Former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/puerto-rico">Puerto Rico</a> Governor Wanda Vázquez was arrested on Thursday on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/bribery">bribery</a> charges, according to a statement by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-justice">Department of Justice</a> (DOJ).
The federal charges are connected to the financing of Vázquez’s 2020 gubernatorial campaign. Between December 2019 and June 2020, Vásquez allegedly received $300,000 from a banker and a former FBI agent to pay political consultants for her campaign. Authorities believe that in return for the donations, Vázquez would have appointed the donors’ desired candidate to the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF).
Vázquez and other accused participants in the scheme have been charged with conspiracy, federal programs bribery, and honest services wire fraud, and face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
&#8220;The alleged bribery scheme rose to the highest levels of the Puerto Rican government, threatening public trust in our electoral processes and institutions of governance,&#8221; Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/americas/puerto-rico-wanda-vazquez-governor-arrested/index.html">said</a> in a statement.
Vázquez had previously served as Puerto Rico’s secretary of justice and as a district attorney, and she became governor in 2019, after her predecessor, Ricardo Rosselló, was forced to step down by island-wide protests after a <a href="https://www.latinorebels.com/2019/07/15/telegramgatescandal/">scandal</a> of his own.
The DOJ also <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-governor-puerto-rico-arrested-bribery-scheme">named</a> Herrera Velutini, Frances Diaz, John Blakeman, and Mark Rossini as accused participants in the corruption scheme. Velutini, 50, is a dual Venezuelan-Italian citizen and the owner of an international bank, and Diaz, a 50-year-old resident of Puerto Rico, was the bank’s president. Rossini, 60, was a former FBI special agent and a consultant for Velutini, and Blakeman, 53, is a political consultant who worked on Vázquez’s 2020 campaign.
Velutini’s bank was reportedly audited in 2019 by the OCIF. Velutini and Rossini are accused of reaching out via third parties to various political candidates and offering bribes and campaign support in exchange for the replacement of the current commissioner of the OCIF with a former consultant of Velutini’s. After Vázquez lost her party primary in 2020, the group allegedly attempted to reach out to her successor; an FBI informant posing as his representative caught them.
Diaz and Blakeman have both pleaded guilty to charges connected to the bribery scheme, according to the indictment.
Peter John Porrata, a member of Vázquez’s legal team, told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/americas/puerto-rico-wanda-vazquez-governor-arrested/index.html">CNN</a> on Thursday that Vázquez will plead not guilty to the charges.
Vázquez’s successor, Governor Pedro Pierluisi, said in response to the ruling that under his administration, there was “zero tolerance for corruption.”
&#8220;No one is above the law in Puerto Rico,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-puerto-rico-governor-wanda-vazquez-arrested-on-bribery-charges/">said</a>. &#8220;Faced with this news that certainly affects and lacerates the confidence of our people, I reiterate that in my administration, we will continue to have a common front with federal authorities against anyone who commits an improper act, no matter where it comes from or who it may implicate.&#8221;

Walter Mercado Funeral

Ex-Governor Of Puerto Rico Arrested On Bribery Charges

Ex-Governor Of Puerto Rico Wanda Vázquez Arrested On Bribery Charges

Bribery

Corruption

Department of Justice

Puerto Rico

Former Hawaii Senate Majority Leader Jamie Kalani English (D) was sentenced to 40 months in prison for taking bribes to influence legislation while in office.
English, who represented east Maui and the islands of Molokai and Lanai, pleaded guilty to honest wire services fraud in February, and admitted to taking bribes from a local business owner amounting to $18,000 in exchange for ‘shaping legislation’ that would benefit a company involved in the publicly financed conversion of cesspools.
“[English] peddled the power and influence of his position as a Hawaii State Senator and Majority Leader to enrich himself and betray the trust bestowed upon him by those he was elected to serve,” U.S. prosecutors <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/hawaii/articles/2022-07-05/ex-hawaii-senator-sentenced-to-40-months-for-taking-bribes?context=amp">said</a> in a memo to the judge, recommending a sentence of 3 and a half years in prison.
Former Hawaii state Rep Ty Cullen pleaded guilty to the same charge in a similar case and will be sentenced in October.
Richard Sing, English’s attorney, argued that his client should be sentenced to only 2 and a half years in prison, claiming that he had cooperated fully with the prosecution after his arrest and been completely honest about his dealings with the business owner in question, identified in court simply as “Person A”.
Sing also wrote that English was “was a compassionate and dedicated advocate for the rural communities and individuals he represented.” Sing declined to comment on the final sentence.
In addition to the 40 months in prison, U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway imposed a $100,000 fine on English and ordered that English be given three years of supervision after his eventual release.
“I hope this serves as a message to everyone in government that there can be no tolerance for unethical conduct,” House Speaker Scott Saiki <a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-sentencing-government-and-politics-c6f2b03da17aad4fa3a746126871dfd8">said</a> in a statement after English was sentenced.
According to his attorney, English suffers from long COVID, with symptoms including memory loss, sleep apnea, lethargy and respiratory problems. English cited these reasons when he stepped down last year, without acknowledging his previous arrest during the corruption investigation. English will begin his sentence on the 16th of August.
&nbsp;

