Not even a stitch of regular Russia/Spygate today. Apparently the adventures of the Biden crime family have completely eclipsed that. So how is the scandal proceeding?
Jim Lindgren at the Volokh Conspiracy proposes A Way to Determine Whether the NY Post has a Trove of Hunter Biden's Emails "Some of Hunter's more innocuous emails might be checked with recipients." Basic journalism. And low and behold, John Sexton at Hot Air (VIP), Fox News Confirms Two Hunter Biden Emails With A Third Party, Plus Another Email Scandal Involving Joe And Hunter and Ryan Saavedra at Da Wire, Person On Email Thread Allegedly Involving Hunter Biden Verifies Veracity Of The Messages, Report Says.
“One email, dated May 13, 2017, and obtained by Fox News, includes a discussion of ‘remuneration packages’ for six people in a business deal with a Chinese energy firm. The email appeared to identify Biden as ‘Chair / Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC,’ in an apparent reference to now-bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co,” Fox News reported. “The email includes a note that ‘Hunter has some office expectations he will elaborate.’ A proposed equity split references ’20’ for ‘H’ and ’10 held by H for the big guy?’ with no further details. Fox News spoke to one of the people who was copied on the email, who confirmed its authenticity.”
Multiple sources reportedly told Fox News that “the big guy” was a reference to the former vice president.
The former VP was confronted on the matter by the press for the first time, and while he did not deny the emails (how could he, he didn't write them), Biden lashes out at CBS reporter when asked about NY Post report: 'I have no response, another smear campaign' (Fox) and Biden Snaps At Reporter For Asking About Bombshell New York Post Reports, Does Not Deny (Da Wire).
I asked Joe Biden: What is your response to the NYPost story about your son, sir?
— Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) October 17, 2020
He called it a “smear campaign” and then went after me. “I know you’d ask it. I have no response, it’s another smear campaign, right up your alley, those are the questions you always ask.” pic.twitter.com/Eo6VD4TqxD
So, indeed, we do seem to have Hunter's emails here. And hits continue to accumulate. Breitbart, Exclusive — ‘This is China, Inc.’: Emails Reveal Hunter Biden’s Associates Helped Communist-Aligned Chinese Elites Secure White House MeetingsFrom Zero Hedge, Hunter Biden Business Associate Flips From Prison, Releases Emails Detailing China Influence-Peddling Operation
The emails, given to investigative journalist Peter Schweizer by former Biden associate Bevan Cooney and published by Breitbart also reveal that in 2011, the younger Biden and his business associates discussed strengthening relations with "China Inc." as part of a "new push on soft diplomacy for the Chinese."
As Breitbart notes, these emails are completely unconnected to the Hunter Biden emails released by the New York Post.
Sundance at CTH, Fox News Confirms Biden/China Payoff – Rudy Giuliani Talks to Lou Dobbs….
When they acknowledge the story at all they continue to hold out for the "Russians Did It" defense, John Sexton, Hot Air, US Authorities Investigating Whether Hunter Biden Emails Are Connected To Russian Disinformation CampaignThis is what the left doesn't want you to know. pic.twitter.com/oBwQAFogkz
— Elizabeth Harrington (@LizRNC) October 16, 2020
Yesterday NBC published a story stating that authorities were looking into the hard drives that were the basis for the NY Post stories about Hunter Biden to see if there was any connection to foreign intelligence operations:
Federal investigators are examining whether the emails allegedly describing activities by Joe Biden and his son Hunter and found on a laptop at a Delaware repair shop are linked to a foreign intelligence operation, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News.NBC never directly identified which intelligence operations they were looking at, though the story mentions Rudy Giuliani’s connections to a person identified as a Russian agent.
and Jazz Shaw at Hot Air, The Associated Press Finally Talks About The Hunter Biden Emails, But…
Thus far, it’s been a Sisyphean task to get anyone in the mainstream media outside of Fox News to talk about the Hunter Biden email story, but some cracks in the wall that they’ve thrown up to defend Joe Biden are starting to show. That doesn’t mean that America will be getting the full story, however. The latest example of this phenomenon showed up yesterday when the Associated Press finally decided to offer some coverage. It’s a rather short report and you won’t find the word “China” mentioned anywhere in it. Nor will you see any references to Ukraine, Burisma or any suggestions of influence peddling. Russia is mentioned quite a bit, however, but only in reference to whether or not Rudy Giuliani is a peddler of kompromat.
