In an ideal world where all candidates for president actually cared first and foremost about the well-being of the country, Joe Biden would have withdrawn from the race as soon as it was clear this would become an issue. It has already, and will continue to serve as a distraction from meaningful discussion of vitally important issues facing us. And will ensure a second term for Trump should the Democrats be suicidal enough to nominate Biden as their 2020 candidate.
7
He should drop out. This mess will pull him down, and if he gets the nomination, every Trump flack will be all over the media leading chants of Lock Them Up. I'm sorry, even if we go after Trump's kids, which they deserve, it takes a special kind of Democrat to win a battle like that, and Biden isn't it.
4
Biden should withdraw and endorse Sanders for the good of the country.
5
What a can of worms.
Hunter Biden has struggled with addiction and his own aberrant behavior for years and Joe has looked the other way or, like many parents, enabled his son.
Moreover, Joe shows signs of cognitive decline including problems with memory, confusion and emotional control. The latter is what makes him “thin-skinned” and a powder keg on the campaign trail.
He will lose to Trump.
4
Isn’t it time to go after the Trump children— talk about nepotism, fraud, and corruption. Not the youngest child of course, but the rest of the grifters.
The Democrats need for once to take off the kid gloves. That’s all the GOP understands
6
Here they go again. The press eviscerated HRC throughout 2016 while they allowed dump to skate. Now they will do the same thing to Biden. I suspect it's really about a desire to look impartial since most of the mainstream press abhors dump and his corrupt gang. I suggest the the NYT either find evidence of wrongdoing or shut up on the Hunter Biden thing. We have a gang of thieves in the WH focus on them...
7
“The way I was raised,” Mr. Biden said, “you don’t go after somebody’s kids.”
Who got him the non-job, Joe? Donald's going after you.
6
First of all the GOP argument about Hunter Biden not being qualified to be a board member of a Ukrainian company mirrors Trumps qualifications to be president of the United States. This Ukrainian energy company had a prior history of corruption within it's ranks and Hunter was probably chosen to be a watchdog and liaison for the western world as much as anything. Allow both parties to call any witnesses they want and allow the pertinent documents to be presented. Donald Trump is Guilty as charged and needs to be Impeached and removed if the truth is allowed to be told.
3
Even worse. Watchdog qualifications? Call him anything you like, he still did nothing.
1
Seems they might be sugar-coating this a little, "... he was paid AS MUCH as $50,000 in SOME months". (I added the caps.)
According to a Reuters article I just read, Biden was paid $83,333/month for 18 months totaling 1.7 million smakaroos.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hunter-biden-ukraine-idUSKBN1WX1P7
5
Being thin-skinned is NOT how you defeat Trump. This narrative that Biden is the best equipped person to beat Trump is simply false.
Klobuchar, Warren, Buttigieg, Bennet would (and have!) walk circles around them both.
1
Anyone that thinks there was nothing wrong with Hunter Biden's job in the Ukraine is living in denial. It was a corrupt company which gave him the job due to the fact that his father was vice president. People keep going on about Trump and his behaviour but Joe Biden and his son are far worse.
8
I hope the judge locks up Hunter Biden for contempt of court and depriving his child of his ill-gained money. Time for the Bidens to pay up.
8
Hunter Biden is a loser who saw a chance to make good money trading on his dad's name. Having said that, there is no evidence that Joe Biden was influenced in any way by his son's activities. So yes, it was sleazy, but nothing illegal occurred.
If the Republicans want to make a big issue of it, let's just put forward the names of EVERY official who has family members making money off nothing more than being related to someone in power. It would be a long list and their stories would make for mundane reading.
7
This is how politics occurs in the US. Deny the issues, deny the facts, lie, cheat and use character assignation to defeat your Opponents. Our government is treating our own citizen’s as it has citizens in other countries sincev Vietnam. The tactic described in this article is a diversion from reality an attempt by the elite to divert from the issues. This has been happening in the US since the beginning. All the fact and truth about the real history of the US are coming to light. The white minority needs to maintain control our of shear terror. How does it feel to be white and treated like the minority has for centuries?
I would like Joe to talk about the Washington DC culture of carving out business opportunities and advantages for family members. The entire culture of politicians and their children and friends gorging themselves at the trough is a big problem. From Biden’s obvious involvement with Burisma to Speaker Pelosi being favors with IPO stock buying opportunities and everything in between, it is a scandal which all of the DC dwellers simply don’t talk about or critique each other about......an understanding of acceptance of what by any reasonable review is dishonest graft that puts Tammany Hall to shame.
4
How much money has Ivanka and Jared earned while they have been at the trough for the last three years? Unlike the Bidens there is ample evidence of their incomes expressed in things like the almost 20 patents the Chinese government to Ivanka’s companies. Let’s see their taxes.
Explain too why Jared may not even have a security clearance at this point. It has been denied by agencies several times. Also why do Ivanka, Jared, and four others in the WH use private servers there, sometimes combining both government business and their own private businesses’ activities?
Other issues to examine are the Kushner family offering green cards, avenues to US citizenship, to wealthy Chinese in exchange for their investing in Kushner real estate. A security threat is possible also when Jared uses the untraceable app What’s Up to chat with his BFF MBS in Saudi Arabia. Much advice was traded on that when Khashoggi was murdered and when the Saudi pilot student went on a killing spree in Pensacola.
Check too on the dollar expenditures for secret service protection for the 20-member Trump families.Their second/third homes security equipment, their overseas business travel, and their frequent vacations are of special interest. On one trip to Aspen taxpayers had to buy ski clothes , rent ski equipment so that SS agents could guard the assorted Trump family members on several slopes at all times.
I applaud your Republican interest in investigating the Bidens. Good luck with proof like above.
3
Why do the Democrats seem to always manage to lose the PR battle?
1
Because the Democrats are filled with people that don’t practice what they preach.
8
Can we get a list of elected officials who have children serving on boards, and what boards?
9
No need to bother with any Trumps on non-profit boards. They are banned from serving because of their complicit role in the Trump Foundation debacle. Trump was fined $2.5 million for bilking his own charity to buy personal toys, pay legal expenses. You think he changed his ways after paying $25 million in fines for doing the same thing at Trump University?
1
A man afraid is easily triggered
Three of his children magically became wealthy while he was VP, due to his connections.
9
Biden’s electability is hypothetical. Do we really want this unresolved before he faces Trump on national TV? The topic tilts Biden’s emotionally breathing life into an issue he should easily kill. One big bad dose of angry Joe shatters his better angels pose. When the lodestar of his campaign message is “I’m not Trump”, this matter offers Trump a cheap and easy method to weaken the contrast he has spent months crafting.
My own thinking is that reporters need to put all of the facts out there. Let Ken Vogel handle it. He’s thorough and fair. Make Joe grapple with it fully and in a gentler fashion than the shock tactics of Trump rallies and debate ambushes.
1
"Mr. Biden noted that he had not “said a thing, and I’m not going to, about his family.”
“The way I was raised,” Mr. Biden said, “you don’t go after somebody’s kids.”
Conflicts of interest led Trump to abandon our Kurdish allies in order to defend his family's real estate interests in Istambul. Ms I. Kushner was awarded franchises in China after her father's election as President.
Biden always defended administration anti-curruption policies in Ukraine, along with the FMI and our European allies.
If Joe Biden cannot bring himself to point out the dangerous conflicts of interest of Mr Trump's offspring, an attitude which honors him, someone else should. For the good of the country, someone else must.
2
Why do people think Biden is best to beat Trump? Look at how Trump beat a bunch of better qualified Republican candidates to win the nomination and then to win over enough Democrats in key states to beat Clinton in the electoral college. His campaigns are all about personal attacks and he keeps pushing them to rattle his opponents. As this article illustrates, Biden gets rattled by the occasional heckler in a small state. What will Biden do when Trump mentions Hunter in every other sentence, and he will? Please do not nominate Biden. There are other fine candidates, Sanders who has so much integrity, even if his policies are wrong, that he cannot be personally attacked and has built his career on not being part of the swamp, Klobuchar, who is as bipartisan as Biden, and as far as we know is guilty of yelling at her staff sometimes, and Mayor Pete (sorry, cannot spell his name), who is absolutely not part of the swamp and is as cool as Obama.
2
This needs to come out and be dealt with squarely by Biden just to prove he can. If this was a discussion about Bernie Sanders' age, democratic socialism, or heart attack the whole media would be hammering on it.
To let Biden's dramatics and temper get the better of him better show up now than when he hits that debate stage with Donald Trump.
Also, some attention should be put on Attorney General Barre, and other justice agencies and ask them why they have no charged Joe Biden with something if Trump keeps calling smoke and fire?
Journalists should be writing stories about who else has relatives hired in cushy overpaid jobs that could be considered corruption. The American people have to know this before they take either sides' word for it.
2
Joe Biden obviously has a blind spot when it comes to his children, but there is no evidence that he engaged in any quid pro quos (where have I heard that term) in exchange for the positions and excessive pay that Hunter was given.
Yet, many of the people commenting here, who obviously want to see Sanders nominated, are playing into the hands of Trump and and his myrmidons. The latter want voters to believe that Biden is the crooked one, not Trump. And they seem to have found a receptive audience in Sanders' supporters, who appear to believe that Biden, at a minimum, lacks judgment, and at a maximum, is corrupt for allowing his son to serve on the board of Burisma.
It could be that Biden just takes a hands-off approach to his children, and when he says he doesn't talk business with his remaining son, maybe he's telling the truth.
I'm convinced now that Biden is our best chance for defeating Trump in November. Sanders, on the other hand, is too old, too far left and too surly to win. Sanders supporters should start to realize who the real opponent is.
3
If this man can’t sit down and have a difficult conversation with his son, how can he sit down and have a difficult conversation with Putin?
I am tired of all these children receiving the best education money and power can buy ... Yet still relying on Daddy’s influence.
6
One of the major reasons I can't support old Joe is that his family shtick is maudlin and stale. It's all about Joe, Joe and Joe. I want a futures-oriented candidate. Save the stories no one really wants to hear for the retirement home game room.
3
The irony of the glass housed Trump throwing rocks at Biden would be laughable if the stakes weren’t so high. No one ever won the family connections lottery as have the Trumps plus Jared. Hotels businesses money and worst active roles in the government. Hunter’s actions, ill advised and perhaps wrong, pale in comparison.
4
For those who read the New Yorker piece on/interview with Hunter Biden, we learned that Hunter has a substance abuse problem of fairly long standing. He is an addict. I find it admirable that Joe hasn’t thrown his son under the bus (like Trump would throw his if the circumstances were similar) in his pursuit of the nomination. On the other hand, in a nation that’s in the grip of an opioid crisis, I think voters, especially those who are parents would understand the anguish of dealing with a child who is an addict. It all makes me admire Joe more.
2
The question about Hunter Biden's appointment to that "bored of corruption" is who or what entity was behind or supported his hiring in the first place. Read the recent Atlantic article about the oligarchs, specifically the Russian connection behind that business and it makes sense, from a mobsters perspective, to place someone on the board whose mere presence could be used as leverage against a potential future candidate, or president. It sounds way too conspiratorial but no one has looked at at who influenced his hiring in the first place. Just sayin'!
2
Joe. I'm in your hometown. The people are good, but let me tell you about New York; when a New Yorker tries to torment you using the familial instinctive love to scare you, they who scare you are certainly of ill repute. You're fighting more than a New Yorker.
There is nothing lower than for someone to use another person's family to scare them and Trump and Giuliani did that. Other New Yorker's that are the same way are of ill repute.
1
Why shouldn’t Biden be badgered about Hunter’s activities? Trump’s kids businesses and relationships have been endlessly investigated and ridiculed. Indeed, Hunter’s dealings have included another senator’s son, John Kerry’s stepson, Chris Heinz. Their companies, Rosemont Seneca, Rosemont Capital and others have used their daddy’s connections to gain access to enormous sovereign wealth around the world, including and especially China. You KNOW there’s a there there..
5
I like Joe but this manufactured "scandal" is going to dog him, exactly as planned by Donald Trump. Donald didn't even have to extort the phony investigation, he got the job done simply by getting caught in the process.
I'm more than ready to support Bernie or Liz or Joe if nominated, but I think Bloomberg with a strong female VP is the strongest potential combo for the Dems.
1
This gets to the issue of the influence of the mainstream media. In the days of Walter Cronkite the mainstream media controlled the narrative. Therefore we did don't hear about the love affairs of John Kennedy or how Neil Bush got a nice job ($250,000/yr), from his fathers friend, after the Silverado S&L demise. The Hunter Biden affair smells. Hunter got the Board position because of his father's position. Burisma knew his father was the VP. There was no verbal quid pro quo because all parties understood what was beneficial to each other. Whose son or daughter would get a similar opportunity.
3
It appears that Democrats are prepared to foreshorten the trial in the interest of focussing on the 2020 election and sparing one of their candidates. That seems to be a case of betting the farm on which party that outcome would help most.
What Trump is accused of is the most serious dereliction of presidential duty in US history. It requires that all witnesses appear.
3
I'd like to hear Joe Biden and all Democrats in the House and Senate respond differently to the tactical distractions cynically used by many of their Republican colleagues. I dream of soundbite slogans that are not only catchy, like Donald's, but true. My vote is for "Where's the beef?"
1
Funny you said that. Al Gore's career was bought with money earned selling DES (carcinogenic synthetic estrogen) laced beef to the Ukrainians and Wendys in the 1970s and 80s. Hammer, Gore$, Occidental Petroleum, Iowa Beef Packing.
The truth is coming and Zelensky scares them.
2
My party's leaders still seem to be totally clueless in how to defend against Trump's never ending campaign strategy. The accusations against Hunter Biden are simply a distraction for the idiot plebes that make up the majority of his base. And the distraction is an easily-understood one, unlike the meandering and complicated (but extremely meaningful) epic sagas of Russia and Ukraine. The Honey Boo Boo crowd tunes out after 15 seconds or a paragraph that contains too many three-syllable words.
The DNC needs to comb through the Trump kids' background, and then use that in a similar fashion. Then they need to expand to the children of other prominent Republican leaders. For the snowflakes in my party who say that's inappropriate, it's already being done to effect with Biden and Clinton's children. In a two-party system there's no upside to maintaining a quaint and self-limiting tradition when the other side doesn't.
16
Your party in Bangkok? Sorry, but foreigners who pretend to be Americans usually represent Russian interests.
7
I can't even imagine how difficult it is for Joe Biden to deal with this problem. But he did create it. I don't know what he was thinking...he has a very vulnerable damaged son and that son should have been given a quiet life. Not a board position on a Ukraine company. I have such a vulnerable member of my family, and I know any stressful exposure is a recipe for disaster. This was a bad decision by Joe.
18
How was his son’s decision his decision, exactly?
@J. G. Smith Hunter Biden is not an acting-out teenager that Joe should have disciplined. He is a grown man almost 50 years old. Joe is not in charge of him. Hunter hurt his father all on his own.
2
Despite their brilliant prosecution in the Senate trial, Democrats will be ignored by an aberrent hijacked party. Now they must play their opponents' deviant game but play it better - which they can do - bit it may take a Biden to do it. We hear from everyone's friend Joe a lot, but where is Hunter Biden's voice in all this? Why is he letting his da mouth off like stock tough guy from a '50s movie and challenge fellow geriatrics to IQ and push up contests in his son's defense? It would seem Joe Biden has never challenged his remaining son's tawdry indiscretions or his succession of sinecures which he frankly allows he obtained largely through his father's name? To defend both his son and his final desperate run, Biden pere has chosen to revive a persona he's just too old to sustain. It's time for Hunter Biden to step forward and offer to take the heat for a change.
11
The situation with Hunter and the $50,000 a month no show position still stinks of nepotism. How is it any different from all the financial greed of Trump's children using his position to further enrich themselves? Biden has lost his moral credibility to govern. He is essentially a political hack running on a record of enabling the Oligarchy of the wealthy, the corporations, the Military Industrial Complex to destroy our democracy and our environment.
14
Why do we not stop oligarchy in its tracks? The Bidens, the Clintons, the Bushes and the Obamas. Along with the Trumps we should stand against the kleptocracy for the sake of our children.
14
We can. And I think we will this election.
1
@JDK Huh? Do you mean dynasties? Dynasties are not necessarily oligarchies and vice versa.
What has OBAMA got to do wth it? Michelle never ran for anything except healthy food. Hunter has no political aspirations anyway.
Where have there been kleptocracies except perhaps DJT' s antics? where some approximation may be drawn through the emoluments.
False equivalencies on steroids
2
Systems don’t rig themselves.
1
There are multiple intersecting factors in all of this, some legal, some ethical, some just plain human. Yes, from a legal and technical point of view, the Bidens' dealings in Ukraine are only an issue because of the impeachment trial. In and of themselves, they demonstrated poor judgment at best, and lack of ethics at worst, but they were not illegal. But as factors in determining Joe Biden's fitness, I find the Bidens' dealings in Ukraine significant. I watched the Foreign Affairs Council forum footage where Joe Biden bragged and told his story about strong-arming the Ukrainian official; the bravado was both sickening and in no way reflected the appropriate demeanor for a representative of state (in fact, his demeanor was not unlike that of similar situations with Trump). I have also watched real-time footage of him interacting with voters in equally inappropriate ways - loosing his temper, calling individuals liars, yelling at one voter they should vote for Trump, etc. While the specifics of the Ukraine dealings may have no bearing in terms of either Biden breaking the law, they way Joe Biden has handled interactions regarding his and his son's dealings, do not, in my opinion make for the kind of leader we need to heal our country; e.g. this has been the final disqualifying straw for me as a voter. I am bewildered why voters choose him over candidates who are clearly better equipped to function under pressure, not to mention reflect respectful and appropriate decorum.
15
Why doesn't Biden just acknowledge that while what Hunter did wasn't criminal, it was stupid on his part and on Joe's part for not telling him not to do it.
Many people do stupid things for the sake of their children.
It would seem that Biden admitting it and asking who wouldn't want to help their children as much as they can would engender much more empathy and understanding than his being combative over it.
Biden's got many other problems that will cost him those working class voters including his making bankruptcy difficult for them to declare that he did as a favor to the banks that issue credit cards that are headquartered in Delaware and that sweetheart mortgage he got as a senator and which he defended by saying he had not idea that the rate he was given was significantly lower than what everyone else paid.
Until recently, no one has attacked Biden much. You can bet that if it looks like he has a chance to win the nomination, his opponents will be throwing it back in his face.
And I'd like to ask him what did his statements about Social Security have to do with Sanders' votes on gun control.
11
Both Biden and Warren seem to have a low opinion on the intellectual capacity of voters in general, and Iowans in particular.
12
If Joe Biden was not the American Vice President would his son Hunter have been a coveted board member for a leading energy company in the Ukraine. Not likely. Hunter was perceived to have influence at the Obama White House.Trump who is a master of the politics of besmirching a political opponent will destroy Joe Biden based upon a glaring lapse of political judgment. In politics perception can be more important than reality.
7
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with accepting 50k per month to attend a couple meetings of a foreign utility while your Dad is VP of the United States. Clearly, the young man is a brilliant energy expert. Now, if it’s one of Trump’s kids, well, that’s very different.
16
I agree with your post, save one detail. Bring on the board of any company does not require expertise in the business of that company at all. In fact most boards are made up of people from outside the industry so they can bring their diverse experiences to their oversight role.
Why does everyone conflate bring on a board with having to have expert knowledge of that company’s business?
3
Sarcasm. Sometimes it’s hard to spot, especially if you have been manipulated into thinking the lie is the truth.
1
Well, true, but one would expect a Board to be populated with those of sound judgment, not drug addict flops like Hunter Biden.
