat. What the Trump children are up to seems like a continuation of what they were already doing before Trump was a candidate.
7
There's something sad, yet also quite realistic, about a 49-year-old guy admitting that many of the things in his life wouldn't have happened if his last name hadn't been Biden. It lends credence to the whole "swamp" concept. Too bad the Trump kids aren't that self-aware. Even Donald Sr. had his wealthy father Fred to thank for helping him get a massive head start in life, but you'll never hear Trumpty express any gratitude for the humungous advantages his family wealth and connections brought him.
25
Poor Hunter, why has Joe been so silent? VP Biden watched it happen, hoping it would be overlooked. Hey, everybody is doing it, right. Now in dealing with it, echoes of Donald Jr. resonate throughout the media and swampland. Are we headed toward a country governed by wealthy trust fund offspring? Robert's Supreme Court let the dark money into our democracy.
6
By simply changing Hunter's last name to "trump", one can solve all the ethical problems complained of by trump and no investigation will be necessary.
24
@Allen82 Changing his name would take too long. All he has to do is become a Republican.
1
I would want the moderators in today's debate ask each and every candidate if they promise to make sure that none of the immediate family members in the next Administration would serve on a foreign board or work in the White House. The nepotism should end with the next President.
6
Hunter Biden: “Yep, that conduct, while not illegal, did not pass the smell test and I will not do it again, and I have resigned from a Chinese Company’s board even though no one is asking about it, and even though my dad may never be the President”
Ivanka, Don Jr, and Jared: “Nothing to see here. We are making millions at home and a broad thanks to dad’s job, and we have cool offices at the Whitehouse!”
One of these two positions is morally and ethically 100% more sound than the other.
Trump supporters are objectively on the wrong side of history. The worst part is, they will not have the excuse of hindsight being 20/20. We can see all of this right now!
11
@Pete one was working for China trading on their family name and one is working for their privately held family business? TDS isn’t a moral stance.
I do not think that Joe or Hunter Biden have dealt well with the issue. As others have said, there is no way that Hunter taking $50k per month from a questionably corrupt company is not unethical. He needs to admit it. I understand that Hunter has had many struggles during his life - but this is an opportunity to show his integrity - especially if he wants to save his father's candidacy.
p.s. I am a die-hard Dem
6
@Jordan
If he had any integrity or ethics, he wouldn’t have taken those plum sinecures. Can’t show you what he doesn’t have.
The problem for Hunter Biden here is the same problem that "victims" of libel and slander often face:
That truth is an absolute defense.
Regardless of Trump's entreaties to foreign powers and his efforts to obscure/conceal/defend them, what has been exposed here is your basic plain-vanilla grifting by the progeny of the ruling class.
The defense can't be "well, if he hadn't asked about it he wouldn't have found it." There has to be something better as an excuse. But there isn't.
3
I’m sorry, but the “the Trump kids are worse” argument just does not cut it. If Hunter Biden understood he was being hired for his “name,” what, exactly, did he thin that meant? And if he accompanied his father on trips through which he benefited, and may indeed have involved his father, wittingly or unwittingly, in those dealings, then what exactly do we call this, other than corruption?
I am sick of the nepotism and self-dealing on both side of the aisle. Which is why I will not, under any circumstances, vote for either Trump or Biden. Sorry, moderate Democrats, but if you want my vote, you’d better find a candidate who doesn’t drip of entitlement. Warren, Sanders, or Buttigieg cut the muster. Biden needs to go enjoy retirement.
19
Obviously Trump’s family and businesses are currently engaged in the most egregious forms of using political power to profit private enterprises. As many articles have pointed out, Hunter Biden’s doing similar is not illegal, and he should get ahead of this by saying so upfront AND declaring just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right, then resign from all/any other businesses he’s in connected to foreign powers. He can then call on Mitch McConnell’s wife, all Trumps, and any other pols and their families to do same. Lead by example and don’t justify, and call out the loop holes that have allowed this greasing of palms. Of course, retired pols will continue to use their dubious political experience to aid US corporations to get around regulations, “lobby” Congress, and/or privately consult any clients trying to do same. It stinks, and as long as the wolves are in charge of the sheep-fold that will continue to be the American way.