Jamie Kalani English

Former Hawaii State Senator Sentenced To 40 Months For Taking Bribes

Aloha Cheat: Former Hawaii State Senator Sentenced To 40 Months For Taking Bribes

Democratic Party

Hawaii

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/democrats">Democrat</a> who was booted from the House of Representatives and went to prison for his role in a 1970s bribery scandal pleaded guilty Monday to stuffing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/philadelphia">Philadelphia</a>-area ballot boxes with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/voter-fraud">fraudulent votes</a> for years to get his party&#8217;s candidates elected.
Former U.S. Rep. Michael J. “Ozzie” Myers, who was expelled from Congress in 1980 after being caught taking bribes in the Abscam sting investigation, cheated to help local candidates he worked for win the elections, federal prosecutors said. Myers, 79, was a political consultant in the Philadelphia area.
“Votes are not things to be purchased and democracy is not for sale,” U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said in a news release.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Former U.S. Rep. Michael “Ozzie” Myers, convicted in the ‘70s Abscam investigation, plead guilty in Philly to fraudulently adding votes for candidates (2014-16)who had hired him. He persuaded poll workers to stuff ballot boxes. Faces 20 yrs. To life. <a href="https://t.co/3DdHNu1hZi">https://t.co/3DdHNu1hZi</a>
&mdash; ❤️🇺🇸Anne🇺🇸❤️ (@USA_Anne711) <a href="https://twitter.com/USA_Anne711/status/1534510690857365504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Myers pleaded guilty to violations of election law, conspiracy, bribery and obstruction. Prosecutors said Myers stuffed ballot boxes in elections from 2014-2018.
Myers&#8217; &#8220;criminal efforts were generally, although not exclusively, directed at securing election victories for local judicial candidates running for Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas or Municipal Court who had employed Myers as a ‘political consultant,’” prosecutors said.
Myers admitted he bribed elections judge Domenick Demuro to add votes for his chosen candidates, including clients who were running for judge. The bribes were for as little as $300 and as much as $5,000, authorities said. Demuro pleaded guilty in May 2020 and was convicted for his role in accepting bribes to cast fraudulent ballots and certify false voting results. Myers also conspired with another elections judge, Marie Beren, to pressure voters on election days to vote for candidates that Myers had selected. Been, who cast fraudulent votes for people who did not appear at the polls, pleaded guilty to election crimes last October.
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In the late 1970s Abscam sting, Myers, then a two-term congressman, was convicted of bribery and conspiracy for taking $50,000 from FBI agents posing as Arab sheiks. He served just over a year in prison. Myers had served six years in the Pennsylvania legislature before being elected to Congress in 1976.
The Abscam sting swept up five other U.S. House members all but one of whom were Democrats, U.S. Senator Harrison Williams, (D-N.J.), three Philadelphia City Council members and the then-mayor of Camden.
One of the House members netted in the sting, South Carolina Democrat John Jenrette, was famously caught telling an undercover agent posing as a sheikh and offering a bribe, &#8220;I&#8217;ve got larceny in my blood. I&#8217;d take it in a goddamn minute.&#8221;
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Myers faces up to 20 years in prison on the new charges.
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Michael Myers