4
The obvious reply should be “Where’s Ivanka..What is Ivanka paid by US taxpayers,,,What value is her advice if her dad’s being impeached”?
7
@Tony - You must know they are not receiving salaries, right ? Profiteering - but not on the payroll.
1
The hidden issue in all this is that wealthy Baby Boomers like Biden will be perpetuating their financial privilege in the coming years by gradually passing off their fortunes tax-free to heirs and making the country even more like 18th century France. Based upon this Hunter situation,
we know Biden will go along with this, but Sanders and Warren won't. It's up to Americans to decide which path they prefer.
19
@JS Are you going to have a salad with that enormous dish of red herring that Trump has convinced you to swallow whole?
8
Well, Sanders won’t. We can trust Bernie. Warren might not be who she decided to be this election, but who knows. Maybe she did flip flop on progressive policies that last election she helped Clinton destroy. Even if you only think about the hundreds of thousands who became bankrupt because they were denied healthcare during that time and the suffering that represents, well... I find it harder to find her trustworthy... But, I believed my grandfather when he told me, actions speak louder than words.
1
This whole impeachment is based on questions around the Bidens in Ukraine. They darn well have a responsibility to explain to the nation. A complete, honest explanation.
And an apology.
And perhaps show some respect to the ones who have directly asked about it.
Like it or not, Joe, we need to know and we deserve a clear, honest, complete and polite response - not contempt or slurs. It didn't work for Hilary.
28
Hunter Biden is not the President of the US, and neither is Joe, at this moment. It is a false equivalency to suggest that anything the Bidens did excuses Trump from using his position as current sitting president to enlist a foreign government to dig up dirt on a political opponent. It’s a national security issue, a betrayal of our ally, Ukraine, and a dangerous precedent. How can anyone not see this?
12
Do you not think it an abuse of power and ‘public service’ to create opportunities for your family members that the electorate you are ‘serving’ don’t have? It might not technically be against the law, we don’t really know yet, but maybe it should be. (Like Chelsea Clinton’s sweet deals...?) Just maybe sending our children to kill and be killed in an illegal war that helped lower the nation’s quality of life and put all American lives more in danger because we are hated for it, undoing what our grandfathers sacrificed for in WWII... maybe that’s not ethical either. It certainly isn’t the actions of a ‘Nice Guy’... It’s certainly not just a ‘gaff’... I could go on...
2
“Honest explanation “ that the American people deserve... you must be talking about the most honest and straight shooting individual to ever grace the white goose, right? You must be claiming that Trump already does this.
Let me get my bucket.
When you enter politics, you leave all rights to privacy behind. Right. wrong, whatever...Biden's son is fair game and in my opinion, Joe is doing a poor job of presenting his case. Challenging someone to a push-up contest is not going to convince anyone. The fact that has to be resolved is simply,,,is the son guilty of nefarious activities in Ukraine and that question had not been adequately answered. The more Biden skirts the issue using indignation as a defense, the more people doubt his son is innocent.
21
I think, if you doubt the veracity of your information you need to consider your source. In this case the source is Donald Trump. Trump's ability to tell lies are legendary!
There have been past investigations into the Bidens and been found without merit. If nepotism is the issue, again, you only have to rely on your knowledge. Who has his children working in the White House?
I don't have a vote in this election, but if I did, I wouldn't base my decision on a smear campaign conducted by Mr. Trump because he fears a rival.
16
We don’t need a source. Biden has made decisions that have had disastrous consequences for our brave military families, which effected every American’s quality of life, and got rich in the process. That’s just not considered cool anymore, with all due respect.
2
Although there is no evidence of Biden wrongdoing, I don't think there has been any investigation either. Perhaps he did nothing wrong but it doesn't pass the smell test at a time when Joe is running for the nomination.
Were a Biden asked to testify to the Senate, other witnesses would be called. This would remove Joe's senator-candidates from canvassing and might be harmful to the nominating process. The more I think about this impeachment drama, the more I think it will boomerang on the Democrats rather than help.
4
The obvious swap for Hunter Biden who knows nothing about Trump's corrupt actions in Ukraine would be the witness, Don JR, pictured around the table with Lev Parnas on several occations. He could explain the relationship between Parnas and Daddy Trump.
8
Compared to what Trumps' kids are probably up to, Hunter Biden's greedy exploitation of his father's position is relatively minor. Hunter Biden is an man who apparently has a lot of issues. I do not pretend know what is like to lose a child so I cannot say how much this has influenced Joe Biden to defend his errant son, even though he knows how much it is hurting his chances to be President. What I do know is that I will enthusiastically support any flawed Democrat who runs against Trump!
15
It's unfortunate Colonial Joe got in this race in the first place. There were plenty of principled and qualified candidates before he got in. No excuse for the criminal Trump, but now you got this baggage to deal with.
12
@Qui Tam, maybe he sensed something was coming down for him and Hunter in Ukraine and became a candidate and political rival for Trump just so Democrats could fabricate that into an election interference against Trump and hide the two. Absent “political dirt on political rival Joe Biden” what Trump did with withholding aid in question relative to EU’s contributions and various other legitimate presidential prerogatives, the Dems are claiming it was all totally only for political dirt. Joe just stuck his nose somewhere where it didn’t belong and now it’s Trump’s fault? Pretty slick Joe.
6
Hunter Biden seems to have done a disservice to his father. However, his situation does not hold a candle to the Trump offspring who either directly rip off taxpayers or profit unscrupulously from their father's position.
14
We are already experiencing The Race to the Bottom in terms of our work lives. Do we really have to base who we elect based on a The Lesser of Two Evils too? Lowering the bar is one way of allowing Trump to infuse our national DNA. We really don’t have to do that this election.
1
Laughable. The Trump family, widely reported, has lost millions as a result of President Trumps service. It’s not the money they are after, it’s making America Great.
1
Clearly it has nothing to do with the impeachment except that Trump using it to get rid of Joe from the race and that caused him to commit the most clearly provable impeachable offence. Since when has making money with whatever business advantage you can muster been illegal? This is a case of name recognition. I play harmonica better (IMO that should be more humble) than Bob Dylan but does that mean when I play it I get the same money? I would literally be "blowing my lungs out for a dollar a day" to quote Bob in "Talkin' New York." I take that back about playing better but the point remains. I had a garage band in the 90's; does that mean I could command the same fee as Kurt Cobain?.
Isn't that what capitalism is about? It is not illegal to take advantage of name recognition. Yeah you work in a factory for $2000 per month where Hunter could ask $50.000 for a sinecure.
That seems unfair but that is a core aspect of capitalism.
If you want a more socialist world, vote for Bernie.
6
@Bob Guthrie
Another point is that stars get millions per episode on TV. They don't work as hard as you do they?
Hunters $ 50,000 (in some months) is nothing compared to most famous TV stars. In corporate terms it is what? About half a million per year. Nothing really tough in average person's like me- in my life it would be a fortune. Moreover I do not have the pressures of fame and name recognition hanging round my neck like an albatross. Check this out. If you are a whiner you will see injustice in the following. But hey that is capitalism. Unless you are committed socialist you should quit complaining:
"Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston will each be paid $1.1 million per episode for their upcoming untitled Apple dramedy. Javier Bardem will also make $1.2 million per episode on Amazon and Amblin TV's untitled miniseries about 16th-century explorer Hernán Cortés."
To use a Trumpism
"Its so unfair" this capitalism thing
4
A scarecrow doesn’t have to wave his arms to keep the crows at bay. The wind does it for him. All that’s required is his inanimate and unthinking presence. Hired by Burisma’s Ukrainian oligarch to keep pests away with Biden’s sterling vice-presidential name, Hunter needed no more knowledge of oil and gas than a scarecrow has of planting corn to land his lucrative sinecure. Sounds bad? Yes, but more of a ne’er-do-well, there as window-dressing, than corrupt.
5
This article is the signal that the NeverJoe's in the NYTimes power structure will now pivot to calling Biden "damaged goods". Next up will be the Bernie supporters calling the Democratic primary "rigged", and then the re-election of Donald Trump. The lure of a Pulitzer is far too great for a commitment to the truth. Scandal is the route to journalism celebrity.
4
Truth often has a way of coming out. Actions often have consequences. We don’t have to settle this time...
1
Uncle Joe’s son is a second son... they never measure up! Sins of the son don’t transfer to the father!!
3
Poor Joe Biden. The DNC and main stream media have checked off black on their "diversity" list. And now they want a woman as the Dem candidate and will do whatever it takes to get one. Even it means losing the election to Trump.
11
@Reader In Wash, DC
You are wrongly assuming that the majority of Americans are misogynist. Your comment is a non-sequitur on other grounds too. Pakistan had Ms Bhutto as leader decades ago.
Are you accusing Americans of having a less forward approach to female leadership than Pakistan?
7
@Bob Guthrie
Are you accusing Americans of having a less forward approach to female leadership than Pakistan?
No it's the Democratic women who are running. Warren is as bad as Hillary. Amy K. is too moderate for many Dems. Trump would beat them both.
3
I'm not a big Biden fan but this is ridiculous. I hope that Hunter Biden is called to testify before the impeachment trial in the Senate.
I imagine that it would go something like this:
Trump's defense lawyer - Is it true that you served on the Burisma board of directors?
Hunter Biden - Yes.
Trump's defense lawyer - Is it true that you got paid for serving on Burisma's board of directors?
Hunter Biden - Yes.
Trump's defense lawyer - And just exactly how do you think you were especially qualified to serve on Burisma's board of directors?
Hunter Biden - My many years of observing how people such as those presently gathered in this room, including yourself, have served on the corporate boards of companies and been richly rewarded for that service.
Trump's defense lawyer - No further questions.
12
So you represent the American oligarchy and the unethical system that reinforces it?
1
It is unfortunate that Bloomberg didn’t spend a hundred million dollars promoting the campaign of Hillary Clinton. Although she spent three times as much as Trump, the added cash might have made her the winner.
1
@William McCain
Money would not have negated the Russian interference. Remember all the Russian troops stationed on the borders of Mich, Penn, and Wisc preventing Hillary from visiting those states to campaign in them?
21
Someone ‘prevented’ Her Hubris from campaigning now? That’s rich.
1
I despise Trump but all the comments saying Trumps kids are doing the same or worse provide no proof or evidence. What corporate boards are Trumps kids currently on? Trumps hotels and resorts are a private business that Don Jr. and Eric run. Yes, the hotel may get additional business because of Trump but is Trump making Federal workers stay in Trump hotels? The biggest appearance of a conflict Trump has, is his Son in Law Jared. How did he get out of the mortgage at 666 5th Avenue? How does Jared whose family are personal friends of BiBi Netanyahu get to have any say in middle east peace process.
8
umm, he's made millions and yes he is making the military stay in his hotels
8
OMG! do you read the news? Or do stories like that not make it through on the propaganda channel fox?
He absolutely does “force” government employees to stay at his properties! Enriching himself at our expense.
I can hear the arguments already “but he’s a business man with established properties “, “he didn’t actually “force” them”... yeah, so he makes a “suggestion”, next thing you know, VP Pence is staying at a trump property some 175miles or so from Dublin (where the US has existing residences for his use) AND forces him to FLY there... so yeah, trump does have federal employees stay at his properties... you know, “just like joe”...
As a long time reader of hundreds of distinguished journalists and columnists in the Times, I have become troubled by the unbalanced coverage of Joe Biden’s run for the presidency. The Times seems to have a more critical standard where he is concerned. The Times prefers other Democratic candidates but the question remains: how much does the Times want the Democrats to lose by? Other than Joe Biden, pick a another candidate and put next to that candidate the number of points he or she will lose to Trump by using common sense and available data. By putting the name of a seasoned journalist in front of the less experienced person who has never written even a decent paragraph about Joe Biden in a byline, the Times does nothing to establish that it is actually in touch with the common, less elite millions, who understand what Joe Biden stands for. Your article might have mentioned that throughout his years in public life, the integrity of his service, as distinguished by a few other well known gaffes, has never been questioned. This is why, as millions recognize, the recent allegations, unfounded and offered by a disreputable source, I.e. the president, have not impacted on his popularity. Thank you for considering my views.
12
Transparency is the key word. Does anyone asks transparency from Trump? I guess that Joe Biden can be very transparent about the whole circus. If Hunter can be transparent, it is the right moment to do it. The outcome will be be the first goal in favor.
1
Say it isn’t so Joe.
3
I can not stand Mr Trump hook. line, and sinker. OK? But to say that there is nothing wrong about Hunter making a fortune in Ukraine as the VP's son is incredibly naive. He may not have violated a law, but it is certainly wrong. I know this nation has unfortunately divided into 2 tribes, but we won't go anywhere until the right and the left call out wrong when they see it, regardless of the tribe. Also, Biden is making a political mistake attacking everyone who questions him. He looks like a cranky old guy.
21
what rxactky is wrong with taking advantage of an opportunity. ppl act like Hunter is some idiot, hes a georgetown and yale atty
3
@Ed ....I worked for a major corporation. George HW Bush was on the board of directors until he resigned to run for President. Following his term as Governor, Evan Bayh was on the board of directors until he resigned to run for Senate. Mitch Daniels, an aid to Senator Richard Lugar was made a corporate executive until he resigned to become director of OMB under George W. Bush (he later became Governor). Bottom line is corporations like to put people on their board of directors who they think might have influence in Washington. Apparently most politicians are willing to take money from corporations for which they have no other qualifications then possible influence.
7
Biden and his son should not be pawns in this impeachment trial. It is so clear how the sitting president put his personal interests above his constitutional responsibilities by pressing the pause button on aid to Ukraine for the sole purpose of getting dirt on Biden. It's not rocket science. How the Senate is continuing to persist in covering up the President's blatant disregard for the Constitution, and deflecting with distractions further undermines the principles laid out in the Constitution. With the inability to call witnesses and obtain documents, these senators, mainly Mitch McConnell, are all complicit in this coverup. Biden is not responsible for witnesses not being called, that is the Senate majority making a farce of the process to protect the wrongdoings of an incompetent president. Biden should not be blamed for not testifying. Sounds like another quid pro quo, if he and his son testify, Dems can call witnesses?! Scrutinizing Biden at every turn, when it seems he is trying to stay the course of his campaign and move past this is more deflection by the GOP. I, for one respect his class and dignity. Why are we criticizing Biden's every move when our current President has been ranting on Twitter like an imbecile for 3 years?!
88
@CTteachermom Trump/FOX will attack Bidens; Clinton; Obama till the year 2300;they get real mileage out of hate; Vote out GOP; Vote Blue no matter Who
20
One of the many problems with America's defective democracy is the tribal two party system which dominates and determines what passes for political discourse. If you're against Trump (and I certainly am) then you must defend against any and all attacks leveled at leading Democrat presidential contenders. Circle the wagons, toe the part line and don't dare any contender raise any criticism that is being leveled by the GOP, even if privately you think there is some justification for the criticism. It just adds to the cynicism that many in the country feel about both parties.
Hunter Biden's appointment to the board of the Ukrainian energy company would not have happened if his Dad was not the Vice President - it was nepotism plain and simple by the power elite. It doesn't matter if there were no corrupt dealings by Hunter Biden.
I want to see the disgustingly corrupt and criminal Trump gone as much as anyone, but we need to see some courageous breaking of ranks by the Democratic contenders and end the silence around this issue, because whoever wins the nomination will be dogged by this issue.
18
Biden and his son are pawns in this impeachment trial. It is so clear how the then vice president put his personal interests above his constitutional responsibilities by pressing the pause button on aid to Ukraine for the sole purpose of getting paydirt for Hunter Biden. It's not rocket science.
2
Joe Biden feigning moral outrage at the GOP Senators wanting to question him and his son is total malarkey. He needs to get off that campaign bus and testify. I know the GOP is corrupt, but I will not vote for Biden if he doesn’t clear his name ASAP.
It looks to me like both GOP and Dems are complicit in thwarting the trial process solely to protect their favorite candidates. If it’s all for show, I’m not interested.
13
That is a false equivalence.
The impeachment is about trump abusing the office of the president of the United States.
It is not about hunter Biden and his time on the board of bursima.
Your “outrage” should not be equally directed at both parties... only one is behaving in a grossly immoral manner
1
Rambling thoughts: For some months, Hunter Biden's lucrative work in the Ukraine has drawn scrutiny. Trump has been impeached because of his curiosity and unwise actions related to both Joe and Hunter Bidens' role there. What's interesting to me, is that non-Republican reader comments related to Bidens, Trump, and Ukraine are slowly titling away from steadfast defense of Joe. I'm noting subtle and increasing recognition that Joe presents a liability to the Democratic party, especially if he becomes the nominee. I don't believe Sander or Warren are electable. Both promote policies which are too liberal to win a general election. Bloomberg may pick up a tail wind from all things Ukraine, increasing his momentum to what has been a slow start.
10
Hunter Biden is the big old ball and chain that will hold Joe back. Joe knew this could blow up and it did and will continue until he is out of the running. At least they got their payday out of Ukraine. Politically their finished. Trump will be pleased Biden is gone but voters will not forget the ugly mess in November, Trump will be Fired!
11
The democrats' narrative is the calm before the storm. Get ready to have your ears bleed when the Republicans take to the floor. They're going to be very, very nasty. I hope Chief Justice Roberts smacks them down. He probably won't. It seems everyone is against truth and honesty these days.
10
Putting aside if one likes or dislikes Biden, and putting aside whether or not he could defeat Trump:
It would be so great and refreshing and inspiring to hear Biden say, "What my family did here IS wrong, and I'm sorry. This administration has made all of us think harder about how corruption, power, privilege, and transparency need to be addressed in order to ensure freedom, equality, and justice. I will fight hard to ensure that democracy is not an insider game any more."
The self-focused power players -- and I absolutely don't mean ivy league elites -- who can't seem to think outside the box of insider politics are going to accelerate the decline of our republic: we all need to call them out!
12
Admitting wrongdoing destroys your political career. Denying everything works. Just ask Trump and Al Franken.
8
Biden should be screaming from the rooftops about how his son and he are being wronged and abused by the emperor in chief. Biden's relative silence is, in a word, deafening.
2
I don’t see how anybody pulling in $50k per month for serving on a board could possibly feel wronged?
10
Joe needs to get over being touchy about his son, because he will continue to be a topic of conversation. Even if Hunter didn't do anything illegal, the optics of his stint on the Ukrainian board are pretty bad. What was Joe thinking allowing that to happen? That's like Hillary taking ridiculous amounts of money in speaking fees from Wall Street before her presidential run. Shows bad judgment in both cases.
15
I disagree. Joe never enriched himself. Hunter took an opportunity afforded to him, as most anyone would.
Hillary was running for office and taking money for “speaking fees” from the very same ppl she would be in a position to regulate.
Not the same at all.
Oh, lest we forget, joe was trying to get Ukraine to be more active in pursuing corruption in that country... odd position to take if you are looking to line your son’s pockets...
What is amazing is the way Trumpers and Republicans see massive corruption in Hunter Biden getting a job...but can't for the life of themselves see a thing wrong with anything Trump has done. That is pathological partisanship.
10
One or two wrongs don’t make a right!
3
Hunter Biden's job as a board member of Burisma is Joe Biden's version of the HRC email controversy. It's going to be a huge disadvantage. And, like HRC and her private email server, it is a self inflicted wound. We can do better than nominate Joe Biden. His time is past.
18
Well, I’ll agree with Joe, politician’s children are off limits, but no politician’s child should be in these questionable positions - period. (And rumors are, they are all over the place?) $50K a month? How man ordinary men or women fill these positions?