2
Even if one limited oneself to the info found in the Times Hunter Biden's actions would be considered unethical. Here is someone connected to a powerful US politician who rakes in tons of money from two unsavory firms connected to corrupt or unsavory regimes. First money from a pro-Russian kleptocrat at Burisma, then money from Chinese guys connected to the repression of Muslims. Hm. 50 K a month for hardly any work in a country he does not know, does not speak the language of. Hm. Maybe not illegal but tell that to the people who do not make even half of that in a year.
Sometimes trying to defend the indefensible makes it even more glaring. There is a good article on the Bidens's elastic morality in the Intercept (Ryan Grim, October 9). Whitewashing legal corruption or the usual greed of the powerful will not work. This has nothing to do with Trump. Biden is bad by himself. If the Dems go on trying to save Hunter and Joe they will go down to defeat.
6
Where are the hard questions about whether it was true that he was making 50 grand a month and what that was for? And how did these people from Ukraine know to contact Hunter Biden for the job? I don't see that anywhere. Maybe this article is a lead for people to see the full interview on ABC news. Who knows but at least the article should have mentioned these specific issues one way or another. These questions have to be answered since the situation does, in anyone's reasonable analysis, appear strongly suggestive of some form of corruption.
4
This number of $50,000 a month salary for Hunter Bidrn is constantly being mentioned. Yet I have not been able to track down its origin or confirm it as true. Is this a fact, or another case of "say it enough times, it must be true"???
1
Someone without an "ethical compass" wouldn't have the slightest notion of an ethical lapse and China is not the only money bag for poor Hunter. When he cash's out of the Chinese funded investment group he will reap millions. The question remains what actions dad took, both for the former Ukrainian govt. and the present Chinese govt. for all that money. Lets not forget about John Kerry's step-son. Ethical compass's are a rare commodity in Washington, D.C.
5
You mean, among the rich.
They really believe they deserve everything. I’ve never made $50,000 in a single year.
Hunter should've said he's donating all (or even 90%) proceeds to charity. Then he can claim the high road and I'd argue it is ethical then. Why does he need the money?
1
The newspapers were tied up with cyberspace. And we lost the election due to cyber space.
I hope Hunter and Biden do not get tied up with cyberspace. With cyberspace, Russia and Trump will were throw out enough fuel to disrupt the democratic process. ... We the People ...
The Trump egg is imploding. The Republicans will scramble to stay on top. I hope the newspapers do not create, or help to create another cyber space. There is the ... truth. And perhaps we need to understand, the Free Press. It does not mean we have to print everything even if distorted, for the free press.
I wonder in these newspapers, if it can’t be treated, presidential tweets! And then go forward. And then perhaps a reasonable comment made after out.
This feels eerily similar to Hillary Clinton and the email situation back in 2016. So much focus was put onto that rather than the policy issues at hand and now the same is starting to show with Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
History tends to repeat itself if the people don't remember it. And I think that's one of the things Donald Trump is counting on.
5
So Hunter Biden will have no problem sitting on the boards of domestically-based companies that receive federal contracts? Even if fully legal, it still smacks of influence-peddling, the way the relatives of Chicago aldermen just happen to own or work for companies with city contracts and no one says he sees anything wrong with it.
2
I'm a democrat who will certainly vote for Joe Biden if he is the Democratic nominee, but it does bother me that his son was an advisor to China--a communist, autocratic country. What has happened to our American values?
5
Politicians who use their influence for personal wealth and power. Corruption whether the legality has been carefully lobbied into irrelevance or not...
1
@humpf Depends what kind of advice Hunter Biden was providing. If it was helping to mitigate Chinese activity that was detrimental to US interests, then maybe we need more Hunter Bidens in China. But I still haven't heard precisely what he did at Burisma and in China. I know that given his education (Georgetown U, Yale Law School), military experience (even with the drugs thing), age (30s), and last name, $50K/yr was not much at all.
If my information is correct, Jared and Ivanka made around $82 million off business directly or indirectly related to their presence in Trump's administration and familial relationship with the POTUS - in China and the Middle East, among other areas of the world! That's not counting Kushner's escape from his 666 5th Avenue fiasco, the process of which smells to high heaven. They're still there, and I still haven't figured out what Ivanka does besides horn in on international conferences, displaying her ineptitude. And infrequently speaking out on "women's issues". And frankly, we know as much about what Jared does, too, although he is all over the place. I think I've heard him speak (for less than a minute at a time) only two or three times since Trump started running for President. You know, the guy that wanted to set up a "back channel" to Russia that couldn't be monitored by US intelligence?