Ex-Dem Congressman Who Took Abscam Bribes Admits To Rigging Philly Elections

Democrats

Philadelphia

Vote Fraud

Investigators have determined that there is &#8220;substantial reason to believe&#8221; that Democrat Rep. Marie Newman (IL) may have bribed a potential primary opponent to stay out of her race in exchange for a job in her congressional office.
&#8220;Rep. Newman, during a successful campaign for election to the U.S. House of Representatives, may have promised federal employment to a primary opponent for the purpose of procuring political support,&#8221; the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/documents/OCE%20Reports%20and%20Findings.pdf">said</a> in its report. &#8220;If Rep. Newman used her candidacy to promise federal employment, she may have violated federal law, House rules, or standards of conduct.&#8221;
The allegations stem from Newman&#8217;s 2020 congressional run when she decided to once again challenge incumbent Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) in the party&#8217;s primary after losing to him in the previous cycle.
Business Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marie-newman-bribe-primary-opponent-office-congressional-ethics-2022-1">reported</a>:
<blockquote>According to a report released on Monday, Newman may have promised a potential primary challenger, Palestinian-American professor Iymen Chehade, a job as her &#8220;foreign policy advisor and either District Director or Legislative Director&#8221; in a potential future congressional office after the two met in 2018.
Newman told the body that she sought to hire Chehade because of his knowledge on foreign and Arab-American affairs, which she felt was a shortcoming of her 2018 campaign. &#8230; The Illinois progressive claims Chehade&#8217;s potential 2020 plans did not factor into their discussions, but documents she herself provided to the body seemed to contradict her testimony: in a draft contract attached to an October 2018 email, Chehade says he will not &#8220;announce or submit his candidacy&#8221; for that district, and that &#8220;in exchange&#8221; he would be hired as Newman&#8217;s chief foreign policy advisor.</blockquote>
The two parties signed a contract in December 2018 and agreed that Chehade would be paid between $135,000 and $140,000
The report added:
<blockquote>But after that job did not materialize for Chehade, he sued Newman in January 2021 to enforce the contract they&#8217;d signed. Newman&#8217;s legal counsel, in seeking to dismiss the case, acknowledged to the House General Counsel that her contract &#8220;was violative of House employment and federal contracting rules,&#8221; according to the OCE report. That lawsuit was then settled in June 2021 and included a nondisclosure agreement &#8230;  But in May 2021, the conservative Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed a complaint with OCE, spurring the congressional inquiry.</blockquote>
Newman&#8217;s team <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/documents/Rep.%20Newman%27s%20Response.pdf">claimed</a> in a response that the OCE investigation failed to &#8220;present grounds for investigation&#8221; and claimed that &#8220;virtually every element of the allegation is false.&#8221;
&#8220;Based on the foregoing information, the Board finds that there is substantial reason to believe that during a successful campaign for election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Newman may have promised federal employment to a primary opponent for the purpose of procuring political support,&#8221; the OCE report concluded. &#8220;Accordingly, the Board recommends that the Committee further review the above allegation that Rep. Newman may have promised federal employment to a primary opponent for the purpose of procuring political support.&#8221;
The Board voted 6-0 to refer the case to the House Ethics Committee.

Marie Newman

‘Substantial Reason To Believe’ Democrat Congresswoman Bribed Primary Opponent To Not Run: Investigators

