Buttigieg: I would not have wanted my son on Ukraine board

[Quixote1818]

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — Pete Buttigieg said Monday that he “would not have wanted to see” his son serving on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company while he was leading anti-corruption efforts in the country, an implicit criticism of the controversy that has ensnared his 2020 Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden.

Hunter Biden’s position on the board of the company Burisma has been a rallying point for Republicans as they try to defend President Donald Trump against impeachment charges over Trump asking Ukraine’s new president to investigate the former vice president and his son while also withholding crucial U.S. military aid.

Buttigieg, the childless mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said in an Associated Press interview that his administration would “do everything we can to prevent even the appearance of a conflict. That’s very important because as we see it can create a lot of complications even when there is no wrongdoing.”

More: https://apnews.com/47ffb57f286f5b57c3edffd739e13ed6

[napi21]

1. Pete needs to recognize that a dad all the decisions for and adult son.

We don't know if Joe wanted Hunter on that Board either. But Hunter wasn't a kid & I suspect when he was offered the BIG MONEY it was hard to say no.

[pnwmom]

17. We know Joe had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with Hunter.

IOW, he thought he could avoid a conflict of appearance problem by simply telling Hunter not to inform him where he was doing business.

But that's not how conflict of interest rules work. You're supposed to avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest, as Hunter acknowledges NOW.

So he issued a statement in October:

https://deadline.com/2019/10/hunter-biden-vows-avoid-conflicts-of-interest-if-his-father-is-elected-president-1202759158/

“Under a Biden Administration, Hunter will readily comply with any and all guidelines or standards a President Biden may issue to address purported conflicts of interest, or the appearance of such conflicts, including any restrictions related to overseas business interests,” the statement said. “He will continue to keep his father personally uninvolved in his business affairs.”

Bloomberg reported that Hunter Biden released the statement without direction from his father, citing an unnamed source.

[DanieRains]

31. Leave Hunter Alone - Every Single Corporation Is Corrupt To A Point - Some Just More Than Others

There are 70,000 tax loopholes in our IRS Code, all paid for by lobbyists handing out campaign contributions etc.

91 Fortune 500 companies paid ZERO corporate income tax.

Our whole system of Wall Street Greed is corrupt from top to bottom, and through and through.

See ALEC for instance. Corporate written legislation.

Maybe Burisma is more corrupt than Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, BOA, Comcast etc? Maybe not.

It is just corruption by different levels of degrees.

I read 25,000 people died from taking Vioxx and not one single person went to jail.

Bernie, and Elizabeth are telling us the game is rigged.

IT IS RIGGED.

Leave Hunter Alone!!!!

If the system actually worked, Trump would have been locked up years ago for all his crimes, and scams.

[Thekaspervote]

33. This! When mayor Pete has kids then he can weigh in more appropriately

[stopdiggin]

39. Nope. and nope.

I agree with you on a lot of points, but I'm calling you on this one. This is the same logic that says that people who don't wear a uniform can have no opinions on policing, or military actions. People that are not married can have no opinions on marital relationships. Those that are not teachers know nothing about education. Only a farmer may have valid input on farming practice or policy. I know this is something that is commonly (and all too frequently) "tossed out" .. but it's just wrong headed.

[yankeepants]

50. Sorry. As a person without children this is a very tired argument. Please refrain.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

78. Wow... by that strange logic, one could argue Biden should refrain from commenting on presidential

matters unless and until he is elected President. In that case, that clearly won't happen, since Joe will have nothing to talk about regarding what he would do as President, so he should withdraw from the race. Seems logical based on your argument!!


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[dsc]

100. Funny my gay money is good enough to pay for schools, subsidized day care

free tuition to college, and a whole host of other things my gay, childless money is used for but I get to STFU Faggot if I dare comment on parenting. Fuck that noise. And yes, being gay has a whole bunch to do with it. For the majority of my adult life adoption was not an option for me solely due to being gay.

[pnwmom]

38. I don't accept the "everybody does it" argument. Hunter admits he'd do it differently today.

Not that he or his father took any corrupt actions -- but that he failed to avoid the necessary APPEARANCE of conflict of interest. His father wouldn't have to be fighting this attack today if Hunter had avoided lucrative business deals in countries where Biden was negotiating on behalf of the US.

George Kent addressed the issue in his impeachment testimony.