Ah, the perversity of politics.
2
They were sold to foreign interests for big money, while American workers got $10 hour jobs and were told togo to college”, upon graduation, there were nothing but $10 hour jobs.
Too bad we do not make opportunities for international graft, available to all American workers. We can all just change our last names to Trump or Biden. I want an office in the White House, how about you?
Doesn't everybody make $50,000 a month with no background and experience in energy....especially in a country (Ukraine) where the average salary is probably less then $500 a month !?
23
@Cromwell
Every child of a President or Vice President in US history has benefited in some way off of their name. Every single one. No exceptions.
@Cromwell
No...Guliani made $500,000 from his Russian buddies in 3 months. Hunter was underpaid.
Here is how to solve the problem you are struggling with: simply change Hunters last name from Biden to Trump.
2
@Cromwell Board members don’t run day-to-day operations. Read thru the comments, there are several excellent descriptions of the role of corporate boards and the reasons for diverse membership on them.
"No ethical lapse"? C'mon.
That's exactly what happened.
I certainly believe he did nothing illegal in accepting those board positions, but anyone with a moral compass could see the lapse in ethics and judgment.
He doesn't have to worry about legal issues but he should look forward to a heavy dose of shame.
16
@Hugo The only reason he isn't facing legal issues is because the Obama administration would not investigate him. Same for the sad group of house Dems in charge right now. Hunter is a very lucky guy.
2
@peter He’s a lawyer who served on a corporate board. Period. There’s no ‘there’...this is classic Trump deflection, he has an enormous family nepotism/corruption problem, so he starts throwing mud...classic McCarthy/Roy Cohn tactic. Mind-boggling that so many folks are quickly taken in by it!
Trump had a 2 hour meeting with Putin with no one present but a translator. We still do not know the substance of the discussion.
The public has still not seen Trump's tax returns. Why?
The hopeful students who enrolled in "Trump University" had to go to sue to get their tuition returned when the "institution of higher learning" turned out to be a sham!
The list goes on but let us stop there and get some answers.
21
@Kathleen Kenney Really you've captured the problem. Trump, completely corrupt, answers for nothing while Dems publicly wring their hands over Hunter Biden. Yes what Biden did seems very corrupt but how does the GOP and Trump end up answering nothing while seeming to get people to look down on the Biden's? It's crazy!
1
If the tax returns are not legally required to run for or becoming the President of the US, why should he furnish his tax returns? If he isn't smart enough to completely cover his tracks (he might not be, but he SHOULD be), he probably should not be President. And being (in his mind) the Smartest Person In The World, he had better have a very good, very thorough, very experienced tax lawyer. If he doesn't, that'd be just stupid.
Not going to happen!
Because, the press, wants to hammer home $50 grand a month over and over until we forget Ivanka’s China trade marks and office next to the oval and Jared Kushner’s top secret clearance and private back channels to Moscow and murderous Saudi Bone saw guys.
1
I’m a Democrat. I’ll vote for Biden if he’s our candidate. But no way, no how can anyone convince me that Hunter Biden taking this Board seat - offered solely because of who his father was - and collecting $50k per month for it (or $86K per month according to other reports) was ethical. Don’t shout at me to look at what the Trump/Kushner kids are doing. What they are doing doesn’t make what Hunter did ethical or ok. Even if legal.
378
@JJ Nikki Haley has a role at Boeing, for $30k per month, is that 'ethical' or 'ok'. She has a Bachelors in accounting. What does she know about running a commercial airline? Nothing. She got that job because of her political position.
It is pretty normal for people to have Board positions who are there because of their political or business connections.
56
@JJ Why is it unethical? Because he doesn't deserve it? What happens if he donated that $50K to charity - would that make it ethical? I think so. Let's say he donated 90% of that - so he makes $5000/month for sitting on this board for himself. I think that's ethical behaviour. So you don't know what he's done with that money - that's when you know whether it was ethical or not.
