Flotsam and Jetsam - Hunter Caves

It seems likely someone from the White House, quite possible Sleepy Joe himself, or some high level flunky called Hunter or his lawyer Abbe Lowell, and told them to knock off the funny business with the congressional subpoena. At Da Mail, Hunter Biden caves and AGREES to testify in Congress if Republicans issue a new subpoena after made-for-TV Capitol appearance: GOP says 'no more stunts' and STILL plan to vote to hold him in contempt next week. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair comments "I guess Hunter’s media strategy backfired, eh? The White House has reportedly been aghast at the provocative stunts that Hunter and Lowell keep conducting, and the scene on Capitol Hill this week may have been the last straw. Hunter’s going to take the Fifth anyway, so why not just get it over with and get this out of the headlines?" Da Caller,  Hunter Biden Caves To House Republicans, Agrees To Sit For Deposition If Lawmakers Issue New Subpoena Hat Hair's Jazz Shaw, Hunter Biden: On Second Thought... 

Abbe Lowell is claiming that the original subpoena isn’t valid because it was issued before the full House approved an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. I’m not a lawyer, but that claim is flatly nonsensical. Both chambers issue subpoenas for a variety of reasons all the time. It’s usually a course of last resort after a more informal invitation to appear and testify is declined. Further, while subpoenas may be issued for a full hearing before the House membership, most are issued by committees conducting various investigations. This investigation is being conducted by the Oversight Committee and they issued the subpoena after Hunter refused to appear and testify voluntarily.

There’s a good chance that both Lowell and Hunter know all of this already and they simply don’t care. Hunter Biden is facing multiple criminal charges in court at this point with the possibility of jail time to follow. Being found in Contempt of Congress is not a big deal in and of itself. Nothing will come of it unless the Department of Justice decides to prosecute him and what are the odds of that happening while Joe Biden is the President?

Ace, Hunter Biden Caves; Will Submit to Closed-Door Deposition. "Breaking. Don't get excited. I predict with 100% confidence he will plead the fifth. (Actually, he'll read a prepared, heavily-lawyered statement making vague claims about his innocence first.) He won't say he's invoking the fifth clearly; he will say he declines to answer, without specifically giving the fifth amendment as his justification to not answer." NewsMax says Comer, Jordan: Hunter Contempt Charge Ahead Despite About-Face. Older but, Ace, Hunter Biden Knew Exactly Who Was Buying His "Art" -- Putting Lie to the Claim That He Didn't Know His "Patrons," and Therefore Could Not Deliver Political Favors to His Donors. What a nice step-mother, at Breitbart, Jill Biden: What Republicans ‘Are Doing to Hunter Is Cruel’. The Trump sons and Ivanka and Jered were called for testimony. 

NewsMax, Dem Rep. Moulton: Biden Should Fire Austin. Capt. Ed, "It’s astounding that only two Democrats in Congress have made this point clear." Deroy Murdock at Am Spec, Lloyd Austin’s Dereliction of Duty: Deputy Hicks Vacations; Biden, Blinken, Sullivan Out of Loop. "As the world burned, the secretary of defense vanished like Houdini — and no one noticed." Jude Russo at Am Con, Lloyd Austin: A General Crisis. "Lloyd Austin’s little unauthorized jaunt is just the administrative state’s latest adventure in unfettered power." Free Bacon, Media Said Biden's Election Meant 'Competence Is Making a Comeback.' So How Did the Defense Secretary Go AWOL? Paul Bedard at WaEx, Biden ignoring Pentagon, defense spending at pre-World War II levels, and that worked out so well, didn't it? At PJM Matt Margolis reports the Biden Judicial Nominee Torched by Sen. Kennedy Goes Down in Flames. "Pres. Biden sent us a nominee who didn’t know the basics of the U.S. Constitution," he posted on X/Twitter. "Judge Bjelkengren is right to bow out, but Pres. Biden just keeps trying to put unqualified people on the bench—for life. People who don't know the law have no business running our courtrooms."  From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.12.24, Victory Girls: Democrats Mad That Biden Ordered Strikes Against Houthi Terrorists. 