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2019/dec/16/silence-year-what-did-hunter-biden-do-burisma/

Staff at the State Department said they expressed concerns in 2015 when Hunter Biden started serving on the board of Burisma.

George Kent, the senior anticorruption coordinator in the State Department's European Bureau, recently testified in the impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Kent said he raised the issue with the vice president’s staff, but was told that the vice president's son Beau was dying of cancer and that "there was no further bandwidth to deal with family-related issues at that time."

[Aquaria]

79. Oh for crying out loud

By that definition of a conflict of interest, any job Hunter Biden took would have applied.

Take a job with the government? There would be an appearance of a conflict of interest because his dad was VP and in a position of influence there.

Take a job as a teacher? Well, every administration oversees education policies, so there would be an appearance of a conflict of interest.

Work for a defense contractor? Gee, imagine the screeching about the obvious potential appearance of a conflict of interest with that one.

Whatever job he took under such a ridiculously broad definition, there’s a potential for the appearance of a conflict of interest, because there isn’t anything that our government doesn’t touch.

So are you proposing that the adult children of powerful politicians are supposed to starve, or mooch off that parent until said parent leaves office?

The problem isn’t Hunter Biden doing what adult children of the powerful have been doing since time immemorial. It’s with idiots with an axe to grind expressing selective outrage about which kid of the powerful gets the perk of being a powerful person’s kid.

I can absolutely guarantee that 90% of the boards of directors have someone thoroughly unqualified to be at the boardroom table, but who is sitting there anyway because he or she has a rich or powerful parent. And about 90% of those idiot trust fund brats are the children of traitor hypocrite conservafilth who are screeching the loudest about Hunter Biden and Burisma right now. Or bankrolling those doing the screeching.

And it’s not like someone who has been a lawyer, served on the board of Amtrak and worked as a lobbyist was unqualified to be on a gas company board, anyway. Hunter Biden was probably more qualified to be there than 99% of trust fund brats sitting on oil and gas boards right fricking now.

[pnwmom]

93. There wouldn't have been the same problem with US work. Biden wasn't negotiating with companies here

[treestar]

81. But that's for you; you avoid the appearance of your conflict

Other adults do what they do. We should not give the right any quarter whatsoever on this subject.

[boomer_wv]

2. And here comes the next....

Candidate trying to take cheap shots at Biden. He'll also be the next candidate to suffer for it.



“do everything we can to prevent even the appearance of a conflict."

Here's the thing. There is nothing that you can do. If a Presidents adult son wants to take a job with a foreign company, what can said President do to stop them? Presidents don't have authority to make employment decisions for citizens do they? All you can do is ensure that no special treatment is given to them or their companies based on that connection, and that's what happened with the Bidens.

For Buttigieg to bring this up in a way that makes it seem that something unethical was going on.

Buttigieg was my #2. That's no longer the case.

[Thekaspervote]

34. +1000😊

[pnwmom]

40. Hunter says that he wouldn't take such a job if his father, as President, asked him not to.

They could have had the same understanding when he was the VP, but chose their don't ask don't tell policy instead.

What could Biden have done? If his son was determined to do business in Ukraine, then Biden could have excused himself from doing diplomatic work in Ukraine, citing conflict of interest. And Obama would have honored that decision. The Obama administration had a whole State Department full of people who could have filled in for Biden.

[boomer_wv]

66. Oh please.

Obama was fully aware of Hunter Bidens associations in Ukraine and asked Biden to do this anyway. Clearly he didn't think it was enough that Biden should recuse himself from involvement in Ukraine.

[pnwmom]

71. George Kent testified to the House that people in the Obama administration expressed concern

about Hunter's employment by Burisma but thought Biden didn't have the "bandwidth" to deal with the issue because his other son was dying.

[boomer_wv]

73. And??????

Obama still trusted him more than anyone else to deal with Ukraine.

[pnwmom]

75. Unfortunately for Biden, he was still left with the appearance of a potential conflict of interest,

which the R's are using against him now.

None of this would matter if Biden weren't running for President.

[Aquaria]

80. Bullshit.

There was no appearance of a conflict of interest, anymore than there would have been one if Hunter Biden had been a doctor while Obama and Biden pushed for the ACA.