9
It’s a job on the board of directors... no, “regular people” do not fill these.
Lucrative gig if you can get it though...
I was surprised to learn recently that Hunter graduated from Yale Law School, the top law school in the country by most counts. This should be brought up more often to combat Trump and his cronies implications that Hunter Biden had no expertise beyond his father's position to justify his salary from Barista. Joe Biden needs to brag a little about his son who has accomplished much in his own right!
5
@American Abroad "I was surprised to learn recently that Hunter graduated from Yale Law School, the top law school in the country by most counts."
So what? Hunter Biden is just living proof that being educated and being bright aren't necessarily the same thing.
14
@mpound
My goodness. I'd like to know your definition of bright because graduation from Yale Law School is no easy feat.
1
@mpound
My goodness. I'd like to know your definition of bright because graduation from Yale Law School is no easy feat.
5
Biden should have told his son when he was Vice President to get the heck off Burisma. Could he really not have controlled his own son? We don’t think that that’s classic potential corruption, or the appearance of corruption, same thing? And this is the guy who we think will be able to defeat Trump? Dream on!
7
The questions seem legitimate- huge amounts of money for such an ambiguous Board seat - the guy doesn’t seem like an Angel
12
Joe should be ready for these attacks and segue into a counterpunching mode e g a heckler asks “Where is Hunter?” To which Joe responds...”well, he was working in Ukraine, you know, where Trump and his sidekick, Rudy Giuliani were using taxpayer dollars to extort Zelensky” yada yada yada ad naseum. ...and he could calibrate his response on the time used on that ....
In chaos, opportunity!! Go after him, Joe!!
6
@Edward
Except Hunter never actually traveled to Ukraine . . .
2
Joe Biden should be called as a witness.
If he is not corrupt then say it under oat. When the evidence comes out, jail him for perjury.
Amazing this is the guy the Democrats want as president.
7
@AutumnLeaf we don’t.
7
A witness in what? The impeachment trial? Biden’s actions have no bearing on whether or not Trump should be impeached.
10
@AutumnLeaf Pretty funny, considering who Republicans have given us as the current president.
6
I read all the comments here and frankly I am dismsyed. 538 right now has Biden winning every single state primary except for Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. So they are betting Biden is going to be our nominee. So what are all of you who think he is unethical going to do when he is? Are you going to not vote and let Trump win? Because that’s really what he wants. And he will laugh at you all the way to the bank...
7
They are Russian trolls, Trump trolls, and disaffected Bernie bros. Of course they don’t want to have to face Biden in the election or afterwards.
6
Uncle Joe needs to retire to the farm. He was never the sharpest knife in the drawer, and he is in decline, as would anyone at his age. He has been on the wrong side of important issues like the Iraq War and Anita Hill. He backed Delaware banks to make it harder for people with credit card debt to declare bankruptcy.
If there is nothing to be embarrassed about, he should take up the deal to testify if Bolton and Mulvaney do. It would be an opportunity to show he is still mentally with it. But his son was given that job for the same reason Hillary was paid six figures to make speeches to corporate audiences. It doesn’t pass the smell test.
Having a son with poor judgement shouldn’t disqualify you from the Presidency, but given Biden’s other deficiencies, we need to do better. Of course I will vote for him if he is the nominee (I would vote for my doorknob over Trump; my doorknob will do less damage to our country in the next four years.)
Democrats have only won in the last fifty years with young outsiders (Carter, Clinton, Obama). Joe just needs to go away.
6
I am trying to get my son a position on the Amtrak board of directors. I am sure I will succeed.
9
The Russians are terrified of Biden. They have been posing as progressives in order to promote Sanders, Gabbard, and Yang. Always those three. It makes me like Biden more, though he is still not my first choice.
4
"At issue is an unsubstantiated theory pushed by Mr. Trump...." and "Mr. Trump has claimed without evidence that..." Isn't it funny how the media consistently uses the same language to run cover for Joe Biden and the crooked Democrats? I guess the author of this story got the memo from the Biden campaign.
4
@johnny
Isn't it funny nobody cared until polls showed Biden beating iq45?
4
So where is your evidence? You just missed an opportunity to substantiate your claim in favor of vague innuendo.
3
Why not use this episode to show that Joe Biden can play offense and turn this into a win. Go mano a mano with the bloviator in chief.
Biden testifies if and only if Trump testifies.
3
Nobody cares. We have to get the Despot Donald Trump out of office first.
3
Then get behind the candidate who can beat Trump.
“There is no evidence of any illegality by either Biden.” In this article, and repeated so many times by the media, shutting it down, is mind-boggling! I wish one media organization would spend some of its Dateline or Frontline time telling Americans this story. But even more is the double-standard that sits in front of us all like an elephant sitting on a donkey’s back. Without a hint of timidity, the media and devout followers on these pages give Joe a free pass! At most, it’s kind of a “distraction,” a term used previously by The NYTs. Bill Maher showed a little more dismay than most. Obama didn’t like it. But really, imagine if it were Donal Jr. The “C” word would be all over it. Raise your hand, readers, if you supported Trump and accepted his election before the “call!” And, just try a tad to check your partisanship at the door and stop ignoring the most obvious conflict of interest of all: Biden’s son’s Burisma gig.
11
Yeah, well, we keep fouling up—looking at reality and stuff.
So if you’re so darn sure, neato. What law exactly was broken? Be precise. What evidence have you got that Joe Biden leaned on anybody to get his kid that job? Be precise.
Did the job make Joe Biden look bad? Sure. Is it a political prob? Absolutely.
But if he broke the law, how about trump and HIS kids? i can point to, lessee, four or five worse examples without breaking a sweat. PRECISELY.
Why can’t you guys?
4
@Alberto Abrizzi
Well if there is some illegality on Hunter's part cite it now.
There was no quid for the quo. If that is a conflict of interest then no children of any politician would be allowed to work at all. BTW I think Biden is not the best choice to be the candidate... just a lot better than the grotesque groper currently who is not in charge of anything, especially not his lying tongue.
4
Guys. Ditto for Trump! You’re all filling in the motives, but there’s no more evidence than Obama telling Medvedev “wait til the election is over.” And I’m not just talking about the “legal,” the Biden thing apparently doesn’t bother anyone. I don’t know “if” there was something wrong I’d hear about it by now. For three years I’ve been hearing all kinds of stories.
1
I don't believe either Joe or Hunter Biden did anything wrong in Ukraine, but his inability to handle this criticism in a consistently effective manner makes me concerned about how well he'll withstand Trump's inevitable barage if he is the nominee. I also think he should be glad to take one for the team and have him and his son testify in exchange for the Dems getting all their witnesses. I hear Hunter is good in front of cameras. If Joe can't turn that into a win, I'm not sure how he will beat Trump.
65
The Bidens have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not Trump should be impeached. Even if they were both corrupt and guilty as sin, Trump still waited until Biden was leading in the polls to investigate alleged corruption. Trump still used illegal back alley channels to pursue his foreign policy objectives. Trump still illegally withheld military aid to an ally in time of war. And Trump still obstructed justice. The alleged corruption of Hunter Biden may have a political effect on whether or not people vote for Joe. But it has no legal bearing on the accusations against Trump.
22
@sethblink It wouldn't make sense for Hunter Biden to testify at the impeachment trial because he isn't a witness to the things Trump stands accused of. There would be no logic in trading his testimony for the testimony of eyewitnesses.
17
@sethblink
I think the only one who can handle Trump's scurrilous attacks is Bloomberg. I tell friends Bloomberg can put Trump away in a NY minute.
7
Biden should call Trump, the Republicans and the Press out for the constant harassment over business dealings of this grown man. Hunter Biden is about 50 years of age. Since it is apparent that neither Biden violated American law, there is nothing to see here and too much time wasted on nothing.
The FBI should have a file open on Hunter Biden and Joe Biden if either violated American law. Otherwise, the Press should stop chasing this story like a dog chasing its tail. It is clearly a distraction by Trump and Republicans , while Trump and his family continue to shameless make themselves richer off the American taxpayer and foreign governments alike. Now, this is story that should get constant press.
68
@Dearson The equanimity with which so many unconditionally accept and rationalize Biden's craven venality is not unprecedented and demonstrative of how the lumpen proletariate idolize their betters and defend their right to their entitlements.
7
@Edwin
"the lumpen proletariate" ... please, give me a break.
If there was something to see or prosecute here do you not think Trump's justice department would be on the job?
Biden should be handling this proactively but instead of glares and gets mad like a little kid.
And the media should be reporting on who else and from what party this is being done. This is an issue that Americans on both sides want there to be something done about.
Can you cool your jets long enough to admit that?
1
@Bruce
Absolutely the media should be reporting on who else and from what party this is being done. For starters google former CIA head James Woolsey where you can read how he got a seat on the board of some Ukrainian mining company this past year. Not widely reported unfortunately.
1
The Democratic field is doing Joe Biden no favors by steering clear of Hunter Biden's actions. Surely, if Joe Biden makes it as the Democratic Party nominee, Donald Trump will bring up Hunter Biden 24/7 and the participants in his rallies will shout "Lock Him Up!" at the top of their lungs. Isn't one of the main purposes of the Democratic primary the toughening up of the candidates? Raise the issue--it's better to know what Biden will say now then later when he's across the stage from the Man Who'll Say Anything.
8
I'm definitely not a Trump fan.
I've also done all the research to know that Joe Biden did nothing wrong.
However, if I were running for President, I would show the country that I can take on the fight for the presidency on any topic any hour of any day, including lies that are being told about me. I would go on every Fox News show or any other show to present myself as a candidate. If you don't act like a fighter that wins the battles, the voters lose confidence that you can take on Trump because the election will be one nasty battle after another until November.
Running from the topic, avoiding the topic, responding to the topic with anything but good natured humor is a losing strategy. Remember President Kennedy's press conferences? His smile? His humor? It was very disarming and exuded self-confidence.
As far as responding to questions about Hunter, it's very easy. First, admit that voters don't like to see family members feeding from the political trough and that you've heard the criticism. But push back on those who try to say that people who don't have industry experience don't serve on boards: that is utter nonsense. Give several examples of well-known U.S. corporations with board members who aren't industry experts.
Then defend Hunter as a father would. A father would mention that his son has had issues with substance abuse and certainly could be accused of some bad judgement, but you love your son.
Let Hunter defend Hunter's decisions.
6
What Mr Biden doesn’t seem to get is that we Democrats also have serious concerns about Hunter, not just because of the Burisma gig, but also the well- documented fact that the vice president’s son has so many personal issues and baggage.
This is a vulnerability the United States does not need, and it is one we shouldn’t have to be subjected to.
A responsible father would decide now to protect his son, and to protect his country, by not exposing either to the consequences and vulnerability of Hunter’s history.
A responsible father would realize the impeachment defense would be greatly weakened if Mr Biden wasn’t still ‘the political opponent’.
A responsible father would decide not to run for President
9
If eveyone were honest they would admit just the appearance of a conflict is bad enough. Joe Biden as VP who knew he may want to run for the Presidency in 2016 or 2020 should have known this looked awful. Perhaps when it happened Joe figured I'm not running and it was time for his "Surviving son" to cash in. Biden can't go back now but this will play right into Trumps "Swamp Theme".
10
Every one of the candidates has the “appearance” of a conflict. I’m more interested in reality.
6
@Cate: Trump mocked a disabled reporter.
5
Cofer Black who headed "W's" anti-terrorist task force reporting directly to the Whitehouse. Then after W left office was the chief executive officer of Blackwater..Eric Prince's infamous company.
(All on the net and easily fact checked).
What Biden brought to Burisma was only that the company was also legally incorporated in Deleware for business in the states. Also, easily fact checked.
As for Joe Biden..a loss of his first wife and daughter in car accident...Beau Biden shortly after his return from Iraq came down with terminal cancer. So, three members of his family died of un-natural and tragic causes...Perhaps another reason Joe wants to shield his son from Republican rath. Beside..this has nothing to do with the two articles of impeachment of our criminal president...
6
How does the media and how do so many people let Trump and those who remain in the Republican party make accusations about Hunter and Joe Biden without laughing until they cry? Even if what they say about Hunter and Joe is true, which I have seen no reason at all to suppose, the bonanza that the Trump administration has been for Trump family members and the Trump organization is a million times more valuable than the gain alleged for Hunter.
If you can’t laugh about it - everyone else in the world is laughing, especially in Moscow.
5
I would be defensive if I were a Joe Biden. I have never heard a satisfactory answer as to how his son Hunter, with no real business or railroad experience came to be appointed to the Amtrak board of directors. Frankly, it was probably just business as usual for the political elite, and more the pity.
11
@T: So I suppose you want Caroline Kennedy investigated because she sits on the board of Boeing, but is obviously not, by any stretch of the imagination, an aircraft expert of any kind? I would think she is probably paid a nice sum for her presence on said board, but does that automatically make her some sort of shady criminal? That seems to be your thought process. I will agree that the optics of Hunter Biden serving on Burisma’s board are not good, but that doesn’t make him, or his father, a criminal.
Please do some actual research on the timeline of what happened in Ukraine before you start dealing in conspiracy theories. Thank you.
1
Biden should be frank. The optics are certainly not attractive. Yes his son, like all kids of connected folks profited from being on the board of a company. Key to this is, it was not an American company but a foreign company. Worse still Ukrainian and at a time when folks around the world were uncomfortable with the ethics in that region. As a VP he should have strongly advised his son against accepting the position, but obviously at that point in time, it seemed like he was in a winning and influential position and optics was just a silly word. Just as we care about Trump using foreign help to get information about another American citizen, so too should he have worried about his son being on the board of a questionable foreign company in a country experiencing corruption problems. As a democratic voter, I am mighty unhappy with his explanations of his family being off limits. He and his son transgressed limits. Yes investigations proved that there was no irregularity. Just a rich pay cheque. But I question Bidens ethics. Yes Trump has none, but does that mean we should forgive and forget and get down to business as usual? Surely we have better candidates we can focus our energies on.
6
Why does no one ask the president how his children have profited from his position in the White House? Ivanka with a hundred patents approved in China, Don Jr. making deals for properties in Saudi Arabia just for starters. Not to mention all the foreign visitors and lobbyists currying favor by staying at his various properties and all his trips to his own properties at taxpayers' expense.
5
Seems like everyone you named has extensive education, training, and experience in what they are doing other than Hunter. Of course, maybe the Biden’s will release some information that shows Hunter was highly qualified.
3
@William McCain
The truth is the exact opposite. Neither has expertise, and neither does Jared Kushner. Hunter Biden has a law degree from Yale, making him much more able to offer advice than Trump’s offspring.
2
I hope Biden wins the nomination and the presidency, but his family's sleazy dealings demand reforms at the highest level. What his son did in the Ukraine is not illegal. And that is the problem that nauseates most Americans like me. When corruption becomes codified we all lose.
9
Hunter Biden profiting from his father's name and position is the subject of countless commentaries by pundits raising ominous suspicions. Donald Trump's children's activities, profiting from their father's celebrity in the past and his position in the present are reported as news items. In one family the reporting feeds the suspicions. In the other, the activities are normalized.
4
Trump, his administration, the Republicans, Trumps fan base and most certainly Putin are loving all this Biden attention. This is what they wanted, to create division among the American people, among Democrats. And all these comments are just feeding into it. Well done America.
2
Obviously, Hunter Biden got a ridiculously cushy and well paying job solely on the basis of his being the US Vice President's son, because Burisima hoped it would put them in some kind of favor with the Obama administration.
But that is a far cry from being nefarious, illegal or immoral.
Why can't Biden just admit that it wasn't a good look, and as president he would make sure these too-close-for-comfort kinds of arrangements don't occur, to simply avoid the very appearance of a conflict of interest?
It would not only address the elephant in the room head-on, and be another way to contrast himself to the wretched Trump.
2
Biden is becoming a national embarrassment.
Are we so desperate that he is the safety candidate?
Mike Bloomberg is the obvious choice.
I love how he has now bought an ad on Fox and Friends attacking Trump for his disrespect for our brave servicemen.
He has also bought millions of dollars of ads in red states attacking Trump on impeachment where vulnerable GOP Senators are.
All on his own dime.
A true patriot.
4
Hunter Biden from what I read... was overage but wanted to be a Navy Officer, and still got in because of his dad. Then later was kicked out of the Navy for having cocaine in his blood, and probably got an honorable discharge too.
Then making thousands of dollars from a Ukraine company without knowing anything except your dad was the vice president sure sounds fishy to me. As a Navy vet if I had cocaine in my blood I am sure I would get 6 months in the brig and a less than honorable discharge. I don't know maybe Trump is OK after all...
12
Look up Hunter Biden’s record, starting with the Yale Law degree.
Then look up the records of Trump’s kids, including the son-in-law who got a $600 million bailout loan from Kuwait that saved him from bankruptcy.
And while we’re being sanctimonious about dads and sons, look up Jared’s dad. Note the Federal slammer time.
4
Maybe we need an investigative report on how much new business Eric, Don Jr. and the Trump "Organization" have cashed in on the past three years ... Don't forget Don Jr's book deal.
3
Allowing his son to take such a position while he was VP was ethically wrong even if not illegal. Extremely poor judgment on Joe’s part. I want the Dems to beat Trump and the entire GOP in November, which is why Joe should withdraw from the race—NOW before voting starts. Trump will club Joe like a baby seal with the Hunter/Burisma issue and Joe has no good response it seems. Joe, your time has passed. We love you, but please go home.
8
Trump supporters and Russians would love it if Biden bowed out over this nonissue. How about all of the Democratic candidates bow out now for their alleged transgressions and we hand the election to the ultra corrupt Trump?
2
Joe Biden is old school. Democrats and Republica politicians from his era are all crooks. Their children and relatives benefited and continue to benefit from their connections.
7
Right-wing disinformation operators seem to be out in force this evening in their futile attempt to lie discredit Biden. More proof that they know he will beat trump like a drum...
3
@Ted So they made up his appointment to the Amtrak board though he had no relevant experience? Gee, they are nefarious.
4
The Democrats seem on a path to self-destruction, in which Trump wins reelection.
Remember folks. The economy is doing OK, at least by measures that the average person looks at, like the Dow and unemployment. Yes, economists may worry that we are on an unsustainable course, with trillion dollar deficits every year, but that's a long term problem (meaning at least a year away) and voters usually don't worry about the long term until disaster strikes.
Moreover, the incumbent usually wins reelection.
There were 63 million who voted for Trump, 66 million for Clinton, and 100 million eligible voters who didn't vote. So Trump won with about 27.5% of the possible votes.
Yes, he can be defeated with a strong centrist candidate.
But the Democratic Party has moved to the left. Bernie Sanders has a great vision for the future, but many in the middle are afraid it is too extreme.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden the leading centrist candidate has a problem regarding his son taking a lucrative job for a Ukrainian energy company that appears to have hoped that the position would buy influence with the Vice President.
After impeaching Trump on the effort to get the Ukraine to do an investigation, it is virtually certain that if Biden is the nominee, the corruption of Hunter Biden will be front and center in the coming campaign.
I can see why Mike Bloomberg decided to enter the race for president. He wants to save Democrats from themselves.
I only hope he is successful.
5
@Blaise Descartes
You've taken the bait.
The ONLY reason why Trump has thrown so much emphasis on Hunter Biden is because he sees Joe as a threat -- and that only because this president's overall numbers are slipping or remaining stable.
Think not?
Check out the timing. Hunter has been out of this job for awhile. Trump never brought this up before.
Better yet, watch the impeachment trial.
