With latest development where Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel on August 11, 2023 in the Hunter Biden probe, a surprise move that intensifies the investigation into the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election.
British newspaper The Telegraph, has reported that there are indications within political circles that the Democratic Party is considering nominating Michelle Obama for the 2024 presidential race.
According to a source cited by the newspaper, a conversation with a foreign politician suggested that Joe Biden may not be the Democratic nominee, with speculation that he could withdraw before the first primaries, leading to an establishment-backed candidate being chosen at the convention. If this scenario were to unfold, Michelle Obama might be the beneficiary of this nomination, leading to an interesting turn of events.
Meanwhile, Peter Baker, who has covered the past five presidents, in an article published in The New York Times wrote: “Following the collapse of a plea deal and the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden mean the US President Joe Biden could face political fallout for months to come”.
He wrote: They thought it was over, that they could put it in the rearview mirror. All that Hunter Biden had to do was show up in a courtroom, answer a few questions, sign some paperwork and that would be it. Not that the Republicans would let it go, but any real danger would be past.
Except that it did not work out that way. The criminal investigation that President Biden’s advisers believed was all but done has instead been given new life with the collapse of the plea agreement and the appointment of a special counsel who now might bring the president’s son to trial.
What had been a painful but relatively contained political scandal that animated mainly partisans on the right could now extend for months just as the president is gearing up for his re-election campaign. This time, the questions about Hunter Biden’s conduct may be harder for the White House to dismiss as politically motivated. They may even break out of the conservative echo chamber to the general public, which has largely not paid much attention until now.
It remained unclear whether Hunter Biden faces criminal exposure beyond the tax and gun charges lodged against him by David C. Weiss, the prosecutor first appointed in 2018 to investigate him by President Donald J. Trump’s attorney general. It may be that Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s decision to designate Mr. Weiss a special counsel with more independence to run the inquiry means that there is still more potential legal peril stemming from Hunter Biden’s business dealings with foreign firms.
Yet it may amount to less than meets the eye in the long run. Mr. Weiss’s announcement abandoning the plea agreement he originally reached with Hunter Biden on the tax and gun charges means he could take the case to trial in states other than Delaware, where he is US attorney and has jurisdiction. Some analysts speculated that requesting special counsel status may be about empowering him to prosecute out of state.
Associated Press in its report said:
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel Friday [August 11, 2023] in the Hunter Biden probe, a surprise move that intensifies the investigation into the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election.
Garland noted the “extraordinary circumstances” of the matter as he named David Weiss, the US attorney in Delaware who had already been probing Hunter Biden’s financial dealings, as special counsel after plea deal talks in the case broke down.
The sudden turn of events raises fresh questions about the case against Hunter Biden on tax evasion and a gun charge, deepening an investigation that was close to resolution just weeks ago. Weiss had asked to be named special counsel, gaining broad authority to investigate and report out his findings.
It comes as the Justice Department has taken the unprecedented step of indicting former President Donald Trump, who’s President Joe Biden’s chief rival in next year’s election, in two separate cases. It also puts questions about Biden’s family at the forefront of the 2024 presidential election.
Speaking at the Justice Department, Garland said he expects the special counsel to work expeditiously in an “even-handed and urgent” manner.
Garland said Weiss, who had been appointed by Trump as US attorney, told him this week the investigation had reached a stage in which he should continue as special counsel.
“Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel”, Garland said.
The announcement of a special counsel is a significant development from the typically cautious Garland and provides Weiss with independence, authority and budget to pursue the investigation.
It’s not fully clear why the attorney general took the step in appointing a special counsel for the Hunter Biden case, but prosecutors in Delaware also announced Friday that plea deal talks Weiss was pursuing in the tax evasion case had hit an impasse.
In a court filing Friday, Weiss’ team said charges would be better filed in California or Washington. Though Garland has said Weiss always had the authority to file outside Delaware, the venue may have been a factor in his request to be named special counsel.
Nevertheless, the announcement ensures the Justice Department’s probes of Trump, and now of Biden’s youngest son, who used drugs and whose personal entanglements have trailed his father’s political career, will carry into election season.
The federal cases differ significantly: Trump has been indicted and is awaiting trial in two separate cases brought by special prosecutor Jack Smith. One is over Trump’s refusal to turn over classified documents stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The other involves charges of fraud and conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election in the run up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
In the case of Hunter Biden, the president has not been accused or charged with any wrongdoing by prosecutors probing the affairs of his son.
Hunter Biden’s attorney Chris Clark said little has changed about their understanding of the situation and the prosecutor’s role.
“Whether in Delaware, Washington, DC, or anywhere else, we expect a fair resolution not infected by politics”, Clark said in a statement.
President Biden has said repeatedly he does not talk with his son about business.
Trump’s team on Friday questioned the independence of the special counsel Weiss, who he himself had appointed. But a Trump spokesman said the prosecutor should move quickly, and anyone found with wrongdoing “should face the required consequences.”
Mike Pence, another Republican rival for the presidency in 2024, told reporters at the Iowa State Fair that he welcomed the special counsel appointment — as he made his own dig at the Biden family.
“To be honest with you, I can’t relate to what his son was doing when he was vice president”, said Pence, who served alongside Trump. “When I was vice president, my son was flying an F35 in the Marine Corps defending this country”.