8
@JJ
I agree. Democrats should hold each other accountable to ethical standards, regardless of whether it is illegal.
Democrats should work to make it illegal. There is no benefit to allowing this unethical behavior on either side. And we all know Republicans aren’t holding their own accountable at this time.
16
One is struck by the contrasts between the Biden and Trump families. Neither Joe nor Hunter Biden have broken the law or acted unethically. Hunter is clearly concerned that his business dealings will act as a distraction and has moved on.
In the means while, Presidents of foreign countries brag to President Trump about staying at his hotels to curry favor. His daughter and son-in-law have offices in the White House, while they run billion dollar enterprises that take hundreds of million of dollars from foreign entities; and the POTUS charges the USA $3M every weekend he plays golf at his own resort . . . and the list goes on.
How in the world did we get here?
365
@JJ Spot on.
It would be great to see the tax returns and immediate family mandated to be available before being able to run for public office and then remain public record for 5 years post their retirement....
28
@JJ I think that nepotism is unethical. And if it were just one job, I could see maybe that it's just networking and not full on nepotism. But I'm counting 3 major money makers through his dad. I don't think that's OK.
Yes, Trump is a thousand times worse. But are we arguing that a lesser form of corruption is our goal?
30
What he did was not illegal, but it certainly wasn't ethical. Engaging in whataboutism doesn't change that fact. If the President's children also engage in unethical behavior, that doesn't excuse what Hunter did.
11
Hunter is being hunted (investigated) as he should be. Let us assume Hunter's last name was Jose Valdez with no connection to high ranking politician and definitely not to someone heart beat away from being president of USA instead of Biden; would he have been sitting on the board of a foreign company registered in an economically drained country with corrupt leaders but knowing through secret sources, such as daddy, that the country is about to receive beaucoup foreign aid??? Not a chance. If we call ourselves an equal opportunity then this Hunter business stinks to high heaven. May be it is a perception of impropriety but so was the debunked Russia collusion investigated by Mueller futzing around for almost 30 months.
Why should Joe Biden get a pass especially when he is running neck to neck as the front runner to be the democratic nominee to be 46th president of the USA for which he will have a 50% chance of winning the presidency? Was Joe bragging publicly and openly about interfering in Ukranian (U) affairs by demanding the resignation/firing of an U prosecutor (who he called son of a b) when he was aware that besides investigating several other cases he was just possibly investigating his son? One of Bill Clinton's great virtues was he curious and smart. Joe Biden not being curious about what his son is doing or up to, is simply deceptive and possibly patently false.
Parents I know have advised their off springs not to donate to politicians as they are all the same.
41
@Girish Kotwal Everyone gets Board positions because of their connections. This is the way the world works.
5
So, what do you think of Trump’s going to his hotel every weekend or taking government business there? Or his children as “advisers” on foreign policy? Are you as concerned about that, too?
3
@Moira from UK. True but some will describe it as a swamp. Board positions should be given on the basis of merit, experience and minimally due to the circles they hang out in (what you call connections). The US should ideal vet persons likely to be president before they become president. So in my opinion investigations of the Bidens is in order not necessarily to crucify Joe Biden and spoil his chances to be president but for the future we know What did Joe Biden know about Hunter Biden's connection to Ukraine and when did he know it? Did he know it before he bragged about getting a foreign government's prosecutor fired or recently when the whistle blower complaint was publicly revealed?
1
If Trump wants to look at family members profiting from their name, he needs look no farther than his own children.
This is the height of hypocrisy, even for Trump.
92
I agree with you, the Biden's are no better than the Trumps.
1
@cct The difference is that the Trump family has never hidden from the fact that their name matters and that they use it for self promotion. By contrast, the Bidens and other dimocrats pretend that they don't trade on their family name or associations.
@Mkm You misread the original post.
What did Hunter think his “clients” were buying? His sage advice and knowledge of the oil and gas business (not)? His experience doing business in the Ukraine or China (not)?
No, they thought they were buying access—like when Joe, Hunter, and another Burisma director played golf in the Hamptons. And for this Hunter was paid hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of dollars.
Maybe not (maybe) illegal. But definitely not ethical.