Hunter Biden, who has held a number of well-compensated positions during his life, is poised to make millions by selling his artwork to anonymous buyers, who could include foreign actors. Yet despite the inherent potential for influence peddling, the legacy media — which spent the last five years questioning every detail of the Trump family’s business deals — have not reported a single story about the latest possible Biden bribery scandal.
Hunter Biden produces abstract works of art by blowing alcohol ink through a metal straw. His creations will receive an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hunter-bidens-weird-artwork-to-get-nyc-exhibition-expected-to-fetch-1-million">exhibition</a> in New York City, where experts believe they will sell for up to $1 million apiece. The floor for a Hunter Biden original is reportedly $75,000.
That’s well above the average starving artist, whom the industry website ArtBusiness <a href="https://www.artbusiness.com/artists-how-to-price-your-art-for-sale.html">encouarges</a> to “pay yourself $20 an hour for your art,” although if your art “turns out to be more expensive than what other artists in your area charge for similar art, you may have to rethink your pricing, [and] pay yourself a little less per hour perhaps.”
But Hunter Biden is no average man. Alex Acevedo, who owns Manhattan&#8217;s Alexander Gallery, <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/06/15/hunter-bidens-artwork-is-actually-good-experts-say/">told</a> the New York Post that “anybody who buys [Biden’s art] would be guaranteed instant profit,” because “he’s the president’s son. Everybody would want a piece of that.” Another art consultant, Martin Galindo, told the Post, “I’m very positive that he’s gonna do well in the market, because this industry is very much about, what’s a simple way to put this — it’s like clout.”
But who will be getting “a piece” of the Biden scion’s “clout”? Whose money might funnel into the hands of the Biden family through an art auction? The art world shrouds Hunter Biden’s financial transactions in secrecy.
“Sales are always confidential to protect the privacy of the collector,&#8221; said The Townsend Group, which represents Biden, in a media statement. “This is standard practice for transactions in galleries as well as auction houses.&#8221;
The potential to abuse these opaque transactions is well known. “The art world has a money laundering problem,” <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/business/art-money-laundering-sanctions-senate/index.html">reported</a> CNN last July. The U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report last July which said “[s]ecrecy, anonymity, and a lack of regulation create an environment ripe for laundering money and evading sanctions.” Even the few anti-laundering policies employed by auction houses like Sotheby&#8217;s and Christie&#8217;s are “lax” and “easily circumvented.”
In a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/hunter-biden-art-scam-disclose-buyers-jason-chaffetz">Fox News op-ed</a>, former Congressman Jason Chaffetz called Hunter Biden’s anonymous art auction “an open invitation to influence buyers”:
<blockquote>Art is subjective. Who is to say just how much any piece is worth? The purchases are confidential. Who is to know if it&#8217;s a foreign government, a drug cartel, or a Ukrainian oligarch buying access to the artist or his family?  
Given the history of this particular son of this particular president, who could blame an oligarch for wanting to try? 
We already know Hunter Biden has a history of leveraging his relationship with his father to score lucrative business deals and board positions. We already know President Biden has a history of meeting with his son&#8217;s clients and lying about it.</blockquote>
Yet there has been no coverage from <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Anytimes.com&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;biw=1421&amp;bih=727&amp;source=lnt&amp;tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2020%2Ccd_max%3A&amp;tbm=">The New York Times</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Awashingtonpost.com&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;biw=1421&amp;bih=727&amp;tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2020&amp;ei=SBnNYOGcLMO5tAafrKDoBg&amp;oq=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Awashingtonpost.com&amp;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQAFgAYM6gA2gBcAB4AIABSogBSpIBATGYAQCqAQdnd3Mtd2l6wAEB&amp;sclient=gws-wiz&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjh4Lf4mKLxAhXDHM0KHR8WCG0Q4dUDCA0&amp;uact=5">The Washington Post</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Acnn.com&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;biw=1421&amp;bih=727&amp;tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2020&amp;ei=kxnNYLbGCpCStAbryLUw&amp;oq=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Acnn.com&amp;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQpQ5YpQ5ghRBoAXAAeACAAU2IAZkBkgEBMpgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrAAQE&amp;sclient=gws-wiz&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj22_ebmaLxAhUQCc0KHWtkDQYQ4dUDCA0&amp;uact=5">CNN</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Amsnbc.com&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;biw=1421&amp;bih=727&amp;tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2020&amp;ei=vBnNYI_gHZS6tAaP4atw&amp;oq=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Amsnbc.com&amp;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQiURY70xggk5oAXAAeACAAboBiAGkB5IBAzkuMZgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrAAQE&amp;sclient=gws-wiz&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiPrtGvmaLxAhUUHc0KHY_wCg4Q4dUDCA0&amp;uact=5">MSNBC</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Aapnews.com&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;biw=1421&amp;bih=727&amp;tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2020&amp;ei=xxnNYKRw2Nu1BuuiiYAF&amp;oq=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Aapnews.com&amp;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQ7VxY9m1g0G5oBXAAeACAAaYBiAHPCJIBBDEyLjGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6wAEB&amp;sclient=gws-wiz&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjk79O0maLxAhXYbc0KHWtRAlAQ4dUDCA0&amp;uact=5">The Associated