4
The media have never been more obvious in their bias, then when they dismiss Hunter Biden's shenanigans as "not illegal," in order to protect his dad, the front runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination. They seem to lack the self awareness that, when they abandon bipartisan investigations for the perceived higher sake of getting the goods on Trump (whom they consider simply a much bigger crook), they lose their credibility with the public. . . . Aren't there politicians in Albany facing prison for getting their relatives no-show jobs?
14
@Red Allover
Not true. It's not the media that find Hunter Biden's "shenanigans" illegal, but those who are more familiar with the case who have found no merit in these allegations.
FACTS matter.
7
i wish the media wouldn't let Trump control the narrative on this. Just google Harvard publications on boards skills and board compensation, which should put things in perspective:
1) $50K/month ($600K/year) is hardly unusual for a high profile company to pay its board members. Harvard published a survey of top 20 companies' board compensation in the US. Many directors are paid well over $750K to more than $2Million/year to attend a handful of meetings, with additional incentives and bonuses and often paid expenses.
2) Harvard says that a majority of board members in the US are "generalists" - NOT "experts in the field".
3) Many board members (like HB) are in finance; presumably, they bring some kind of money management expertise. Oil and gas expertise not needed.
Next, ask Henry Kissinger why he was on the board of Theranos - a fraud biopharmaceutical technology scam. Expertise? Next, ask Jared what his expertise is in whatever project of the month daddy-o drops in his portfolio. Expertise? Not seeing it.
Come on reporters, don't just wait for one of the Bidens to blow their lid in frustration. Just stop repeating the foundationless and uninformed accusations.
19
@Aubrey
More context: Chelsea Clinton reaps $9 Million for being on the board of an internet investment company. Expertise? How much? But this is what companies will pay to have high profile somebodies sitting on their boards...
4
Riiiiiiiight. Because Chelsea's insight and prestige is soooo worth it. They surely weren't trying to buy influence with her Mom, the Sec of State and expected future POTUS.
5
If the son of Biden is or not a crook has nothing to do with the impeachment, the impeachment is about Trump using his position as "our" president for his "personal" aims. And, needless to say, the danger is that his personal decisions interfere with the international relations of the USA with the rest of the world.
10
Joe Biden understandably doesn’t want to talk about Hunter too much.
But he certainly over the years has put his family’s travails and challenges on the public scene, repeatedly and emotionally.
11
Joe Biden is from another time when " you don't go after somebody's kids."
That time is gone. Trump will never stop claiming Joe and Hunter Biden are a couple of crooks.
Whether Hunter Biden "did anything wrong" - and he appears to have monetized his father's position as Vice President to earn a fortune by proximity with a foreign government - the optics are terrible and Hunter is a reprehensible guy.
Most people in this country believe arrangements like the one Hunter Biden had in Ukraine while his father was Vice President are disgusting. The epitome of "the swamp."
Biden is angrily defensive about this but he should have told his son back when he was Veep to knock it off, saying "You're embarrassing me."
Biden didn't have the judgement to tell his son to back off this sleazy behavior.
It's bad news Joe indulged his son's behavior.
We're now in the awful Trump era & Trump will absolutely use Hunter Biden to smear Joe. And Biden is going to continue to respond angrily & weirdly by insulting people who ask & challenging them to push-ups.
Push-ups aren't going to make this go away.
Joe Biden should drop out. He has a fatal flaw in Hunter's behavior & shouldn't be running. Hunter's behavior may not be criminal but its indefensible.
We need a better nominee - not someone tainted by their family monetizing their proximity to official office.
We need a squeaky clean nominee to go up against Trump.
Joe Biden, by virtue of his greedy son, is not that guy.
14
Can my daddy get me a job like Hunter Biden. And if not, why not?
8
Biden keeps talking about this because the Times and other news media keep bringing it up even when it is not relevant.
Seriously, when is the Times going to talk about its criminal wrongdoing and interference in the past election? Their abuse of Bernie, spreading lies about Pizzagate and child pedophilia?
See how easy it is to just throw out accusations and suddenly says 'why aren't you talking about this'.
There is nothing there, nothing. To the New York Times, stop wasting our times on rumor mongering and stop helping Trump.
7
Family members of well known elected officials exploiting their bloodlines to get stinking rich is a national disgrace. It's no different than what happens in backward and corrupt banana republics. So yes, name and shame the kids, spouses and siblings on the take and force the Joe Bidens and Donald Trumps of this world to explain why they allow it to happen. Then make them explain it again and again. The crooked relatives and their enabling daddies have it coming. Period.
9
This is one of several reasons why Biden should not run. If he wins the nomination, he will be vulnerable. He should just call a spade a spade. Hunter got his cushy job because of his name. Period. His fatherly defense of his son makes him look Trumpian -- i.e. his children can do no wrong.
8
Joe Biden is still grieving the loss of his son Beau. Understandably he's more than touchy about attacks on his other son. Yet his comebacks--especially the duke-it-out attack on an elderly man at one of his rallies--show a disturbing lack of emotional control. I can't blame him for that, given the circumstances, yet I don't believe such explosions are okay in a president. Take a look at what we've got now...No more!
5
What concerns me is Biden's ego and possible sense of entitlement to run. He did great things in the past, but past performance does not guarantee anything these days. The Democrats need a candidate who is "pure as newly driven snow" clean of taint. Trump cannot be allowed any openings to attack. Disclosure is the way to go, even if it means Hunter Biden needs to expose his life work. Going clean will allow the Democratic candidate, if it turns out that Joe is the one, to more effectively "slay the dragon" that is Trump.
4
By all appearances the media and a certain segment of the American electorate are stumbling over themselves to find fault not only with Joe Biden, but with those Democrats who are inclined to vote for him.
They find fault with what he says, how he says it, his past, his present, and his son whose only crime it seems is to have made a lot of money working for a shady Ukrainian gas company that's now in the spotlight, while forgetting how much Ivanka and Jared are making and getting away with.
We have a word in German to describe this phenomenon, it's called "Schadenfreude" -- and there seems to be a lot of that going around these days.
All of the Democratic candidates, especially those who poll well have been put through the mill at one point or another, whether it's Warren or Sanders or Mayor Pete, and all this at a time when this country has one of the most unethical presidents in the Oval Office.
It's time for folks to stop holding such impossibly high standards for all the candidates because no one is all things to all people all of the time.
But most importantly -- don't forget to VOTE!
10
Sadly, if this whole quid pro quo/extortion scheme had flown completely under the radar and Ukraine had ended up making the investigation announcement, this whole thing would probably have blown over within one news cycle and Biden would have suffered very little from it. Only the QAnon/Benghazi fanatics would be bothered by it. But Trump needs to be held to account for betraying his office and the American people somehow, and I only hope that this impeachment takes some steps toward bringing his corruption under control.
6
I really like Joe Biden. But I hate nepotism and don't like what happened with Hunter Biden. Don't get me going on Trump's worthless spawn.
But, having spent my career at Fortune 500 companies, I can tell you that this is how these folks roll. They all know each other, they all trade off each other's names, and they all network together and reinforce each other's status as part of the the 1%.
What troubles me, and what has been delicately left unsaid, is Hunter Biden's history and baggage. He has made lots of mistakes - mistakes that the Repubs will use to absolutely brutalize him. He's an addict, got kicked out of the military for testing positive for cocaine and took up with his brother's widow after the brother died. Took up with his brother's widow! I can just imagine what the good people in flyover country will think about THAT. He's rolled in and out of rehab, and he's currently embroiled in a custody case where DNA proved he fathered a child with a stripper. I hate to say it, but his background is really a mess. You think the R's aren't going to have a field day with this stuff? They'll drive him to a nervous breakdown (or a big fat relapse) right there on the stand.
If Hunter Biden testifies this will spin into the biggest circus you ever saw. It will make what's happening now look tame.
14
@Kiska: The ONLY reason the Trumplicans want Hunter Biden is so they can play their favorite game, when people are talking a little too much trash about Trump: It’s called “Whaddaboutism” and is used constantly to draw attention away from Trump and his many crimes. Hunter Biden, for all his baggage and mistakes, has NOTHING to do with what Trump did on that “perfect” call to Ukraine in July. Trump is on trial here, not Hunter. And those of you who believe Hunter is guilty of wrongdoing should set up a separate investigation and then, if you can actually find anything (besides bad optics), put him on trial. I would be willing to bet we won’t hear anything about Hunter after the impeachment is over.
1
The physical similarity between Hunter Biden and Donald Trump Jr. is uncanny. That's probably why the ever-superficial prez Trump is so fixated on this "corruption" - it reminds him of his own offspring.
Regardless, Joe Biden needs to end his campaign and put his full support behind a candidate with better judgement.
3
Here is what Hunter said to Burisma. "You pay me $50K per month and I will see to it that your name is household word." (smile).
4
Why didn’t China and Ukraine hire Hunter Biden until his father was named by President Obama as the lead for those countries?
9
As the Bidens' role in Ukraine is discussed at Trump's impeachment trial, see my take here on how Hunter Biden's tenure at Burisma was marked by advances in anti-corruption, as was Joe Biden's tenure as Obama's Ukraine point-man: https://realcontextnews.com/the-untold-story-of-the-bidens-and-burisma/
@Brian Frydenborg Pumping your own story seems a little sleazy. Although I agree with your points, your writing (and/or editing) needs work. Your first paragraph is ONE sentence! And doesn't make much sense unless you read it a few times and edit it yourself.
So Biden “wants to show that..,he has the fortitude and temperament to take on the president”?
There’s even ample evidence in this kid-gloves-treatment article that he does not have the temperament to take on Trump, or to be an effective president.
10
It's clear to me that Trump & the Republicans are going to put the Biden's on trial. They've been planning this all along. It's going to get ugly.
3
Oh good, here is the NYT again vetting a Democratic candidate. Are you going to make the Biden’s “ her e mails”
It has been said over and over that Joe Biden or his son did nothing wrong. Joe Biden has been vetted on this issue. We know it is there but the other question is what weaknesses do the other candidates have. Please vet all the candidate like you are doing to Biden.
If you had done a better job of investigating Trump and he lived in New York City your home town. No you were too busy with her emails.
Joe Biden is a good and decent man. We know and like him. He has proven himself he has the experience for the job. He can help restore our credibility in the world.
Keep this up and you are doing the job Trump tried to have Ukraine do for him. Maybe Trump should have come to the NYT to do his dirty work and he would not have been impeached.
I support Joe Biden because I want an empathetic good person for President.
10
If you look up the definition of "unglued" in the dictionary, there is a picture of trump twitting from the toilet. He hasn't released his: tax returns,student transcripts,security clearances for his family, his medical reports, or the interpreter's notes of his conversations with Putin. And though the phone call was "perfect", he only released a heavily edited version of it. His pal Pecker won't release the "catch and kill" stories trump paid for. He hides his correspondence with Giuliani who is not performing personal personal business for trump but is a rogue actor for the United States. He refuses to release any records pertaining to OMB funds regarding Ukraine; he won't allow testimony from senior personnel and he himself won't testify under oath. trump is a coward. At this point, who cares about Hunter Biden.
10
@Tim Lynch
Why did Obama have his educational and travel records legally sealed before becoming a candidate for President?
2
Dr. John; re:Obama. I dunno where you got your information on Obama but, it doesn't matter. University of Pennsylvania will not release your darling's grades on threat of a lawsuit. Harvard Law confirms Obama graduated Magna Cum Laude. See the difference?
5
@Dr. John
In case you missed it, Obama isn't the president any longer,nor is he running for president. And while we are discussing advantages of using one's connections,or name let's consider: the whole Bush family,Liz Cheney, Scalia's kid, Neil Gorsuch(mother was Reagan's EPA chief),Rush Limbaugh's brother,Megan McCain, and Kudlow's kid. A few of trump's lawyers too have been living off the the government's teat too,for a long time.
4
Mr. Biden has a problem with his mind and mouth. When the question hits home, he attacks the questioner rather than answer appropriately. Joe Biden has always ridden above fray as he receives no scrutiny. As a career politician, he has a lot to answer for, from Anita Hill to his son Hunter and the Ukraine sleight of hand, among others, yet the mainstream media continues to lay off. It is a curious conundrum that must make for restless sleep which may account for his cranky personality and presentations filled with misstatements if not malapropism, making one think of running to the pharmacy to help this poor misguided candidate for President.
8
Joe Biden is a presidential candidate. Don't we need to know whether a candidate is corrupt, whether a candidate is influenced by foreign connections?
13
@areader
Never, if that candidate is (or was) Donald J. Trump.
3
Joe Biden just needs to concede that his son made a bonehead decision that looked very much like a conflict of interest and that Hunter has learned that lesson.
Americans are incredibly forgiving when people own up to their mistakes but they are absolutely implacable when people continue to justify their bad behavior.
7
Two things: 1) Find me the board of any company that doesnt have at least one member that doesnt belong there. 2) Uday and Kusay Trump (aka Don Jr. and Eric) are running effectively a cash business with their father's name literally on the side of the building. Hotels? Golf Courses? I want to get favored by the president. Sounds like its time to have my "corporate retreat" at Trump Super Duper Deluxe Mega Tower or whatever circus name it has. And $200 a night? Nah, I was thinking we'd pay more like $2000 a night. Oh and by the way, tell your father........
7
Wasn't it Joe Biden himself, on camera, bragging that he pressured the Ukrainian Government to kill the prosecution investigation into the company his son worked for or the Ukrainians were not getting the US 1 Billion dollars? Are you kidding me? Talk about abuse of power!
9
Dear Mr. Biden,
Why is it hard to say: My son Hunter profited from my name, however there was no quid pro quo?
Yes it is corruption, but it was legal corruption; not illegal according to our laws.
BTW, when this story came out; this great people wrote about it. However; it was buried in the back pages! Sadly, I had to know about it from FoxNews. The liberal press always covered up for Obama and his cronies.
8
Biden's so called corruption or errors in judgment are minuscule compared to trump's.
Yes, he should apologize for errors, and then the media should leave it and focus on the biggest criminal in office in the history of the country.
The media constantly promotes false equivalences that will only help the sociopath. Stop with the loss of perspective.
2
Nobody who names his son Hunter is a real Democrat. End of story.
2
Forget it, Joe. You used your position to set your ne’er do well son up.
Anyway, how is it most of the kids of our top politicians on both sides of the aisle end up wealthy?
Jimmy Carter’s kids are an exception but Biden, Pelosi, the Bushes, Chelsea, Trump’s, ad nauseum.
Let’s drain that swamp now.
6
why doesn't anyone talk about the endless grifting of trump's kids?-it's astonishing, really!
6
"“The way I was raised,” Mr. Biden said, “you don’t go after somebody’s kids.”
For Pete's sake! Hunter Biden is 49 years old! By that logic, should we call of the impeachment proceedings because Donald too is "somebody's kid"?
And why does everyone keep saying that this was investigated, and nothing untoward was found? I am not aware of any investigation of this by any US entity -- was there one?
6
Love Biden, but Adam Schiff for president.
2
No way. He's very competent, but he's Hillary without the charm.
2
Why the heck doesn’t he just come out and say what everyone knows:
Yes, my son was under qualified. Just like the kids of the present and past presidents who got jobs because of parental success (and if he was involved admit it)
Yes, it looked bad and I should have encouraged him not to do it (but he is an independent adult and would you tell your kid not to take a sweet gig like that?)
Yes, just like a Trump and Clinton and Bush my kids benefited from my success.
This is the truth
This is the only way to get past it
6
Or a Trump, Giuliani, et al of this administration.
Biden's claim that he didn't know where his son worked and that his job at Burisma was never discussed between them was stupid. It doesn't ring true that a father didn't know what was going on with his son. Particularly one that had a crack addiction and was tossed from the Army..You would expect a caring father to try to consul and help him, not ignore him and what he's doing. Not knowing where he worked indicates he is either a bad father, very naive. or a liar....He needs to come clean and discuss it... It would not have been illegal to help him get the job or to discuss the job. Democrats may be foolish enough to ignore and not challenge his ridiculous assertions. But Trump will challenge them and bring Biden down to his level of questionable veracity. Either during the primaries, so he can face Sanders or Warren, or in the general. Either way, this story and the Bidens foolishness in responding to it, may get Trump another 4 years!
4
In his interview with NYT, Joe Biden says Hunter didn't inform him he'd joined the Burisma board until after he had accepted the position. Hunter is a lawyer and adult who can do what he wants, regardless what his Dad or people in the Obama Adm. thought about it.
There's nothing illegal about making easy money. Trump's children are masters at raking in the easy long green, making Hunter Biden look like a pauper. Don Jr. was paid $50,000 for making a speech at the University of Florida. Hunter made $50K some months, while Don Jr. Makes $50K for a 1 hour speech.
Joe Biden just needs to calmly explain his role in rooting out corruption in Ukraine on behalf of the Obama Adm., which is detailed in this NYT piece "What Joe Biden Really Did In Ukraine."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/10/us/politics/joe-biden-ukraine.html?searchResultPosition=1
2
Washington full of corrupt politicians like Biden, this is a grave failure of democracy.
3
Biden and his son used poor judgment but Trump just raised the rates per night at Doral where the Republicans are meeting this week from $254 a night to $539 a night so taxpayers can once again get hit while the Trump family rakes in the money. Pathetic.
4
My point exactly- if this is a fact, where is the reporting? This is a straightforward way of getting the American people to see what trump is doing to the presidency and the country, EVERY SINGLE DAY!- please include a link to this info- thank you
2
Why does this (and other newspapers) insist that there “is no evidence to support Team Trump’s claim”, say it loudly and clearly that Trump is a liar. For gosh sakes there is no evidence that your news department called Trump a liar when he ginned up birthirism thereby calling out Obama for being illegitimate.
Just once a week, as a start, maybe you can speak plainly.
Hunter has been a bit of a black sheep of the Biden family for years. Joe has no control over him. Hunter ran with a crowd and induged in things Joe would cringe at. We all know that Joe was closer to Bo and dealing with Bo's cancer and subsequent death left Joe at sea with much of what Hunter was doing. In an interview on live TV Joe said that he did not speak much with Hunter about his life but did ask him if he knew what he was getting into. Joe said Hunter replied in the affirmative and that was it. It's possible that Joe may a price for his rogue son. Many a father has.
2
Dear Symone D. Sanders, a senior adviser for the Biden campaign,
If you really believe yelling stupid puerile things at an 88 year old man who spoke the truth to your 77 year old candidate means Joe Biden is “ready for a fight” you might as well shut your campaign down now and find something useful to do with your life. Useful as in not shameless.
4
Former polish President and fellow Burisma board director Aleksander Kwasniewski said Hunter biden advised Burisma without trading on his relationship with his father. delaware based Sunrise holdings is owned by burisma. Was Hunter's expertise on that project?
1
How does the son of the Vice President land a job on the board of a Urkranian energy company?
That's got corruption, greed and nepotism written all over it.
10
Replace the Word Joe Biden ....with not only the name of EVERY Democrat Politician ....but until Now Big Media as well....This is The Story of why were are in this Impeachment / and it is coming Out Front and Center for it is the Only Crime that will carry a Criminal Charge...that's why we are watching this " We don't need a crime to impeach".
2
Hunter should volunteer to testify but only appear after John Bolton appears.
2
@Jay Clarken
If Hunter did something wrong it has nothing to do with DJT's multiple and massive impeachable offences. Not everybody in the Democratic side likes Joe anyway. The Dems can just choose a different candidate, Then where will the GOP go? If you add up the left lane vote they far outnumber Biden anyway.
1
Trumps kids could not get thru a background check, have done dozens of very shady business deals and needed a ton of help to get into college. Melanie is a joke of a First Lady who lied about having a college degree. They are criminals just not in jail yet.