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@Meg He did have experience in finance at that point. Board members often do not have expertise in the specific business product but provide guidance in other areas like legal, financial, etc. Yes, I think the pay level was absurd. No, I do not believe this line of reason that he had no experience.
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@Betty in LA
Most company boards are prominent and skilled executives (often other company CEOs and CFOs) or academics (business school deans and college presidents are popular) or noteworthy community leaders or significant investors.
Hunter was kicked out the Naval Reserve for failing a drug test. He was not a particularly noteworthy or successful lawyer.
Pretending he was in any way qualified other than having access to the VP is absurd.
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@Meg You could make the same assertions for the entire Trump cabinet and team of adult children, if you were honest. But then again if you were, you wouldn't be repeating this trumped up tripe coming out of the oval office excuse machine.
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Did Hunter Biden steal shoe designs and have them manufactured under his own brand? In China? And receive special treatment in the Chinese market? And receive clearance to view classified material despite lying, repeatedly, on the application to do so? ... Just checking.
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@miller Do the Trump family's ethical failings magically excuse or exonerate the Biden family's of theirs? Just checking.
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Because the lesser of two evils is a meaningful argument?
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@miller will not matter to many voters who will conclude they are all the same, and stay home if biden is nominee.
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Totally blind to how the ordinary citizens of this country will see the son of a political leader being paid millions for doing nothing. The Democrats and the Bidens, in particular, are tone deaf.
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@Truthbeknown Based on Hunter Bidens’s article with the New Yorker in July, they knew this would be an issue. They were well aware of this before it blew up in their face, but instead the Bidens decided to ignore it. I honestly have no sympathy for their current political predicament.
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@Truthbeknown Agreed. The appearance of corruption is as bad in politics as the actual corruption. It does make me wonder though why the "ordinary citizens" feel that Trump's family is working for them but Bidens would not.
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@Truthbeknown but not nearly as tone deaf as Trump and all of his supporters. Despite their lapses, the Bidens can’t hold a candle to Trump in tone deafness nor in corruption.
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It is infuriating to me that Hunter Biden has to defend himself against the malevolent, lies and accusations by Trump and his henchmen!
That said, I’m glad that he’s addressing it and I hope Joe claps back at Trump & company on a daily basis until Trump is drummed out of the office he was never fit to hold.
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@Andrea Joe needs to step aside for new blood that does not come equipped with such a load of questionable baggage. I have been a registered Democrat since 1964 and have never missed voting for a Democrat at the top of the ticket. We have the best opportunity to unseat the worst president in history, and I for one do not intend to waste such an opportunity supporting a candidate whose personal and familial baggage smell and look a lot like that of the entire Trump clan of cons. We can do better and I hope to high heaven you do NOT stand in our way again.
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@Andrea
REALLY? What happened to the left's call of "no ones above the law (except Dems. and illegal alien's ).
@Andrea Can you give some examples of the lies exposing Hunter Biden and his money grab?
Well, there you have it.
The Bidens did nothing wrong.
Hunter says so.
Some crooked oligarch would have hired Hunter for the board of directors of an energy company even if his father wasn’t able to be corrupted.
He had such a stunning resume, coming off his success in the Navy and everything.
The question is, how can you support this type of kleptocracy?
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@Ken Look at Trump and his family!
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By turning a blind eye and pretending that is always the other guy who's doing it, never yourself or your own...
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@loco73
Shameful, the Democrats, no?
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wow! His admitting to his entitlement only highlights a sort of elitism around this family. The kind voters everywhere find outrageous. The whole Biden family saga seems, well, sad.
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His father was a Vice President. Admitting that this gave him huge advantages in life is not so much entitlement as a statement of reality. It would be worse if he pretended that his father’s status had nothing to do with his resume. As to his struggles in the navy etc. he was in an emotional black hole following the very real tragedies in his immediate family. I am not saying he is a sterling character or did not benefit from his father’s position, but I really don’t think what he has done is unusual or criminal. What powerful politician’s or CEO’s kids haven’t benefitted in some way from their parents’ power and position?
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@Carolina To be fair, if he did not acknowledge his entitlement, he would be equally criticized for the same notion.
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@Carolina
What about this President's advisers Trump Inc?
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I believe him and there is zero evidence that there was any wrongdoing. Why can't we leave it at that?
