Don't Forget About Baiden Corruption

I'll be interested to see whether Putin will raise any issues of the Baiden Crime Family corruption--given that so much of what is known about that corruption stems from Baiden dealings in connection with Ukraine. As it happens, there are two article today that look at two aspects of Hunter's legal problems. The details are too complex to sort out here, but I recommend both articles. The fact that the Ukraine story hasn't just disappeared should be concerning for Dems as we approach 2022 because, as one of the authors points out, it wasn't just Hunter--Zhou was involved as well.

John Solomon sets the stage, in a way, for the second article:

Feds subpoenaed Hunter Biden during 2016 election, raising worry over unpaid taxes on Ukraine work

Lawyers and accountants prepared "proffer" to federal authorities, scrambled to devise narrative on unpaid taxes in emails that undercut president's longtime claim his son did nothing wrong.

What this means is that Hunter, on the advice of accountants and lawyers, was considering admitting some degree of wrongdoing in his tax matters in return for turning against his partner, Devon Archer. Here are the basics:

As the 2016 election kicked into full gear, Hunter Biden’s inner circle feared an impending federal criminal indictment of his long-time business partner might expose the then-vice president’s son to legal jeopardy because he had avoided paying taxes on income from the Ukrainian gas firm Burisma Holdings, according to emails on an abandoned laptop seized by the FBI.

The emails capture the real-time communications of Hunter Biden with defense lawyers and a corporate accountant after federal authorities subpoenaed some of his business records five years ago. The document demand sent his inner circle scrambling to develop a story to explain the unpaid taxes from 2014 and 2015 and prepare a “proffer” — an offer of testimony — to give to federal prosecutors and the FBI, IRS and Securities and Exchange Commission agents investigating his partner Devon Archer.

Hunter Biden revealed late last year he is under federal investigation for tax issues, but the emails obtained by Just the News show the president’s youngest son has been worried about federal exposure on taxes since April 2016, long before Donald Trump was elected president or Biden's Ukraine business dealings became the focus of scandal and an impeachment trial.

The way this connects to the second article is this. Devon Archer was arrested in May, 2016. Now Archer and Hunter were involved with Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company. Burisma was being investigated for its corrupt practices and had enlisted Hunter to pull strings on its behalf--remember, this is where Zhou got involved in person. Hunter did this through a Clintonista consulting firm--Blue Star Strategies. So, Solomon writes:

Archer’s arrest immediately caused concern in the Biden camp. Karen Tramontano of Blue Star Strategies, an American firm assisting Burisma, forwarded excerpts from a Ukrainian news site covering Archer’s arrest to Hunter’s assistant with a terse comment, “In the Ukrainian press.” Schwerin then forwarded the email to Hunter Biden.

Where Solomon leaves off is where Chuck Ross begins:

Hunter Biden Facilitated Deal for Democratic Consultants Now Under Federal Investigation

Emails show Biden served as conduit between Burisma Holdings and Blue Star Strategies

Here's the problem for Blue Star. In the course of investigating Hunter's tax matters, the feds came across his ties with Blue Star--and they realized that Blue Star had failed to register as foreign agents under FARA. That investigation is ongoing and gained impetus from the emails recovered from Hunter's famous laptop:

Emails from Hunter Biden's laptop show he was instrumental in setting up a consulting deal between a Ukrainian energy company and two Democratic consultants [who are now] under investigation for violating foreign lobbying laws.

Biden and colleagues at the private equity firm Rosemont Seneca helped Burisma Holdings hire Blue Star Strategies, a firm owned by former Clinton administration officials Sally Painter and Karen Tramontano. Biden's emails show he played a bigger role than anyone had known in arranging Blue Star's consulting work for Burisma. Neither Biden nor the Blue Star founders registered their work under the Lobbying Disclosure Act or the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Biden's work as a middleman could also explain why federal prosecutors began scrutinizing Blue Star's work for Burisma. Republicans have scrutinized Biden over his work for the company, one of Ukraine's largest natural gas producers, as well as with various Chinese companies. Federal prosecutors are also investigating Biden over his tax affairs and foreign business dealings.

Politico reported that federal prosecutors in Delaware investigating Biden's taxes began probing whether Blue Star violated foreign agent laws by failing to disclose its work for Burisma. Both Biden and the Blue Star executives met with U.S. government officials to advocate on Burisma's behalf, according to congressional testimony. Biden also met with Painter in November 2015 to discuss her potential work for Burisma.

Read both articles for more details--there are plenty. My point, as stated above, is simply that the fact that none of this has gone away should be keeping Dems up at night. Especially if people begin feeling economic pain, stories about Baiden corruption will go down poorly with the public. And there is no way to separate Zhou from Hunter's problems.