Month: November 2023

Marjorie Taylor Greene reintroduces impeachment push against Mayorkas: ‘Lost the trust’ of Americans

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, R- Georgia, reintroduced articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday, after her previous impeachment effort against him failed earlier this month. 

During her remarks on the House floor, Greene said the secretary has "failed to maintain operational control of the border," citing high levels of illegal immigration, including migrants with possible terrorist ties, and violence and drug smuggling, which she called a "direct national security threat."

"Mayorkas has made it easier for illegal aliens and drugs to enter the United States, endangering American citizens and has made it harder for CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) to expel such threats," Greene said. 

DEMOCRATS BLOCK EFFORT TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY MAYORKAS WITH REPUBLICAN SUPPORT

She added that Mayorkas' actions are incomparable with his duties and that he has "lost the trust" of Americans. 

A Homeland Security statement to Fox News Digital called Greene's impeachment effort a "baseless attack" that is "completely without merit and a harmful distraction from our critical national security priorities." 

"Every day, the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security work tirelessly to keep America safe," the statement said. "They need Congress to stop wasting time and do its job by reforming our broken immigration system, reauthorizing vital tools for DHS, and passing the Administration’s supplemental request to properly resource the Department’s critical work to stop fentanyl and further secure our borders."

"Secretary Mayorkas continues to be laser-focused on the safety and security of our nation," the statement continued.

GOP REP. TORCHES REPORTER CLAIMING AMERICANS SEE NO EVIDENCE FOR BIDEN IMPEACHMENT: ‘YOU DON’T REPORT ON IT'

Mayorkas has been sharply criticized by Republicans over his handling of the southern border amid record numbers of migrants and illegal activity at the border, in addition to attacks on border agents. 

Greene has been calling for his removal and accused him with "high crimes and misdemeanors" in her latest effort. Her last attempt was thwarted by members of her own party. Eight Republicans joined Democrats in the 209-201 House vote. 

The eight who voted against were Reps. Ken Buck, R-Colo., Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Tom McClintock, R-Calif., Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., John Duarte, R-Calif., Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio. 

Additionally, 11 Democrats and 12 Republicans did not vote on the measure.

Greene addressed the failed effort Wednesday on X, formally known as Twitter. 

"While some members, like Tom McClintock, want to bloviate endlessly while imagining themselves wearing a powdered wig, the American people want action," she wrote. "These members whine about ‘due process’ while protecting Mayorkas from facing accountability for his violation of our border security laws."

"Impeachment IS due process. It would put Mayorkas in front of the Senate to face trial," she added. "We’ve seen the evidence of him breaking the law. It’s time for the Senate to try him for it."

Money laundering investigator warned of Hunter Biden’s ‘unusual,’ ‘erratic’ payments from China in 2018

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: A bank investigator responsible for detecting and combating money laundering warned in 2018 of "unusual" and "erratic" activity related to more than a dozen wire transfers of large sums of money to accounts belonging to Hunter Biden.

In an email released by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, a Bank Secrecy Act manager raised concerns that the payments did not appear to correspond to "any services rendered," as well as Chinese efforts to target children of politicians. The investigator suggested the bank re-evaluate its relationship with the client.

The payments from China ultimately funded a $40,000 check to Joe Biden from his brother that had been labeled loan repayment, according to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. Comer is co-leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden and has been investigating the Biden family’s business dealings for months.

JOE BIDEN RECEIVED $40K IN 'LAUNDERED CHINA MONEY' FROM BROTHER IN 2017, COMER SAYS

The email is from a Bank Secrecy Act manager to an assistant vice president and branch manager of a financial institution. The names of the investigator, the vice president and the bank have been redacted in the email, dated June 26, 2018.

"We have been monitoring the subject customer due to the PEP designation and observations on the account activity as well as recent negative news indicate this entity to be high risk," the investigator writes in the email. 

A "PEP designation" is short for a "Politically Exposed Person," meaning the individual, through their prominent position or relationships, could be more susceptible to being involved in bribery or corruption, according to LexisNexis Risk Solutions. 

