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Year: 2024

Hunter Biden: A look at how the saga spanning over six years unfolded

Hunter Biden: A look at how the saga spanning over six years unfolded

President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, ending a saga that has lasted for more than six years, with wide-ranging investigations by the Justice Department and both chambers of Congress related to his conduct and business dealings.  Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony firearm offenses stemming from Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation. The first son was also charged with federal tax crimes regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. Before his trial, Hunter Biden entered a surprise guilty plea.  BIDEN PARDONS SON HUNTER BIDEN AHEAD OF EXIT FROM OVAL OFFICE The charges carried up to 17 years behind bars. His sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 16.  Here’s a look back at how it all began:  The federal investigation into Hunter Biden began in 2018. The probe was predicated, in part, by suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding foreign transactions. Those SARs, according to sources familiar with the investigation, involved funds from “China and other foreign nations.” Fox News first reported the existence of some type of federal investigation involving Hunter Biden in October 2020, ahead of the last presidential election. It became known then that in the course of an existing money laundering investigation, the FBI had subpoenaed the laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden. Stories about the laptop were widely panned by Democrats and mainstream media outlets as Russian disinformation. At the time, then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe confirmed that the laptop was “not part of some Russian disinformation campaign,” but that claim was rejected by Democrats and many in the media. Social media companies like Twitter and Facebook censored and limited the circulation of stories related to Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 presidential election. Only in 2022 did media outlets verify that the laptop did belong to Hunter Biden and did hold legitimate records belonging to him. Twitter, under the new ownership of Elon Musk, released records surrounding the company’s decisions to block the circulation of the Hunter Biden stories – even though he had been under federal investigation at that point for nearly two years. Hunter Biden confirmed the investigation into his “tax affairs” in December 2020, after his father was elected president. But Hunter Biden’s business dealings were also, simultaneously, being investigated by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., in 2019. Specifically, the senators were investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings.  Grassley and Johnson released a report in September 2020 saying that Obama administration officials “knew” that Hunter Biden’s position on the board of Burisma was “problematic” and that it interfered “in the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine.” Hunter Biden joined Burisma in April 2014 and, at the time, reportedly connected the firm with consulting firm Blue Star Strategies to help the natural gas company fight corruption charges in Ukraine. During the time Hunter Biden was on the board of the company, Joe Biden was vice president and was running U.S.-Ukraine relations and policy for the Obama administration. Also in 2019, Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine came into the spotlight during the first impeachment of now-President-elect Donald Trump.  House Republicans wanted to call Hunter Biden to testify in the impeachment proceedings in the fall of 2019.  HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS LIMITED QUESTIONS ABOUT ‘DAD,’ ‘BIG GUY’ DESPITE FBI, IRS OBJECTIONS: WHISTLEBLOWER Trump was acquitted in Feb. 2020 on both articles of impeachment against him — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — after being impeached by the House of Representatives in December 2019.  Trump was impeached after a July 2019 phone call in which he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine, specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Burisma and Joe Biden’s successful effort to have former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin ousted. At the same time as that call, Hunter Biden was under federal investigation, prompted by his suspicious foreign transactions.  Trump’s request was regarded by Democrats as a quid pro quo because millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen. Democrats also said Trump was meddling in the 2020 presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a Democrat political opponent. Republicans had been investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings, specifically with regard Burisma. House Republicans, who were in the minority at the time, made several requests to subpoena Hunter Biden for testimony and documents related to the impeachment of Trump and his business dealings that fell at the center of the proceedings. Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma and Hunter Biden had a highly lucrative role on the board, receiving thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin were not fired. FLASHBACK: DEMOCRATS CLASH WITH REPUBLICANS OVER PROSPECT OF CALLING HUNTER BIDEN IN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL “I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion.’ … I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’” Biden recalled telling then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Biden recollected the conversation during an event for the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018. Meanwhile, once President Biden took office, the House Oversight Committee led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., began investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings and the business dealings of the Biden family. Comer ultimately found that the Biden family and its associates had received more than $27 million from foreign individuals or entities since 2014. But it wasn’t until 2023 that whistleblowers from the IRS, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, brought allegations of politicization in the federal probe of Hunter Biden to Congress.  The two alleged that political influence had infected prosecutorial decisions in the federal probe, which was led by Trump-appointed Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who they said had requested to become a special counsel.  After Shapley and Ziegler testified publicly, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Weiss as special counsel

Lara Trump announces she is stepping down as RNC co-chair amidst talk she may be up for Florida Senate seat

Lara Trump announces she is stepping down as RNC co-chair amidst talk she may be up for Florida Senate seat

Lara Trump announced via X that she would be stepping down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) citing that during her time the RNC had three distinct goals, and they had all been accomplished. She started her journey as co-chair of the RNC in March 2024, but it has been widely discussed that she is considering her potential options as father-in-law, President-elect Donald Trump once again takes the reins at the White House. “With that big win, I kind of feel like my time is up,” she said. “What I intended to do has been done.” LARA TRUMP SAYS SHE’D ‘LOVE TO CONSIDER’ FILLING RUBIO’S SENATE SEAT IF ASKED BY DESANTIS Trump only began her journey as co-chair in March and was pivotal in Republicans retaking control of the Senate while maintaining a narrow House majority. There has been talk that she may be considered as a replacement for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as Trump has said he will be tapped to be the next Secretary of State. Last month she told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that she “would love to serve the people of Florida” and “would love to consider” filling the seat if asked. LARA TRUMP SAYS SHE WOULD ‘ABSOLUTELY’ CONSIDER BECOMING SEN. RUBIO’S REPLACEMENT: ‘WOULD BE AN HONOR’ | FOX NEWS VIDEO On Sunday, Trump discussed with Howard Kurtz how much of an honor it would be to even be considered. “Certainly, we’ve all had the opportunity over the past nine years to fully involve ourselves in politics, to understand the American people, what they want, and we’ve all been residents of the state of Florida now for over three years,” she said. “If that’s something that’s put in front of me, it would be a true honor.” Maye Musk, mother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is one of many pushing for her to replace Rubio. “The Senate is an old man’s club. We desperately need a smart, young, outspoken woman who will reveal their secrets,” she posted on X. Lara Trump is 42. Elon Musk seemingly agrees with his mother’s sentiments as he responded to her X post saying, “Lara Trump is genuinely great.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on “Hannity” that he “would be like over-the-top excited” and that Republicans “could not do better … than Lara Trump.” Ultimately, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is reportedly being considered to replace Pete Hegseth, will choose Rubio’s replacement.  Michael Whatley will remain RNC chairman.