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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDemocrats Privately Mull Biden-for-Bolton Trade
Democrats Privately Mull Biden-for-Bolton Trade
January 21, 2020 at 8:28 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 70 Comments
https://politicalwire.com/2020/01/21/democrats-privately-mull-biden-for-bolton-trade/
"SNIP....
Several Senate Democrats are privately discussing the possibility of calling Republicans bluff on witnesses, weighing an unusual trade in President Trumps impeachment trial: the testimony of Hunter Biden for the testimony of a key administration official, the Washington Post reports.
Publicly, most Democrats have scoffed at the growing GOP clamor to hear former vice president Joe Bidens son testify, dismissing him as irrelevant to the charges against Trump.
But behind closed doors, a small group of Democratic senators and aides have begun to question that logic, sounding out their colleagues on whether they should back a witness deal that could lead to testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton or other administration officials with possible firsthand knowledge of the Ukraine controversy,
......SNIP"
RandySF
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applegrove
(118,759 posts)WhiskeyGrinder
(22,399 posts)I'll delete my part of the convo as well.
applegrove
(118,759 posts)scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)NewsCenter28
(1,835 posts)This is our ticket for conviction right here. We should take it.
ancianita
(36,132 posts)You really think Republicans operate in good faith?
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)And there's absolutely no guarantee that Bolton's testimony would come out favorably for the impeachment.
Bad, bad idea.
Autumn
(45,120 posts)ChubbyStar
(3,191 posts)Bring him in, let him shine a light.
budkin
(6,713 posts)Biden has absolutely nothing to hide.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)I just like seeing them.
msongs
(67,433 posts)dem4decades
(11,301 posts)Phoenix61
(17,015 posts)applegrove
(118,759 posts)apparently are.
Calista241
(5,586 posts)They're going to ask him how he got his job, and basically nothing he says helps his Dad's campaign. He'll probably end up taking the 5th to avoid answering questions, and that would be that as far as Joe Biden's presidential hopes are concerned.
applegrove
(118,759 posts)LOL. Not funny.
dweller
(23,651 posts)preen his walrus stash and blabber all he wants... no subpoena necessary...
he's just looking to bunk up booksales the little fuck 😡
he's no patriot nor whistleblower nor important except in his own false narrative
fn poser... fuck him and his book bs
✌🏼
✌🏼
dustyscamp
(2,224 posts)on most of his answers the deal should be called off
UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)forward with it to the American people? Not a good look and more info will come out, now or later...I hope the pukes pay for this.
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)The contents have already been vetted by the WH legal beagles, too.
ancianita
(36,132 posts)Other reasons:
Biden is innocent. The Republicans know that everyone knows this, so they can't just flip him like bait to the Republicans for the one guy who can sink Trump.
But consider that even with Bolton testimony, McConnell's trained seal response will guarantee an acquittal anyway.
This deal won't happen.
Tech
(1,771 posts)good idea.
Me.
(35,454 posts)and who knows what Bolton will say. I, for one, don't trust him.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)witnesses. Shouldnt be necessary, but it is.
In any event, like how Democrats are handling things tonight, showing damning testimony from House hearings.
Gothmog
(145,489 posts)Here are some facts including that the fact that Hunter was a biglaw firm that was advising this company https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/1/5/1907833/-The-long-awaited-defense-of-Hunter-Biden
He ended his lobbying career and left the Amtrak board as his father became vice president, then started another consulting firm in 2008, as noted by Newsweek.
In 2008, Hunter Biden also founded Seneca Global Advisors, a consulting firm that helps companies expand into global markets. His earnings from Rosemont Seneca and Seneca Global Advisors are not publicly available.
Biden then joined the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, which features superstar lawyer David Boies as its primary partner and chairman. While at Boies Schiller, Biden was involved in advising Burisma, which was a client at the time being personally handled by Biden, who was advising them on corporate reform, according to Hunter Bidens lawyer, George Mesires:
In April 2014, Hunter was asked to join the board of Burisma, the largest independent natural gas producer in Ukraine. At the time, Hunter was of counsel with Boies Schiller Flexner LLP [fn 1] (Boies Schiller), a major U.S. law firm, and was advising Burisma on its corporate reform initiatives, an important aspect of fueling Burismas international growth and diversity. Vibrant energy production, particularly natural gas, was central to Ukraines independence and to stemming the tide of Vladimir Putins attack on the principles of a democratic Europe.