"Since the initial funding of $5,000,000.00 from Northern International Capital Holdings (HK) Limited on 08/08/17 as a business loan, it was noted that there was no loan agreement document submitted," the investigator wrote in the email.

The investigator noted that the funds in the account had "primarily funded 16 wires ranging from $157,393.19 to $400,000.00," totaling more than $2.9 million to a redacted name and to "Owasco PC—Law Firm in D.C." Owasco was an entity controlled by Hunter Biden.

"These payments were indicated as management fees and reimbursements," the investigator notes.

SPEAKER JOHNSON: BIDEN ENGAGING IN ‘COVER-UP’ OF ROLE IN HUNTER BUSINESS DEALINGS, IMPEACHMENT PROBE CONTINUES

"We find it unusual that approximately 58% of the funds were transferred to the law firm in a few months and the frequency of payments appear erratic," the investigator notes. "It was also previously indicated that HUDSON WEST III LLC does not currently have any investment projects at this time, which raises further concerns as millions in fees are being paid but does not appear to have any services rendered by Owasco PC."

"Furthermore, there has been negative news regarding the beneficial owner of Owasco PC, Robert Hunter Biden (son of former U.S. Vice President- Joe Biden) regarding allegations by his ex-wife that there were financial concerns about his extravagant spending on his own interests (drugs, strip clubs, prostitutes, etc.) which may put his family in a deep financial hole," the investigator wrote.

The investigator also pointed to more "recent negative news indicate China targeting children of politicians and purchase of political influence through ‘sweetheart deals.’"

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN ASSOCIATE TEXTS HINT AT PUSH TO ‘GET JOE INVOLVED,’ MAKE IT LOOK LIKE ‘TRULY FAMILY BUSINESS’

"Specifically, Hunter Biden’s $1.5 billion dollar deal with the Chinese-State to establish a private-equity firm in which they manage the funds over time and make huge fees," the investigator wrote. "The management company’s purpose is to invest in companies that benefit Chinese government."

The investigator added: "Thus, the activity on the account appears unusual with no current business purpose and along with the recent negative news…may require re-evaluation of [the bank's] relationship with the customer."

Last month, the Oversight Committee obtained bank records revealing that on Aug. 8, 2017, $5 million in funds were sent to Hudson West III, a joint-venture established by Hunter Biden and an associate of Chinese Communist Party-linked CEFC, Gongwen Dong.

The records revealed that on the same day, Aug. 8, 2017, Hudson West III sent $400,000 to Owasco, P.C. — as mentioned by the bank investigator in the new email.

HUNTER DEMANDED $10M FROM CHINESE ENERGY FIRM BECAUSE 'BIDENS ARE THE BEST,' HAVE 'CONNECTIONS'

On Aug. 14, 2017, Hunter Biden wired $150,000 to Lion Hall Group, a company owned by James Biden and his wife Sara Biden. By Aug. 28, 2017, Comer said Sara Biden withdrew $50,000 in cash from Lion Hall Group and later deposited it into her and James Biden’s personal checking account.

Days later, Sara Biden wrote a check to Joe Biden for $40,000. The memo line of the check stated "loan repayment."

The White House, upon discovery of the check, said the committee found that as a private citizen, the president loaned his brother James his own money when his brother needed it, and only discovered a record that he was repaid.

Comer, reacting to the new email Wednesday, said the money laundering expert’s concerns were raised "long before" his committee’s investigation.

EMAIL FROM BIDEN'S BROTHER NAMES HARRIS, SCHUMER AS PROSPECTS FOR CHINESE FIRM

"Long before our investigation into President Biden’s corruption, a bank money laundering investigator raised the exact concerns that we raised publicly about the Biden family business: ‘payments appear erratic,’ ‘does not appear to have any services rendered,’ ‘no current business purpose,’ and ‘China target[s] children of politicians and purchase of political influence through ‘sweetheart deals.’ Those are the words of a bank investigator who was just doing his job," Comer said. "The bank investigator was so concerned about Hunter Biden’s financial transactions with the Chinese company, he wanted to re-evaluate the bank’s relationship with the customer."

