Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

“They all knew.”

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Consistently wrong since 2002

People are complicated. Love is not.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Too little, too late, ftfnyt. fuck all the way off.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Be a wild strawberry.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

You are here: Home / Politics / Information Warfare / Repub Venality Open Thread: Hunter Biden’s Laptop As A Weapon of Mass Delusion

Repub Venality Open Thread: Hunter Biden’s Laptop As A Weapon of Mass Delusion

by | 47 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,

Somebody should’ve told the NYTimes that But the emails!!! only works against *female* politicians…

In the year after he disclosed a federal investigation into his “tax affairs” in late 2020, President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, paid off a significant tax liability, even as a grand jury continued to gather evidence in a wide-ranging examination of his international business dealings, according to people familiar with the case.

Mr. Biden’s failure to pay all his taxes has been a focus of the ongoing Justice Department investigation. While wiping out his liability does not preclude criminal charges against him, the payment could make it harder for prosecutors to win a conviction or a long sentence for tax-related offenses, according to tax law experts, since juries and judges tend to be more sympathetic to defendants who have paid their bills…

The investigation, which began as a tax inquiry under the Obama administration, widened in 2018 to include possible criminal violations of tax laws, as well as foreign lobbying and money laundering rules, according to the people familiar with the inquiry.

But prosecutors face a number of hurdles to bringing criminal charges, the people familiar with the investigation said, including proving that Mr. Biden intentionally violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, which requires disclosure to the Justice Department of lobbying or public relations assistance on behalf of foreign clients.

The Justice Department has given no public indication that it has made decisions about any element of the case, and Mr. Biden has not been charged with any crime…

2) It is a good thing that an already existing investigation into the son of the most powerful person in the country can continue w/o interference–it’s what we wanted, but were deprived of, with Kushner and Don Jr and Trump and Stone and Rudy and Manafort.

3) We should be pursuing sleazy influence peddling in both parties.

Please, someone, give Lanny Davis the same scrutiny we want Paul Manafort to get!!

4) EVEN GLENN GREENWALD admitted that the back story to the Hunter Biden laptop story didn’t hold together, especially given the involvement of suspected RU agent dangle Rudy G, and DOJ was already investigating anyway. It was ALL about distracting you pre-trial.

5) There is zero evidence that David Weiss is conducting himself with the recklessness, the sloppiness, and the fundamental preference for Russian hackers over Hillary Clinton (or Joe Biden) that John Durham is investigating with.

6) Investigations do not always result in prosecutions, and often there are good reasons for it.

With Bill Barr, there were terrible reasons for it.

But there’s no reason to believe DOJ is not pursuing what it can as aggressively as possible.

More snark:

The people who concocted this scandal were always going to argue that they honestly thought the laptop was really Hunter Biden’s. But that reasonable doubt argument goes out the window now that they apparently stole his emails and planted them on the laptop.

The DOJ doesn’t bring criminal charges in instances where it thinks it’s going to lose at trial due to a reasonable doubt defense. This new development could mean the difference in terms of the perpetrators of this phony scandal actually being prosecuted.

This developent also raises serious questions about the NY Post’s decision to run with this story. It’s one (bad) thing to have known the story was false. It’d be much worse if the NY Post knew that crimes had been committed in the name of falsifying evidence for the story.

Republicans are declaring victory over today’s developments, because they always declare victory on everything, even when it’s a clear loss. But that won’t help them any.

(As opposed to most liberal activists, who always declare defeat, even when it’s a clear win for their side).

Reader Interactions

47Comments

  3. 3.

    Cameron

    Is it possible that they’re struggling so hard to find evidence because, y’know, there isn’t any?

  4. 4.

    SamIAm

    The laptop bullshit eas always obviously bullshit.

    But this is the first time I’m hearing about Hunter Biden being in trouble for unpaid taxes.  So what is the context for that?

  5. 5.

    sanjeevs

    I will always be grateful to Ken Vogel for fucking up the Hunter Biden emails story in 2020, when it was supposed to simultaneously kneecap both Joe Biden and Zelenskyy.

    Without his incompetence at ratfucking, the world would look completely different right now.

  7. 7.

    Kalakal

    DOJ has struggled to find evidence to support criminal charges

    But did they look in Ohio diners?

    Even as I write a crack FTFNYT team is on its way

  9. 9.

    Danielx

    Keep digging, Vogel – there has to be a connection with Hillary buried somewhere!

    Fuckng douche rocket.

  10. 10.

    Gin & Tonic

    I’d be happy to see Ken Vogel hanging by his heels from a bridge over I-95, right next to Tucker Carlson.

  15. 15.

    Gin & Tonic

    @raven: Many years ago, I had a co-worker who made fairly serious bucks betting on the college hoops, almost invariably betting on underdogs.

  20. 20.

    CROAKER

    But we aren’t talking about the War.   He and they have succeed. The game has been played.  The trap set. DISTRACT from another Russian regiment made combat infective,  A few more major generals and couple of colonels too but the the laptop.

  22. 22.

    Morzer

    greatpower.us/p/escalating-fears-that-putin-might?s=r

    I think there are two points worth dwelling on.

    First, there will always be fresh terror from Putin. A show trial. Chernobyl. Chem/bio insinuations. Sometimes I feel we go looking for new terror to control us when there is already terror enough. Until we take control of the pacing and strategy of this war, the fears Putin creates for us are boxing us in. This has been the Russian strategy from the start. I don’t know why we are not more clear on this. It is the clear reason why we have so much intelligence on what they planned to do and what it would look like. Because they wanted the White House to see it, because they knew what the likely reaction would be. And they were right. We put ourselves into the box and took actions off the table that could have changed the outcome. We accepted the stage that Putin set. We still are. I will always believe that this is the wrong course of action. It has led us to this situation where Putin seems to be unraveling and the danger increasing before our eyes.