The Free Bacon wants you to WATCH  Biden Tells Voters 'I Work for the Government in the Senate'. Capt. Ed, Maybe he doesn’t know where he works? Insty, WE ARE GOVERNED BY A MIXTURE OF THE EVIL AND THE BRAINDEAD.  Nick Arama at Red State, Biden's Scary Confusion Is Concerning, as He Comments on Iran and Houthis, Whispers to Girl, Gets Heckled. Breitbart,  Joe Biden Tries to Reassure Donors About Age, Energy, Chances Against Donald Trump. Matt Vespa at TownHall notes Donald Trump Went There in His New Post About Joe Biden.  Matt Margolis again, This Might Be the Most Hilarious Meme About Joe Biden Ever

At Da Caller, These Everyday Kitchen Staples Just Keep Getting More Expensive After Three Years Of Biden. Chris Jacobs at Da Fed, How Democrats’ Prescription Price Controls Are Making Americans Sick. Breitbart amused by Yellen: People Are Generally Happy with Their Personal Situation, But Worry About Their Neighbors, Whole Economy. Mediaite, ‘Loser!’ Biden Heckled in Pennsylvania, Told to ‘Go Home.’ NYPo, Biden admin rolls out red carpet for Chinese Communist who ran secret NYC police station. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.12.24 Animal Magnetism sends Rule Five Biden 2024 Friday. At Da Caller, If It’s Really A ‘Right Wing Conspiracy Theory,’ Why Do Democrats Keep Proving It’s Real? Dem rep wants more illegal immigrants for redistricting purposes.

From Da Wire, Sen. Marshall Challenges Proposed HHS Rule That Would Force Foster Parents To Accept ‘Extreme Gender Ideology.’ At mrc-TV Got Gay? USDA Links Biden's 'LGBTQI+' Agenda To Foreign Agriculture Grants. At Da Caller, Biden Admin Pours Nearly $700,000 Into Program To Prevent ‘Transgender Boys’ From Getting Pregnant. "Transgender boys, who are biological females, “may be less likely to use condoms when having sex with people who have penises and are at least as likely as cisgender girls to be pregnant,” a description for the grant shows."

TNP has DATA: Trump Town Hall Gets 2X Viewership of DeSantis-Haley CNN Scuffle. Tom Bevan at Am Great declares him the  Winner of the DeSantis-Haley Debate. Althouse says I wouldn't have watched this "God Made Trump" video, but the NYT and other Trump antagonists are making it viral. Jonathan Turley says calm down No, Democracy is Not on The Ballot in 2024. Capt. Ed, "I find it bitterly amusing that this claim comes from the same people who (a) want to prevent Republican voters from nominating the candidate of their choice, (b) want social-media platforms to silence critics of the current administration on the basis of “misinformation,” and (c) insist on attempting to remove public-policy questions like abortion and affirmative action from elected legislatures and put those into control of unelected judges." Dave Strom at Hat Hair, Trump Ally: Deep State Using Weather Control to Rig Iowa Caucuses. Althouse again, "On the Ballot in Iowa: Fear. Anxiety. Hopelessness." "A NYT article. . . .  But isn't it this fearful fragility the real threat to democracy? Why do mainstream media stoke despair and anxiety? Why don't they — why don't we — build our resiliency and optimism?" At Twitchy, Adam Schiff for Brains Releases His Plan to Destroy America and Conservatives Are Having NONE of It. "California Senate candidate and Congressmember Adam Schiff is calling for a major overhaul of American institutions, including getting rid of the Electoral College, expanding the Supreme Court and eliminating the filibuster."

Hat Hair's KT sees Rand Paul Launches an Anti-Nikki Haley Campaign and 'Numbnuts' Protesters Target DeSantis Campaign Event in Iowa. Matt Vespa, Rand Paul's 2024 Announcement Is a Brutal Thread About Nikki Haley. Althouse, Rand Paul: "I'm ready to make a decision on someone I cannot support. I'm announcing this morning that I'm Never Nikki."