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN IN 2017 SENT 'BEST WISHES' FROM 'ENTIRE BIDEN FAMILY' TO CHINA FIRM CHAIRMAN, REQUESTED $10M WIRE

Comer said that "even worse, we know that the sitting President of the United States knew about, participated in, and benefited from his family’s shady China dealings."

"Joe Biden showed up to his son’s CEFC meetings and benefited from the money wired from China," Comer said.

Comer went on to blast "the White House and their Corporate Media allies’ efforts to excuse and cover up this blatant corruption," calling the denials "appalling to the American people."

Mike Johnson gives the game away in Biden impeachment: It’s revenge

Posted on by Joan McCarter

House Speaker Mike Johnson pretended Wednesday that Republicans have any basis at all for moving forward on impeaching President Joe Biden, and that this is a serious inquiry. Johnson soberly intoned that the Republicans understand “impeachment requires time … You don’t rush something like this.”

YouTube Video

Meanwhile, House Republican leadership told members that they’ll be taking a formal vote on impeachment in the next few weeks, possibly in January. That’s even while their plans for a hearing with their primary witness, Hunter Biden, are crumbling around them. Johnson laughably praised the committee chairs for conducting their circus “methodically and transparently,” when right now they’re trying to force Hunter Biden’s testimony to happen behind closed doors.

Johnson really gave the game away, though, in a statement that could have come straight from “1984”’s Ministry of Truth. He claimed that both of Donald Trump's impeachments—in which he was on the Trump defense team—were “brazenly political” and “meritless.” The GOP's efforts to impeach President Joe Biden, however, are “just the opposite” because “the Republican Party stands for the rule of law.”

That’s the whole game, right there. It’s not about the rule of law. It’s about revenge for Trump. Period.

RELATED STORIES:

Hunter Biden called James Comer's bluff. Now Comer is flailing

This is what happens when a House Republican gets tough questions on Hunter Biden subpoenas

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Fox News Politics: A Squad divided

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.

What's happening:

- Senator Schumer shares the isolation, fear, felt by American Jews

- Black voters in South Carolina feel the Democrat Party has failed them

- Dem run cittydrop six figures repainting BLM mural amid rising crime 

The House of Representatives' Tuesday votes on reaffirming Israel's right to exist and condemning the terrorist group Hamas showed some division among members of the far-left "Squad."

The vote was nearly unanimous in support of Israel. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich, and Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., were the only members of the radical eight-person group to not vote in favor of the resolution centered on Israel's existence. Tlaib was the only House member to vote "present," while Bush didn't vote.

After the vote, Tlaib told Fox News Digital in a statement about H. Res. 888 that "both Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live with democracy, safety, peace, and human dignity." 

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie was the only "no" vote. He said he didn't support the resolution because it "equates anti-Zionism with antisemitism" and that expanding the definition of antisemitism to include criticism of Israel is "not helpful."

'BAD OPTICS': Biden admin quietly waived key taxpayer safeguard to boost green energy project …Read more

'METAPHOR ALERT': White House Christmas tree takes a fall …Read more

'MUST BE CONSISTENT': Dem senators tell WH any further assistance to Israel should align with interests …Read more

CONGRESS SHOWDOWN: GOP leaders to convene to discuss border, Ukraine and Israel aid …Read more

‘DEEP FEAR’: Schumer gives impassioned Senate speech describing isolation felt by Jews …Read more

'ONE STOP SHOP': House GOP rolls out a website about the Biden impeachment inquiry …Read more

LET THEM WATCH: Top Oversight Democrat slams GOP for keeping Hunter Biden hearing out of public view …Read more

RACING TO 2024: House GOP eyes election security overhaul as 2024 heats up …Read more

BATTLE FOR IOWA: Pro-DeSantis super PAC reportedly brings on aide from former rival to lead new effort …Read more

'CAN'T BE BOUGHT': Former NFL player announces run for newly drawn AL congressional district …Read more