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@TR NJ - we can't leave it at that for the same reason we cannot allow DJT to go unchecked. If we do not stand up for our morals, who are we? Hunter Biden engaged in blatantly unethical behavior at a time when his father was dealing with Beau's terminal illness. Yes, Joe should have disallowed it, and i can understand what a difficult time it was for him. Joe, himself, did noting illegal - but ethics matter.
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@TR NJ
I detect a hint of satire. But absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Perhaps we should investigate and see what is really there?
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There is zero evidence of wrongdoing because nobody has bothered to investigate up to this point. Would be nice if leading papers like the NYT decided it was worth looking into.
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Hunter’s work simply doesn’t pass the smell test. The probability of anyone else with zero energy industry experience landing a $50,000 / month board seat with a Ukrainian energy company is essentially zero. Ditto all of Hunter’s private equity deals in China that involved backing from Beijing.
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@Once From Rome Nonsense. Why would Exxon appoint an environmentalist to their board of directors with no experience in the energy industry? Why would the board Hunter Biden sat on appoint an ex-president of Poland? Boards of directors are composed of prominent individuals from diverse fields who advise on corporate direction and governance, and approve or not of the CEO's program. They are far more concerned with politics and bottom line than the technical aspects of the industry they provide oversight to. The corporate executives should be expert in technical aspects, not the board that oversees them. Why would JFK appoint the head of an automotive company to head the DoD? Hunter Biden has experience on sitting on boards, is a graduate of one of the USA's more prominent law schools and can provide international perspective and knowhow relating to American financial markets.
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let's not forget, while Hunter's father, the now presidential candidate, was vice president under Obama. So it's interesting how this does not bother many, and it demonstrates all the real motives in play, very convenient double standards of reviewing foreign interference concerns.
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@Once From Rome
Hunter is simply using the "trump standard"...trump gets a break....Hunter gets a break.
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Perhaps Joe Biden should hold his family to a higher standard than just what is legal. Perhaps Hunter Biden should honor his father's political aspirations and get a job like those in the working class Joe likes to pander to. Joe has said that no member of his family will serve in his White House. If past history is anything to gauge Biden ethics, Hunter will be all too busy profiting from his father's position, with his father's tacit approval. We deserve better than a soft core reboot of the current occupant of the White House.
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You are probably right but consider this, what job could Hunter Biden get that had absolutely nothing to do with his father’s position as VP and now presidential candidate? Children of the powerful will always be seen as a conduit to their parents. Their only hope of forging their own path is to prove through hard work and talent, once they have a job, that they were indeed qualified.
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Unfortunately, Alexandra, Hunter Biden has not demonstrated what any of us in the working class would perceive to be hard work or talent.
Thankfully, though, many of us are now seeing through the myth of meritocracy that has led to the present oligarchy of Trumps, Bidens, and their ilk.
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@E de Jong of course we need to ask Tump's family how they are using the Trump name to further their profit/money/greed opportunities. How is Trumpsters manage to point fingers whilst doing the exact same thing.
You tell me, why?
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I say we investigate Hunter Biden. Simultaneously we investigate the Trump children and Jared Kushner. I wonder which investigation will reveal the most dirt? But if anyone tries to investigate the Trumps and Kushner that would be viewed as harassment by Trump himself. I am incredibly surprised , or perhaps not surprised at all, that the ethics laws are so lame that, in 2019, we would be having this discussion at all. If, as Trump has suggested he is 'draining the swamp', why not start here? And force his children and son in law out of his administration? Why, Trump? Why? Just another example of the view that Democrats commit crimes and Republicans are innocent of any wrong doing for the same behavior.
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@Walking Man
i say you are correct. Simultaneously investigate both families with non partial investigators (leaving the media out of it till it's finished and report only the facts) and let the chips fall where the may.
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@Walking Man
You are absolutely spot on.
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@Walking Man ... have you been paying attention for the past three years? The liberal mainstream media has been relentlessly investigation the Trump family business dealings and finding NO evidence of wrongdoing... NONE!