Were they supposed to stop pushing for the ACA because there might be the stupid appearance of a conflict of interest of getting Hunter more patients? Was Hunter supposed to stop being a doctor to avoid even the slightest appearance of benefitting from his father’s policies?

That’s why this “appearance” of a conflict of interest assertion is so damned stupid. When the US government touches everything in some way, morons with an axe to grind would have found a way to get outraged about anything Hunter Biden could have worked as. Because anything the government did could intersect with any job he might perform.

[boomer_wv]

96. Meanwhile

Donald Trump is literally spending hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer funds at his hotels and he has ppl talking about Joe Biden being corrupt. And everyone who wants to attack Biden goes right along.

Luckily most are smart enough to see through it all.

[Sienna86]

102. I agree.

Even if not unethical on their parts, it give the appearance of being so.

[LeftTurn3623]

47. Cry me a river

It’s bloody politics and you can’t say something that is a weakness for another candidate?

Give me a break


And he is talking about policy. He isn’t just attacking him - that is a policy issue

[boomer_wv]

65. You can cry for me.

It your guy that's killing his campaign over this.

Ask Kamala Harris and Cory Booker how this strategy plays out.

It's not a policy issue, it's clearly an attack on Biden.

[LeftTurn3623]

98. It is a attack on a policy issue

I do not think anything was done wrong but you don’t do things that can look wrong and that’s what Pete is saying and I agree. Why should I criticize other politicians and just say it’s ok for Biden


Not to mention that Biden himself and his son say they wouldn’t do it again.

[boomer_wv]

105. Policy

Ok lol

[treestar]

83. There's no weakness as nothing wrong was done

Using this just helps Republicans at this point. Biden is likely to be the nominee. Why help Republicans cause damage?

[LeftTurn3623]

99. You mean like Biden attack Warren

With Republican talking points on Heath care?

But I guess if Biden does it then it’s ok?

[treestar]

101. Not really; I don't know what you are referring to

but health care is different from false, Republican-created "scandal." It's not a criticism, it's a false accusation.

[treestar]

82. Indeed! It is giving aid and comfort to the Republicans!

We should stand against the Republicans on this. Using this to attempt to gain an advantage over Biden is very wrong. It allows Republicans to act as if there is smoke and thus fire. It has been established neither of them did anything wrong! So using this lets Republicans use it.

[emmaverybo]

3. Oh dear. This does not help Pete Buttigieg.

[jberryhill]

4. Lol, yah, imagine running your adult son's life

I have several children in their 20’s. I can imagine the laughter if I tried to make their decisions for them.

[mopinko]

9. dude, i had to give up that shit at about 16 to save my own life.

[jberryhill]

11. You didn't tell them what jobs they could or could not have

[mopinko]

12. oh hell no. any job, please, please, please. any job.

sell weed on the corner. just get off my couch.

i survived 5 of them.
i've seen shit.
i've done shit.
i'm not sorry.
dont fuck w me.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

18. So why doesn't that apply to a candidate's wife and the independent decisions she makes?!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[question everything]

23. Said wife has been active in the campaign, at least in 2016

Especially where tax returns were sought. I am not aware of Hunter being involved.

[fleabiscuit]

29. Well, some time was spent in Russia by the pair.

However, Hunter was paid by the Ukrainian government, not by donations to a candidate.

[pnwmom]

41. The alternative was for Biden to excuse himself from negotiating in Ukraine,

citing the need to avoid an appearance of conflict of interest.

It's not as if Biden's participation was vital. Obama had a State Department full of highly capable people who could have filled in.

[treestar]

85. 20/20 hindsight

quit trying to help Republicans, please. We should be pointing out they are cleared, not agreeing with them.

[Mme. Defarge]

5. He's a small town mayor who is not qualified

to run for the highest office in the land and is not wearing well as a candidate. Something about this does pass the smell test and my hinky meter is starting to buzz.

[dalton99a]

21. He's trying to rake in as much money as he can before his Waterloo in South Carolina

Regardless the small-town mayor is set for life. Running for president was a stroke of genius

[BeyondGeography]

24. One way or another, he's getting the hell out of Indiana

Mission Accomplished and a job well done, lad.

[totodeinhere]

110. I'm not sure what you are implying. There are restrictions on what he can do with leftover campaign

funds. He just can't go out and use those funds to cover his personal non-campaign expenses. But he could roll over the funds to another political campaign or donate the funds to the DNC.