Giuliani’s kid works in ‘sports management’ a made up job in Trump administration. He sued Duke U when he was cut from golf team. What a joke another criminal in waiting. His Wife is college professor
I will take Biden’s any day. Joe tragic lost two children and his first wife. Hunter is no dummy a Yale law school grad and works for the Heinz family fund, which has 50 billion in assets. He has acknowledged past issues with substance abuse.
3
Trump knows Biden's weakness, that's for sure.
4
Zephyr Teachout's article in Monday's Guardian says all one needs to know about Joe Biden:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/20/joe-biden-corruption-donald-trump
3
It is interesting to see how Mr. Biden can be given a pass for his (can we say?) unpresidential responses because this is a touchy subject involving his son and his own personal reputation ... However, when say someone like Justice Kavanaugh displays emotion in defense of his reputation he is eviscerated by the media. Regardless, questions concerning Hunter and Mr. Biden are highly relevant to the President Trump impeachment proceedings - especially if there is even the semblance that Mr. Biden executed a quid pro quo. Even Democratic witnesses at the House inquiries stated Hunter's business dealings presented a conflict of interest.
9
This isn’t about a father defending his son so much as Biden deflecting on the issue of nepotism. If he feels there is misinformation, why isn’t he calling for an investigation to present the facts? Or, does he fear the sunlight it would bring?
6
Hunter Biden's decision to take the Burisma job was wrong, and it reflects poorly on Joe Biden. I suspect -- as then vice president -- he could have shut that down with one phone call. It bothers me to no end. It is exactly what we don't want in government. It may be "legal" but it was wrong as in all wrong.
I'm fine with a trade in testimony. The Burisma appointment may not be legally relevant to what Trump did, but it is politically relevant. You can't get past that and it's going to haunt the Biden candidacy through this campaign.
If Joe Biden can survive this crucible of testifying in the Senate, he's a slam dunk for the nomination. If he can't, we have other great candidates to choose from.
5
If we can somehow detach ourselves from the noise of impeachment hearings and ask whether, apart from any impeachment, does Hunter Biden's employment by the Ukrainian company raise any possible ethical questions - the answer is yes. It simply looks suspicious. Maybe there was nothing wrong with it but it looks suspicious. Certainly, if Mr. Biden may be president, a possible ethical breach by either him or his son is fair game.It would be fair game if something similar happened with another candidate, and Mr. Biden should not get a pass. This is politics, and politics is a rough business. Even if the conduct was examined in the past, it doesn't matter. With the presidency at stake, any questionable conduct should and will be brought up and re-examined. That's just the way it is.
Might this be an attempt to discredit Mr. Biden ? You bet it is. But discrediting a political opponent, however unfair, has been been accepted political practice for over 200 years.
So, whether he likes it or not, Biden better get over his anger at being asked the question. It is going to be asked over and over, and will most likely be a question in televised debates. For Mr. Biden's sake, he needs to be thoroughly prepared to honestly and completely respond to any questions or even accusations about his son's arrangement with Burisma. If he can't or won't, he deserves to lose every vote that will go to someone else because of his lack of candor.
6
@Gino G
Good points. I don't see Joe as the safe option at all.
Why isn't Amy being seen as viable? She seems safer with less baggage and comes from the Mid West. I am not American, so probably there are things I don't understand. It amazes me that she has such low numbers
advantages
- Does not carry the "socialist" tag that is so toxic for some reason in the USA where it is seen as normal in many countries
- She has won in different contexts
- As a female, Trump's slandering would rebound on him
- She gets the more too vote and the intelligent female vote
- She has not brawled with anybody at the debates
- She would be seen favourably in the Mid West
- I think she is likeable but again I am not American.
Could an American please enlighten me as to why she is not doing better?
Thanks
@Bob Guthrie
Amy Klobuchar is the Toyota Camry of Presidential candidates: safe, dependable, efficient, and reasonably-priced. But utterly boring and incapable of being elected
If Joe Biden is the democratic nominee, I believe that Hunter Biden's shenanigans will essentially guarantee that Trump gets re-elected. Trump will simply bring up Hunter's extraordinary renumeration at every opportunity and in every tight working class state/race ... and Joe will freak out ... and like it or not, it will resonate with the voters.
8
It is clear that Hunter Biden's cushy paycheck from Burisma was seedy but not illegal and not unlike the nepotistic advantages availed by the Trump kids and those of their ilk. What is truly disturbing is Joe's judgment with regard to his son. Hunter is no Beau, but you'd never know it by listening to Joe. Hunter is the drug-addicted, sex-addicted slacker whose failings were often overlooked because his name is Biden. He thought he could get a pass on the drug test after getting a waiver for the Naval Reserves before they kicked him out. He thought He could portray himself a family man while living a Trump-style life of carousing and depletion of the wealth earned by his former wife. He carried on a public affair with his brother's widow. Joe didn't think about the impact on two sets of grandchildren; he was happy that the couple had found comfort in each other. To this day, Joe proclaims that Hunter is "a great man". No, Joe. He is your beloved son but he is not great, not even close. Unconditional love is a wonderful thing; blind love in support of self-destruction is not.
3
I hope Biden has a town hall that I can go to. I'd ask him for sure about why did't he have Hunter locked up for drugs like he had a lot of other people. Another one would be how did Hunter get into the Naval Reserve in his 40's? Remember anything about Hunter true, false or internet rumor will be tossed at Biden over and over by Trump. The Democrats are doing no one any favors by going easy on Biden.
8
Biden should take this issue head on, and the sooner the better. Otherwise it will be the “what about her emails” of the 2020 election. I assume he can be very candid about what his son did and did not do and put it behind him.
3
Bidens Sr. and Jr. knew the Ukraine job was unethical. Commenting correctly on it in "hindsight" is meaningless.
I believe the Trump machine will spread such a web of lies mingling with possible truths about Biden that by November, if he's the candidate, he'll be seen as untrustworthy as Secretary Clinton was in 2016.
Add to that Joe at times comes across as feeble, disoriented, confused, and puffing up unconvincingly for effect, and the Democrats have the recipe for a disaster candidate.
I pray his Iowa support proves to be hollow. He should not be the next president. But if he's the candidate, I will vote for him and campaign on his behalf.
1
To be able to say that he's released 21 years of tax returns while Trump hasn't shared any, is a powerful response.
This stuff isn't easy. It's politics and Trump and his crew are dirtier than Nixon. I understand why Biden doesn't always respond with grace.
3
If Hunter Biden did no wrong, an investigation would find nothing. So why are the Democrats so worried about it?
9
@Ronald Weinstein Turn it around. Since the Democrats ARE worried, what does that say about Hunter Biden or his father?
2
“Paid $50,000 in some months?” Yes In the other months it was $83,000. His bank statements are available for all to see
5
Unlike somebody else’s.
2
If Biden does not testify, he will be perceived as just another creature of the Swamp with business to hide. His candidacy may be in jeopardy.
5
Why does he get a pass for his time as Vice Chairman of Amtrak? That’s worse.
7
Hunter Biden is more than 40 years old - he's perfectly capable of defending himself without his father's help. Just disclose the work he did as a board member. If it seems legitimate, great. If not, Hunter Biden wouldn't be the first person to profit off powerful connections. Allowing the innuendo to continue just drags his father down.
98
@JohnK so then why ask his father about his work?
5
If there was nothing to the Biden's alleged wrong-doing in the Ukraine, ol' Joe wouldn't mind talking about it all. In fact, he'd be talking and talking about it. And, he'd want to testify and want Hunter to testify. His statements that their testimony would just be a sideshow has no merit. It's at the very heart of the matter of impeachment. The Democrats claim Trump used quid pro quo to find dirt on Joe. Trump says he was merely requesting an investigation into the Biden's wrongdoings. If the Biden's testified and proved that there was nothing wrong with their actions in the Ukraine, Trump's claims would fall flat. The fact that Joe tries to reflect this issue rather than addresses smells like guilt to me.
61
@B. T. The problem with your rationale is that it requires honest brokers on the GOP side. No matter what Joe or Hunter said happened, Republicans and FOX news personalities would lie about it.
31
@B. T. Careful, talking that kind of common sense around here might get you banned from the comments section.
15
@B. T. if there was nothing wrong with your family's home life you would be talking and talking about it and you would bring it up here to showcase the difference between yourself and Biden. The fact that you don't talk about it seems like there is something to be guilty of there.
See how easy it is to make not talking about something seem relevant when it isn't.
25
This article is doing nothing but sow confusion. While this fake president was working with corrupt politicians to make up garbage to use against the Bidens.
Also, promoting the fake grifters lawyers talking point that Democrats exposing the absolute lies he and his cabal were fabricating regarding sham Ukraine scandals somehow helps them is point blank point irresponsible.
5
If you weren't so homophobic (America), you would elect Mayor Pete and we would have a young, vibrant, in shape candidate who would be the same generation as Macron and Trudeau--I don't know about you, but I'm tired of seeing Canada and France with young and attractive young men as leaders and we have Jabba-the-Hutt as our paragon of health and virtue (vomit.)
2
Biden could offer to testify before the Senate about his son. Hillary could also testify about Bengazi. Establish a precedent.
1
Hillary did testify about Benghazi. She destroyed her questioners, but that didn’t silence her critics. Facts don’t matter to too many Americans.
2
She did (before the House). All day
2
Why hasn't the Times dug into why an unqualified Hunter Biden got such a well paying job. Why not dig into the lie that Joe had no idea about it? Dig! Report!
15
@Adam
And while you're at it, also dig into the Trump siblings who are doing the exact same thing.
4
The appearance of conflict of interest doesn't make it a fact.
Trump has a big advantage over Biden and everyone else. He has made it clear that if you're not using your power for a transactional, personal advantage you're a chump. He's supporters have bought in. Yet they hold his opponents to an entirely different standard.
Joe Biden has made a lot of mistakes in a long career in politics. I don't believe he is corrupt and I know what he had gone through as a father and husband. He's a decent, well meaning person.
He may or may not be the right man to get the nomination but Democrats should not be sucked into this game. No one can pass a purity test and Trump doesn't have to.
This is a slimy republican attack with no evidence of wrongdoing. Keep your eye on the ball. Trump asked a foreign government to slim his opponent and support a conspiracy theory that's designed to deflects attention away from Russian interference in our election.
Two people benefit from this Trump and Putin.
3
I’m more worried about grifters Trump ie Ivanka’s biz interests in COMMUNIST China.
4
The fact that Joe disabled comments on his own video about Ukraine indicates he has something to hide and is not willing to take criticism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N0tUHCpt00&t=62s
4
Is the NY Times, that I subscribe to, so determined to get Liz Warren as the Dem candidate, that they are willing to put out articles that parrot the Russian conspiracy propaganda that Biden has something to hide? That perhaps Ukraine is the culprit in the 2016 hacking of the DNC? That's the way I read this hit piece. "Mr. Biden eventually settled on a rhythm of insisting that he and his son did nothing wrong." Really Mister Kaplan? "Biden eventually... settled? on a ... rhythm?" You make Putin a happy man Ms. Glueck, and NY Times, you should be ashamed. Perhaps if you'd watched the trial this afternoon, you'd have thought twice about putting out this hit piece.
3
The appearance of conflict of interest doesn't make it a fact.
Trump has a big advantage over Biden and everyone else. He has made it clear that if you're not using your power for a transactional, personal advantage you're a chump. He's supporters have bought in. Yet they hold his opponents to an entirely different standard.
Joe Biden has made a lot of mistakes in a long career in politics. I don't believe he is corrupt and I know what he had gone through as a father and husband. He's a decent, well meaning person.
He may or may not be the right man to get the nomination but Democrats should not be sucked into this game. No one can pass a purity test and Trump doesn't have to.
This is a slimy republican attack with no evidence of wrongdoing. Keep your eye on the ball. Trump asked a foreign government to slim his opponent and support a conspiracy theory that's designed to deflects attention away from Russian interference in our election.
Two people benefit from this Trump and Putin.
97
@HL
The Democrats have sucked themselves into this "purity" game when, of all the myriad examples of Trump's monetizing the Oval Office for the benefit of himself and his family, they chose to go with this esoteric charge that touches on his conduct of foreign policy -- the area where the powers of the Presidency are the least limited -- and exposes Joe Biden to constant articles like this one. I am so tired of people saying that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are playing chess while Trump and the Republicans are playing checkers -- they have botched this impeachment in just about every way it could possibly have been botched. The Republican Senate will stonewall any meaningful trial and acquit Trump along party lines, just as the Democrats impeached him along party lines, and they will get away with it cleanly because no minds have been changed and the public opinion needle has not budged except among indepedents, a plurality of which are now opposed to Trump's removal from office. Playing this game to virtue-signal rather than to remove a corrupt President will only succeed in making impeachment a standard weapon of opposition parties in the future, and in handing Trump a second term. "The Resistance" indeed!
9
@HL Yep. Thats what this is all about. The reality is that it costs Putin very little in money and effort to lobby Trump to his corner vs the massive amount of funds he is hemorrhaging to support their war in that region along with the sanctions in place that is hurting his country's economy. Create confusion and chaos in the free world through the "leader of the free world" and in one master stroke you create opportunities for yourself amidst that chaos. Ex KGB trumps 2nd gen. silver spoon trust fund sell proclaimed businessman....
4
@HL Try to explain how Hunter came to be appointed to the Amtrak board of directors. Seems like it can throw away taxpayer funds with no help from Hunter.
3
Unfortunately, the selling of political access is much too widespread and involves both parties. The Trump kids, Biden's son, and the Clintons have have all made plenty of money that way.
Although they don't make it easy to find the data, it's worth looking at the financial statements of the Clinton Foundation. Contributions and grants dropped from $217 million in 2016 to $26 million in 2017 - when Clinton was no longer a viable presidential candidate. Can anyone come up with a plausible theory to explain this decline other than the likelihood that donors were buying access to what they thought would be a Clinton presidency?
19
The democratic leadership knows they don’t have a candidate to definitively beat Trump this year. Pelosi has deliberately crafted the impeachment so as to put the Senate in play. There are 4 republican senate seats currently in potential trouble. No one actually thinks Biden is a great candidate. But all things considered, he’s responded better to attacks than I would have imagined.
1
Biden is a flawed candidate for many reasons, not just because of his son’s sleazy involvement with Ukraine and China (another questionable deal Hunter was involved in.) It does not matter whether or not Trump’s family profits from his office, it is wrong in both cases.
Joe Biden never was the brightest bulb in Washington and he has gotten much worse with age. I somehow can’t believe the polls; it is obvious from his debate performances that he can’t even speak in complete sentences or carry through with a coherent argument. Also, his vote for the Iraq war and behavior at the Anita Hill travesty will certainly work against him.
There are so many better candidates running for the Democratic nomination. I hope and pray that Biden is not the nominee.
11
You 'don't go after somebody's kids': nice, but the kids in question here, on both sides, are adults already in their thirties or forties -- not exactly 'kids'.
8
It is not so much of illegality. It is the influencing effect it has in political decisions favoring Ukraine and its entities. It is not just Biden, true in Trump and Clinton cases as well. When we travel abroad, we have to be at our best behavior because it reflects on our country. Same is true when we are dealing with foreign countries. Our political leaders failed. Corruption creeped to the top.
7
Anyway you look at it, it's hard to explain what the VP's son was doing on the board of Ukrainian energy company. It doesn't matter whether he did anything wrong. For public officials, appearances matter. Joe's a political veteran and knows the score. While it doesn't excuse Trump's behavior, it does make one wonder that out of population of 340 million why we can't do better than our current front runners.
6
Two points:
1. Detailed reporting shows that Hunter Biden is a train wreck battling addiction and his own inner demons while taking great advantage of his dad’s position and power.
2. Joe Biden has enabled his son through the years and is defensive and volatile on the topic of his son.
Trump will exploit both points.
20
Where, on the other hand, Joe Biden would never sink so low as to attack the Trump children for using their father’s position to enrich themselves.
3
As someone who admired Joe Biden and would vote for him I think he has mishandled the issue of his son's taking a position on the board of of Burisma. Hunter had no expertise in Burma's business so it seems clear that Burisma's intention was to curry favor with the Obama administration and/or Joe Biden. Joe Biden should admit that it created at a minimum the appearance of a conflict of interest and that he should have advised his son of this. He should be making it clear to the media that he had no conversations with his son about Burisma, which hopefully was the case.
2
In addition to using poor judgment on the Ukraine gas company, Biden has tried for 40 years to cut Social Security.
Not it looks like Trump plans to cut both Social Security and Medicare after his 2020 election.
2
If we are going to open the "Pandora's Box" of the family members of elected officials, it could get really interesting and I doubt that any of them "want to go there..."
Siblings, spouses, children, sometimes even parents manage to "Cash-in" on their relationship with elected officials at every level of government from Mayor to President. It is also a two-way-street because others wanting a back-door to influence approach family members offering jobs, promotions, perks,...
When I look at the elected officials who represent me at various levels I see the same story. Most of it is mild, some of it is downright sinister. Everybody seems to want to capitalize on the elected officials.
So, before those elected officials start their "investigations" or "insinuations" remember you probably have somebody close to you who can be seen as capitalizing on your elective office by working with your spouse, sibling, child, cousin, parent,... Do you really want that investigated. Yeah, Hunter Biden seems like a big fish but what about your family - do you want them under the microscope and linked to your office?
2
The Dem’s decision to focus on the Biden’s today is a potentially huge mistake. Face it, the only juicy part of this story, the only part that the millions of Americans who watch what passes for entertainment on daytime tv will be interested in, is the Biden story. The only important part from the GOP’s perspective is showing there was good cause for Trump to be concerned about what Joe was doing concerning Ukraine, Burisma and Hunter Biden and that it wasn’t about Joe as a 2020 candidate. And there is enough there to persuade even the moderates that Trump should not be removed. But the public will also begin to hear the rest—how much Hunter and other Biden’s made simply because Joe was the VP. And about Hunter and the child he fathered—the things that attract the public’s attention.
4
@ehillesum,
"The only important part from the GOP’s perspective is showing there was good cause for Trump to be concerned about what Joe was doing concerning Ukraine, Burisma and Hunter Biden and that it wasn’t about Joe as a 2020 candidate."
No, it was about Joe as a 2020 candidate. Don't we need to know whether a candidate is corrupt, whether a candidate is influenced by foreign connections?
1
Joe Biden is wrong, when u aspire to public office, u are held to higher standard to be accountable and transparent. And your family must never benefit from it. The Ukraine company would not invite Biden junior to its board if not for his family name, so that is just plain wrong.
and joe cannot claim he did not know about it, as his son is an adult and should refrain from accepting the board seat, if he wanted to accept the board seat then he should have told his father not to run for president
Because of this incident and because joe gets angry defensive, he will not get my vote for poor judgment
5
Well, its happening as I expected it would. The Democrats blowing the request of Ukraine to look into this into an impeachment , reminds me of a forward artillery spotter calling for the shells to be targeted on his own position.
There is no way to pursue this impeachment without calling attention to all the underlying facts. So, in trying to blow Trump out of the Presidency (which will fail), the Dems are instead blowing Biden out of his front runner position.
Maybe this was the underlying plan all along.....deny the nomination to Biden?
12
And yet no one talks about how Trump gained a security clearance for his equally unqualified son-in-law to install him in his administration. Is he being paid by my tax dollars? Why isn't anyone talking about the fact Trump still has not released his tax returns so we can see where HIS money is coming from?
Obviously Hunter Biden got a sleazy sweetheart deal but the fact that Republicans are more concerned about him than the President is the even bigger scandal.