And the resulting media firestorm of censorship? Nick Gillespie at Reason, Let Us Now Thank Donald Trump for Revealing Brutal Truths About How Power and Privilege Operate. Fox, Trump says Biden family 'protected' by Big Tech, threatens platforms 'unless they shape up' "Some critics feel tech giants should no longer benefit from Section 230 protections if they censor conservatives" Charles Lipson at Spec USA, Behind the social-media blackout of Biden family corruption "If a bombshell goes off in the forest and no one is allowed to talk about it, does it make a sound?" Robby Soave at Reason, The Media Do Not Want You To Read, Share, or Discuss The New York Post's Hunter Biden Scoop. Glenn Greenwalt at the Intercept, Facebook and Twitter Cross a Line Far More Dangerous Than What They Censor "Just weeks before the election, the tech giants unite to block access to incriminating reporting about their preferred candidate." Jack Shafer at Politico admits Facebook and Twitter Have Bitten Off Too Much. Althouse, cites Megan McArdle in 'Censorship!' cries the right, even as the left hollers 'Twitter’s not the government!' But... this isn’t really a great example of censorship, private or public.
"What it does represent is something the right has becom[e] keenly alive to: the left’s exercise of power over cultural spaces where right-wingers are being driven toward extinction. That power isn’t new, of course, but for a long time, its practical effect was mostly a matter of focus, or at worst, as social psychologist Jonathan Haidt puts it, asking 'Can I believe it?' about narratives that flattered left-wing views, and 'Must I believe it?' about those that favored the right.... Sure, Twitter insists that the Biden story violated prior policy about publishing potentially hacked materials, lest the platform encourage further malfeasance — but would Twitter apply that standard to the recent New York Times investigation of Trump’s tax returns, considering that whoever leaked them to the Times quite possibly committed a federal crime?... I myself am alternately enraged and grieved by our president; I aspire to expedite his exit from the national stage by every legal means. But I do wonder whether the sort of thing we saw on Wednesday actually accelerates the arrival of that happy day — or whether the left, like Streisand, might be contributing to the very outcome they most want to avoid.... [S]uch actions can only call attention to how lopsided and largely unaccountable the left’s own power is in the cultural sphere. There’s a reason that President Trump likes to spotlight that imbalance.... So if you want to hasten him out of office, a preemptive self-balancing, rather than a more muscular tilt, might be the counterweight America actually needs."
That's how Megan McArdle puts it in "How Twitter and Facebook’s attempt to squelch a dubious Biden story backfired" (WaPo).
She's telling lefties to tone it down for their own good. Eschew censorship because it might not work to get them where they want to go. That is, there's no love of freedom, no notion of freedom as an end — only a means. I put the key line in boldface: "I aspire to expedite [Trump's] exit from the national stage by every legal means."
ALSO: I guess WaPo is conceding that the Hunter Biden material really did come out of his computer
Fox, RNC files FEC complaint against Twitter, claims company made 'illegal in-kind contribution' to Biden campaign "The RNC claims that by limiting circulation of the New York Post article about Hunter Biden's business dealings and Joe Biden's alleged knowledge of those dealings, Twitter violated federal campaign finance law" NYPo, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will be subpoenaed to testify on Post censorship and American Military News, Subpoenas: Senators target Twitter, Facebook CEOs for censoring Hunter Biden story with Tuesday subpoena vote.
Plenty more coverage via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.16.20, to wit, EBL: Lyin’ With Biden, Louder With Crowder: Rudy Giuliani Tells Crowder He Has Proof Hunter Biden’s Hard Drive Is Authentic, Vox Popoli: “This Should Trouble You Immensely”, Gab News: An Open Letter To President Trump On Section 230, American Greatness: Giuliani – Hunter Biden’s Attorney Contacted Computer Repairman After NY Post Story Broke, Wanted Hard Drive Back, also, RNC Files FEC Complaint against Twitter, and Legal Insurrection: Tucker Carlson Exposes Biden Family Influence Peddling In Ukraine, Including New Emails.
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