[justhanginon]

53. Thank you! My sentiments exactly. The most overrated,

underqualified candidate does not work for me. With so many good candidates, he is way down my list.

[R B Garr]

6. Ugh, I'm more concerned about Trump's kids, no security

clearances, working in the White House, not qualified for their jobs.

[still_one]

37. Yes, and they are fair game because they are part of this administration as you pointed out

[treestar]

87. This! Republicans can not speak on this without hypocrisy

Just like any sexual type sins, Dotard does not get to use what he does against others. And the Bidens did not evey do anything wrong.

[oasis]

7. Huh?

[Cha]

8. That's nice

[BootinUp]

43. Lol. Oh my dear Cha, you crack me up.

[Cha]

45. ..

Thanks.. you made me laugh

[matt819]

10. No longer impressed with Buttigieg

His constant harping on Biden and Pelosi are annoying

[Thekaspervote]

35. This!

[onecaliberal]

13. Oh for fucks sake.

[SaschaHM]

14. Chest puffing.

Either his Iowa internals are good and he's turning his sights toward Biden or they're terrible and he's trying to stop a Biden resurgence.

If anything, I think Pete is past his sell by date now. His numbers among AA and non-college white voters aren't improving and he's really not doing anything that will make the people opposed to him like him during his next inevitable run. He was a very long shot VP candidate and now his Biden attacks make his long shot at being a lower cabinet secretary even longer.

He'll always have his hardcore supporters though so financially he'll be well off regardless of his next step as I expect there to be a political memoir out in 2021.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

15. GOOD FOR MAYOR PETE!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[fleabiscuit]

26. That fits perfectly. Don't change a thing. nt

[quickesst]

16. let's get a couple of things straight....

.... about Pete Buttigieg. There is no way on Earth he can honestly say he would not have voted for the Iraq War since he was nowhere near the events at the time, much less a senator. Chuck Schumer voted for the Iraq War, yet no one seems concerned that he is the minority leader of the United States Senate, and is deeply involved in one of the most important events in our lifetimes. The impeachment of Donald Trump. Why is there no doubt about his ability to perform his duties? Where is the outrage? There is only one reason for the outrage by Buttigeug and some here expressed towards Joe Biden. It is an outrage of convenience for one purpose and one purpose only, and everyone, I mean everyone knows it is a political purpose.
Secondly, and this is an easy one. His comments concerning Joe Biden and his son has got to be one of the most petty, juvenile attacks on another candidate on the Democratic side. As far as I'm concerned his charade as an adult has come to an end.

[yardwork]

61. Well said.

[quickesst]

91. thanks

I just wanted to show how illogical the premise of his statement was.

[treestar]

88. +1

And it just helps Republicans by indicating there could be something wrong there.

[quickesst]

92. I agree

It has been proven over and over again that Hunter Biden and Joe Biden did nothing wrong or illegal, but Pete buttigieg's statement suggests there might be. If he keeps up this illogical nonsense, he could well become a gold mine for republicans. I hope he can get back on an even keel.

[totodeinhere]

111. Just look at the mess in Iraq right now. It's a direct result in Shrub's lies and

deceits and those who voted for the war, included Democrats were his enablers.

[quickesst]

114. why is there no animosity....

.... and outrage toward Chuck Schumer? Why single out Joe Biden. Like I said, everyone knows why, and it's an outrage of convenience for a political, and not a moral purpose. Otherwise, we would have been hearing about the outrage toward all the senators who voted for that war but it seems the only time we hear about it is advantageous and politically convenient to do so. Go back on Democratic Underground during the 8 years Joe Biden was vice president, and you tell me how many threads were generated concerning outrage towards him over his vote. Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, and all the other senators who voted for that war made a terrible judgement call, but they are all good people and should not be demonized forever for one bad decision.

[totodeinhere]

115. Well in my comment I did not single out Biden. I called out all Democrats who voted for the war. n/t

[quickesst]

116. if true, then the question remains....

What about Chuck Schumer? Should he be replaced as Senate minority leader, and removed from presiding over any aspect of the Trump impeachment? Does it disqualify him from these crucially important positions?

[totodeinhere]

117. I am not the biggest fan of Schumer, but I would not go that far. n/t

[quickesst]

118. would you go that far....

.... in respect to Joe Biden's bid for the White House?

