Biden catch-all
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A California man who was charged with lying to the FBI about fake criminal allegations against President Biden and his son Hunter is pleading guilty, according to an agreement filed in federal court on Thursday.
Alexander Smirnov was indicted in February by special counsel David Weiss, who was appointed to lead the now-defunct investigations into Hunter Biden. The president pardoned his son earlier this month.
A longtime confidential informant, Smirnov told his FBI handler in 2020 that the two Bidens each accepted $5 million from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma several years earlier. The claims "were false, as the Defendant knew," according to the charging documents filed against him.
The fake allegations were memorialized in an FBI document that became a central piece of evidence in congressional Republicans' efforts to investigate the Biden family.
On Thursday, prosecutors from Weiss' office wrote Smirnov will plead guilty to one count of creating a false federal record —the FBI document filed with his false information — and three tax-related counts. The new tax charges were filed last month.
With the agreement and the pardon of Hunter Biden, Weiss' cases, and likely his time as special counsel, are coming to a close. Weiss was appointed U.S. attorney during the Trump administration, and the Biden administration kept him on to continue his Hunter Biden probe. Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated him to special counsel earlier this year.
Weiss' office declined to comment on the plea agreement, and an attorney for Smirnov did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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JCTarheel82
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About Biden rushing to auction off border wall parts in spite:
www.snopes.com
Biden Selling Off Parts of Border Wall? Here's What We Know
"This can’t be legal," said an X user. "Why does this administration want to weaken the United States?"
www.snopes.com
I’m shocked.About Biden rushing to auction off border wall parts in spite:
Biden Selling Off Parts of Border Wall? Here's What We Know
"This can’t be legal," said an X user. "Why does this administration want to weaken the United States?"
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How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge
Aides kept meetings short and controlled access, top advisers acted as go-betweens and public interactions became more scripted. The administration denied Biden has declined.
GIFT LINK —> https://www.wsj.com/politics/biden-...39?st=zuoz1Z&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink
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From WSJ article above:
“… Presidents always have gatekeepers. But in Biden’s case, the walls around him were higher and the controls greater, according to Democratic lawmakers, donors and aides who worked for Biden and other administrations. There were limits over who Biden spoke with, limits on what they said to him and limits around the sources of information he consumed.
Throughout his presidency, a small group of aides stuck close to Biden to assist him, especially when traveling or speaking to the public. “They body him to such a high degree,” a person who witnessed it said, adding that the “hand holding” is unlike anything other recent presidents have had.
… This account of how the White House functioned with an aging leader at the top of its organizational chart is based on interviews with nearly 50 people, including those who participated in or had direct knowledge of the operations.
Many of those who criticized Biden’s insularity said his system nonetheless kept his agenda on track.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden “earned the most accomplished record of any modern commander in chief and rebuilt the middle class because of his attention to policy details that impact millions of lives.” Bates, who rejected the notion that Biden has declined, added that the president has often solicited opinions from outside experts, which has informed his policymaking. …”
——
My husband read Bob Woodward’s most recent book — the media focused on the many juicy bits about Trump b/c Biden had dropped out, but hubby said that it was clear the focus of this book was originally going to be how diminished and handled Biden had become.
“… Presidents always have gatekeepers. But in Biden’s case, the walls around him were higher and the controls greater, according to Democratic lawmakers, donors and aides who worked for Biden and other administrations. There were limits over who Biden spoke with, limits on what they said to him and limits around the sources of information he consumed.
Throughout his presidency, a small group of aides stuck close to Biden to assist him, especially when traveling or speaking to the public. “They body him to such a high degree,” a person who witnessed it said, adding that the “hand holding” is unlike anything other recent presidents have had.
… This account of how the White House functioned with an aging leader at the top of its organizational chart is based on interviews with nearly 50 people, including those who participated in or had direct knowledge of the operations.
Many of those who criticized Biden’s insularity said his system nonetheless kept his agenda on track.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden “earned the most accomplished record of any modern commander in chief and rebuilt the middle class because of his attention to policy details that impact millions of lives.” Bates, who rejected the notion that Biden has declined, added that the president has often solicited opinions from outside experts, which has informed his policymaking. …”
——
My husband read Bob Woodward’s most recent book — the media focused on the many juicy bits about Trump b/c Biden had dropped out, but hubby said that it was clear the focus of this book was originally going to be how diminished and handled Biden had become.
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(Cont’d)
“… Ideally, the meetings would start later in the day, since Biden has never been at his best first thing in the morning, some of the people said. His staff made these adjustments to limit potential missteps by Biden, the people said. The president, known for long and rambling sessions, at times pushed in the opposite direction, wanting or just taking more time.
The White House denied that his schedule has been altered due to his age.
If the president was having an off day, meetings could be scrapped altogether. On one such occasion, in the spring of 2021, a national security official explained to another aide why a meeting needed to be rescheduled. “He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow,” the former aide recalled the official saying.