WARNING BELLS: Black voters in South Carolina feel Democratic Party has 'failed them' …Read more

DON'T BE DUMB: CIA reminds staff about social media posts after CIA officer shares pro-Palestinian image …Read more

100% GREEN ENERGY: Michigan Gov Whitmer green-lights massive green energy expansion …Read more

'INHERITED': Chicago mayor pins blame for migrant crisis on predecessor Lightfoot …Read more

'WAIT NO LONGER': Florida grand jury calls for radical action on migrant crisis …Read more

DNA COLLECTORS: Conservative groups put pressure on Congress to ban contracts with CCP-linked biotech company …Read more

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Logical question on impeachment had Speaker Mike Johnson changing the subject

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

House Speaker Mike Johnson took time away from being a homophobe to hold a press conference on Wednesday. He spent most of the time doing what Republican leaders usually do in front of a press corps: equivocate, change the subject, and spew a few empty talking points. In a video posted by reporter Aaron Rupar, Johnson is asked a pretty easy-to-answer question by a reporter.

Of course, the question gets considerably more difficult to answer when the logic of your position is as deplorable as the current Republican speaker’s.

Here’s what Johnson was asked:

The official act that was corrupt that Republicans are alleging today was that when he was vice president, Joe Biden pushed for the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor—and this was the subject of the impeachment of Donald Trump—and you had a lot of State Department officials who came in and said, “This wasn't Joe Biden's policy. This was our policy. He didn't do this to benefit his son. He did this because we wanted him to do it.”

So did they all commit perjury, or are you going to bring them back for more interviews? Why are Republicans just ignoring all that testimony.

Johnson’s response is to change the subject. “Look, no one's ignoring testimony,” he said. “Let me tell you the top four pieces of evidence with regard to Biden, if I just give a bulletpoints here. From 2014 to 2019, Biden family members and their affiliated companies received over $15 million from foreign companies and foreign nationals.”

YouTube Video

That’s $15 million over five years to anyone connected to Biden, got it! It isn’t great form to play whataboutism, but in this case, let’s remember that during the four years of Donald Trump’s disastrous administration, his daughter and son-in-law reportedly made more than half a billion dollars in “outside” income. Jared Kushner alone received more than $2 billion from Saudi nationals for a business where operations were considered “unsatisfactory.”

Johnson is out of his depth. In his defense, the entire Republican Party is drowning in a swamp of MAGA extremism and anti-democratic authoritarianism.

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Trump again threatens the media. Will the media care?

Posted on by Mark Sumner

In an infamous article from 1922, The New York Times introduced the United States to a rising German politician by insisting that "Hitler's anti-Semitism was not so violent or genuine as it sounded." It would be nice to think that in the intervening century the nation’s largest media outlets have learned a lesson. And they have. They’ve learned to lean into it.

As Daily Kos’ Laura Clawson reported on Tuesday, a new study shows that the media is willing to cut Donald Trump infinite slack when it comes to using dehumanizing and threatening language toward everyone he sees as an opponent. Which is … everyone. Democrats. Republicans. Former members of his staff. Judges. The whole legal system. Steve Jobs’ widow.

But no one seems as eager to indulge Trump as America’s leading news outlets. It’s not just that they’re willing to look the other way when he attacks others; they are also eternally willing to bend over and take another one for team “objective journalism.” Except what they’re promoting isn’t anything like fairness, and what they’re protecting certainly isn’t some platonic ideal of truth.  

The nation’s major media outlets are begging Trump to hurt them again. Hurt them good. Oh, and to destroy the nation while he’s at it.

Overnight, Trump attacked MSNBC. The reason for this isn’t particularly clear and doesn’t particularly matter. However, in this attack, Trump makes an overt threat against the network, its leader, and the whole concept of the First Amendment.

In response to Trump’s attack, NBC News has issued this heartfelt reply: silence. But then, why wouldn’t they? They also didn’t comment back in September, when Trump threatened NBC’s parent company and insisted they should be investigated for “Country Threatening Treason.”

Silence in response to Trump’s threats is what major media outlets do.

