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As President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration day approaches, the Republican resistance machine will need new fuel. The foreign affairs relations of Biden’s son Hunter, an old story that has recently taken on new life, thanks to the revelation this month that there is an ongoing Justice Department investigation in its fiscal affairs, has the makings of becoming that fuel.
Whether it is January 6, when Congress prepares to certify Biden’s Electoral College victory, or January 20, when he is sworn in as president, the “rigged” electoral narrative will break down very quickly among the crowd. rest of Republicans not named Donald Trump or Rudy. Giuliani.
At this point, elected Republicans will be faced with the reality that their party will be out of the White House for at least four years, and they will undoubtedly not seek to befriend the new Democratic president.
Enter Hunter Biden.
Federal investigation
Questions about Hunter Biden’s personal and professional life have followed Joe Biden for years, particularly in the past two years as Trump tried to make Hunter Biden a political scandal. In the final weeks of the campaign, Trump and his allies have focused on Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China and Ukraine, hoping to link Joe Biden to what Trump called “corrupt” behavior.
On polling day, Trump failed – not only in the presidential race, but in making the questions surrounding Hunter Biden a scandal.
But the surprise announcement on Dec. 10, when Hunter Biden announced that his “tax matters” were under federal investigation, brought the issues surrounding his foreign trade relations back into the spotlight.
Joe Biden, who would not be the subject of the investigation, played it down, saying he was “proud” of his son and that he was “confident” that Hunter Biden had done nothing wrong. Joe Biden wrote it all off as simple Republicans pointing out Russian misinformation, telling CBS’s Stephen Colbert last week, “I think that’s kind of a foul play, but look, it is.
What it is is a major complication for Biden as he seeks to appoint an attorney general who will oversee the Department of Justice and, in turn, the investigations into Hunter Biden.
Biden’s new White House press secretary Jen Psaki told Fox News on Sunday: “He will not be discussing an investigation into his son with attorney general candidates.”
“He will not discuss it with anyone he is considering for the job and he will not discuss it with a future attorney general,” Psaki continued.
Biden added on Tuesday, “I will appoint someone whom I intend to enforce the law as it is written. Not guided by me.
Asked specifically about Hunter, Elder Biden said:
“I promise you that my Ministry of Justice will be completely autonomous to judge how it should proceed.”
Republicans leap
Despite the fact that Trump’s children have been in the crosshairs of the review and charged with serious ethical, if not legal, violations, Republicans are already looking into the federal Hunter Biden inquiry.
Senator Chuck Grassley, the new top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who will consider Joe Biden’s Attorney General candidate, told the Senate last week, “Based on all the facts known to date, Joe Biden has lots of explanations to do. “, And promised to” continue to look into the affairs of the Biden family “.
NEW → Yesterday in the Senate, @ChuckGrassley explained the Democratic cover-up of the Hunter Biden inquiry.
Find out more here: https://t.co/MdsiFdytU4
– Senator Grassley Press (@GrassleyPress) December 15, 2020
Senator Lindsey Graham, whose term as chairman of the Judiciary Committee is ending, told Fox News on Monday: “Hunter Biden has had all kinds of problems, but I can promise you what I ask must be done. We are not going to let the Democrats pass.
The question for the country is: to what extent have Hunter Biden and his family had problematic trade relations with China, Russia, and other countries that could impact the foreign policy of the Biden administration?
– Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 21, 2020
Some investigative bodies need to take a broader view beyond the tax issue.
– Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 21, 2020
There are also no less than a half-dozen Republican senators who are seen as potential presidential candidates in 2024, all of whom will seek to play at the grassroots level and attempt to pick up where Trump left off politically. .
“I want to know is Joe Biden involved?” … There will be a lot of questions to be answered here, ”said Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who is seen as a potential future White House candidate, after the federal inquiry came to light.
Another potential presidential hopeful, Florida Senator Rick Scott, told Fox News last week: “We have to understand, number one: what was Hunter Biden doing in Ukraine? What was he doing in China? How did Joe Biden get involved in these things? “
“Americans deserve the facts,” Scott added. “Whatever the facts, the facts are. If there is nothing wrong, that’s great. But get the facts out and people can make up their minds about it.
Political scandal
It is not uncommon for a president to be forced to deal with members of the opposite party snowballing a perceived avalanche scandal.
The Whitewater scandal pursued Bill Clinton, Barack Obama took over as Benghazi, and Trump investigated Russia. In each case, the allegations about each president regarding these controversies have become political obsessions of the other side for years, turning unknown members of Congress into household names and resulting, at least in the cases of Clinton and Trump, in their dismissals.
With friendly television media – including Fox News for Republicans and MSNBC for Democrats – having an outlet to help fan the flames of “scandal” helps politicians speak to their zealous political bases and collect tons of campaign money. And by playing on the political interest of viewers, the networks are confronted with their coverage of these scandals.
Hunter Biden’s business offers this to Republican politicians and pro-Republican media, virtually guaranteeing that he will be a major talking point for Biden’s enemies.
The peril for Joe Biden is that the Hunter Biden investigation and the political machinations surrounding it become such great distractions that they end up affecting the president-elect as he works to put his agenda in place.
And if that is how things turn out for Joe Biden in the months to come, the questions around his son will certainly turn out to be more than “this is what it is.”
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