Press</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Areuters.com&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;biw=1421&amp;bih=727&amp;tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2020&amp;ei=1RnNYOfUL4TdtQb-9q6QCg&amp;oq=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Areuters.com&amp;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQnDNYnzhghDtoAXAAeACAAZUBiAHrBJIBAzUuMpgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrAAQE&amp;sclient=gws-wiz&amp;ved=0ahUKEwink9m7maLxAhWEbs0KHX67C6IQ4dUDCA0&amp;uact=5">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Anbcnews.com&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;biw=1421&amp;bih=727&amp;tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2020&amp;ei=3hnNYIL_CdSP9PwPpYmtcA&amp;oq=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Anbcnews.com&amp;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQq4UBWPqMAWDHjwFoAXAAeACAAXqIAd0EkgEDNS4ymAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&amp;sclient=gws-wiz&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiC5ti_maLxAhXUB50JHaVECw4Q4dUDCA0&amp;uact=5">NBC News</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Aabcnews.go.com&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;biw=1421&amp;bih=727&amp;tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2020&amp;ei=8RnNYLy_D9SDtQbNs6GIDQ&amp;oq=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Aabcnews.go.com&amp;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQuwtYyRtg3hxoAHAAeACAAd4BiAGlBJIBBTQuMC4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&amp;sclient=gws-wiz&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj8--XImaLxAhXUQc0KHc1ZCNEQ4dUDCA0&amp;uact=5">ABC News</a>, or <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Acbsnews.com&amp;client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;biw=1421&amp;bih=727&amp;tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2020&amp;ei=8RnNYLy_D9SDtQbNs6GIDQ&amp;oq=%22hunter+biden%22+art+anonymous+site%3Acbsnews.com&amp;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQ4W5Y2XRgw3VoAXAAeACAAVOIAfoCkgEBNZgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrAAQE&amp;sclient=gws-wiz&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj8--XImaLxAhXUQc0KHc1ZCNEQ4dUDCA0&amp;uact=5">CBS News</a>. Only one of these outlets, The New York Times, reported on Biden’s artwork in a celebratory human interest story titled “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/arts/design/hunter-biden-art.html">There’s a New Artist in Town. The Name Is Biden</a>.” The story mentions the first son’s desire to break into the art world but says nothing about the art world’s sales anonymity.
It also refers to Biden’s enormous payments by the Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father was vice president as “curious overseas dealings.”
Compare that to media treatment of the Trump family’s business dealings. Critics tried to impeach Trump for allegedly violating the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/5-reasons-trump-isnt-going-be-impeached-aaron-bandler">emolouments clause</a> of the U.S. Constitution, which legal experts said is <a href="https://hotair.com/allahpundit/2016/11/25/former-bush-ethics-lawyer-the-electoral-college-should-block-trump-if-hes-violating-the-emoluments-clause-n239888">inapplicable</a> to the Trump Organization’s business dealings.
The world’s largest news agency, The Associated Press, held Donald Trump’s family retroactively accountable for foreign agreements signed before he ever became president. After spending an entire story listing Trump’s foreign deals, the AP noted in the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-donald-trump-ap-top-news-new-delhi-international-news-14a2355aba214af9af72d54a1adf6c66">next-to-the-last paragraph</a>, “All the projects were signed before President Trump took office, but promoting even existing business has raised ethics concerns.”
The AP did the same last September after The New York Times published an unverified report that Trump ran up $421 million in debt over an 18-year period almost exclusively before he took office. The AP <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-donald-trump-business-elizabeth-warren-national-security-042cc007c36cf773558bfd250c9701df">article</a> claimed that “ethics experts see national security concern in Trump&#8217;s debt.” The first “expert” quoted was Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who said Trump “may be vulnerable to financial blackmail from a hostile foreign power and God knows what else.” Only 27 paragraphs into the story does the reporter cite anyone blunting the torrent of accusations … and only for one paragraph.
After assuming office, the accusations continued. MSNBC <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trumps-no-foreign-deals-pledge-came-asterisk-msna1069941">claimed</a> that Trump&#8217;s company is “literally selling access to the president&#8217;s son overseas.” When President Trump kept his campaign promise to donate all profits earned overseas to the U.S. Treasury — cutting the government a check for <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-org-reports-191000-profit-foreign-governments-cuts/story?id=61303571">$191,000</a> — ABC News reported, “Government ethics watchdogs and congressional Democrats have questioned the president’s pledge in the past.” MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-s-banker-raises-eyebrows-unexpected-retirement-n1252222">tried</a> to turn the retirement of a banker tied to Donald Trump into a scandal (although retirement at 60 is far from unusual in Europe).
After Hunter Biden promised to avoid foreign business if his father became president, The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/13/media-needs-focus-real-corruption/">wrote</a> that the media should take it easy on him and “focus on the real corruption” of the Trump family. “Ivanka, Jared, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. have been given the kid glove treatment by the media,” Rubin asserted.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/01/trump-brothers-claims-that-they-no-longer-profit-foreign-deals/">criticized</a> “the continued existence of Trump properties around the world,” such as the president’s golf course in Scotland. (Apparently upon taking office, Trump should have napalmed his course into oblivion.)
The media’s interest in business transparency has evaporated now that Hunter Biden has decided to ply his trade in an industry with an acknowledged money laundering problem. Chaffetz noted the media’s double standard:
<blockquote>After four years of unending exasperation from Democrats about the dealings of the Trump legitimate businesses, established before Donald Trump entered the political world, it would be reasonable to expect Hunter Biden to get some level of scrutiny. A few questions perhaps?
&#8220;Have we heard a Democrat mention the &#8220;emoluments clause&#8221; yet? I don’t think so.&#8221;</blockquote>
To alleviate bribery concerns, Chaffetz said that Hunter Biden should voluntarily disclose the name of everyone who purchases any piece of his art. “Let the public scrutinize the buyers and their motives,” he wrote.
Let the public also scrutinize the media’s selective coverage, which tells a great deal about their motives.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

