The Stream

The Brew: Hunter Skates in the Summer Heat?

By Al Perrotta Published on June 21, 2023 •

Al Perrotta

Happy Wednesday!

We’ve got a brisk Brew, so let’s get to it.

Skating on the Last Day of Spring: Hunter Biden Pleads Guilty to Two Misdemeanor Tax Charges and a Gun Charge

Is Hunter Biden going from the White House to the Big House? Or did he get a sweetheart deal to protect the Big Guy?

The First Son will plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges of willfully failing to pay federal income tax and one count of illegal possession of a firearm, prosecutors announced Tuesday. Biden lied about his drug use when applying for his gun permit. Think if you didn’t pay tax on $3 million over two years, you’d be looking at a misdemeanor?

CORRECTION: Stream reader Larry wrote us to correct me. “Hunter did not lie for a gun permit, he lied filling out and signing an ATF 4473 form for a background check and sales registration form, which states on the form that falsifying info is a FELONY.”

Biden could have faced a total of 12 years behind bars, but the plea deal will likely keep Biden from doing any time. See my newsy write-up for more details. You can read the court filing here. Check out the GOP reaction here. A “cover-up disguised as justice,” The Federalist calls it.

In fact, there’s even some question about the diversionary program Biden’s agreed to for the gun charge. Credit Jenna Ellis. The program would need to get the approval of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. That would be Lisa Monaco, the thoroughly political, partisan hatchet woman.

You remember the story about the gun. Biden’s then-girlfriend, Beau Biden’s widow, was worried the cracked-out Hunter would do something crazy with the gun, and so she threw it in a dumpster near a school. Hunter was not happy, raging in a text to her, “You now have me as an abusive pedophile with homicidal tendencies. And that’s now in the hands of the FBI.”

Hunter, despite all his dirty dealings, is getting away virtually unscathed. This was the subject of Tucker Carlson’s latest episode, posted Tuesday afternoon.

Why Now?

After five years of slow-walking and burying the case, why did DOJ act now and let Hunter plead out? Could it have anything to do with the allegations of a $10 million Biden bribery scheme hitting the news? No, wait. Make that $20-30 million. The White House needed the Hunter case closed so it can say the criminal investigations into the family are resolved and all is well. That further investigations – like the House Oversight investigation that are digging into the real dirt – are “political.”

Talking about political, Sen. Chuck Grassley is insinuating the FBI so narrowly defined the scoop of its Hunter investigation, bribery allegations could not be probed. During a Thursday meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley asked:

In regard to U.S. Attorney Weiss, do we know if his job follows up on bribery, or is it just this tax stuff that we’ve been reading about? If it doesn’t include bribery, then he can’t do anything about investigating.

 The Federalist has that story.  

Huh?

According to D.A. David Weiss, the DOJ investigation into Hunter is “ongoing.” Hunter’s lawyers say it’s their “understanding” the DOJ’s probe of Hunter is “resolved.” What gives? Speaker Kevin McCarthy smells a rat.

How can he plead guilty and still have an investigation? Are you claiming they’re still investigation [sic] and try to withhold information to the House investigation? That’s unacceptable.

He has reason to be suspicious. The Free Beacon notes that the special assistant to the D.A. on the Biden case who helped work out the sweetheart deal is Derek Hines. Could be just coincidence, but Hines was special counsel to former FBI director Louis Freeh. Freeh has deep personal and business relationships with Bidens. In fact, Freeh is so tight with the Bidens that he dropped $100K into a college trust for two of Biden’s grandkids.

Not his granddaughter Navy, of course.  

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Which gets us to Hunter’s child support fight in Arkansas. DOJ can wipe its hands clean of Hunter. The White House and media can dismiss and ignore the House Oversight and whistleblower revelations. But an Arkansas mama looking to get what’s rightfully her child’s? Her lawyers are going to get the real financial records. Unless Hunter decides to settle that one right quick too.

UPDATE: And settle it he did. Privately. Terms of the settlement between Hunter and little Navy’s mother Lundon Roberts are sealed.

After all the heavy lifting, let’s give the last word to Jason Whitlock.

YouTube Censors Democratic Challenger RFK Jr. Interview with Jordan Peterson

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is polling at 15-20% against Joe Biden and climbing. According to Newsweek, he has a higher favorability rating than Biden or Donald Trump. He’s a stone in Biden’s shoe, so now the media’s jumping on him like kids on grandma’s feather bed. Not surprising, but not interference.

Not so for Big Tech. YouTube/Google is getting into the election interference game. Again. An interview RFK Jr. did with Jordan Peterson has been pulled. Why? Because he blasphemed the still-sacred COVID vaccines.

YouTube tells Fox News Digital it dumped the video “removed a video from the Jordan Peterson channel for violating YouTube’s general vaccine misinformation policy, which prohibits content that alleges that vaccines cause chronic side effects, outside of rare side effects that are recognized by health authorities.” Rare?

The candidate is pushing a hashtag #LetRFKSpeak. He asks, “Do you really need Big Tech censors to decide what you should hear? Or would you prefer to be treated as a competent adult who can listen to various viewpoints and come to his or her own conclusions?”

Finally, Summer is Here … Unless the World Ends

Summer arrives today at 10:58 a.m. Eastern time. Unless the world is over. Five years ago today, climate activist Greta Thunberg warned that “climate change would wipe out all of humanity unless we stop using fossil fuels in the next five years.”

But it sure seems humanity is still here.

And so is “Summertime, Summertime.”

 

Along The Stream

John Z. rocks with “Blessed are the Cheesemakers: How Life of Brian Explains Progressive Christianity.”

Stream contributor Alex Chediak asks, “Why are Liberals Less Happy?”

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.

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