I don’t think the Hunter Biden “scandal” is worthy of tipping an election. But I do think it’s deserving of coverage. Yet, some in the media disagree, like NPR’s managing editor, who dismissed it, saying, “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories…” With all due respect, this is a legitimate story, and sitting on it till after Nov. 3 disserves the public, and could even have the unintended consequence of stoking additional fears about the “fake news” media.
We should not hype it. We should not hide it. What we should do is put it in proper perspective. Following is my attempt to do just that.
Here’s what we know: Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden, was paid a lot of money by various companies—not because of his expertise or intellect, but because of his last name. This means that when Joe Biden said, “My son did nothing wrong,” he wasn’t exactly shooting straight with us. Trading on a powerful name is not illegal or uncommon, but is a form of corruption. And we should be honest about that.
ADVERTISEMENT
These are the facts as I understand them, but everything else is confusing and convoluted. This doesn’t mean we should bury the story, however, but rather that we should approach the recent spate of last-minute revelations skeptically. Among the things that make my spidey sense tingle: the fingerprints of familiar characters like Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon; the sketchy story about a laptop left at a shop in Delaware; and the newly-introduced character, former Hunter Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski.
With new characters come new plotlines. One of the latest comes from the Daily Caller News Foundation, which obtained a business proposal from a group of businessmen, including Hunter Biden, to a Chinese energy company. (Disclosure: I previously worked for the Daily Caller’s for-profit site.) The proposal shared by the DCNF features a picture of the then-vice president shaking hands with the president of Columbia, as well as language that, as the DCNF puts it, “explicitly touts Joe Biden’s contacts with foreign leaders.”
This report suggests that Hunter’s penchant for trading on his dad’s name was even more overt and egregious than we knew. But it also raises questions, like: Why is this just coming out now—just days before Nov. 3? Why wasn’t all this in Sen. Ron Johnson and Sen. Chuck Grassley’s official report? And why is the Daily Caller News Foundation (and not, say, The Wall Street Journal) breaking it?
And then there’s this important point: Even if this latest revelation proves true, the proposal went out in 2017—after Joe Biden was no longer the vice president.
Appearing on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show Monday night, Bobulinski claimed to have met with Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Joe’s brother Jim Biden in May 2017 at at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. According to Bobulinski, it was "crystal clear" that Joe Biden had been briefed about the business deal. Still, Bobulinski says their conversation revolved around the Biden family’s tragic history and politics—not business.
Bobulinski also told Carlson he’s convinced an email he received, also in May 2017, from yet another associate (a conspiracy theory-esque chart with circles and arrows would be helpful) implied that Joe Biden would get a 10 percent cut of the deal. He also said that when he asked Joe’s brother if he was concerned about getting caught, Jim Biden replied with the words, “plausible deniability.”
Even better than plausible deniability is provable deniability. Joe Biden might have had a great rolodex in 2017, but what he didn’t have was an office to sell. Even if Joe Biden were taking a cut—an unsubstantiated allegation, to be sure—he was a civilian at the time. It’s hard to peddle influence when your influence is gone. That alone takes this from being a potentially big scandal to a rather underwhelming one.
It’s worth asking, what startling new evidence has actually emerged? In terms of what we definitively know, not very much. The only thing that is entirely clear is that Biden’s son sought to profit financially off of his father's name, which, at this point, is like being told there is gambling taking place at Rick’s Café. Heaven knows the Trump kids (and their spouses) do this, and more. Here’s a New York Times piece headlined, “Jared Kushner’s Sister Highlights Family Ties in Pitch to Chinese Investors.” And that doesn’t even count the corrupt things Trump, himself, has done (such as pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens).
As it pertains to the Bidens, the real scandal is that we live in a world where the sons of powerful people get to regularly cash in—legally (as long as they don’t officially cross the line).
But fixing this systemic problem would be harder than you think. The scions of famous and powerful people get all sorts of perks, without even mentioning their parents. On the other hand, can we tell an adult that he can’t be in business just because his dad is a politician? What if the son or daughter is actually (unlike Hunter) highly qualified? What if the kid is estranged from the parent and needs the money… Can you tell her she’d better find a job in another industry?
Of course, politics isn’t the only business that faces ethical conundrums. Consider journalism. There seems to be a fear amongst some media elites that this story is like the Hillary email story, and that talking about it would help re-elect Trump. Personally, I don’t think such political calculations should factor into press coverage, but I also think that’s a bit paranoid; Hillary’s scandal and Biden’s scandal an apples-and-oranges comparison.
But let’s say you want to factor in some political calculations. I agree with Ted Cruz, who admitted, “I don't think it moves a single voter.” Biden is still the strong favorite to win, and if you’re hoping a stinging defeat will discredit Trumpism, it’s better for there to be no asterisks involved. And if you’re a Democrat, you’d be better off wiping the slate clean, now, rather than letting it linger and potentially overshadow a Biden presidency. Speaking of which: If Biden becomes president, given his son’s past activities, it will be more than fair to demand that he state unequivocally that his son will be involved in no such foreign-investment shenanigans as long as Biden is president.
Regardless, refusing to cover this story would be a disservice to the public, and it could also breed skepticism and paranoia amongst the conspiratorial fever swamps.
The truth appears to be that Joe Biden’s son is guilty of run-of-the-mill corruption. In the context of what happens in Washington, this is small potatoes. Donald Trump is guilty of much, much worse.