Garland said Weiss will have “all the resources he requests” to probe the matter.
Last month, Hunter Biden’s plea deal over tax evasion and a gun charge collapsed after US District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by Trump, raised multiple concerns about the specifics.
House Republicans had derided that agreement as a “sweetheart” deal as they pushed their own probe into Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
House Republicans have been struggling to connect the son’s work to his father, and so far they have not been able to produce evidence to show any wrongdoing.
Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, has been leading the congressional inquiry into Hunter Biden’s financial ties and transactions.
Comer joined forces with two chairmen of powerful House committees to launch a larger investigation into claims by two IRS agents who said the Justice Department improperly interfered in the years-long case.
The Republicans claimed Weiss was being blocked from becoming a special counsel. It’s a claim Weiss and the Justice Department denied.
The Kentucky lawmaker has obtained thousands of pages of financial records from various members of the Biden family through subpoenas.
Since then, Comer has brought in a former business associate of Hunter Biden, Devon Archer, who provided fresh insight during closed-door testimony into how the Democratic president’s son capitalized on his relationship with his father, who was then vice president, to court foreign investors.
Archer said Hunter Biden was using the “illusion of access” in Washington. But he offered no tangible evidence that Joe Biden played any role in his son’s work beyond saying hello during their daily family calls or as he stopped by a couple of dinners.
Comer joined other Republicans Friday in rejecting the appointment of a special counsel, calling it a “coverup” by the Justice Department, and vowed to continue his own probe.
Special counsels are typically appointed to investigate cases where the Justice Department perceives itself as having a conflict or where it’s deemed to be in the public interest.
As special counsels, they aren’t subject to day-to-day supervision from the Justice Department, though they are still overseen by the attorney general. They have a budget and, unlike most prosecutors, are expected to produce a report at the end of their investigations explaining their findings and decisions.
Weiss was nominated by Trump to serve as Delaware US attorney in 2017 and was retained after Biden took over so he could continue to oversee the Hunter Biden investigation.
Biden under influence of Barack Obama
The idea that the Biden presidency has been significantly influenced by the Obama administration is not new. It’s been suggested that Biden’s team includes a significant number of former Obama staffers, indicating a continuity of policies from 2008 to 2024, with the exception of Trump’s tenure. An interview with historian David Garrow has highlighted this, suggesting that Obama’s influence on Biden-era foreign policy is more significant than it may appear on the surface.
This perspective seems to align with similar rumors circulating in the international media. It is suggested that when dealing with Biden, foreign governments sometimes feel they are interacting with the face of the administration rather than the true decision-maker. Given the tight race, Biden’s declining popularity, and his visible aging, doubts about his capabilities have been on the rise. Additionally, the alternative, Vice President Kamala Harris, has faced criticisms of being charmless and lacking a deep understanding of complex matters.
Hunter Biden’s connections with a Tier-III terrorist organization
Following publication of several investigative reports in Blitz exposing Hunter Biden’s millions of dollars lobbyists assignment which he accepted from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which has been under scrutiny for its alleged connections with militancy and its controversial political practices. Despite presenting itself as a democratic party, there are concerns that the BNP has links with extremist groups.
At the center of the controversy is Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the party, who has been convicted of terrorism charges. He currently resides in London and is accused of orchestrating activities to transform Bangladesh into a more radical state, akin to a neo-Taliban regime.
The United States authorities have long considered Tarique Rahman to be a notorious and feared figure, describing him as a symbol of corruption and violent politics in Bangladesh. However, recent reports of Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, being appointed as a lobbyist for the BNP have added further intrigue to the situation.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has designated the BNP as a Tier-III terrorist organization under section 212(a)(3)(B)(vi)(III) of the Act”, implying that it could be connected to terrorist activities. The Act defines a “terrorist organization” based on its engagement in terrorist activity, and the DoJ found evidence suggesting the BNP may qualify as an undesignated terrorist organization under specific criteria.
Notably, the BNP has been accused of affiliating with known terrorist groups such as Jamaat-ul-Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). These associations have raised suspicions about the party’s intentions and actions.
One court case cited a specific incident where the BNP was accused of instigating violent acts carried out by its members. These acts included brutal attacks on innocent civilians, including a horrific incident where a mother and her baby were burned alive during a general strike called by the BNP.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, generally under the Act, a group is designated as a “terrorist organization” either by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 219 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1189, or by publishing the designation in the Federal Register after the Secretary determines, in consultation with the Attorney General or Secretary of Homeland Security, that the group engages in “terrorist activity”. Sections 212(a)(3)(B)(vi)(I), (II) of the Act.
However, even if not so designated, a group may qualify as an undesignated “terrorist organization” if it is composed of “a group of two or more individuals, whether organized or not, which engages in, or has a subgroup which engages in [terrorist] activities” (Section 212(a)(3)(B)(vi)(III) of the Act).
Nevertheless, even if an alien is a member of an undesignated terrorist organization he or she remains eligible to seek asylum and withholding of removal, if he or she can “demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that [he or she] did not know, and should not reasonably have known, that the organization was a terrorist organization” (Section 212(a)(3)(B)(i)(VI) of the Act).
