Donald Trump & His Kids vs Joe Biden and His Kids
Which political family is actually demonstratively a criminal enterprise?
Photo Credits: BBC News and Getty Images
Issue #306 OpEd April 24, 2023
While the disgraced, twice-impeached, and criminally indicted former president Donald Trump is under investigation for more than one state and/or federal charge, the MAGA Republicans continue to try to tie Hunter Biden, the surviving son of President Joe Biden, to multiple so-called illegal activities that supposedly occurred when his father was vice president from 2009 - 2017.
These pseudo-investigations are collectively known as "Hunter Biden's Laptop."
Which political family can be documented as a true criminal enterprise?
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Did Hunter Biden break the law? What do we know?
We know that both of Joe Biden's sons were critically injured but survived a terrible car crash that killed Joe's first wife and baby daughter in 1972, right after Joe won his first election to the U.S. Senate.
We know that Beau Biden, Joe's eldest son, died of brain cancer in 2015 which was probably a result of his service in Iraq as a member of the Delaware National Guard. Because of his deep grief, Joe decided not to run for president in 2016.
We also know that Hunter Biden has a troubled past:
Hunter has been accused of drug use and has been arrested for several DUIs.
Hunter had a very difficult divorce during which several tax issues were revealed.
Hunter has been accused of giving a false statement about a gun purchase.
However, an IRS special agent is seeking whistleblower protection to disclose information about the alleged mishandling of an investigation into Hunter Biden, according to a letter sent to members of Congress.
The IRS agent declared that there was information about a “failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition” of those criminal investigations.
We also know that Trump was first impeached because of his attempts in July 2019, to blackmail the new president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, by threatening by phone to withhold Congressionally approved aid unless Zelenskyy investigated the Bidens.
Trump wanted Zelenskyy to find incriminating proof that Hunter Biden was doing something illegal through Burisma, the company he worked for.
Trump also wanted proof that Hunter Biden was also using his relationship with his father to make financial gains from the younger Biden's work in Ukraine.
This was months before the first Democratic primary was held in January 2020 and almost a year before Joe Biden became the official nominee for the presidential election.
However, no matter how hard the Republicans try, they cannot find any evidence that Hunter Biden or Joe Biden did anything illegal (beyond the tax issues or lying about a gun purchase that Hunter admitted) or that Hunter tried to cash in because of his name when Joe was vice president.
The Republicans are also bashing Joe Biden's character for continuing to publicly love and support his son throughout Hunter's many problems as an adult.
Did Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner break the law? What do we know?
Let me count the ways:
According to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s analysis of financial disclosures, Trump and Kushner raked in between $172 million and $640 million in outside income from their myriad business interests during their four years in the Trump administration. The couple has touted the fact that they did not take a salary (about $183,000 each) as White House advisors during that same time.
Approximately $13 million, the majority of Ivanka Trump’s income, came from her ownership stake in the Trump Hotel in Washington. Ivanka Trump had Russian, Chinese, and Japanese authorities renew or approve trademarks for her various companies and products while her father was in office. Ivanka claimed that she closed down her company, but she still made up to $1 million from it in 2019. There were at least 28 foreign trademarks approved for Ivanka Trump while she was in the White House.
Jared Kushner saw his stake in the real estate investment platform Cadre soar from being worth between $5 million to $25 million at the beginning of Trump’s administration to between $25 million to $50 million at the end.
In April 2022, after more than four years of support for the Saudi regime from members of the Trump White House and Trump himself, Jared received a $2 billion investment from the kingdom‘s sovereign wealth fund to his newly formed private equity firm. This was also after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman kidnapped, killed, and dismembered U.S. resident and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi with a bone saw. Kushner created this company the day after Donald Trump left the White House in January 2021.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were not supposed to work in the White House at all, but the Department of Justice under Trump reversed decades of precedent to grant President Trump’s wish to have his children work in the White House.
After Donald Trump was inaugurated, Jared Kushner's application for a top-secret clearance was rejected by two career White House security specialists after an FBI background check raised concerns about potential foreign influence on him, but their supervisor overruled the recommendation and approved the clearance.
So, which family is the actual "crime family?"
Door #1: The Biden Family, including Joe Biden, when he was vice president and president, or
Door #2: The Trump Family, including Donald Trump before, during, and after the time he was president?
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