[totodeinhere]

119. I will vote for Joe if he gets the nomination. n/t

[quickesst]

120. I suppose we can agree on one thing.

Both Bernie and Joe are better than Trump, but, so is a ham sandwich.

[question everything]

19. I also think that this happened the same time that his other son

was battling cancer. So he had enough on his mind.

[dalton99a]

22. Pete has an answer for that one: "I would not have wanted my son to have cancer"

Because cancer ruins perfection

[justhanginon]

54. But, but he said it in 146 different languages

so his hindsight is perfection.

[dalton99a]

70. It is important to strive for perfection

https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-pete-buttigieg-donor-pushed-cash-for-fatties-program
Top Buttigieg Donor Pushed ‘Cash for Fatties’ Program

As the Democratic primary’s battle for financial transparency rages on, one of the South Bend mayor’s top bundlers—tasked with helping him collect enough contributions to compete robustly in the nominating contest—previously urged the federal government to offer cash handouts to predominantly red-state Americans to lose massive amounts of weight.

That proposed incentive, detailed in a 279-word blog post, was titled “Cash for Fatties.”

“The government should institute a program in which people are paid to lose weight,” Wendy Wanderman, a top Buttigieg bundler and entertainment executive who specializes in film marketing and production, wrote on HuffPost’s website in 2009. “You can only register for this program if it is determined that you are heavily overweight. If you enroll in a weight loss program like Weight Watchers, (the gov’t will pay for it whether you have health insurance or not) and lose a significant amount of weight, the gov’t will pay you a fee. If you keep the weight off after 6 months or a year, the gov’t will give you an additional payment,” she wrote.

“We’ve seen the success of the Cash for Clunkers program. I’d like to see the administration go forward with a program called Cash for Fatties,” Wanderman wrote, referencing a federal program that provided financial incentives for residents to purchase fuel-efficient cars while trading in less-efficient models.

[pnwmom]

42. That is what George Kent said -- that with his son dying, Biden didn't have the "bandwidth" to deal

with the concerns being brought to him about Hunter's work for Burisma.

But the other option that people seem to be overlooking was that Biden could have excused himself from Ukraine assignments, citing conflict of interest.

[comradebillyboy]

64. But there was no conflict of interest.

[pnwmom]

72. I didn't say there was.

Conflict of interest rules tell employees to avoid the APPEARANCE of one, not just the reality of one. And Hunter's position opened the door to a conflict, even though he never walked through it.

[aikoaiko]

20. Optics are important when you are an elected official.

[helpisontheway]

25. Buttigieg needs to shut the hell up..He should know you can't tell

a 50 year old “son” what to do. I think Buttigieg is a breath of fresh air to our party. He is beginning to seem desperate.

[EveHammond13]

27. cheap shot

[emmaverybo]

30. Well put.

[NanceGreggs]

28. And I don't want to see ...

... a man who is taking pot-shots at his political competitors, instead of explaining why he'd make a good president, sitting in the Oval Office.

[Lady_Chat]

58. +100

[greatauntoftriplets]

103. +100,000

[still_one]

32. Another idiotic attack from Mayor Pete that he would not have even been involved with

First he attacks Biden for his IWR vote, ignoring the fact that not only wasn’t he part of Congress to vote on that, but he volunteered to fight in the war that was based on a lie which allowed that resolution to pass

Gee Mayor Pete, worst decision. I wonder if Mayor Pete ever heard of Vietnam?

Then he starts going after Biden’s son, falsely implying the republican lie that Biden had some influence in his son’s decision

Gee, with that logic Jimmy Carter was responsible for Billy Carter’s actions

From my perspective Mayor Pete has just demonstrated why I believe his brief rise in the polls will start to fade very quickly

[Thekaspervote]

36. K&R

[Pachamama]

44. So says the childless mayor about what he would do with a child he doesn't have

Again...Mayor Pete is preparing to be on Rachel Maddow’s “poof” disappearing list

[quickesst]

46. . "Buttigieg: I would not have wanted my son on Ukraine board"

Pure speculation. Pete, if you were old enough to have a son Hunter Biden's age, there's a possibility that after you voiced your objection to being on a Ukraine board, and after seeing the money involved, he might have just told you to go fuck yourself. Maybe not in those words, but...... Unless one is an All-Seeing Oracle, no one can deny the possibility that this could happen.