…
Multiple former senior cabinet aides described a top-down dynamic in which the White House would issue decisions and expect cabinet agencies to carry them out, rather than making cabinet secretaries active participants in the policymaking process. Some of them said it was hard for them to discern to what degree Biden was insulated because of his age versus his preference for a powerful inner circle.
Bates said Biden has daily conversations with members of his cabinet. Several cabinet secretaries contacted the Journal at the White House’s request to attest to the smooth operations between their agencies and the White House. They said Biden would call them individually on the phone when seeking information or to give direction.
… Most often, however, they dealt with the president’s advisers, not the president himself, some of them said.
…
Defense Secretary Austin also saw his close relationship with Biden grow more distant over the course of the administration, with Austin’s regular access to Biden becoming increasingly rare in the past two years, people familiar with the relationship said.
During the first half of the administration, Austin was one of the cabinet members who would regularly attend Biden’s presidential daily briefing on a rotational basis each week. That briefing would be followed with a routine one-on-one in which Austin and Biden would meet personally behind closed doors.
… But in the past two years—a period when the wars in Ukraine and Gaza demanded the president’s attention—Austin’s invitation to the briefing came less frequently, to the point where the one-on-one meeting was seldom scheduled. When the one-on-one meetings did take place, they were more typically virtual meetings, not in-person. Still, Austin could always get an unscheduled meeting with the president if he needed it. …”
“… Ideally, the meetings would start later in the day, since Biden has never been at his best first thing in the morning, some of the people said. His staff made these adjustments to limit potential missteps by Biden, the people said. The president, known for long and rambling sessions, at times pushed in the opposite direction, wanting or just taking more time.
The White House denied that his schedule has been altered due to his age.
If the president was having an off day, meetings could be scrapped altogether. On one such occasion, in the spring of 2021, a national security official explained to another aide why a meeting needed to be rescheduled. “He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow,” the former aide recalled the official saying.
…
Multiple former senior cabinet aides described a top-down dynamic in which the White House would issue decisions and expect cabinet agencies to carry them out, rather than making cabinet secretaries active participants in the policymaking process. Some of them said it was hard for them to discern to what degree Biden was insulated because of his age versus his preference for a powerful inner circle.
Bates said Biden has daily conversations with members of his cabinet. Several cabinet secretaries contacted the Journal at the White House’s request to attest to the smooth operations between their agencies and the White House. They said Biden would call them individually on the phone when seeking information or to give direction.
… Most often, however, they dealt with the president’s advisers, not the president himself, some of them said.
…
Defense Secretary Austin also saw his close relationship with Biden grow more distant over the course of the administration, with Austin’s regular access to Biden becoming increasingly rare in the past two years, people familiar with the relationship said.
During the first half of the administration, Austin was one of the cabinet members who would regularly attend Biden’s presidential daily briefing on a rotational basis each week. That briefing would be followed with a routine one-on-one in which Austin and Biden would meet personally behind closed doors.
… But in the past two years—a period when the wars in Ukraine and Gaza demanded the president’s attention—Austin’s invitation to the briefing came less frequently, to the point where the one-on-one meeting was seldom scheduled. When the one-on-one meetings did take place, they were more typically virtual meetings, not in-person. Still, Austin could always get an unscheduled meeting with the president if he needed it. …”
ZenMode
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I don't think it's truly understood just how big of a deal is this. I don't mean only the country being run by a president in significant mental decline, but the number of people collectively involved in hiding it from the country AND remaining silent when he ran to be president for four more years.
Not nearly as big a deal as how much better the country was run than in Trump's last term or than in any other major country after Covid. What does that say?
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It is a big deal and we need structural changes to prevent it from happening again.
Mulberry Heel
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True, but they do it because it works. Over and over and over again. And as of yet Democrats have not found any effective response, and so they just keep losing more and more ground politically. I don't know what the solution is, but it's one of the more depressing aspects of this entire dark period that we're living through.
Mulberry Heel
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I agree, but good luck on getting either party to make those changes willingly. Both parties are chock full of aging boomers who will likely cling to power with their fingernails until they take their last breath. Trump will be as old as Biden in 2028, and I think something like forty-plus Senators are over the age of seventy. We're being led by a gerontocracy, and our aging sages have shown no willingness in either party to give up their control and power unless forced to do so, like Biden.
ZenMode
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That presidents are largely irrelevant?
Callatoroy
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Even in the face of all the lies told to the left by its media over the last 5 years, you still pretend your media is somehow better. It isn't and there is proof to support that claim. Grow up and recognize that the media, right & left, is just trying to manipulate you to its agenda.
ZenMode
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I really only see two possible remedies. One, age limits for public office positions. That would most likely be portrayed as discriminatory by those who want to keep their jobs. The other option is to have some kind of cognitive test performed annually. Is it realistic to put that kind of responsibility and pressure on one doctor or would you need a panel of three or more?
lawtig02
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Link?