    This fear is absolutely useless. “Russian warship, go f*ck yourself” must be the mandatory attitude of whoever will lead us through this confrontation with Putin.

  24. 24.

    CROAKER

    Test – can’t post from ipad as the comments need moderation but I can post from laptop.  Being summoned to return to bed.

    It’s all interesting and a nice distraction you see from the actual events in the world.

    “Significant losses on units of the 252nd Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Western Military District, which are fighting in the areas of Kharkiv and Izyum. Up to 30 percent of personnel, weapons and military equipment were lost. Besides, divisions of forces of defense liquidated the commander of the 3rd motorized infantry division of colonel Igor Nikolaev.”

    Loosing count of the Major Generals and Colonels not going back home now.

    Russian airpower FYI

    960th Assault Aviation Regiment of the 4th Army of the russian Armed Forces suffered significant losses. The moral and psychological condition of the flight crew is extremely unsatisfactory. Cases of dismissal reports continue due to unwillingness to take part in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine.

  25. 25.

    Jeffro

    They’re in a ‘bind’ because they found nothing, after looking under every rock in creation?

    Didn’t we used to call that, “case dismissed” or a “nothingburger” or something like that?

    Nobody’s in a ‘bind’, except for the both-sides media and the loons trying to pretend that some guy’s laptop holds the keys to DEMOCRAT DISSSOLUTION 4EVER!!!1!!

    Always after that Grail, these loons

  26. 26.

    Jeffro

    @Morzer:This fear is absolutely useless. “Russian warship, go f*ck yourself” must be the mandatory attitude of whoever will lead us through this confrontation with Putin.

    100%  This is and always be the only way to deal with abusers, bullies, psychopaths.  go. f*ck. yourself.

  30. 30.

    debbie

    @Morzer:

    I don’t agree that Putin let us see his “plan.” He wasn’t brilliant enough to avoid the sanctions. He’s brutal and sociopathic, and he’s managed to manipulate the doltish, but he’s no genius.

  33. 33.

    Bill Arnold

    @Morzer:
    Judging by that piece, Molly McKew is a really shitty analyst. (And she probably thinks very highly of her own thoughts.)

  34. 34.

    Bill Arnold

    @Morzer:
    Judging by that piece, Molly McKew is a really shitty analyst. (And she probably thinks very highly of her own thoughts.)
    (ETA, to clarify: The US is the one doing the boxing in of Russia, not vice versa. The Russians are flailing. And they should know that nuclear threats will increase the probably of collapse of the current Russian government, not decrease it. They focus the mind and seriously anger a lot of people.)

  35. 35.

    debbie

    The stories of Russian parents not believing their children living in Ukraine are heartbreaking.

  39. 39.

    Bill Arnold

    @Butter Emails!:

    So Putin is unraveling before our eyes because everything vis going according to his master plan?

    The conspiracy is not Russian. It started with a long operation to defeat DJT in the 2020 election. Putin was next, since he interfered in the 2016 US election (and Brexit). (Netanyahu was a sideshow.) :-) :-)

    Those who haven’t read it, this bonkers thread is LOL funny and perhaps even partially true. (threadreader as well for those who don’t do twitter)

    shitposter theory: vladimir putin thought, like millions of americans, that donald trump was the character he played on the apprentice
    — GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) March 17, 2022

    threadreaderapp.com/thread/1504343530356969472.html

  41. 41.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, …

    Mark Zuckerberg – I want no expense spared on this high level Metaverse demo, it's got to look amazing..

    Staff – Sure Mark

    Mark – I want the best celebrities, the best virtual art..

    Staff – You got it

    Mark – The best sitting to standing animation..

    Staff – .. We're so fired. pic.twitter.com/2MPRcVYT8N

    — HappyToast ★ (@IamHappyToast) March 17, 2022

    OMG…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  42. 42.

    James E Powell

    I never followed the Hunter Biden laptop story so I have no idea what it’s supposed to be about. Apparently the story – whatever it is – was buried by the liberal media, but at the same time written about all over and talked about endlessly throughout the late months of the 2020 campaign.

    Hasn’t the FTFNYT had a reporter on this thing since day one? Hasn’t that reporter faithfully repeated every allegation the Republicans wanted repeated?

    What story was buried?

    Is this like Whitewater, where there was an assumption of wrongdoing without anyone ever saying what the wrongdoing was?

  43. 43.

    Bill Arnold

    @James E Powell:

    What story was buried?

    Their complaint is that it didn’t dominate a weeks worth of news cycles immediately prior to the 2020 election. Their problem is that the people pushing the story were telegraphing that it would be a last-few-weeks-before-the-election push a year (maybe more) in advance. In that time, the majority of the US press was primed/primed itself to be skeptical. It helped that some of the pushers were buffoons, like R. Giuliani. It was spectacularly-bad influence-op tradecraft, to be generous and use that word.

  47. 47.

    Geminid

    @Bill Arnold: It was also terrible campaign strategy. Messaging bandwidth is precious two weeks before an election. The Trump campaign jumped down a rabbit hole and nobody followed. I remember Ted Cruz being interviewed at the time, and when asked about the laptop story he made about the only correct comment I ever heard from him: “I don’t think it will move a single vote.”

Comments are closed.