World Food Program USA’s Annual McGovern-Dole Leadership Award Ceremony

‘Potential For Bribery’: Media Silent About Hunter Biden’s Anonymous ‘Art’ Sales

Hunter Biden

Joe Biden

Media Bias

The Department of Justice is investigating a potential bribery scheme that allegedly sought to funnel money in the form of a &#8220;political contribution&#8221; in exchange for a &#8220;presidential pardon or reprieve of sentence.&#8221;
The revelation, which was made in court <a href="https://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/sites/dcd/files/20gj35%20Partial%20Unsealing%20Order.pdf">documents</a> that were unsealed on Tuesday in federal court, does not disclose &#8220;a timeline of the alleged scheme, or any names of people potentially involved, except that communications between people including at least one lawyer were seized from an office that was raided sometime before the end of this summer,&#8221; CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/01/politics/presidential-pardon-justice-department/index.html">reported</a>. &#8220;No one appears to have been publicly charged with a related crime to date.&#8221;
The court documents state that &#8220;over fifty digital media devices, including iPhones, iPads, laptops, thumb drives, and computer and external hard drives&#8221; were seized that allegedly contained evidence of &#8220;criminal activity,&#8221; specifically a &#8220;secret lobbying scheme&#8221; in which unnamed individuals acted as lobbyists to senior White House officials without registering as lobbyists, in accordance with U.S. law, to secure &#8220;a pardon or reprieve of sentence.&#8221;
&#8220;The heavily redacted documents revealed Tuesday do not name the individuals involved or President Donald Trump,&#8221; NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/doj-investigating-potential-white-house-bribery-pardon-scheme-n1249609">reported</a>. &#8220;They also do not indicate if any White House officials had knowledge of the scheme.&#8221;
Trump responded to the report late on Tuesday evening, writing on Twitter: &#8220;Pardon investigation is Fake News!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Pardon investigation is Fake News!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1333979211745341441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
CNN separately <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/01/politics/trump-rudy-giuliani-pardons/index.html">reported</a> that Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani is one individual that some Trump associates are pushing Trump to pardon:
<blockquote>President Donald Trump&#8217;s associates are making appeals to him in the hopes of obtaining pardons before he leaves office, a source familiar with the matter told CNN on Tuesday.
The source said the list of associates broaching the subject of preemptive pardons that would seek to shield those individuals from prosecution includes Rudy Giuliani, who has been leading the President&#8217;s long-shot legal battles to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in his role as Trump&#8217;s personal attorney. &#8230;
Giuliani denied discussing a preemptive pardon with the President, telling CNN that The &#8220;(New York) Times is completely wrong.&#8221; He further denied that he has talked to anyone at the White House about a pardon for himself.
It&#8217;s not clear what potential criminal exposure Giuliani or other associates are attempting to preempt. But the first source familiar with the discussions went on to cite what friends and allies of the President see as hostility from the incoming Biden administration toward Trump associates.</blockquote>

White House

DOJ Investigating Alleged Attempt To Bribe White House For ‘Presidential Pardon,’ 50+ Devices Seized