Decryption | Here lies the indictment of Biden?

(New York) Is the plan by Donald Trump’s allies to impeach Joe Biden in the House of Representatives in impeachment proceedings dead, given recent twists and turns?

Last Wednesday, Hunter Biden’s closed-door testimony before the House Oversight Committee certainly did not help the cause of its Republican members, who accuse the Democratic president of having profited financially from his son’s businesses and used the levers of power to help him.

“When the transcription [de la déposition] will come out, it will read well, because they did a good job preparing it,” admitted Andy Biggs, one of the Republicans on the commission, on Fox News after Hunter Biden’s long questioning.

The publication of the transcript proved him right. Well prepared or not by his lawyers, Hunter Biden did not invoke the 5th once^e amendment of the Constitution to avoid answering questions likely to incriminate him. And this includes the most sensitive issues, which will be discussed below.

Combative, the president’s son took advantage of his opening statement to deliver the first blows, accusing Republicans of having “engaged in innuendo, distortions and sensationalism, while ignoring the clear and convincing evidence that jumps out at you.” eyes “.

In fact, if there is evidence, the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, opened last September, has not yet found it. Hence the impression that the project of Donald Trump’s allies is only a partisan exercise whose real objective is to smear the president and avenge the impeachment procedures to which his predecessor was subject. The question is whether this project is still feasible.

Because Hunter Biden’s testimony was preceded by a near-fatal blow to the Republican cause on February 23. That day, Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant, was indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury for lying about the Bidens.

He notably told the FBI in 2020 that Joe Biden and his son Hunter had each received a $5 million bribe from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, of which Hunter was a director.

According to the prosecution, Smirnov admitted to the FBI that he not only invented the story, but also transmitted false information about the Bidens on behalf of “officials associated with Russian intelligence services.”

However, since Alexander Smirnov’s allegations surfaced in May 2023, Fox News host Sean Hannity has devoted at least 85 stories to it, stating in particular that Joe Biden had been “very credibly accused of public corruption on a scale this country has never seen before.”

Last January, Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, still said that this was “the most convincing evidence we have.”

The day after the indictment of Alexander Smirnov, the Democrats were quick to accuse the Republicans of being Vladimir Putin’s useful idiots.

But the Republicans still refuse to admit the failure of their project. Last Wednesday, they questioned Hunter Biden about a message sent via WhatsApp in 2017 where he alluded to having his father at his side to pressure a potential Chinese partner to move forward with an energy project.

The president’s son responded that he did not remember writing the message, but if he did, he was probably “drunk or high » at the time of writing.

He also clarified that the suggestion made in an email by one of his partners to reserve a 10% share for his father, alias “the big guy”, as part of a transaction with a Chinese company had not been been taken seriously.

“The idea was absolutely ridiculous, and I did not pursue it,” he said under oath.

And what about the 20 or so phone calls in which he put his father on speakerphone while he spoke with associates?

“I’m surprised my dad hasn’t called me yet, and if he did, I’d put him on speaker to say hello,” Hunter Biden responded.

Devon Archer, ex-associate of Hunter Biden, is the one who revealed the number of times the president’s son acted like this in the presence of associates. But he himself told the oversight commission that Joe Biden had never interfered in his son’s affairs.

In the middle of Hunter Biden’s testimony, James Comer, chairman of the committee, met with reporters to again raise doubts about a transfer of $200,000 made by Hunter Biden to his uncle James and another of $40,000 to his sister in law. His uncle and sister-in-law used this money to repay loans to Joe Biden in 2017 and 2018.

“Joe Biden received $40,000 directly from entities linked to the Chinese Communist Party. It’s the b. no more public corruption! “, exclaimed Representative Comer, taking a typical shortcut. He added that the $200,000 received by James Biden came “directly from an influence peddling scheme.”

“There is no doubt about it,” he clarified, notably ignoring the fact that Joe Biden was only a private citizen at the time.