5
And Barr, Giuliani, McConnell, Trump, and Pompey all have relatives nicely placed (with or without expertise) in the White House or the Cabinet. Why is this okay? Joe Biden may not be the perfect candidate, but he has a proven track record of decency and service to our country. I hope he wins the Democratic nomination. He has my vote.
1
Nepotism is not a crime. But when your father is an influential American politician, highly paid corporate capacity in an area within which you have no prior expertise is very suspect, especially if it's overseas. The Bidens knew or should have known the optics would be dangerously poor with or without a Presidenital race, and for that reason alone Joe should step aside
6
MUCH ADMIRATION for Sen. Biden. His experience and first hand knowledge of Government structure and function is exactly what is need to put back together everything Trump and followers have ignorantly destroyed.
1
How about using Trump's reply to answer the question?
"It is ‘a witch hunt, it’s a sham, it’s a hoax"
Americans will understand. Complicated and intelligent answers will be hard to comprehend for many.
3
So the Trump rumor machine can score another win. The fact that it was known to be lies when they started hasn't stopped the media from obediently trotting along down the road that has been laid out for him by Trump and his cult, giving it life and credibility it never deserved.
But now it's been blown up to the point where "legitimate" stories about Biden's reactions can fuel the continuation. Once again, deflection wins.
2
This issue is not going away. About ten days ago the NYT reported that the GRU had hacked Burisma. Will we hear the old request again in the fall: "Russia, if you hear me, release the e-mails!"
If I were Biden, I would testify and put Trump's conspiracy theories to rest for once and all.
3
Boasting about his IQ and his ability to do push-ups does not indicate that he's the right candidate to take on Donald Trump.
6
The fact that Joe permitted his son to join Burisma absolutely puts his character and judgement into question. Did anyone do anything illegal or wrong, who knows, but Obama is the ultimate culprit in not calling it out and ending it. This is exactly the chummy good ol' boy stuff that Trump called a swamp in his campaign. Of course he's more guilty of cronyism than previous Presidents, but, sadly the public is focused on Biden's transgressions thanks to Fox News. No way should Biden be called to testify, even if we miss out on Bolton. Trumps getting off anyway....Biden answering tough questions under oath will be a disaster for the Democrats.
6
It’s not just Hunter Biden. All of Joe’s children have gotten rich off either government grants, contracts, or political affiliations. Check out his oldest son & daughter. Hunter is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s Pelosi’s kids, Kerry’s kids, etc etc. What I find extremely unsavory about the whole situation is they peddle socialism while being guilty of crony capitalism getting rich. Talk about bad messengers. Elizabeth Warren was instrumental in re-writing Federal bankruptcy laws in the 1990’s, then hired out to huge corporations as a “bankruptcy consultant”, making millions. These people are guilty of every possible crime progressives claim to hate.
9
"Elizabeth Warren was instrumental in re-writing Federal bankruptcy laws in the 1990’s..."
No, she wasn't.
2
The lucrative deals that the unqualified progeny of politicians get is as corrupt as there is. On par with the corruption in the Middle East. Trying to get to the bottom of it is not corruption; it's fighting corruption. The moral decrepitude of the Democrats, their lackeys and the subservient media is shows them for what they are. They have no more moral standing than Trump, promoting his daughter and son in law.
2
If Hunter Biden is innocent, why did he resign two days after the news broke? It doesn't look good.
9
So the Democrats are angry that a President pumped the brakes on a billion dollar check until they could make sure the money was going to the right place? Shows you that Obama didn't have America's interests at heart. Flush the swamp.
9
Hunter Biden’s influence peddling for cash got exposed. That his father continues to vehemently defend this grifting says a lot about the former VP.
7
Biden allows those in the middle to say “they all do it”. He should withdraw.
3
This is ridiculous. Hunter Biden has no more to do with whether Biden will make a great president than Jeremiah Wright had to do with whether Obama would be, or Bill Clinton had to do with whether Hillary Clinton would be. If we're going to investigate candidates based on the purported or actual flaws of their associations, then Trump is in even more hot water than we all thought.
5
@Joe , THANK YOU!!!!!!
1
While the arrow of time has not been favorable for Joe Biden's presidential bid, it is all the more unseemly that his bad-boy son has forever stained his father, regardless of whether Joe was involved in the son's Ukraine business.
It's one of those optics problems that Joe should surely understand.
1
"Mr. Trump was “an evil genius on the issue of trying to cut other people up, and cut them up this way.”"
Give me a break. Its NEVER anyone's fault except for Mr. Trump.
What's next? Mr. Trump is to blame for the Dike and Duchess of Sussex moving to Canada?
9
Joe Biden wants to control the narrative by having us look over here, not over there and it's not working. Joe as the sitting VP of the United States getting the Ukrainian government to sack the prosecutor who was looking into the gas company his son was drawing 50 grand a month from with no credentials or pedigree which could justify him being there in the first place, is extremely suspicious by anyones standards. There's no way to cleanly explain away the situation.
I think what the Biden supports should consider, being brutally honest with themselves, what would be their reaction if it was Eric Trump setting on the board of Bursima and his dad's on the phone demanding that a prosecutor investigating them be sacked. Would they be wiling to accept the answer that nothing illegal took place?
7
I guess you never read any of the articles in major newspapers and magazines about the Eric Trump Foundation’s misuse of funds for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital “fundraisers.” You should.
2
@Kurt Pickard
You obviously didn't read the story.
The story clearly lays out the many tropes and misconceptions about Joe Biden firing the prosecutor.
Tropes that you're still repeating.
And you must be joking to ask how people would feel if Trump's son benefited from his name. That's precisely what the whole sorry pack of them are doing right now.
2
I think it's time we admit to ourselves what a liability Biden is - from his spotty record to his word salad to, yes, the Ukraine scandal. Major news outlets seem to forget that what most Americans know about the impeachment is that Hunter Biden made a lot of money serving on the Board of a natural gas company while his dad was doing substantive work in the country.
Whether Trump was being an intrepid investigator or a criminal politician is the ostensible subject of impeachment, but it's not what people are thinking about. Trump is in the perfect position to make this about "America vs. the Swamp" if Biden gets the nomination. And boy will it help him if Biden responds with the explosive irritation he's given ordinary voters.
He showed poor judgment letting Hunter be on that board in the first place, and his response to it has been terrible. Add to that his decades of austerity politics, the lack of enthusiasm for him, and his ever-apparent cognitive decline, and you have yourself a candidate destined to lose against Trump.
125
@Dylan There is no scandal re Hunter Biden--just poor choice. The real Ukraine scandal has come out into the open and resulted in the impeachment of Trump. And BTW--look at the children of Trump and how they have openly milked the office of the president and their bogus advisory positions to get all kinds of trade deals and to have the US government pay for their ski trips etc.
22
@Dylan
People just LOVE to hammer away at Joe Biden and his son who "made a lot of money serving on the Board of a natural gas company while his dad was doing substantive work in the country."
But remember this:
Ivanka Trump
Jared Kushner
Eric and Donald Trump Jr.
And all the other members of the Trump clan who are cashing in on their relation to the President, and of course Donald Trump himself who is thumbing his nose at the Emolument Clause.
Think about it.
We've already got a liability in the White House.
26
@N. Smith
And you think the way to get rid of the current liability in the White House is to nominate another one?
10
The problem is Hunter Biden placed himself and his father in a potentially compromising position. Hunter should have known better.
Joe should have also known better and counseled his son about the appearance of impropriety.
Now Joe has to explain defend, rationalize and face a constant barrage. Honestly, he should have anticipated this to potentially blow up.
The truth, whatever it is, has become immaterial. The bigger question is why in the world did the Bidens not see this coming? Guilty or innocent, it was a severe lack of judgement, similar to the Clinton email scandal. This will not go away and continues to grow legs.
49
Biden needs to say that his son should not have taken the money. The fact that he was on the board of Barisma was not in itself illegal and supposedly he was there to assure that the opinions of the US were represented. However, he did not need to be paid so highly. That said, $50K per month is not unusual compensation for board members of many companies. So many many people are overcompensated for little or no work and no real expertise in the corporate boardroom world, not just Hunter Biden. It may not be right but it is legal.
4
@Chris ... it may be legal.. yet it is corrupt. It points to the huge loophole in the US legal system where there are no safeguards against nepotism, nepotism which seems to be well accepted by the public.
2
@Chris It may not be right, and it may be legal, but even now, even living in donnie-world, we have to always keep in mind that appearances matter. They especially matter in our current age of the 1% feeding on the 99%. Appearances matter greatly to the hurting Republican "base" who are going to stagger obtundatiously to the polls in November and vote against any Democrat who trump can hang any sort of label on or defile i any way. As much as I like Joe Biden, he should have known better than to run with this albatross hanging around his neck. And if he doesn't want to drag the Democrats' down in November, he should drop out now. trump's "base" will give the Democratic candidate no quarter. Whoever that is.
@Chris - You are digging the hole deeper with the Hunter was there to look after US intersts.
1
This is all that is wrong with the established Democratic Party. No wonder many folks don’t came out to vote for Hillary. Same thing with happen if Biden will get the nomination. Democrats have to move away from this system of entitlements and make the system and processes transparent to regain the trust of the vast majority of Americans. Many Americans are struggling to earn minimum wage and some folks are getting millions simply because their parents have political influence. This is a broken system and needs to be fixed.
33
The last thing I want to see is a debate between Trump and Biden where this is the sole focus and what Trump hones in on, like he did Hilary's emails. I was not in favor of either candidate in the last election but I think it's time we have a candidate who has less political and personal dirt for Trump to dredge up and fixate on so his supporters don't rally around one issue again while missing the main idea.
11
Other candidates are weak on these sorts of unsavory things... for example, Warren doubled down on being Native American, Bernie’s wife had the weird college funding thing not to mention he’s a millionaire with three houses, Klobuchar beats up her staff... Trump supporters will find plenty to rally on when someone else becomes the frontrunner
2
@Anonymouse
Well, there's Tulsi Gabbard, but she filed that Suicide Petition earlier this week....
Have a groovy day...
3
Hunter Biden is irrelevant. Certainly Trump's sons are baggage too. It just makes it really clear that this is Bernie Sanders Time
He earned it.
12
@That's What She Said
Bernie Sanders? Mr. Sanders is a populist demagogue who happens to be so deeply and authentically married to his very specific and particular policy proposals that he finds compromise on them utterly impossible. That, in turn, makes him impossible to work with. Bernie should just drop out of the race, stop hoodwinking American voters who have expressed support for him, and retire before his health finally gives out on him.
3
Mr Biden is a flawed candidate. Alarmingly for the Democrats, all of the leading candidates at the moment are deeply flawed. Democrats can only hope that one of the other candidates emerges from the pack.
13
Biden has a whole train of baggage compared to Sanders or Warren. If any democrat but Biden is nominated I will vote for that person, but I will not vote for Biden under any circumstances.
1
@Melbourne Town
Amy is not deeply flawed unless she is a secret Collingwood supporter. I say Go the Vikings.
1
Joe Biden has a problem, and despite all the barking and spin from his staff, he's not handling it well.
There are two types of corruption -- illegal corruption as practiced by Donald Trump and legal corruption as practiced by Hunter Biden. Legal corruption is a profitable insider arrangement that is not technically in violation of any law.
The Bidens are masters of the practice of legal corruption, know its rules and scrupulously obey them. In this instance, it was legal for Hunter to sell the Biden name to Burisma for an exorbitant amount so long as no element of improper governmental influence was part of the deal. The value of the Biden name -- Joe then being the sitting vice president -- was in its ability to confer status and respectability on a business with a marginal reputation and a possible criminal liability exposure. As experienced practitioners of the art, both Joe and Hunter bent over backward to avoid any hint that influence was part of the Burisma package.
The problem is that most ordinary Americans are as fed up with legal corruption as they are the illegal variety. And the Trump base is even more fed up. A part of their vengeful nihilistic message to elites is this: since you are incapable of offering us anything better than legal corruption, we are going to up the ante and embrace a flagrantly illegal crook. Take that!
Biden needs to own up to his problem of legal corruption and sincerely apologize for it. If he can't do that, Trump will crush him.
47
@woofer: After Trump apologized for the legal corruption committed by his kids...
2
@woofer Yes, you're right about all of this, and I can certainly see the Trump supporter POV and I know people like this who are mildly racist (if that) and who supported Trump for these reasons but are our neighbours and I would say friends, not close friends but decent friends.
That said, I don't think Trump is the solution. Even though I'm even more cynical than these folks, I think breaking the system without a plan is a recipe for further corruption and disaster. So the solution to legal corruption isn't anarchy but rather a tightening of the rules or even transformational change via consensus but not a total breakdown of the rule of law. This is what Trump supporters have wrought.
1
@woofer great comment. The sooner Democrats nd the other candidates confront the Biden problem honestly the greater chance the party will have to win. You are so correct, that the American public is tired of this "legal corruption", whether it is Hilary and the obscene speaking fees to the banks, or Mitch McConnell's wife and her family's shipping business, or Hunter Biden making $50000 per month at a job for which his only name was Biden, this all so wrong.
4
So many articles on Biden's son, who has been found to have done nothing illegal. What about Don Jr., Ivanka, Jared and Eric, all who have actually been investigated and found guilty in criminal activity from their fake charity to abuse of their offices to gain personal favors (loans, trademarks, business favors) from foreign countries? Report on that instead of giving Trump's latest slander and lies any airtime. And Trump's kids are actually in office; Biden and his son are not.
15
@kay
"So many articles on Biden's son, who has been found to have done nothing illegal."
Says who? Nobody has made any such finding.
And while I am no fan of the Trump family, what you wrote -- "Don Jr., Ivanka, Jared and Eric, all who have actually been investigated and found guilty in criminal activity" is also not true.
4
@kay- fake news. You expect us to believe some prosecutor somewhere has not picked up the litany of crimes you fabricated. Get real.
2
I refer you to the numerous articles on the Trump Foundations misuse of funds supposedly for St. Jude’s. Disgraceful.
2
As Maher correctly stated: he needs to stop talking push ups and how he could beat Trump up, but to talk about his bratty kid's easy pay check.
14
@Mixilplix
His 'bratty kid' is 49 years old. Some kid!
1
@Mixilplix
The same racist Maher who made the disgusting joke about Guatemalans squatting in someone's home? I have watched Maher for years but no more after his disgusting racist comment on January 17, 2019 show. The guy showed his true colors. He's a jerk!
If the Dems don’t figure out fast and very honestly confront the fact that the coming election is going to be a bloody, back-alley street fight, they are going to lose. It won’t matter who the nominee is.
Clobbered.
The fact that there is nobody on Biden’s team pressing talking points into his hand that project all the Hunter garbage back onto the Trump kids is astounding. In hockey they called them “goons.” Every NHL team in the 70’s and 80’s had one. They were the enforcers - in the game to keep the game honest - even if they had to mix it up a bit to do it.
Biden needs a goon.
6
@stephen cooke That sounds like goon advice...
Great comment!
1
We all mostly love our children and despite their errors apologize for them and continue to love them; however, Hunter Biden pursued questionable aims and used his father's name in pursuit of them. Trump was clumsy (!) in opening this can of worms, but Biden seems weak if not actually unlawful in allowing his son to profit on his name. This is merely one of Biden's weaknesses as a presidential candidate.
277
@Mike
Unseemly but not illegal?
That sounds like Ms. Clinton's lucrative visit with Goldman Sachs. Which didn't help.
120
@Tim Clark,
Yes, especially when compared to the upright paragon of virtue now residing in the white house. Are you saying the former VP did something wrong here? Please explain.
37
Speaking of unlawful, the entire Trump family is profiting from his presidency. Why does this never come up? I wish Biden would toss that back at those who taunt him, including Trump himself.
89
I find it hysterically funny that Trump has been impeached and may possibly be removed from office for blackmailing a foreign power to announce investigations into his political rival - one who stands a pretty good chance of not even being the Democratic nominee.
22
Democrats insist that Trump's failure to disclose conceals his guilt in the Zelensky matter. Biden is equally combative about his son. Biden tells Democrats nothing, instead resorting to window dressing and they blame the whole matter on Trump. Once again Democrats prove their reliance on double standards--everything we do is right, everything they do is wrong.
25
@Michjas, your comment is incomprehensible. The Democrats accuse Trump of extorting Zelensky quite openly. He extorted him on the phone and he and his staff (Mulvaney) have spoken very openly of these extortion efforts. Their mafia plot to sideline the career staff wasn’t so well concealed either. Nothing the Dems have done Is remotely like this totally corrupt use of the absolute power of the presidency by Trump and his cronies.
2
@michjas: Comments like this one make me doubt you when, in other comments, you claim to be a Democrat yourself.
2
Just wondering how I can get my son a $50,000/month job? No special qualifications needed. Better yet, how can I get such a job for myself?
41
@Garry Sklar
Unless you are well-connected, you would be well-advised to start at $50,000 per year; that's more like it.
2
@Garry Sklar
How? Change your name to Trump.
1
@Garry Sklar
let's "job share " $25 K for you $25 K for me !!
2
The questions about Hunter Biden will only grow over time if Biden gets the nomination, -- Hunter clearly was totally unqualified for the job at Burisma, and had dealings with a number of entities overseas prior to that. Joe Biden needs to have clear rational answers, saying "I did nothing wrong, he did nothing wrong" sounds like Trump saying "I had a perfect phone call, impeachment is a hoax". The voters need more than that if this is going to pass the smell test...
32
You don’t need specific abilities to be on a corporate board...Often board members have no expertise in the particular industry
3
@michaelf And Ivanka was qualified? Biden's son is a private citizen. Accepting a job that pays well overseas is not a crime. Trump's kids on the other hand, are actually in office effecting policy and have been found to have broken the law several times already.
5
@Michaelf, and what are the Idiot Trump children qualified for exactly, and yet they’re all profiting handsomely every day from the presidency and have power such know-nothings shouldn’t have. 45 has even gotten them security clearances career staff denied them. It is total raw nepotism enabled by Trump, not merely a bug but a feature of this presidency. By contrast, VP Biden actually acted against his son’s interests by actively working to get a prosecutor installed that would investigate corruption.
5
I realize that Joe Biden should not be held responsible for his son's behavior, but I think Hunter Biden willingness to monetize his connections is sleazy. I predict that the Ukraine issue will diminish Biden's popularity, just as Hillary Clinton's email server, highly-paid speeches, and the fundraising practices of the Clinton Foundation diminshed hers.
Democrats: Choose another a candidate as your nominee. Before it's too late.
45
Much as I want Trump to lose, I can't imagine him losing to Biden.
30
Biden should never have thrown his hat in the presidential race and now that he has he should take back that hat and cover his head with no bright ideas for the future inside his head. Time Joe to pass the torch to a new generation of capable woman Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the former who was endorsed by the NY Times editorial board and the latter who should have been endorsed by the edi board. The NY Times put Joe in his place by not endorsing him despite the establishment democrats giving him a pass on his shady Ukrainian deals which have not been thoroughly investigated and by no means debunked.
24
One would think Joe Biden would have enough [political] savvy to suede Hunter from taking that position. Perhaps it was his old age and bad judgment?
Either way.. The GOP knows there was no "corruption" with Biden and Burisma
The GOP wants to put Hunter on the stand, under oath and ask him about is affair with his brothers wife, his drug addiction and discharge from the Navy.
8
@Charles
You think the Trump kids are 'outstanding'? What a laugh.
They are nothing more than grasping, clueless, entitled twits.
3
The double standard and rank naked hypocrisy of those who support Trump and criticize Biden is breathtaking in its magnitude, scope, and speciousness.
And that doesn't even account for the fact that the Biden's a separate people while the Trump's are still financially entangled in the same enterprises.
7
Hunter Biden has a long-standing history of cocaine use.