Matt Vespa again, The Credibility of Georgia's Prosecution Team in Trump Case Takes Another Hit, and it's such a small target. The Messenger, Georgia Judge Planning February Hearing to Address Fani Willis-Nathan Wade Allegations in Trump RICO Case. Capt. Ed, Kemp: Greene Has 'Every Right' to Demand a Probe of 'Deeply Troubling' Alleged Willis-Wade Affair. At TNP, Trump Blasts NY Case in Courtroom: ‘They Should Pay ME!’ Althouse, "Donald J. Trump’s... impassioned defense during closing arguments... attacked both the New York attorney general who brought the case and the judge overseeing it....". Breitbart CNN’s Eisen: New York Fraud Trial Could ‘End’ the Trump Organization. Clearly, even past the hate of everything Trump, that is one of the goals. 'Bonchie' at RedState notes Kevin O'Leary Shocks CNN Audience by Completely Eviscerating Letitia James' Case Against Trump. "And by the way, forget about Trump, every single real estate developer everywhere on earth does this. They always talk about their asset being worth a lot and the bank says no. That's just the way it is. So in this case, what I'm trying to figure out, and I'm not pro or con, or I don't care about the politics, who lost money? Nobody. The bank got paid back the construction finance loan, and a new building was built. If you're going to sue this case and win, you've gotta sue every real estate developer everywhere."

The New Reform Club, The Supreme Court on “Officer of the United States” as used in the Constitution “An officer of the United States can only be appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, or by a court of law, or the head of a department. A person in the service of the government who does not derive his position from one of these sources is not an officer of the United States in the sense of the constitution. This subject was considered and determined in U.S. v. Germaine, 99 U.S. 508 [(1878)], and in the recent case of U.S. v. Mouat, 124 U.S. --, ante, 505 [(1888)]. What we have here said is but a repetition of what was there authoritatively declared.” Id. at 532 (emphasis added). I suggest that this authoritative statement goes far to establish that the President of the United States is not an “officer of the United States.” And so Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which is part of the Constitution, and which uses “officer of the United States”-language, does not extend to the presidency." Da Caller, President Of Left-Wing Group Behind Trump’s Colorado Ballot Removal Visited Biden White House Multiple Times. Bob Spencer at PJM, Man Who Worked to Get Trump Dropped From Ballot Gets a Taste of His Own Medicine "For several years now, Castro has dedicated his life to trapping and destroying the left’s great enemy: he has filed numerous challenges to Trump’s eligibility to appear on presidential ballots on the claim that he led an “insurrection.” He has, however, found the time to keep busy with other matters as well: The Hill reported that Castro “was arrested Tuesday on charges alleging he filed 17 sets of false tax documents to the IRS.”" Hat Hair cites Matt Taibbi, More Lunatic Legal Coverage "Reporters keep plunging to bizarre new lows in coverage of Donald Trump. The new jam: his lawyer argued presidents can assassinate rivals. Except he didn’t, at all. …" So we can try Barack Obama for murdering an American teenage boy with a drone. Politico, Trump’s latest about-face: He now says 2020 election was ‘long over’ "It’s a new piece of rhetoric that Trump hopes will help him win immunity from his criminal charges. . . . It’s a new piece of rhetoric that’s meant to bolster Trump’s assertion of “presidential immunity” from his criminal charges for interfering with the transfer of power. He wasn’t a candidate anymore, Trump’s new theory goes, so he must have been doing his job as president to ensure elections are fair."

Paul Ingrassia at Am Great has Reflections on January 6 "If the truth shall prevail, here is how history will remember January 6: peaceful demonstrators were finally fed up with a government that had become outwardly tyrannical." Ace, J6 Witness: General Milley Was the Hidden Hand Holding Back the National Guard on January 6th, "Surprise! It was another Op." At Am Think, John Green thinks The FBI is the the Dog That Turned on Its Master.

