Michael Goodwin: AG Merrick Garland’s Kid Gloves vs. Hunter Biden
Here we go again. Yet another anonymously sourced report claims the long-running federal probe into Hunter Biden has reached a “critical stage” as prosecutors decide whether to charge the president’s son.
This time the breathless story came from CNN. In March, it was The New York Times and The Washington Post insisting the probe over taxes, lobbying and other potential crimes was approaching the finish line.
Sooner or later, somebody’s scoop will be true and the case actually will conclude. But count me skeptical that the ending will be worth the wait.
That’s because I don’t believe there is a snowball’s chance in hell that Hunter Biden will face serious criminal charges. You’ve heard of too big to fail? The president’s son is too big to indict.
Although the probe, said to have started in 2018, is being conducted by the United States attorney in Delaware, Justice Department policies require approval from headquarters before charges can be filed in politically sensitive cases.
Merrick too close to Joe
That puts the ball in Merrick Garland’s lap and I don’t think the attorney general has the stomach to approve an indictment of the son of the man who appointed him, especially when the Biden administration already is drowning and Democrats face a midterm shellacking.
Remember that Garland proved he is the consummate team player by siccing the FBI on parents who complained at school-board meetings. If he was willing to weaponize the feds to please teachers unions, he’s not likely to treat the president’s son as if he were an ordinary suspect or — gasp — a Republican.
We got a hint that the fix was in last week when the grand jury apparently finished its work without indictments.
“None of this adds up,” former US Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman told Fox News. “None of it makes sense. Indictments should have been brought when you first started calling witnesses and close thereto, that’s standard.”
But protecting Hunter Biden is not the only reason Garland won’t follow the money or standard procedure. The AG knows that, ultimately, all roads lead to the father and that an honest, thorough probe of whether Hunter broke any laws beyond taxes and lobbying rules inevitably raises the same question about the president.
We know this to be true because Hunter’s foreign paymasters — government officials, cronies and oligarchs in China, Russia, Ukraine, Colombia, Romania and other countries — weren’t paying him for the pleasure of his company or his expertise on energy, of which he had none.
The only possible explanation is that Hunter and Joe’s brother, Jim Biden, sold access to Joe Biden. Their last name is the reason they got paid tens of millions of dollars.
That pattern leaves three other hurdles Garland would have to consider before digging for the whole truth.
First, what benefits did Hunter and Jim Biden’s clients get in return for their enormous piles of cash?
Second, what role did Joe Biden play in helping those foreign clients?
Third, did any of the foreign money find its way to Joe’s bank accounts? Was the “big guy” getting a secret cut all along?
Rampant WH dishonesty
The president’s conduct reinforces the importance of the questions. He has lied repeatedly by saying he never — Never! — discussed Hunter’s foreign businesses with him. The White House says he still stands by that answer.
The lie is so patently ridiculous that you have to wonder why he continues to tell it. For example, Tony Bobulinski, briefly the CEO of a joint venture involving Hunter and Jim Biden and a Chinese energy tycoon, says he met with Joe Biden in May 2017 and discussed the company’s prospects.
Just months after leaving office as the vice president, Joe knew all about the plan that had been developed during 2015 and 2016, said Bobulinski, who told this to the FBI in 2020.
Not incidentally, the Chinese partners in that venture paid the Bidens $11 million for work they did while Joe was vice president. You can bet Chinese President Xi Jinping knows exactly what the Bidens did in exchange for that pile of cash, which raises suspicions that Joe Biden is compromised.
Thanks to the treasure trove of emails and photos The Post found on the laptop, we also know Joe often met with his son’s other foreign partners.
And just last week, The Post reported that Hunter Biden “met with his father at least 30 times at the White House or the vice president’s residence, often just days after he returned home from overseas business jaunts.”
The meetings suggest Hunter was relaying messages from the foreigners to his father and/or seeking help and advice on completing deals. The Post also reported that laptop calendars show Eric Schwerin, the president of Hunter Biden’s investment company Rosemont Seneca Partners, attended 21 of the 30 meetings.
First Family business
Other laptop emails show Schwerin had access to both Joe and Hunter’s checking accounts and moved money between them.
It is an obvious conclusion, then, that Joe Biden participated in and benefited from Hunter and Jim’s businesses. He lies about never having conversations because he can’t honestly answer any follow-up questions.
All of which is why Hunter will not face serious charges. The can of worms implicating the president must remain closed.
My bet is that a plea agreement will be struck, with Hunter admitting guilt to reduced charges. The Times reported he already paid $1 million in back taxes, with the aim of forestalling evasion charges. Other outlets say it was $2 million.
An even more lenient civil settlement is also possible, with the Times reporting that idea was under consideration.
While there are obvious differences between a criminal plea agreement and a civil settlement, the result could be similar in that the books would be closed and evidence sealed by a complicit Justice Department.
So don’t be surprised to learn one day soon the Hunter Biden case has been settled. Just don’t expect to learn anything about the most important detail — the role of the father. That’s the Holy Grail of the Biden family business.
From bail fail to Gov. Lee?
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie thinks the foiled attack on GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, and the quick release of the assailant by a judge, might have enormous political significance.
“This is the kind of event that could catapult Lee Zeldin to being [elected] governor,” Christie tells Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio. “People are seeing this every day in their neighborhoods all across the state of New York and they’re tired of it.”
Cross-dress down
Headline: Illinois bakery facing harassment ahead of family-friendly drag show.
What is a “family-friendly drag show”?
NYC Dems reap
Reader Charles Hofmann spots the culprits causing the city’s decline, writing: “I don’t have much sympathy for New Yorkers who don’t feel safe walking in their neighborhoods when they continuously elect candidates who betray their safety. Put the responsibility where it belongs: the voting public!”
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