Casting Questions and Raising Shadows
By Ken Vogel — who had the scoop on the extortion attempt that would lead to Trump’s first impeachment, but missed its significance because he was doing a hit job on Joe Biden — will never stop Pushing Narrative:
In the year after he disclosed a federal investigation into his “tax affairs” in late 2020, President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, paid off a significant tax liability, even as a grand jury continued to gather evidence in a wide-ranging examination of his international business dealings, according to people familiar with the case.
Mr. Biden’s failure to pay all his taxes has been a focus of the ongoing Justice Department investigation. While wiping out his liability does not preclude criminal charges against him, the payment could make it harder for prosecutors to win a conviction or a long sentence for tax-related offenses, according to tax law experts, since juries and judges tend to be more sympathetic to defendants who have paid their bills.
But Mr. Biden’s taxes are just one element of the broader investigation stemming from work he did around the world. Hunter Biden is a Yale-educated lawyer; his professional life has intersected with his father’s public service, including working as a registered lobbyist for domestic interests and, while his father was vice president, pursuing deals and clients in Asia and Europe.
As recently as last month, the federal grand jury heard testimony in Wilmington, Del., from two witnesses, one of whom was a former employee of Hunter Biden whose lawyer was later subpoenaed for financial records that reflected money Mr. Biden received from a Ukrainian energy company.
The investigation, which began as a tax inquiry under the Obama administration, widened in 2018 to include possible criminal violations of tax laws, as well as foreign lobbying and money laundering rules, according to the people familiar with the inquiry.
But prosecutors face a number of hurdles to bringing criminal charges, the people familiar with the investigation said, including proving that Mr. Biden intentionally violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, which requires disclosure to the Justice Department of lobbying or public relations assistance on behalf of foreign clients.
Yes, the lack of evidence that someone has committed a crime does tend to be a bar to prosecuting someone.
The promoting tweet by one of his co-authors is even more hilarious:
OK, I’ll bite: what’s the “political bind” in not prosecuting someone because there’s no evidence that they’re guilty of any criminal acts? Unless, of course, you know someone is guilty and you’re just trying to figure out what they’re guilty of.
…hard to disagree:
For the good of the country, the DOJ must prosecute Hunter Biden on trumped up charges.— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) March 17, 2022