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Maybe Hunter can be given an office at the Whitehouse, and get to go speak to World leaders if Joe becomes President. I look forward to his wife Melissa Cohen, daughter in law of the future commander in chief going to the Middle East to create her peace plan, and cosying up to Dictators in Saudi Arabia. Does that sound completely ridiculous? Oh, not any more as that’s what we have with Jared and Ivanka, and Trump wants to cast stones at Biden?
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No ethical lapse?
.
Golly Hunter, most Americans on both sides of the political spectrum seem to disagree with you.
.
Think I'll go with them.
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Whatever happened to the political counter-punch, or is the Swamp King the only one who uses it? One only has to search for the names Ivanka, Don, Jr., Eric, and Jared in the internet to find truly, not just conspiracy-theory-accepted-by-Dad examples of nepotism, corruption and making money off the family name.
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@The Lone Protestor
Are you suggesting that Hunter should say, the Trump kids are doing it so I can too?
.
Good luck with that.
.
How about, the Trump kids are doing it, which is why I'm not?
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@West Coaster
Glad you understood my meaning. How about
"I don't do that stuff; I leave it to the Trumps."?
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@The Lone Protestor Trump and his adult children and son in law Jared Kushner are totally corrupt.It is the height of hypocracy of Trump, his ilk and his sons to go after former vice-president Biden and his son, truly unbelievable.
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For sure this was a politically incorrect move, but no indication of being illegal. Trump and his lawyers including the dept of justice would have already exposed all the laws the Bidens violated.
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But that is exactly the same excuse Trump et al are using. Does that make it OK?
@William Geller How do we know Hunters dealings weren't illegal? The Obama administration totally broomed it.
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If no laws were broken, then the problem is the law.
US companies are barred by law from using the same tactics of enriching one member of a family to curry influence with a politically connected relative.
Biden can say it was legal, but his son's cushy job screams unethical.
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@Matt
The problem is the law Matt.
You could say that about a lot of laws in this country. You could also say it about wide swaths of the tax system. Which is why the system works so well already for wealthy and connected people, which the Bidens are (not nearly as wealthy as many many members of Congress, but certainly well-connected). That is also why it is so hard to change those laws.
But if there were a problem with younger Biden's post, there are LEGAL systems within this country to investigate it, and that didn't happen. Instead, the Swamp King set out to ask a foreign government to dig around with the hope the could find something and put a political opponent at a disadvantage and that is absolutely ILLEGAL.
The criminal is in the Whitehouse.
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Hunter Biden concedes that some of the opportunities in his life have come because of his famous father. Shocking!
As if Donald Trump didn't benefit from his successful father and Donald Trump's children haven't benefited from their famous and successful father.
Any proud parent would hope their children are successful.
Now, should laws be enacted that restrict the ability of the children of elected officials to unfairly benefit from that relationship? Of course, and exhibits number one and two are Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
But, those laws did not and do not exist, and neither Joe nor Hunter Biden did anything illegal or unethical.
It is the height of hypocrisy for the President and his supporters to condemn the Bidens when the President's family has their hands in every cookie jar they can find.
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@Didier
agreed, except the part about not being unethical. Of course , Hunter Biden was unethical in accepting a Board seat in a foreign company while his father was VP and for which he had no qualifications.
But the Trumps, Donald and his sons, Ivanka, and Jared have been and are not only unethical but corrupt.
And yes, there should be Congressional laws prohibiting such behavior.
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@Didier
"...their hands in every cookie jar they can find."
A perfect metaphor. Thanks for the on-target visual!
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@Didier
Making laws prohibiting sons/daughters getting benefits from their famous/powerful parents name would be very difficult and almost certainly unconstitutional.
Would it only apply to children of politicians (in office, out of office, running for office) or should it also apply to the private sector? Would it apply only if the person had no "qualifications" and who decide that a person has no qualification for a job (Hunter actually had qualifications even if he didn't know how to weld a gas-pipeline)?
Until recently we simply got rid of any behaviour that crossed the line by shaming people (and it has worked with Biden). It is only Trump and his children that have brazenly crossed over the line and been immune to any shaming. And remember that their crossing the line has already violated current laws (not just the norms) - so new laws are not going to make any difference. We need new voters and new "news media" to fix that problem.
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Based on the other luminaries that we’re on that board, Hunter Biden’s seat was in line with what company governance was after. An international non corrupt image through a broad array of international board members.
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