To further its goals of independence, Burisma sought to adopt standards and practices traditionally employed by Western companies. At Hunters urging, Boies Schiller engaged Nardello & Co., a leading global investigative firm, to assess, among other things, Burismas corporate structure and governance practices. Burisma agreed to pay the legal expenses of Boies Schiller to support Hunter in developing corporate reform initiatives.
Because of Burismas stated commitment to corporate best practices, it was able to attract well-qualified board members, including the former president of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski, a leading advocate of democratic principles in the region. President Kwasniewski, familiar with Hunters work on behalf of Burisma, recommended that Hunter join the board.
Again, this view is consistent that Biden ultimately joined by the board for Burisma Holdings to help it with its efforts regarding corporate governance, as noted by Wikipedia.
In the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, Mykola Zlochevsky faced a money laundering investigation,[33][34] and his company Burisma Holdings, the largest natural gas producer in Ukraine,[14] assembled a "high-profile international board" in response.[35][34] Biden, then an attorney with Boies Schiller Flexner, was hired to help Burisma with corporate governance best practices, and a consulting firm in which Biden is a partner was also retained by Burisma.[36][37][38] Chris Heinz, John Kerry's stepson, opposed his partners Devon Archer and Hunter Biden joining the board in 2014 due to the reputational risk.[34] Among those who joined the board of directors in April 2014 were Biden, Archer and former Polish president Aleksander Kwaśniewski.[39] Biden served on the board of Burisma until his term expired in April 2019,[40] receiving compensation of up to $50,000 per month in some months.[37][41]
So it appears that Biden was placed on the board of Burisma as part of its effort to clean up its practices after the allegations of money laundering by Zlochevsky, which had previously occurred in 2012. Biden took a pay cut to be on the board compared to what hed earned as an investment banker, although it may have been an upgrade compared to what he likely earned at Boies Schiller. Biden had nothing to do with the investigation of Zlochevsky and was never investigated himself.
Being on the board of AMTRACK and being with the biglaw firm that was advising this company are sufficient qualifications for Hunter to be appointed on the board.
applegrove
(118,759 posts)Gothmog
(145,489 posts)Link to tweet
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This is my theory, pure speculation, said Smerconish. I have this vision on the Democratic side of the aisle, some who know Hunter Biden, are sort of rubbing their hands and saying, yeah, yeah, just keep begging for this guy.
The Republicans have created such a caricature of him. In other words, they set the bar so low, continued Smerconish. And then all of a sudden, Hunter Biden comes in. Hes a handsome guy. Hes articulate. Hes smart. He went to Georgetown, he went to Yale Law. He puts sentences together that are not indicative of having committed anything illicit, other than earning money, perhaps because of the name with which he was bestowed. And Americans say, Oh my god, is that all there is? It could completely backfire. Its one of the intangibles. I dont know, but Im paying attention.
herding cats
(19,566 posts)It gives legitimacy to Trump's invalid claims to his supporters, and I'm not convinced Bolton isn't going to dance a fine line which teases his book and answers nothing.
Admittedly, I'm not in the actual loop here, and I do trust our leadership, who are, to know more. However, I'm still worried about being gamed by the GOP on this one.
It all comes down to how much we can trust Bolton. Which explains my concern.
stillcool
(32,626 posts)than Bolton. My Bidens are worth a Bolton, plus a whole bunch of testimony from a whole bunch of witnesses. No deal.
Gothmog
(145,489 posts)Progressive Jones
(6,011 posts)NiteOwl1
(87 posts)The Biden's have absolutely no relevance to the President's Impeachment. None whatsoever.
just one more attempt at distraction from the truth... one more play to thee GOP base and one more attempt at making a mockery of the assault on the Constitution that the GOP is undertaking.
They are trying to figure out a way to be a minority and still wag the dog.
ecstatic
(32,727 posts)Let's get serious. Are we really going to put out a sacrificial lamb just so one of their lying, trump worshipping frauds can take the witness stand? Fuck Bolton and all the rest of the GOP.
crickets
(25,982 posts)He had his chance to do the right thing. I don't trust his mercenary ass to tell the truth, and there is no reason whatsoever to legitimize any call for either Biden to testify.