At Da Wire, Jordan Subpoenas Biden Spy Chief For Big Tech Collusion Investigation. At Bastiat's Window, Don’t Cut the Rattle off the Rattlesnake, "Limits on Free Speech Are More Dangerous for You than They Are for the Snakes." From the College Fix, Professor says ‘suppress’ Joe Rogan, Douglas Murray to ‘counter terrorism’: report. At the Dossier, New York Times journalist rage quits Substack over inability to censor everything he deems 'hate speech' and 'extremism'. "Major publication tried to hoax Substack into proactively censoring newsletters." Singal-Minded, There Are Major Factual Issues With Jonathan M. Katz’s ‘Atlantic’ Article, “Substack Has A Nazi Problem”, "Plus some other thoughts on this profoundly myopic moral panic."

Derek Hunter at Front Page discourses on Claudine Gay and a World Without Standards. "Anything goes in identity politics." BBC, Jewish students sue Harvard over 'rampant' anti-semitism. Cathy Salgado at PJM thinks Harvard Hasn't Learned Its Lesson. Probably true; you can always tell a Harvard man, you just can't tell him much. At Twitchy, Harvard Prof Who Insulted Harvard Extension School to Own Chris Rufo 'Asked to Clarify' in EPIC Walkback. Jennifer hochschild@Jenniferhochsc2. "I was asked to clarify, and am glad to do so: HES courses are Harvard U courses (often the same as in FAS, as for my courses). HES bachelor’s and master’s degrees are Harvard U degrees. HES is a school in Harvard U analogous to other schools. HES students are Harvard U students." Mike LaChance at LI, Dept. of Education Investigating Brown U. for Alleged Discrimination Against Jewish Students, “investigating a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of national origin in regard to ‘incidents of harassment’ in Fall 2023.” Monica Showalter at Am Think hears Grunts and Oinks: San Francisco leftists jeer Jewish man who spoke out about his family's experience on October 7. Da Caller reports a Biden FDA Chief Scientist Suggested Giving Perks To University Workers Who Prioritize ‘Diversity.’ Hat Hair's Dave Strom sees A Small but Important Victory at Johns Hopkins. It's too hard to slice a little piece to show, go read it! I&I, We Need To Reset Universities’ Moral Compass By Withholding Philanthropy. From Am Think, Victor Fernandez reports Compelling Speech and Behavior at a Math and Science School. John Sexton thinks  Teachers Like This Should Be Out of a Job. I agree. 

Ace, Tom Cotton to Woke, Anti-White Job Recruiters: You Know, Discriminating Against Members of One Race is Illegal, Right? "Tom Cotton is putting recruiting firms that discriminate against white men on notice that they are breaking the law." Insty, PEOPLE DON’T GO WHERE THEY AREN’T WANTED: Army Sees Sharp Decline in White Recruits. "Go around telling white people they’re the problem, they go somewhere else. Related: The US Army discovers woke doesn’t win wars — but is it too late?" Alfa News, Walz compares keeping Minnesota state flag with ‘saving the Confederate battle flag’, "Last month, a state commission unveiled a redesign of Minnesota's state flag and state seal." Capt. Ed, "Walz is an idiot. He claims that the current Minnesota state flag is “highly offensive to a large number of people,” but what they mainly object to is the history of the state and its relations to the Native American tribes that live there. The seal on the flag was the symbol under which Minnesotans marched AGAINST the Confederacy, which is also part of the rich history behind the flag. The people “offended” by it mainly appear to be academics and progressive activists. I lived there for 23 years and was politically active most of that time, and *never heard a word* about the flag being offensive, let alone broadly so." Stacy McCain at his sometimes home at Am Spec, America’s ‘Social Justice’ Nightmares Have Only Intensified "The people who elect Democrats are wrecking their own communities." And, it's deliberate. 

The Free Bacon reports a Judge Orders California District to Reinstate Teachers Who Refused to Hide Students’ Gender Transitions. At CJ, More Sloppy Scholarship on Trans Identity. "Trying to undermine the concept of rapid onset gender dysphoria, advocates succeed only in revealing their agenda."

Linked at The Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Whip it good! up at The Other McCain.