{"id":1772199,"date":"2022-12-12T09:08:06","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T14:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1772199"},"modified":"2022-12-12T09:49:43","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T14:49:43","slug":"biden-allies-trying-to-intimidate-witnesses-ahead-of-republican-hunter-biden-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-allies-trying-to-intimidate-witnesses-ahead-of-republican-hunter-biden-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Allies Trying to Intimidate Witnesses Ahead of Republican Hunter Biden Probe"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-allies-trying-to-intimidate-witnesses-ahead-of-republican-hunter-biden-probe%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1772199&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Just when you thought our politics could not get more poisonous, a recent meeting in California suggests the past is mere prelude. The Washington Post,\u00a0which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/politics\/some-hunter-biden-allies-making-plans-to-go-after-his-accusers\/ar-AA1571ie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revealed the powwow,<\/a>\u00a0described it as Biden family \u201callies\u201d planning an offensive to blunt any investigation into the Bidens\u2019 alleged multimillion-dollar influence-peddling schemes.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans will see it more like the gathering of the Legion of (Democratic) Doom. Some of the most controversial political operatives are involved in the all-hands-on-deck effort to protect the Bidens.<\/p>\n<p>The California meeting\u2019s host was none other than <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/12\/meet-hunter-bidens-sugar-brother-lawyer-kevin-morris\/\">Hunter Biden\u2019s friend, agent and lawyer Kevin Morris<\/a>. After Hunter was placed under investigation for, among other possible charges, tax evasion, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/08\/hollywood-lawyer-kevin-morris-paid-off-over-2m-of-hunter-bidens-taxes\/\">Morris reportedly paid off as much as $2.8 million in back taxes for Hunter.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Morris, per the Washington Post, called for a \u201cmore aggressive\u201d response to those seeking to investigate the alleged influence peddling. That plan includes hitting critics, such as Fox News, with possible defamation lawsuits. (For full disclosure, I appear as a legal analyst on Fox News.)<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/newspress-collage-24976893-1670804422508.jpg?1670786684\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/newspress-collage-24976893-1670804422508.jpg?1670786684&#038;w=1024&#038;1670786684\" alt=\"The effort is to protect the Biden family&#039;s image.\" class=\"wp-image-24977415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/newspress-collage-24976893-1670804422508.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;1670786684&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/newspress-collage-24976893-1670804422508.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;1670786684 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/newspress-collage-24976893-1670804422508.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;1670786684&#038;w=512 512w\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/a><figcaption>Biden allies are reportedly planning an offensive to blunt any investigation into the first family\u2019s alleged influence-peddling schemes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-40-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"978\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-40-1.jpg\" alt=\"Morris reportedly paid off as much as $2.8 million in back taxes for Hunter.\" class=\"wp-image-24977407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-40-1.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-40-1.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/hunter-biden-laptop-40-1.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The meeting\u2019s host was Hunter Biden\u2019s friend, agent and lawyer Kevin Morris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The paper also reported Morris \u201coutlined extensive research on two potential witnesses against Hunter Biden \u2014 a spurned business partner named Tony Bobulinski and a computer repairman named John Paul Mac Isaac.\u201d \u201cSpurned\u201d is hardly the sole or most relevant description of Bobulinski: The businessman was recruited by the Biden family to manage foreign deals and later <a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/11\/10\/washingtons-pandoras-box-the-opening-of-the-hunter-biden-laptop-could-expose-the-cottage-industry-of-influence-peddling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">directly contradicted<\/a> President Biden\u2019s claims that he knew nothing of those dealings. His testimony could present a serious threat in the coming House investigation in establishing not only the president\u2019s knowledge but his possible receipt of proceeds from the deals.<\/p>\n<p>Morris\u2019 plan could easily be taken as a declaration of all-out war on potential witnesses against Hunter Biden.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<h2>Catch up on Twitter\u2019s censorship of The Post\u2019s Hunter Biden laptop story<\/h2>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>What\u2019s most interesting about the piece is why the Washington Post was given such access and such a detailed account. Generally, political operatives lay out scorched-earth campaigns in secret. But someone wanted this campaign to be public before the House can call any witnesses.<\/p>\n<p>For key witnesses like Bobulinski, the message is about as subtle as a 2-by-4 to the head. The Washington Post is viewed as one of the most pro-Biden newspapers in the country and only recently admitted that the Hunter Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/08\/03\/the-art-of-scandal-implosion-the-political-and-media-establishment-prepare-to-drop-hunter-biden-in-a-controlled-demolition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">laptop was authentic<\/a>\u00a0after pushing the false Russian-disinformation claim. Now the paper is detailing a plan that could create an open season on those who might try to substantiate the Biden family\u2019s influence peddling.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, the article stresses this effort is \u201coperating separately from the White House. [David] Brock said his organization also remains independent of Hunter Biden and his team and is following its own strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Postcover.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"961\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Postcover.jpg\" alt=\"The witnesses include the computer repairman who dealt with his laptop and a former business associate.\" class=\"wp-image-22172204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Postcover.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1441 1441w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Postcover.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=961 961w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Postcover.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=480 480w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Postcover.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Morris\u2019 meeting included a debrief of research into potential witnesses against Hunter Biden. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">NY Post Illustration<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The separation is important to deflect any allegations of witness intimidation.