Archer Takes Aim
Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s friend and former business partner, finally testified before congressional investigators behind closed doors today. Archer’s testimony had been scheduled and canceled multiple times before. For a moment this weekend, it appeared as though today’s meeting might also be called off. (See next item.)
Archer co-founded Rosemont Seneca, an investment firm, with Hunter Biden and Chris Heinz, John Kerry’s son. Archer also served on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma with Hunter Biden.
Mr. Archer is expected to tell congressional investigators that he knew of multiple instances in which Hunter Biden introduced his father to prospective clients to demonstrate his access to key U.S. policymakers. Archer is expected to testify that Hunter was paying a lot of Joe Biden’s bills.
But here’s a note of caution: While we don’t yet know exactly what Archer said, there were leaks over the weekend that he would also say Joe Biden was not directly involved in managing Hunter’s business schemes.
Well, no one has ever suggested that we should expect to find a document listing Joe Biden as a managing partner of “Hunter, Inc.” No one ever said that the Bidens were stupid when it came to corruption. They know how to cover their tracks.
Remember, Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has discovered that the Biden family used more than 20 businesses and shell companies to hide assets and cover the trail of their money laundering, making it difficult to unravel these complicated schemes.
Here’s the bottom line: When Joe Biden was vice president, he put Hunter in charge of enriching the family. Hunter was told to guarantee “10% for the Big Guy,” and to make sure that Joe didn’t get caught up in the details. But Joe was willing to take phone calls or hold brief meetings to help move Hunter’s deals along when necessary.
Hunter Biden is not an expert on energy issues, telecommunication issues or foreign policy. As one House Republican put it, Hunter was “the bagman for the Biden family,” who sold the prospect of getting his father to do various things at the behest of foreign countries, including enemies of the United States.
That’s influence peddling and it’s illegal.
UPDATE: Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told reporters this afternoon that Archer’s testimony was “very productive” and that he provided new information to investigators. We will keep you posted.
More Meddling
Thanks to IRS and FBI whistleblowers, we know how much partisan hacks at the Justice Department have meddled in the Hunter Biden investigation and the extent to which they hobbled the investigation. And it appears that they were at it again over the weekend.
The Biden Justice Department sent a surprising letter Saturday to a judge in New York requesting that Devon Archer report to prison to begin serving a jail sentence in an unrelated fraud case.
Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told Fox News that the timing of this letter was highly unusual for several reasons, saying:
"It’s odd that it was issued on a Saturday, and it’s odd that it’s right before he’s scheduled to come in to have an opportunity to speak in front of the House Oversight Committee and tell the American people the truth about what really went on with Burisma.”
There was fierce pushback from several House Republicans. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) called on members of the House Judiciary Committee to immediately return to Washington, D.C., and hold emergency hearings on what appeared to be an effort to intimidate a witness and obstruct a congressional investigation.
Gaetz tweeted, “The DOJ is now actively committing the crime of obstructing a congressional investigation. If Devon Archer isn’t in the witness chair Monday, we better haul every SOB at the DOJ before Congress EVERY DAY to make them pay for this.” Multiple Republicans echoed Gaetz’s sentiment.
In response to the growing outrage, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York issued a statement this morning clarifying that it was not seeking to prevent Archer’s testimony today. But it still insists that the judge set a date for Archer to begin serving his sentence.
Nevertheless, the timing is more than suspicious. When asked whether it was normal behavior for the Department of Justice to send such letters on a Saturday, Chairman Comer replied, “Never. Never. This is the first time I have ever heard of the Department of Justice doing anything [like this] on a Saturday.”
Confronting Communist China
A few months ago, we told you that yet another cyberattack by communist Chinese hackers had severely compromised U.S. communication systems, particularly those on the strategically important island of Guam.
Now it’s being reported that U.S. intelligence officials are scrambling to identify and remove potential malware that was likely embedded in multiple critical infrastructure systems during that cyberattack. At least one official described the malware as a “ticking time bomb” that could also bring down power grids and water systems.
In addition, NBC News reported late last week that state and federal authorities busted an illegal laboratory connected to a mysterious Chinese company operating in Fresno County, California.
Among other things, they found more than 20 hazardous and infectious biological agents, including “coronavirus, HIV, hepatitis and herpes.” Hundreds of mice were also seized and euthanized.
These incidents underscore yet again that communist China is not a normal country or a benign trading partner. It is an enemy increasingly determined to replace the United States as the world’s leading superpower and impose its will on the world.
Boy Scouts Limp Along
The Washington Post featured a big story recently about the 2023 Boy Scouts National Jamboree, which concluded last week, and how the event has changed over the years.
The Post was particularly impressed by how “inclusive” the Scouts have become, noting a tent decorated with “LGBTQ Pride flags . . . its tables covered with bowls of rainbow bracelets, pronoun stickers and diversity patches.”
Several paragraphs into the story, the Post admits that attendance at this year’s jamboree is less than half of what it was at the last national jamboree in 2017.
The organization is a shell of its former self. Its membership numbers plummeted as the left destroyed the group, which once encouraged boys and young men to be “morally straight.”
For years, it was bedeviled by sexual abuse cases involving homosexual scoutmasters. A massive settlement drove the Boy Scouts into bankruptcy. Now, it’s completely caved to the left by accepting girls and transgendered scouts.
If you are looking for alternatives to woke scouting programs, I encourage you to check out Trail Life USA and American Heritage Girls.
Biden Family Values
Late last week, Joe and Jill Biden finally recognized their seventh grandchild. This news came in the form of a statement to People Magazine. It read:
“Our son, Hunter, and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward. This isn’t a political issue, it’s a family matter. Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.”
I don’t know why that was so difficult for the Bidens to say, but it’s clear they didn’t want to say it. A DNA test taken in 2019 proved Hunter was the father, but the Biden’s stubbornly refused to admit it.
So, why now?
Well, alarm bells start going off when left-wing New York Times columnists, like Maureen Dowd, start to turn on liberal presidents.
Moreover, the polling on this issue was terrible for Joe Biden. Two polls (here and here) found that voters overwhelmingly felt that Biden should publicly recognize Navy Joan Lunden as his grandchild.
The continued failure to do so was seriously hurting Biden’s perception as a “nice guy” and undermining his support among younger voters, who are increasingly disillusioned with our oldest president. (Here and here.)