Trump already declared the free press “the enemy of the people.” He already put journalists in cages so that his supporters could jeer them as Trump pointed them out for mockery. He didn’t do these things in the early days of his 2016 campaign. He did them while occupying the White House. Trump stood behind the bully pulpit and regularly informed the American public that the media was their enemy.

Those journalists were in a cage for a rally that Trump held in 2018, far from any presidential election. That the link to that Iowa rally is from an Australian news outlet is not a coincidence, as the reporter from that outlet seems to be the only one who was shocked by the way journalists were being pointed out for threats and derision, or by how an undercover filmmaker approached the cage to whisper that he was too afraid to try and conduct interviews, or how they weren’t even allowed to go to the bathroom without being supervised by a member of Trump’s staff. By that point, American journalists following Trump seemed to have simply accepted this as their lot.

Just over a month ago, Trump threatened journalists with prison rape unless they gave up sources who were informing on Trump’s crimes. And those same journalists went back to work the next day, cutting Trump every possible break.

The biggest of those breaks is simply this: Acting as if because Trump espouses fascism, racism, misogyny, bigotry, and violence every day, it’s not news. This is the most ass-backward idea ever cooked up in a newsroom. The fact that Trump does it over, and over, and over is the news. Responsible, objective journalism isn’t ignoring Trump’s threats because he makes them regularly. The regularity of his vile statements makes them both worse and more newsworthy.

If the mass media treated the Son of Sam killings the way they do Donald Trump, they would have stopped reporting after the first victim. After all, it’s just more of the same thing, right?

Trump is out there attacking journalists every day. He’s out there spitting on the First Amendment every day. He’s doubling down on his attacks on democracy every day. And all major media seems to think about is how many more clicks, views, and ad dollars they will make if they can use silence and selective reporting to ease Trump over the line to the White House.

Every time Trump calls out journalists or a media outlet, the reaction seems to be the same. Rather than fighting back, or defending their reporting, outlets slink further into the placating corner. Or hire another former Trump official. They seemed genuinely more concerned about offending Nazis than fighting them.

News outlets appear willing to keep up the pretense of being objective, even when studies show that they are leaning on the accelerator for Trump. They’ll keep up that pretense even in the face of the absolute reality that, should their boost carry Trump back to the Oval Office, he will come for them. He will come for the “enemies of the people.” He will come for those guilty of “country threatening treason.” He will make the days when he only put reporters in cages and encouraged the crowd to scream at them seem like a fond memory.

Trump is dedicated to destroying democracy. He’s absolutely insistent on ending the free press. He is openly using Nazi propaganda and threatening to repeat the most despicable events in history. Even so, as Laura wrote on Tuesday:

There is no question, by the hard numbers, that the media is giving Donald Trump a pass. His dehumanizing rhetoric describing his political opponents as “vermin” that he will “root out” is a nonstory as far as the broadcast networks, cable news networks, and largest newspapers in the country are concerned

Unless something changes, it will go on being a nonstory right up until the time Trump is telling them what stories are allowed.

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Marjorie Taylor Greene tries to force another Mayorkas impeachment vote

Posted on by Congress

Marjorie Taylor Greene is pushing her colleagues to impeach Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — again.

The Georgia firebrand on Wednesday introduced her second Mayorkas impeachment resolution in one month, which she's aiming to force a vote on within two legislative days. Greene’s last attempt to eject Mayorkas failed, with the vote instead sending her impeachment resolution to the Homeland Security Committee, which has been investigating the senior Biden administration official for his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border for months.

All House Democrats voted to send her last motion to the panel, along with eight House Republicans. It’s unlikely that the math has changed enough for the vote to succeed this time. There’s still a larger swath within the conference that isn't yet on board with what would be a historic step to boot a Cabinet official.

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), one of the eight, teed off on Greene shortly before she made her motion on Wednesday. While McClintock said he agreed with the actions Greene is accusing Mayorkas of, he doesn’t believe they meet the bar of an impeachment offense.