This is relevant because Joe Biden led the passage of the 5-year mandatory minimum prison sentence for 5 grams of crack cocaine.
As Krystal Ball of The Hill pointed out, this highlights the injustice and hypocrisy of Joe Biden's tough-on-crime bills, where black and hispanic men and women get long prison terms for crack cocaine, while his own son exploits his wealth, power and privilege to get off scot-free.
This goes beyond a simple mistake. Biden had personal experience with cocaine abuse in his own family. He wrote a law that gave other children severe punishments, while his own son escaped the same punishments.
Will Joe Biden make decisions with the fairness and impartiality that we want from a president?
45
The Trump / McConnell end game is playing out. Senate makes their devil's bargain and acquits Trump, who claims total exoneration (maybe even immaculate conception), and instead of Trump it's Biden who is hoisted by his own petard. Not fair but that's life.
That Biden could ever be front runner for the Dems speaks very sadly for us on the left. He's far too saddled with the baggage of bad decisions and unseemly shenanigans from all those decades in centrist politics. He doesn't have a clue how to come clean, admit mistakes and change course, like a Robert Kennedy. And he hasn't the integrity, wit or gravitas of even an Al Franken.
He's a perennial also-ran. Trump already has beaten him.
We need to look elsewhere.
21
@William Barnett
You've been seduced by Fox News talking points. Neither Biden nor the Democratic Party are in any way, shape or form "the left."
2
@William Barnett You couldn't have said it better!
1
@Boris Jones I get your point, thanks, but compared to what? Dems are historically centrist, with a few notable exceptions. Coming from the left there's no other choice except throwing your vote away on principle (no thanks Nader & Stein). Dems could be smack dead center and still be decades to the left of the far right McConnell Country Club of Corruption. BTW, I've not been anything-ed by FOX News except grossed out.
2
Let’s get through this sham of an impeachment trial and get Adam Schiff to run for president. Joe’s just not up for this fight.
6
Biden should testify at the impeachment trial. Whatever they ask him, he can instead recount some of the innumerable ways in which Trump is dishonest, criminal, corrupt, or incompetent.
8
I’ve been asleep up in Sleepy Hollow for some years. Tell me, is Hunter Biden running for President now, or is that still old Joe Biden, the well-known former Representative, Senator, and Vice President?
8
@Pottree - Nice try. The NYT has been referring to this issue as the "debunked" story. The link to "Debunked" does not debunk the story, it is, for the NYT, rather harsh on Joe Biden.
4
“I understand what it’s like to have my surviving son maligned…”
Joe Biden has faced tragedy. I’ve felt some sympathy and respect for how he has handled this.
But referring to Hunter as his “surviving” son is exploiting his other son’s death for political gain.
Joe, show the class, not the crass.
37
His son got a no show/no work job, just like what the mob does with the Unions they control. Except of course it was legal with the Biden's. That's the problem. Congress writes laws in such a way that what is illegal for everyone else is legal for them. All very convenient. It's no wonder no one has confidence in our government or our institutions.
28
Thank goodness Fox News isn't hosting the next debate. They might ask questions like this...
'Mr. Biden, how would you respond if your son used Fort Knox gold bars as collateral in a loan application?'
'If your son asked for a cabinet position in your government, would you approve the request?'
Better yet, if securing the nomination, get ready for Trump posing these questions.
2
@Apple Jack
I would like someone to ask Joe Biden why he kept working on Ukraine policy after he knew about Hunter's "job". None of them ever will though.
1
Mr. Trump, how do you explain the fact that your entire family is profiting off of your presidency in a way which benefits you personally?
2
@Ben
So what does that have to do with Biden's actions? You can't say that Trump is is corrupt but Biden is honest if you are claiming that claiming that are doing the same thing.
Given the number of negative Biden comments one has to wonder if the Russian propaganda machine is not already hard at work trying to get Trump reelected.
10
@W.A. Spitzer
Where have you been? Unprecedented negative attacks against Biden have been going full blast for over a year now, from the Left and Bernie voters (Krystal Ball, so-called journalist, said she would, "end" Joe Biden!) from the Right and Trump voters, from fellow Democratic candidates (did Cory Booker really say "He must have been high"?) and from "anonymous" voices online, on social networks, and any platform allowing comments.
Still, Biden is leading in the polls nationally. He must be Teflon.
6
@W.A. Spitzer , My thoughts exactly! This isn't reflective of what is reported in reputable press.
4
@W.A. Spitzer Noticed that too. Trump operatives jump on stories about Biden like moths to a flame. The NYT should know better.
4
If Hunter’s name was Smith, Jones, or Baker, he would have never received a lucrative position in the Ukraine.
I know that.
You know that.
Trump knows that.
The Biden’s know that.
And 99% of Americans know that.
It wasn’t illegal. It was just corrupt influence peddling.
Joe Biden can’t make that issue go away.
61
So nobody who is the child of a celebrity is allowed to trade on the value of their last name? Take a look at the world we live in sometime.
5
@John Not corrupt or illegal. Sounds like a no talent lazy son. Good news; he's not living in the basement.
2
@John You got it!
2
Biden stonewalls on Hunter. Trump stonewalls on Zelensky. On both matters, there is a need for full disclosure. But both claim to be victims of evil forces and while continue to cover up.
4
This article is very narrowly defined. In fact, there is a pattern: Biden's relatives have been hired into lucrative positions with prominent companies for several decades. It will be easy for Republicans to question Biden's integrity, and the Democrats should nominate someone whose integrity cannot be questioned.
https://theintercept.com/2019/10/09/joe-hunter-biden-family-money/
21
And the Democratic organization, by declaring the request of investigation by the country that was the situs of this ethical swamp to be an impeachable offense, joins itself in the cover up of this ethical mess.
8
Yea! Everybody does it but you got caught!
5
Ambassador Yovanovitch, who has been described to us as a paragon of all the virtues by House Democrats, was so concerned about the Hunter Biden she informed her bosses at the State Department. The Ambassadors' boss told her to report it to the Vice President Biden's office. She did, and there it died. Ukraine and China are each cultures where business people take care of politicians relatives to score point with the politicians - once removed bribery. Hunter cashed in big time in both Ukraine and China.
14
@Mkm Yeah, good thing there was no favoritism with Ivanka's trademarks in China or Jared's loan from the Saudi's saving 666 5th Ave. and all the visiting dignitaries staying at the Trump Hotel in D.C., It is comforting to know that the President and his family didn't profit on his name, nosiree Bob.
1
"The way I was raised,” Mr. Biden said, “you don’t go after somebody’s kids.” You can put that thought to bed Joe. With Javanka in the White House and Junior on Twitter and at rallies all bets are off. Besides, adult children aren't kids. Only Barron is. And yes, leave that boy alone.
16
Read Peter Schweizer's new book "Profiles in Corruption" to learn why Biden is the most corrupt VP in history.Do we want a president whose policies are corrupted by the huge amounts of money their family pockets from deals Biden got for them in awful places like Iraq , China, Ukraine ?
Biden demanded that the prosecutor investigating his son's company be fired or the US would withdraw over a billion in aid to Ukraine . The head of Burisma was prosecuted for money laundering in England but England had to drop charges because Ukraine wouldn't cooperate. The IMF withheld Ukraine aid because corrupt Ukrainians pocketed aid money .
Trump wouldnt want Biden to drop out since Biden is senile and would be easy to beat. Trump has withheld aid over 20 times , to Afganistan and many countries as he has the legal right to do
8
Hunter Biden at 49 years old is no kid.
Hunter Biden as a lawyer knows that avoiding even the appearance of any impropriety is the basic ethical obligation of a lawyer. Particularly in a foreign company based in a foreign country
Hunter Biden knew that being the son of the sitting Vice President of the United States was the primary, if not the sole reason why he was selected for this position.
Whether or not it was legal is besides the point. It reflected poor judgment by the father and son.
195
Biden is supposed to control what job offers his adult son accepts?
21
@Blackmamba "Whether or not it was legal is besides the point. It reflected poor judgment by the father and son."
Thanks! If YOU Blackmamba think this, consider what independents and possible Republicans are going to think.
Democrats will massage away the fact of Hunter's position but most people will not. And depend on it, if Biden is the nominee, Trump will milk this story for all it is worth.
13
@Ben
Dear Ben,
No, we cannot control which jobs our sons take, but I would certainly have been quite vocal if I had been Joe's position. Joe Biden knew or should have known that this looked very much like a conflict of interest.
Certainly, President Obama's staff were very concerned, but Hunter was going for the gold and now it has done damage to his name. Now that his father is forced to defend his son it is damaging his candidacy.
18
You know what? We need to get over Hunter Biden and his poor (but legal) judgement. Lets instead talk about the criminal syndicate that is Don Jr, Ivanka, and Eric Trump. These people are genuinely corrupt. They make the Bidens look like saints.
Why are the Bidens under a microscope, and the Trump children not so much?
32
@bud Your tax dollars pay employees of Burisma’s salaries? Since when?
4
@AR Ivanka Trump is being investigated for misusing Inauguration monies, and Trump has probably bribed China to get hundreds of patents for Ivanka. It's a mob family that has been operating above the law for decades.
5
@AR. They are under a microscope because of the video where Joe Biden boasted about how he caused Ukraine to fire a prosecutor or suffer the consequences. (Hmm—sounds kind of familiar) And he did it at the same time his son was making a boatload of cash for a corrupt Ukrainian company with ties to Ukraine’s former President. And if you think the Biden family are a bunch of saints, you have not been keeping track. But the key point is that Trump had good cause to try to investigate the Biden’s conduct in Ukraine.
1
In the same way that Trump was not immune from being investigated by the Obama administration, DOJ, FBI, etc. just because he was running for President, Biden should not have been immune. Trump was investigated while running for, and while being, president. Does no one left of Biden see the irony of all of this? The double standard is breathtaking. That any Democrat would support the investigation into the Trump campaign and then turn around and say Trump should be impeached for investigating a political opponent, just boggles my mind. It not only made me lose faith in most bureaucratic institutions, but in anyone who calls themselves a liberal.
20
Obama wasn’t running against Trump. The investigation against Trump went through all of the proper channels. Trump is running against Biden. He didn’t use any of the proper channels. He involved a foreign government and withheld legally approved aid to a military ally in a time of war against Russia. The two cases are comparable only because of your very selective omission of the important differences.
10
The Obama administration asked several countries to help investigate Trump during the 2016 election. Obama didn't get caught until after he was out. As a member of an opposing party, was that impeachable?... Congressional funds to Ukraine were held up by Obama due to his insistence on a new prosecutor. Was that impeachable too?... Obama did not provide Ukraine with Javelin missiles and updated radar as Trump did with this aid. If this aid was so important to our national security, why did Obama refuse to allow this life saving aid that will help protect us from Russia?... Was Obama intentionally helping Putin by his failure to recognize how important this aid is/was to our national security?...Why did Obama wait until after the election to confront Russia on the interference in our elections? There are many questions! There always are. Expect few answers.
1
However painful it is, the Biden family cannot hide from this issue. If Joe Biden is to be a candidate, his family connections will be prime targets for Trump, and we have learned how Trump takes no hostages in his political wars. Biden would be a stronger candidate if all the issues were addressed now. In exchange, in a sense, that would allow Joe Biden to attack Trump for the comparable issues, the nepotism of his children and Ivanka's sweetheart deals for her company. The catastrophe would be for Biden to gain the nomination and for some scandalous material to be confirmed about his family in the run-up to the election. If the greater good is to beat Trump in the election, then family privacy for the Bidens should be sacrificed.
The Democrats need a a squeaky clean candidate who has street smarts and who can be nasty, because we know that this will be a mudslinging campaign, and we want someone with no upfront damage to her/his political Teflon coating.
17
One question is whether using a widely respected family name to bring gravitas to a companies board is common or not, or more importantly, wrong or not. A former polish prime minister sat on the Burisma board as well, also to bring gravitas. We’re the other board members international luminaries as well? Answers to these questions might determine the degree of inappropriateness, if any, in Hunter Biden’s sitting on the board at Burisma. That his father adopted a hands off approach is after all, a fathers prerogative.
6
@RjW I like it -- Hunter, a luminary!
1
Joe, this is not about the behavior of your son. Its about your failure to recognize the appearances (at the least) of conflicts of interest when a family member gets a business arrangement involving something under your personal jurisdiction.
What you should do is recuse yourself in those situations, Your failure to do so merely encourages these toxic situations to develop. Your failure to recuse yourself, even after you have been advised that the situation is not Kosher, is a failing on your part that raises serious questions of corruption.
25
I am an independent voter who votes for the Democratic candidate 95% of the time. Personally, I admire Joe Biden and have great respect for him.
I am also a retired engineer, having spent the first 10 years of my career as a petroleum geophysicist and petroleum engineer. I know something about the oil and gas industry. And from what I know about Hunter Biden's resume, nothing in his background qualifies him to work as a $50,000 per month consultant to a gas company in Ukraine. It really raised my eyebrows when I learned he was on the Burisma payroll as a consultant. I have sons too, and I recognize that a father's instinct is to protect his family at all cost, but sometimes our nation comes first.
One of the things the Republicans keep carping and whining about is the now-familiar "what about Hunter Biden". The Republican-controlled Senate is putting on a sham, rigged "trial" of their filthy Manchurian candidate "president" donald trump. Trump is an existential, in-your-face threat to our democratic republic, to the U.S. Constitution, and to American national security in both the long term and the short term. We Americans only has a few days to pull our fat out of the fire before the criminals trump and mitch mcconnell subvert the November election.
Sometimes, for a real patriot, circumstances require him or her take one for the team. I believe Joe Biden IS a genuine patriot, and I wish that he would gracefully bow out of the November 2020 election race.
12
@Iman Onymous Where did you learn that Hunter Biden worked as a consultant to a gas company in Ukraine? Though I am not very familiar with his qualifications, I _am_ sure he was not employed in that capacity.
You might want to check your source.
2
@Iman Onymous
He worked as a lawyer and in marketing. He never claimed to have worked out in the fields.
My daughter works as an office manager in a gravel company. Is she unqualified because she can't use the heavy equipment, doesn't know how to dynamite? She runs the office and does the book keeping. Those are her values to the company and what she is schooled in. Hunter Biden never claimed he was fracking for natural gas. He was a lawyer and had experience in marketing and never claimed otherwise. Is a car salesman disqualified from his job as a SALESMAN because he didn't build the cars he selling? Your argument is ridiculous.
2
@sharon I don't use heavy equipment, I've never knowingly come within a mile of a stick of dynamite, and I am vehemently opposed to fracking. I would never assert that people who know their jobs and act in good faith are somehow to be looked down on. But Hunter Biden is just a lawyer, and thus he knows little or nothing about the oil and gas business. In fact, a lawyer has no worthwhile skills of any sort. The whole point of this controversy is that Hunter Biden, possessing no relevant knowledge or skills was pulling down 50 large per month to do something he knows nothing about. It has an unpleasant odor.
If Biden wasn't running, would people be talking about his son at all? If Biden dropped out, would the talk of his son end?
If President Trump wanted to "get rid of coruption" in Ukraine, why didn't he ask the former President when Trump took over in 2017?
If Hunter Biden is in the news, why aren't Ivanka (Chinese patents) and Jared Kushner (money from Qatar and Saudis for 666 5th avenue)?
The should put in an anti-nepotism law, so unqualified people like these cannot get good paying powerful jobs because of their family ties.
14
This issue suggests that Biden is a compromised candidate.
Biden represents several things. He is the "centrist"/"neolib" candidate. He also holds a flaw related to influence peddling.
The Dems have to decide whether to go with a "centrist"/"neolib" candidate or a "progressive"/"populist" candidate.
It would be better if the candidates from each of those wings did not have integrity flaws. So that needs to be sorted out.
Ultimately I think the issue of integrity has pushed Elizabeth Warren farther back in the race out on the progressive wing (which also includes Yang & Sanders).
The same thing may happen in the "centrist" wing. Perhaps that explains Buttigieg's earlier move forward. Belatedly there was an attempt to see Klobuchar move forward (though she's hauling some baggage too). Perhaps Steyer or Bloomberg might replace Biden.
The only thing Biden has going for him is name recognition + association with Obama. That could win him the southern states, but like Hillary who also won the southern states, that should be more of a disqualifier than a qualifier.
Then it comes down to the Dems selecting a centrist or a progressive, the deciding factor might be, of the two "who can best beat Trump?"
In that regard Bloomberg appears to be better configured than Biden to handle that role. Though for myself, I'm Bernie all the way. We need to jettison supply side economics policy bias once and for all, or at least the next 40 years.
13
The fact that this guy is currently the leading candidate for the Social Democrat party says a lot about how far this party has sunk. I'm shocked that he's even still showing his face in public.
58
@Thor I am skeptical primary voters are going to get off the couch for Status Quo Joe. I think the polls are flawed in how they are asking the questions. Sure, he is electable, but I don't see him creating the level of energy almost all of the other candidates are.
11
@Thor To which I would reply, the fact that Trump has become the face of the Republican Party says even more about how far that party has sunk. I'm shocked that anyone can defend a man with a PROVEN record of crooked business endeavors, e.g. Trump University and the Trump Foundation, and routinely spouts obvious lies without even a hint of shame.
17
@Southlandish
Mr. Trump has been the best president of my lifetime. His accomplishments from the unemployment rate, stock market, tax cuts, Iran deal cancelling, ect ect ect, have been staggering to say the least. Especially with half his party and the entire Social Democrat party trying to block his every move. We are all truly lucky to have him at the helm.
5
If Joe Biden (if anyone) gets the Democratic nomination, I will certainly vote for him over Trump. That's easy.
But the issues raised by Hunter Biden's involvement are troubling. The head of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, did want the Prosecutor General Victor Shokin removed from office, because of fears of Burisma being investigated for criminal activity, including money laundering. Shokin's replacement, in fact, did end up closing out the investigations of Burisma. So Biden's push to remove Shokin did work to Burisma's advantage.
There was no logical reason to put Hunter Biden on Burisma's board, to the tune of $50,000 per month, other than to gain favor with Biden Hunter Biden had no qualifications other than his last name. And he has an extraordinarily checkered past.
Perhaps Biden's effort to remove Shokin was supported by others and was ultimately the right thing to do. But in the context of his son sitting on Burisma's board, it certainly had the appearance of impropriety.
None of this justifies Trump's behavior. But it will unquestionably make Biden a vulnerable candidate should he win the nomination. And it will undermine arguments that the Trump administration is beset with cronyism and corruption.
Whether you are on the center or the left, there are plenty of better candidates than Biden. There is nothing to recommend him other than his name recognition. Nominating him could prove to be a costly, and unnecessary, mistake.
113
@Andy Dwyer
It has been agreed that removing the corrupt prosecutor made more, not less, likely that Burisma would be investigated.
19
@Andy Dwyer
Lutsenko (Shokin's replacement) testified to the fact that the US continued to interfere in the Burisma case, and withheld funds from his office.
The "context" is that while Biden had a clear personal benefit from Burisma, and from keeping Ukraine in chaos. Let is not forget that Burisma founders are Russian Ukranian oligarchs who are pro Putin.
Ukraine was not given the lethal weapons it sought and was strung along by the Obama administration. During that time, Eastern Ukraine devolved into a war zone and Crimea was annexed.
12
Joe Biden has tons of experience, foreign policy chops, and a good heart. He has a lot to offer other than his name recognition, and is miles ahead of the inexperienced contenders, a couple of whom just want to buy the presidency like they can buy anything else that takes their fancy - also not much of a qualification.
But among the Dems, your first choice or your last choice would be light years ahead of Trump, no matter who you favor.