[stopbush]

48. Sort of funny as Hunter Biden is older than Mayor Pete.

Whose son is whose son?

[Hav]

49. After reading the article,

I agree with 95% of what he said and it would have resonated well with the base. In particular that the Hunter Biden angle is only a diversion and the wrong conversation to have in light of Trump's crimes. He then still created the soundbite that will get all the attention as exemplified by the headline and thereby contributed to muddying the waters and adding to the diversion.

The article also mentions the recent experience discussion. There is nothing wrong with making a case for yourself but when your response to perceived shortcomings is always lashing out at others instead of bringing forward actual strengths of yourself, you start appearing to be a bit too defensive.

[Polybius]

51. His son wouldn't be old enough work unless he was a paperboy

That's how young Pete is.

[dsc]

67. actually more than a few 37 year olds have 18 and 19 or even 21 or 23 year old offspring

and more than a few people in that age range are serving in the military protecting both of our rights to type here.

[BlueTsunami2018]

52. Desperation is setting in.

Using Republican talking points in cheap shot attacks. I’d hoped he was above this sort of thing. Pretty disappointing.

[Mike Nelson]

55. I agree with Pete...

... would not have wanted my son doing that, either. However, Biden's son was given opportunities to make money and have a lifestyle most of us will never imagine... and Biden probably expected he would retire from politics after serving as VP. It probably seemed like an easy payday... and it wasn't illegal.

I think Hunter agrees is wasn't a good idea, also, and has resigned from these sorts of jobs. On the other hand, Trump and his family love raking in money - and they do it illegally!

[Joe941]

56. Pete is not wrong to bring this up.

[LanternWaste]

69. Not inherently wrong as he took no side, simply a churlish comment of his, without substance.

As appearances are best left for the lowest common denominators while substance is best left to the rational.

[lapfog_1]

76. I wonder what you would say if Pete had said

"I would not like my spouse to sit on the Board of Directors on a local small college"

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

89. RIGHT AGAIN JOE!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[Crowman2009]

57. I would not want a candidate to pal around with Mark Zuckerberg.

Just sayin'!

[dalton99a]

90. +1.

[Renew Deal]

59. He's right. And both things can be true

Biden’s son didn’t do anything wrong, but it doesn’t look great. Being Biden’s son opened doors for him. I don’t fault him for that, but involvement in Ukraine and Russia is perilous.

[lark]

60. Pete is not a dad at all, he should STUFU.

Grown children do what they want to do, often against their parents wishes. Hunter made a mistake, but it was his mistake to make, not JOe's. Joe advised against taking the job. Ivanka got $100 million in trademarks for voting systems from China, far worse than what Hunter did. I just hate these gratuitous and unnecessary attacks on fellow candidates while ignoring what drumpf is doing. I liked Mayor Pete before, but this just looks childish and below him. Well, he's now not near the top of my list. If he attacked Biden for saying he could consider a Repug for VP - go ahead, that is pure politics and was probably a dumb thing for him to say and I doubt he really meant it anyway. But to attack him because his son made a mistake, bad bad move, IMO.

Inserting std. caveat, that yes, if he is the general candidate I will vote for him and will work for his election too because it's either that or the destruction of our country via rw vote hacking from drumpf.

[pnwmom]

74. Joe didn't advise Hunter not to take the job. They had a don't ask , don't tell policy,

which they thought would solve the problem of conflict of interest. Unfortunately, it doesn't, because the appearance of a conflict remains.

Biden could have solved the problem by telling Obama that he would need to recuse himself from negotiations with the Ukraine because of the appearance of a conflict of interest.

The State Department was full of people as well qualified to negotiate. It was only in the last few administrations that a VP even was given jobs like this.

[yardwork]

62. This just reminded me how young Pete is, and not in a good way.

[femmedem]

63. This is how the media turns us against our own. The headline is about the least significant phrase.

"So, I would not have wanted to see that happen,” Buttigieg said when asked how he would have handled a situation like Biden’s. “And at the same time, again, I think this is being used to divert attention from what’s really at stake in the impeachment process. There’s been no allegation, let alone finding of any kind of wrongdoing.”

Buttigieg says that that Biden didn't do anything wrong, that the real conversation should be about Trump and his massive, incontrovertible wrongdoing, and that the issue with Hunter being on the board is about the appearance of wrongdoing--something that could be twisted by opposition--as opposed to any real wrongdoing.