“If Ms. Greene is successful in redefining impeachment, then the next time Democrats have the majority we can expect this new definition to be turned against the conservatives on the Supreme Court and any future Republican administration,” McClintock said.

Greene’s move comes after Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) told Republicans behind closed doors on Wednesday that Republicans could soon vote to formalize the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

McClintock added that Greene was “tainting this serious impeachment inquiry with a shoot-from-the-hip stunt.”

Posted in Uncategorized

Hunter Biden called James Comer’s bluff. Now Comer is flailing

Posted on by Laura Clawson

Hunter Biden wants to testify to the House Oversight Committee in public, not behind closed doors. He’s watched as his associates have given private depositions only for Republicans to leak misleading and outright false accounts of their answers, and the president’s son doesn’t seem interested in being a victim of that process. Hunter Biden’s offer to testify publicly has James Comer, the chair of the Oversight Committee, talking fast and offering a lot of excuses. A closed-door deposition, Comer insisted to Sean Hannity Tuesday night, “is for all practical purposes public. We will release the transcripts.”

But not before Comer and his buddies go out and set the narrative about the deposition by lying about it.

There’s a reason Hunter Biden might want the world to see his answers live. In late July, his former business partner Devon Archer gave a closed-door deposition. Within hours, Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan were on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News, with Comer claiming, “Today, we saw Joe Biden has lied to the American people. He knew exactly who his son was getting those millions and millions of dollars of wires from, and he spoke to them, and he spoke to them often.” Days later, under pressure, Republicans released the transcript of Archer’s deposition, and, of course, it showed nothing of the sort.

Talking to Hannity on Tuesday night, Comer pretended he hadn’t spent months lying his inflated head off about everything related to the “investigation.” Comer constantly spits out numbers of pages of documents that the committee has obtained, dollar amounts of money paid to people associated with Hunter Biden, and accusations that President Joe Biden has in some way been receiving that money—without any evidence at all of that final, critical point.

“Everyone knows that if you have a credible, substantive investigation, you have depositions, you have transcribed interviews, then you bring in people for committee hearings,” Comer told Hannity. “I’m not doing this for entertainment. This is a credible investigation.”

(Pause to laugh.) A credible, substantive investigation, he says. (Helpless laughter.) Man, if you have to repeat “credible investigation” like that on friendly ground like Hannity, you are giving something away.

“This will be a very transparent investigation, as it has been from the very beginning,” he added. Transparently partisan, for sure. But again, we’ve watched as Comer and other Republicans have lied and obfuscated and manufactured baseless claims about the president. We know better—but Republicans are relying on having Hunter Biden give a private deposition that they can twist and set a false narrative on before they release the transcript and only a few people bother to read the whole thing.

Tuesday on Newsmax, Comer again claimed his reasons for wanting a closed-door deposition were very serious investigative ones, complaining that a hearing doesn’t offer the opportunity to dig into the documents “without filibustering, without interruption, without going five minutes back and forth.” But then he said something that got to the real issue, complaining about “[Reps.] Jamie Raskin and Dan Goldman and little Moskowitz jumping up and down.” (Here's why Rep. Jared Moskowitz is apparently living rent-free in Comer’s head these days.)

Rep. Elise Stefanik sounded a similar note in a Wednesday interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business. “In an open public hearing, you see the Democrats turn this into a charade.” In other words, you see the Democrats push back. Stefanik also showed how fully the fix is in despite no evidence of corruption by the president. “This is not about Hunter Biden,” she said. “This is about Joe Biden and whether or not he is compromised. I believe he is fully compromised, and I believe that as we continue uncovering evidence, we will see that this is the greatest political corruption scandal of our lifetime.”

Republicans are trying to sound like Very Serious Investigators as they push for that closed-door deposition. But this comes after Comer and others have spent months showboating on Fox News and Newsmax, building a baseless public case about the president’s alleged corruption. They have nothing to show for it but partisan talking points, as we see when they subject themselves to questioning by nonpartisan reporters. Nothing about this is “a credible investigation,” and what they’re really worried about is Hunter Biden testifying publicly and putting that on view for the whole world.

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