22
Of course foreign companies and foreign powers never give money or aid to US politicians or their relatives like Hunter Biden. That’s why it is so unusual for the media to complain that someone who is Trump’s friend or close relative is benefitting because of their relationship with Trump. How dare anyone benefit from high level contacts.
I hope that Grandpa Biden soon acknowledges his grandson who is a result of Hunter’s affair. Naturally, Hunter said that he didn’t know the mother. Many men will sympathize with him. Unfortunately a Court ordered DNA test proved that Hunter is the father. In order to assess the amount of child support that must be paid, both going forward and as arrearages, Hunter has been ordered to produce several years of financial data. Hunter has missed three deadlines and the final one will occur in a few days. Either Hunter shows up in Court with the required information or he goes to jail. Some of the information covers years when he was making large amounts of money from Ukraine, China, and other sources. It will be interesting public information.
64
@William McCain, good luck Dems debunking DNA.
3
@William McCain I wish I could retweet this.
2
Your own post seems to argue that Biden did nothing wrong. If it’s okay for Trump’s friends and relatives to benefit off of the presidency, why wouldn’t it be ok for Hunter Biden to do so? You say using high level contacts is fine. As for the DNA stuff, it’s just a ridiculous tangent which is completely irrelevant to the question at hand. Throwing stuff at the wall to see if it sticks.
5
After bring in Congress snd a VP for over 40 years, does anyone believe Biden is untouched by nepotism and corruption.
I watched how he treated Anita Hill, that was basically who he was at his best, and it wasn't much to respect let alone like and support.
44
I think the chickens are coming home to roost for Joe Biden and he doesn't like it one bit. I recall watching a tape of him in a public talk he did decades ago of bragging about how he tried to "prostitute" (his own words) himself to big money donors but they thought he was too young. Come back when you're older, they told him. Well, Biden took their advice and went back, and went back, and went back. So did his family. All of them. It is well documented how his family profited off his position in government. This isn't earth-shattering revelations folks, it is all well known. But to be fair, a lot of congressional family members profit off their connections. Times are different now. Trump and his corruption is calling attention to all the corruption and shenanigans that have been seen as business as usual in Washington for decades. Biden is now having trouble dealing with this new level of scrutiny and the questions that follow. His get-off-my-lawn responses to inquires isn't doing him any service as it just draws more attention and scrutiny to his bizarre rants. We need to strengthen our ethics laws on conflicts of interests and stop the revolving door of both congress and their aids, as well as the military brass, from using their connections in lobbying firms and corporations either doing business with the government or that have a regulatory interest before the government. Washington is called a swamp for a reason.
179
Of course it's a touchy issue, and a personal one.
I think Biden made a big mistake by not just admitting that his son's position on a high-paying board in a corrupt foreign country presented the appearance of a conflict of interest. And that if it had been anyone else's son or daughter (or a Trump kid) he would, of course, have protested it. He made a mistake not trying to talk his son out of it.
But Biden isn't thoughtful and introspective enough, and is a little too thin skinned when it comes to his bad decisions - or the bad decisions of his family.
And he has this image of a working class, regular Joe to maintain. Which, let's face it, is a bit of a stretch. He has been in Congress since he was in his 20s. Hardly a lunch-bucket kind of American, even if he did ride on Amtrak to work. That too probably makes him touchy if pointed out.
133
@avrds
A mother who was so protective of her clearly addicted and otherwise behaviorally challenged son would be called 'enabling' at best, and probably much worse.
4
Being in the spotlight is a tough place to be (unless you just don't care about anything like Trump.) It will be increasingly difficult for Biden. Hunter is a referendum on Biden's "middle class" positioning and brand.
It's not just his "everyone does it" ties in Ukraine and China that leverages the Biden name, but will Hunter's personal story be too soap opera-ish? It's not any worse than the Trump family, but it's hard to position yourself as "better" when your own flesh and blood is playing the same game.
39
@Rob
Nobody in Trump's family is claiming they didn't father a stripper's baby. Hunter Biden has failed a paternity test (after claiming he didn't know the woman he impregnated) and is still refusing to acknowledge the child he fathered and he's been ducking court dates.
Whatever else is wrong with Joe Biden, the sordid details of Hunter Biden's life are a gift that will keep on giving.
Nothing Joe Biden angrily says about his son makes Hunter Biden a good person. He's sleazy.
We need a better nominee than Joe Biden. His son is a mess and there's more to come.
3
Biden may feel that Hunter is a touchy subject. The other Democrat candidates may feel it is a touchy subject.
Donald Trump is not a touchy-feely kinda guy, though. And will go there, with relish. It won't be pretty.
57
@Tim Clark Exactly. Trump is going to hammer this point over and over and over again. For middle and working class voters who have to actually work for a living, seeing Joe Biden defend his son getting over $50,000 a month to sit on the board of a Ukrainian gas company that wanted something from Joe isn't going to look good.
9
The response to that line of attack is obvious. Turn the spotlight on Trump’s own children and their corruption.
3
Biden needs to show some candor and honesty if he wants to diffuse the issue.
He needs to say it was poor judgement of both himself and his son to get paid for work in Ukraine for surfing the political fumes of his father.
He needs to admit that the appearance of conflict of interest is a conflict of interest to most people even though nothing illegal occurred.
Having then cleared the air with an honest answer, Biden can then diplomatically and confidently apologize for that lack of judgement and then transition to a more serious conflict of interest, the current presence of the clueless Jared and Ivanka Trump shaping American policy, the President profiting off the Presidency at his hotels and golf courses, the hiding of the current President's income tax returns and the comprehensively corrupt nature of the vast Trumpian Swamp.
Admit you made a mistake, and then attack the Trump Swamp that can't dump enough of the US Treasury in its 0.1% back pockets while handing the invoice to the middle class and America's children.
This is the big leagues, Joe.
185
@Socrates.
"He needs to say it was poor judgement of both himself and his son to get paid for WORK in Ukraine"
What work?
17
@Socrates
What inside knowledge do you possess that you KNOW "nothing illegal occurred"? How do you KNOW that if Biden said nothing illegal occurred that it would be an "honest answer"?
No one but both Bidens and the foreign company big shots know the truth. But the situation stinks to high heaven.
You partisans are something else. If this occurred involving Trump and one of his kids, you would be screaming corruption....and you would be correct to do so.
How could this arrangement possibly be legitimate? Was son Biden an expert of world renown, in a class by himself, in some field legitimately important to that foreign company? Of course not! So, how else can it be explained that he was paid so much to do next to nothing while his father was conveniently in pivotal position to influence the Ukraine government?
17
@Socrates Biden doesn't have that much integrity. He never admits mistakes like working 40 years to dismantle Social Security.
16
Joe, please just do what Trump is incapable of doing: keep to the simple facts, tell the truth, and try your best to speak to people’s better natures. I understand your feelings for the tragedy of your one son’s death, but don’t let this become a weakness exploited by bad actors. Thanks!
7
If Biden is chosen as the nominee the entire 2020 election will be about him, his son and Ukraine. Trump will not stop talking about it and neither will the media. And Biden, a shadow of his former self, will be constantly on the defensive. A disaster waiting to happen.
140
Sometimes an election can be stolen by the opponent that overstates an issue and causes the defeat of one of the other candidates. As a democrat, I have a few questions. How did Hunter get that job? When did it start? When did it end? How much pay and other compensation did Hunter receive during his period of employment with this Ukranian energy company? Why didn't I know about this until 2019? Fellow democrats have no problem telling me to shut up. Lets hear all the facts. Get it over with. Once that happens, we can make decisions based on facts, not just angry screams.
32
@mikeyh The problem with Hunter Biden, and also Joe Biden's brother, is that Burisma is not the first company that paid a lot of money to a family member of Joe Biden and appeared to get what it wanted out of the exchange.
They could maybe explain away 1, but there's a list going back to the late 90s of Bidens getting paid lots of money by companies that needed something from Joe Biden.
4
@mikeyh And why was it okay with Obama? That’s the question Democrats are ducking.
7
All of those questions have been answered, and repeatedly. You can’t jam your fingers in your ears and yell “LA LA LA” and complain that everyone else’s words are just angry screams.
3
Just unbelievable that the media is taking the bait on this story when you look at the current occupant of the White House. Where is the same intense, daily scrutiny of Ivanka Trump, of Jared Kushner, of Donald Trump, Jr. and the multitude of shady dealings of the Trump organization?
What about the fact that Trump is using his political office to funnel taxpayer money to his private businesses?
38
Where have you been? Under a rock? There has been intense media scrutiny over the Trump kids since they took their place in their fathers cabinet.
Unfortunately, Hunter Biden is a giant scarlet letter on Dad now. He can no longer be the nominee and win.
6
@Nigel Incubator-Jones Enough with the 'whataboutism'. You are right to point out that Biden's son's involvement with Burisma pales in comparison to the gang of thieves and frauds that are the Trump family. But Hunter Biden's lucrative 'job' at Burisma reflects badly on Joe Biden, and for perfectly valid reasons.
3
“He can be by turns calm or curt as he stresses that his son committed no wrongdoing in his overseas business dealings.”
His son got a 50k+ job with an Ukraine energy business when he did not have any experience in the energy sector and being fired from the military for drug use. Meanwhile there is a video showing proudly Joe Biden getting a Ukrainian prosecutor fired for investigating this company. This type of corruption may be legal in Washington where the top political leaders profiteer from corporations, but needs to stop. Yes Biden is corrupt.
58
@steve
He was hired as a LAWYER. Last I checked businesses need lawyers as part of their operation teams. Even small ones.
My father was an accountant for a residential heating oil company. He knew nothing about the energy sector. Does that make his job suspect?
2
@sharon
No, he was NOT hired as a lawyer. That is 100% false.
Wow, the brazen double-speak of the democrats. Once again we see the nefarious "without any evidence" being applied to anything Trump or the republicans say, while never, ever applying that same term to Mr. Biden and democratic sources, although we now know the fact that the entire "collusion" reporting deal should have had those word attached to every headline and article. "Dirt up dirt", really? That's really not the case, it's more "let's look at the Biden entourage's actual activities in Ukraine, they really do have the look of being somewhat untoward." Not, as the Obama/Clinton team put it, "let's get a list of slanderous stuff on our political opponent and have our government offices investigate it to destroy him."
19
Hunter Biden and Burisma is a fake scandal and a Republican conspiracy. But that doesn’t make Biden any less of a handsy, foggy-minded liability pushing Clinton-era solutions to 21st century problems.
If Biden goes to the general, I will vote for him and watch him lose for the same reason Hillary did, a total lack of enthusiasm from his nominal supporters.
11
@sedanchair Read pages 103-107 of the impeachment trial memorandum for the facts. It is not a conspiracy theory, it is corruption.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/trump-s-defense-read-full-text-legal-brief-ahead-senate-n1118876
@Barbara Dayan Sorry, this was intended for Democrats. I’m not interested in having a conversation with Republicans.
“ At issue is an unsubstantiated theory pushed by Mr. Trump...”
Unsubstantiated theory? By every report and investigation done this is an absolute lie, a conspiracy theory our own intelligence agencies agree was cooked up by Russia. Please stop playing “neutral” reporters when lies are being peddled.
8
@Art123
The issue isn't whether Hunter did anything illegal or not, its whether what either of them did was ethical or not. Trump and his sycophants will eat Hunter and Joe alive over this.
Of course Trump is far worse in so many ways, but that won't matter - it's enough to paint Joe as dirty and it will work for enough people to make a difference. Trump and the rest of the Republican party know this.
They should both own up to the bad decision making and move on.
1
What Mr. Biden does not seem willing to acknowledge, is that Donald Trump's baseless assertions, taken up by various Republican Senators, is political theater and that the Senate floor is the live television stage for this act. He aught to understand that his storming onto this stage to confront and attack the baseless, cowardly slanders that Trump and these Senators keep repeating, about him and his son, is perhaps the most important moment in his political life. He and his son should be demanding to be heard by the Senate.
3
@Michael
What inside information do you have that you KNOW the accusations are slanders? Truth is a defense to an accusation of slander.
1
The President's children run around the world wheeling and dealing with the likes of Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, Brazil, all in the name of "Trump".
Why are there so many blind to what the Trumps are doing. And what President's children and relations haven't benefited from their names, whether before entering office, while in office, or after.
Focus on the the facts, holding up funding authorized by Congress to a foreign power to bribe them for information that could benefit the President's reelection.
11
Yes, Mr. Bates, Trump could and would defeat Biden. Allowing his unqualified son to work for Burisma and ride to China on AF1 was very bad judgment. Besides this vulnerability, he is just a poor candidate who has no real program and can't stand up for himself. If he is going to toss out names like "ïdiot" to voters, Trump is the master name caller.
And Biden's poll numbers are not steady; recently they have been going down, as have the differences between him and Sanders, who now sometimes beats him in critical polls.
36
If Joe Biden has not figured out by now how to put these questions to rest - the equivalent of Obama producing his birth certificate, which we all know was an exercise as needed as it was ridiculous - then I suspect something is there.
Biden is probably the best prospective candidate, but only because he has mastered the art of likability. On questions of policy and political character, I'd rather have someone else. But Trump is an existential danger, and we Democrats and true American patriots need to put everything into ensuring that in the next election the Democratic candidate prevails.
10
Joe Bide would be far better off as a candidate if Hunter Biden appears in the impeachment trial. Get it all out now. Once he’s been through that, the issue is closed. As is, this will dog Biden until he loses the primary or loses the general election. Trump may have gotten himself impeached over it, but he has dealt Biden a mortal wound otherwise.
19
I am not a partisan of either party and not a Trump-hater. But I wish either Bloomberg or Biden would be the nominee and win election in November.
That said, I think the situation a foreign company paying Biden's son so much for doing next to nothing just stinks of corruption. Indeed, I cannot even imagine a good faith explanation. Whether the father was part of the corruption or not I do not know. But Biden surely knew it was going on. Even if Biden was not a part of the corruption, he should have demanded his son cease the relationship. If his son refused, then Biden should have publicly announced strong disapproval to separate himself from it.
But Biden did none of those things. Therefore, the situation just stinks of corruption and Biden stinks from his closeness to it. Nevertheless, I would still prefer Biden to Trump since Trump's financial corruption is at least as great and probably greater than Biden's.
16
If trump and his supporters believe either Biden did something illegal, why call on Ukraine to investigate and not the FBI or DOJ? I still haven’t heard of a request for an investigation by U.S. authorities. Why not?
10
I don’t think that the FBI can launch and conduct an investigation in a foreign country. That is what Interpol does.
3
@Ronnie Ukrainian authorities are much better positioned to investigate possible criminal activities of Burisma, an energy company based in Ukraine, than the FBI or DOJ. I don't think the FBI and DOJ can issue subpoenas, compel the production of documents, and obtain search warrants and other court orders outside of the United States.
1
The Hunter Biden thing stinks. There's no way around it. It was wrong for him to have taken that Burisma cash and now Joe's candidacy is tainted. I'll certainly vote for him if he's nominated but I'd prefer someone with less baggage (e.g.: Buttigieg or Klobuchar).
33
And yet, for all the corruption, nepotism, conflicts of interest, abuses of power and all-around sleaziness we see from the Trump family, Donald still wants to pretend that it’s the Bidens who are suspect.
If I find the hypocrisy infuriating, how must Joe Biden take it?
136
@NM The Trumps made their money in the private sector with personal risks and wealth at stake. Joe Biden and his ilk on the other hand made their wealth off of the public and through rabid nepotism, influence peddling, back door dealings. There is no comparison.
31
@NM, hypocrisy as a defense only acknowledges guilt. Maybe try a real explanation which is why Joe and Hunter should just explain without all the personal indignation.
16
@NM The nepotism, conflicts of interest, and corruption you correctly accuse Trump of is equally applicable to Biden. The fact that what Hunter Biden has been doing is legal only underlines the argument that the entire political system and class is ethically bankrupt.
Joe Biden is simply indignant that the shoe thrown at him fits.
35
Biden sure has a thin skin for someone who claims his strength lies in his years of experience and ability to get along with others. Knowingly allowing his ne'er do well son to capitalize on his position and contacts made through the aforementioned years of experience are ethical lapses befitting a Trump. And bringing up the untimely death of the better son always feels opportunistic.
204
@Eliza
I believe Trump has called him weepy Joe, sleepy Joe and sleazy Joe. Petty unfounded and insulting taunts are his specialty.
Hunter's credentials are quite impressive.
1
@Eliza
Well....Almost every parent has a thin skin when their kids are involved, even when those "kids" are middle-aged.
4
@Tom Daley ho are Hunter's credentials "quite impressive"? Or am I missing the sarcasm here?
'My surviving son...' It's pretty disturbing he continues to go there when backed in a corner. Distrusting, actually.
198
@TnG
obviously this term was focus grouped and came back good. The Social Democrats will fall for almost anything.
21
@TnG - Really,- I think its a very human response..
18
@Thor Says the guy spouting Trumps talking points. The only socialist is Bernie Sanders and guess what genius--he is an Independent.
7
This process needs to get to the root of wrong doing, abuse of power and corruption. Trump can't be held to a level of accountability that differs from that of Hunter Biden and his father.
73
@michaelo
There is zero evidence that the Bidens have done anything wrong. It has been investigated and proven false. Even Trump has admitted the things he has done wrong including stating that he has all the evidence and won't give it to the Democrats. That is the definition of obstruction of justice. Trump isn't being held to a higher level. He is being asked to provide the evidence that he claims exonerates him. He can't. Ergo, I tend to doubt his innocence. Show me and I will change my mind.
24
Trump isn't being held to a higher level of accountability. There's a large trove of strong evidence that Trump engaged in wrongdoing that's both impeachable and illegal - and more seems to emerge with every turn of the investigation.
If there was substantial evidence suggesting Biden or his son engaged in similar corruption, it should absolutely be investigated. But so far no such evidence has emerged!
The situations are not the same at all, and it's classic Trump playbook to engage in what-aboutism to deflect from his own deep-seated malfeasance.
14
@ExPatMX
" It has been investigated and proven false."
Really? By whom?
7
Nothings brings out the backbone of a person like the defense of one's child, especially when that child has been attacked, verbally or otherwise.
I have deep empathy for what Joe Biden is being confronted with but at the same time, I am deeply proud of his showing some anger, true grit and a strong support for his son.
However, I must admit, Biden should be elected president in November, the "touchy subject" of his son, Hunter, will only intensify. I could see that subject overwhelm him. Could he handle four years of repeated questions about Hunter's business dealing when in Ukraine?
Frankly, I don't see the Republicans ever easing up on that topic.
45
@Marge Keller While it may be parental human nature to want to see your child in the best light, Biden seems awfully defensive. It's like the parents in elementary school who cozy up to the principal to gain advantage for their child and think everyone else doesn't see it for what it is.
41
@Eliza
I agree that his appearance could be viewed as being defensive. Not sure if that's accurate or his defensiveness may be a result of him losing one son a few years ago.
But you do raise a very valid observation.
11
@Marge Keller, like anyone felt sorry for Trump when everyone in the country and the media were climbing all over his kids' backs? Any defense of them by him was only added to his long list of character flaws.
13
The Bidens doesn't have to testify
This can be sorted out in the press.
If Biden has been peddling influence, then the American people need to know about it, and he needs to be held accountable. But the "everybody does it" defense does not excuse President Trump's impeachable behavior over the last three years.
140
@Steve Acho
All of these "ifs" are unnecessary. It was looked into. There was nothing there. Burisma wanted a well-known Western name on their board, and Hunter Biden gave them that name for some easy money. That's it. That is the story. It's out there for anyone who bothers to look.
2