The media is literally taking what Buttigieg says shouldn't be the story, and making it the story. And even on DU we're falling for it.

[Turbineguy]

77. This is not a smart play.

Buttigieg can do better than this. Leave this shit to the trumps of the world.

[Bradical79]

84. I don't think Joe wanted him on the board either

But Hunter is a grown man in his 40's, and was highly qualified for the board position he was given. He doesn't seem the type to tell his middle aged kids how they have to go about their professional lives.

[pnwmom]

94. There's no evidence for that. Joe had a don't ask, don't tell policy with regard

to Hunter's work. He thought that by staying out of the loop he could prevent any conflict of interest -- and Joe clearly took no actions to help Burisma.

Unfortunately, he didn't avoid the appearance of a potential conflict of interest, so the R's are taking advantage of that now.

[Bradical79]

106. There was no potential conflict of interest to avoid

The only perception of a conflict of interest stems from more recent outright fabrications of what was happening. Unless Joe Biden was psychic, and had total control over Hunter's actions, there wasn't anything for him to do to avoid non-existant conflicts of interest.

[pnwmom]

107. Yes, there was a very simple thing Biden could have done after Hunter took the job with Burisma.

Biden could have recused himself from being the point person with Ukraine, citing the need to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Obama had a highly capable State Dept and someone else great would have stepped in.

[Bradical79]

108. Why would he have recused himself?

The prosecuter he helped get fired wasn't investigating Burisma, that was part of the problem lol. Why would he recuse himself over getting rid of a prosecutor that was refusing to investigate someone on Burisma's board?

[pnwmom]

113. This has nothing to do with an actual conflict.

But conflict of interest rules advise employees to avoid even the appearance of a potential conflict of interest.

Hunter had a position that could potentially, depending on circumstances, be affected by actions Joe took.

[Skya Rhen]

86. I'm sure that, at 37, Mummy and Daddy can't tell Pete what to do. Either he's an adult or not.

[David__77]

95. What's the problem here?

Is there any evidence that took some action to get the job for his son? I'm not aware of that.

I can understand not wanting one's relative to take some action that might reasonably create an appearance of conflict of interest. At the same time, I'm not so sure that recusal in such case makes sense. It can totally be the case that someone is a decisionmaker not influenced by actions taken that are favorable or not favorable to one's own relatives.

It seems like something to disclose without being otherwise actionable. In this case, it seems like "disclosure" came via already being in the public domain. Absent evidence of there being anything else to it, I see no problem.

[UniteFightBack]

97. Could Buttigieg physically stop his son from doing it? What control would he exert over his son a

grown ass man doing what the hell he wants? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM????????

[MichMan]

104. How would Joe Biden physically stop any family members from taking a position when he is President ?

"Former Vice President Joe Biden said if he is elected president, no one in his family will hold a job or have a business relationship with a foreign corporation or foreign government.

"No one in my family will have an office in the White House, will sit in on meetings as if they are a cabinet member, will, in fact, have any business relationship with anyone that relates to a foreign corporation or a foreign country. Period. Period. End of story," Biden told reporters in Iowa after giving remarks at a labor conference."

[link:https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/10/13/joe-biden-hunter-donald-trump-impeachment-family-foreign-companies-ethics/3970703002/|

[Bradical79]

109. He probably could physicaly stop him...

He's a pretty tough old guy lol.

[hay rick]

112. Cheap shot. nt

[Gothmog]

121. The long-awaited defense of Hunter Biden

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

Following Paradigm, Biden continued working as a lobbyist for several years and was appointed to the board of Amtrak by President George W. Bush. He had also been the vice chairman of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. He then founded a private equity firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners, in 2009, which later partnered with the Chinese government to form yet another equity firm, called BHR, where he held an unpaid board position. Trump likes to argue that Biden took “tons of money” from China, but again—this position was unpaid.
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 Biden’s 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 Burisma’s international growth and diversity. Vibrant energy production, particularly natural gas, was central to Ukraine’s independence and to stemming the tide of Vladimir Putin’s 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 Hunter’s urging, Boies Schiller engaged Nardello & Co., a leading global investigative firm, to assess, among other things, Burisma’s 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 Burisma’s 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 Hunter’s 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 he’d 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.