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Begins with a conclusion of wrongdoing, but doesn't address alternative possibilities such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which Hunter Biden has likely v

Begins with a conclusion of wrongdoing, but doesn't address alternative possibilities such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which Hunter Biden has likely violated.

paganel 7y ago
If I’m not mistaken The New Yorker magazine had published a “good-feel” story about Hunter Biden and the relationship with his father in August or so, definitely before all this scandal was made public. It looked like white-washing, and coupled with this present whistle-blower thing it certainly looks like a planted story. The powers that be should have tried something different in order to topple Trump, because, as you say, Hunter Biden is definitely a crook and all this will only make Trump come out stronger. If it matters I’m not a US citizen and I’ve never set foot in the States.
- ineedasername 7y ago
  This is an argument that is being spoken quite a bit, but misses the point: Hunter Biden may be a crook. It certainly doesn't look like he got his board position on merit. That doesn't mean that President Trump didn't abuse his presidential power for personal political gain. The possibility of either of their corruptions are not mutually exclusive. Though I tend to agree that this is unlikely to hurt President Trump very much, may mobilize his base, and further makes the democrats, in their 2020 campaign, to be dominantly anti-trump as their platform, with their political issues taking a back seat.
  - paganel 7y ago
    Of course Trump abused his position but if the public opinion sees his abuse of power as being “legitimate” then I suspect that US jurisprudence will get to be rewritten in his favor. In today’s day and age public opinion has a much more bigger influence compared to the early ‘70s, for example, when a guy like Nixon could be toppled by the technocracy of that time even though at some point during that scandal he had a 70% approval rate. I suspect that in today’s day and age Nixon would have remained in power with so much public support behind him.
    - hollerith 7y ago
      If he hadn't resigned, Nixon would've been impeached by the House, then convicted by the Senate, after which he would've been and ex-President no matter how much the public approved of him. The leaders of Nixon's own party, e.g., Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, Senator Barry Goldwater, and House Minority Leader John Jacob Rhodes, told him he had no hope of remaining President. If Republican congress members ever turn on Trump to the same degree, he's out no matter his approval rating.
- busterarm 7y ago
  The Hunter Biden story has been in the public since May, just nobody picked it up until recently.
  - tptacek 7y ago
    The New Yorker "feel good" story this person refers to, which ran in July (not August), covers Hunter Biden's Ukraine ties critically and at length.
ineedasername 7y ago
Whether or not Hunter Biden committed a crime, those allegations are already out in the open. Further, they can all be true, and it can still be the case that there was an improper abuse of power for personal political gain. As for beginning "with a conclusion of wrongdoing", yes: It's a whistleblower complaint. They are, fundamentally, disclosures of what the writer believes to be wrong doing. Leading off with "This appears to be someone doing something wrong" is neither unexpected or improper. The whistleblower could be completely and totally wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that such complaints are defacto accusations of wrongdoing.
anonymousiam 7y ago
So it's now a crime to call out corruption, and ask a fellow world-leader to look into possible crimes committed by a well-connected American citizen? After being provided with intelligence on Hunter Biden's activities abroad, what course of action should Trump have taken? Maybe he should have done what the previous administration did and hired a discredited foreign agent to produce a fictitious dossier, and then use it as justification to obtain FISA warrants, tap everybody's phones, and make public declarations with unproven allegations (later proven to be false). I guess President Trump has a lot to learn about how to fight corruption...

Begins with a conclusion of wrongdoing, but doesn't address alternative possibilities such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which Hunter Biden has likely violated.

paganel 7y ago

If I’m not mistaken The New Yorker magazine had published a “good-feel” story about Hunter Biden and the relationship with his father in August or so, definitely before all this scandal was made public. It looked like white-washing, and coupled with this present whistle-blower thing it certainly looks like a planted story. The powers that be should have tried something different in order to topple Trump, because, as you say, Hunter Biden is definitely a crook and all this will only make Trump come out stronger. If it matters I’m not a US citizen and I’ve never set foot in the States.

ineedasername 7y ago
This is an argument that is being spoken quite a bit, but misses the point: Hunter Biden may be a crook. It certainly doesn't look like he got his board position on merit. That doesn't mean that President Trump didn't abuse his presidential power for personal political gain. The possibility of either of their corruptions are not mutually exclusive. Though I tend to agree that this is unlikely to hurt President Trump very much, may mobilize his base, and further makes the democrats, in their 2020 campaign, to be dominantly anti-trump as their platform, with their political issues taking a back seat.
- paganel 7y ago
  Of course Trump abused his position but if the public opinion sees his abuse of power as being “legitimate” then I suspect that US jurisprudence will get to be rewritten in his favor. In today’s day and age public opinion has a much more bigger influence compared to the early ‘70s, for example, when a guy like Nixon could be toppled by the technocracy of that time even though at some point during that scandal he had a 70% approval rate. I suspect that in today’s day and age Nixon would have remained in power with so much public support behind him.
  - hollerith 7y ago
    If he hadn't resigned, Nixon would've been impeached by the House, then convicted by the Senate, after which he would've been and ex-President no matter how much the public approved of him. The leaders of Nixon's own party, e.g., Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, Senator Barry Goldwater, and House Minority Leader John Jacob Rhodes, told him he had no hope of remaining President. If Republican congress members ever turn on Trump to the same degree, he's out no matter his approval rating.
busterarm 7y ago
The Hunter Biden story has been in the public since May, just nobody picked it up until recently.
- tptacek 7y ago
  The New Yorker "feel good" story this person refers to, which ran in July (not August), covers Hunter Biden's Ukraine ties critically and at length.

ineedasername 7y ago

Whether or not Hunter Biden committed a crime, those allegations are already out in the open. Further, they can all be true, and it can still be the case that there was an improper abuse of power for personal political gain. As for beginning "with a conclusion of wrongdoing", yes: It's a whistleblower complaint. They are, fundamentally, disclosures of what the writer believes to be wrong doing. Leading off with "This appears to be someone doing something wrong" is neither unexpected or improper. The whistleblower could be completely and totally wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that such complaints are defacto accusations of wrongdoing.

anonymousiam 7y ago

So it's now a crime to call out corruption, and ask a fellow world-leader to look into possible crimes committed by a well-connected American citizen? After being provided with intelligence on Hunter Biden's activities abroad, what course of action should Trump have taken? Maybe he should have done what the previous administration did and hired a discredited foreign agent to produce a fictitious dossier, and then use it as justification to obtain FISA warrants, tap everybody's phones, and make public declarations with unproven allegations (later proven to be false). I guess President Trump has a lot to learn about how to fight corruption...