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2019\/11\/15\/trump-impeachment-witness-intimidation-071129\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Media and political figures leveled such claims<\/a>\u00a0against the Trump White House when impeachment witnesses were attacked in the press.\u00a0Congressional Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/07\/01\/politics\/trump-history-trying-to-influence-witnesses\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">denounced criticism<\/a> of the witnesses as an effort to silence or deter witnesses from coming forward.<\/p>\n<p>Those who view this as a not-so-veiled threat will likely cite the inclusion of David Brock, one of the most controversial and reviled Democratic operatives in Washington.<\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\tGet Miranda&#8217;s latest take\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\tSign up for Devine Online, the newsletter from Miranda Devine\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Long a\u00a0radical figure closely associated with Hillary Clinton\u2019s campaigns, Brock has repeatedly been at the center of controversial attack campaigns and was most recently tied to news sites\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/10\/09\/media-matters-founder-david-brock-tied-to-ploy-of-suspicious-media-sites-favoring-democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">criticized as fakes or ploys<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Many see him as the lowest common denominator of Democratic operatives, someone willing to take extreme measures to support Democratic figures and causes. Even Biden senior adviser Neera Tanden allegedly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2016\/11\/04\/podesta-warned-i-hope-hillary-truly-understands-now-how-batshit-crazy-david-brock-is\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">once remarked<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cI hope Hillary truly understands now <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2016\/11\/04\/blunt-clinton-aide-calls-her-loyal-attack-dog-bats-t-crazy\/\">how bats\u2013t crazy David Brock is<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brock, however, has always given figures like Clinton deniability for direct responsibility for his actions. He described his new group, Facts First USA, as a \u201cSWAT team\u201d designed to \u201censure that the media and public do not accept the false narrative that flows from congressional investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Post described the meeting as a \u201cglimpse into a sprawling infrastructure that is rapidly, almost frantically, assembling to combat Republicans\u2019 plans to turn Hunter Biden into a major news story when the GOP takes over the House next year.\u201d It also discussed an array of well-known lawyers the Biden family has assembled as well as plans by the White House and Democratic National Committee.<\/p>\n<p>Various Democratic groups plan to attack efforts to disclose the Bidens\u2019 multimillion-dollar efforts by attacking Donald Trump\u2019s family. These include the Congressional Integrity Project, which recently hired Jeff Peck, the chief of staff to Biden when he was a senator. These talking points are already appearing in the media, which are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2021\/10\/19\/joe-biden-and-the-disappearing-elephant-how-to-make-a-full-sized-scandal-vanish-in-front-of-an-audience-of-millions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">heavily invested in denying any scandal<\/a>\u00a0connected to the family.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1245371506.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1245371506.jpg\" alt=\"Various Democratic groups plan to attack efforts to disclose the Bidens\u2019 multimillion-dollar efforts\" class=\"wp-image-24977404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1245371506.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1245371506.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1245371506.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1245371506.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Biden allies have attempted to distance themselves from the Biden family. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That\u2019s why the Post article looks like a shot across the bow of any potential witnesses. This is not to say these reporters are knowing agents of this campaign, but Democratic operatives clearly wanted people to know about this alliance.<\/p>\n<p>The article touches all the bases to insulate the Bidens and the Democratic National Committee from responsibility for what Brock and Morris may unleash. However, with the inclusion of former Biden staff and allies, it\u2019s a line that can be quickly lost as investigations heat up. Targeting witnesses like Bobulinski could invite congressional investigators to look more closely at these groups and their funding.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>Morris could also be taking a real risk. There are already questions about whether he was acting as counsel, agent or friend in reportedly paying off tax debts for Hunter Biden. Rules of professional ethics demand clarity in legal representation. <\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Morris himself could be called as a witness and face questions over his own role in the scandal and its suppression in the media. That makes orchestrating an aggressive public campaign more problematic if it targets or intimidates other witnesses.<\/p>\n<p>This is, of course, well known to these sophisticated political operatives, which makes the effort to publicize this campaign all the more concerning. House Democrats\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/09\/21\/house-democrats-take-ownership-of-hunter-house-committee-votes-down-inquiry-in-influence-peddling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">have blocked efforts<\/a>\u00a0to investigate any Biden influence peddling. They will have to take ownership of that refusal if the investigation establishes a massive and corrupt operation.<\/p>\n<p>But the new campaign is designed to give plausible deniability\u00a0and comfortable distance from planned attacks on witnesses and commentators. Hunter Biden may have collected millions in selling access and influence, but anyone investigating or accusing the Bidens is now fully warned: Proceed at your own peril.<\/p>\n<p><em>Jonathan Turley is an attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just when you thought our politics could not get more poisonous, a recent meeting in California suggests the past is mere prelude. The Washington Post,\u00a0which revealed the powwow,\u00a0described<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1772202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[8066,3620,5458,3822,8065,4083,3819,3911,4209],"class_list":["post-1772199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-allies","tag-biden","tag-bongino","tag-hunter","tag-intimidate","tag-probe","tag-report","tag-republican","tag-witnesses"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1772199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1772199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1772199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1772202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1772199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1772199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1772199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}