skews13
Diamond Member
- Mar 18, 2017
- 10,168
- 13,256
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Here’s a hot tip for anyone trying to peddle a lie: Add a number. Don’t make it too big, or too vague, like “millions.” If you’re talking about stealing an election, 450,000might work. Or 33,000. Or maybe 5,000. But really, all those numbers are a little suspiciously neat. To really make this thing work, the number has to be something solid. Something specific.
Like 17. Now there’s a number.
If you’ve seen that number in the news this week, it’s probably been as part of the latest “scandal” that Republicans have whipped up about President Joe Biden. If you haven’t seen it, count yourself lucky, but don’t think it’s going to last. Because Republicans, led by pidgin expert Sen. Chuck Grassley and whistleblower-hatingRep. James Comer, are claiming that there are “17 tapes” that document their claims of a bribery scandal connected to Biden and his son Hunter.
Have they heard these 17 tapes? No. Have they heard maybe 10 of the tapes? No. How many tapes have they heard? Zero. They’ve heard zero tapes. Because the whole thing is just another part of the extended fantasy tale that Rudy Giuliani brought to them years ago. Like the missing whistleblower and the fake “FBI document,” Republicans know this is all a lie. They just don’t care.
The make-believe scandal that Republicans are now pretending to investigate goes back to May 1, 2019. That’s when Rudy Giulani brought a tale of intrigue, bribery, and blackmail to The New York Times, without any evidence, and the Times did what it does when Guilani brings them anything: They ran it without question.
The claim from the start was based around the fact that while Joe Biden had been vice president, his son Hunter had been on the board of a Ukrainian energy firm called Burisma. In March 2016, Biden pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor named Viktor Shokin, heavily hinting that U.S. aid might be withheld if Shokin wasn’t dropped. From this, Giuliani spun a story that Shokin had been investigating Burisma and Biden had him fired to protect his son’s paycheck.
It took less than a week for Bloomberg News to do what The New York Times had skipped over in their efforts to act as a Giuliani transcription service. Bloomberg sent reporters to Ukraine, interviewed officials, checked with Giuliani’s supposed sources, and looked back at the very well documented, very public events. They immediately showed that everything Giuliani was claiming was nonsense.
The reason that Biden put pressure on Ukraine over Shokin was because he was refusing to investigate Burisma. And not just Burisma. Shokin was such a corrupt prosecutor that he was allowing oligarchs to do as they pleased, so long as they shared a little of their profits. It was actually a probe by the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office that opened the door on how corrupt Shokin was, and how his failure to investigate was turning Ukraine into a hotspot for international criminals. Getting rid of Shokin was a critical step in the fight against corruption in Ukraine.
Shokin himself has even confirmed that he was never investigating Burisma, which is all the testimony that’s needed to show that the whole thing is a farce. The truth is that Biden completely ignored how his actions might damage his son’s income in order to do the right thing in stopping corruption. And, no matter what Giuliani, Trump, or innumerable Republicans have said since then, there is not, was not, has not been, any evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe Biden or Hunter Biden in Ukraine.
But just because a crime doesn’t exist has never stopped Republicans from continuing to “investigate.” Since Republicans gained control of the House, that has meant Rep. James Comer cornponing his way across right-wing media repeating claims he knows are not true. Because truth has f*** all to do with it.
Here’s a number for you. 18
That’s how many months are left before the Democrats take back the House.
Like 17. Now there’s a number.
If you’ve seen that number in the news this week, it’s probably been as part of the latest “scandal” that Republicans have whipped up about President Joe Biden. If you haven’t seen it, count yourself lucky, but don’t think it’s going to last. Because Republicans, led by pidgin expert Sen. Chuck Grassley and whistleblower-hatingRep. James Comer, are claiming that there are “17 tapes” that document their claims of a bribery scandal connected to Biden and his son Hunter.
Have they heard these 17 tapes? No. Have they heard maybe 10 of the tapes? No. How many tapes have they heard? Zero. They’ve heard zero tapes. Because the whole thing is just another part of the extended fantasy tale that Rudy Giuliani brought to them years ago. Like the missing whistleblower and the fake “FBI document,” Republicans know this is all a lie. They just don’t care.
The make-believe scandal that Republicans are now pretending to investigate goes back to May 1, 2019. That’s when Rudy Giulani brought a tale of intrigue, bribery, and blackmail to The New York Times, without any evidence, and the Times did what it does when Guilani brings them anything: They ran it without question.
The claim from the start was based around the fact that while Joe Biden had been vice president, his son Hunter had been on the board of a Ukrainian energy firm called Burisma. In March 2016, Biden pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor named Viktor Shokin, heavily hinting that U.S. aid might be withheld if Shokin wasn’t dropped. From this, Giuliani spun a story that Shokin had been investigating Burisma and Biden had him fired to protect his son’s paycheck.
It took less than a week for Bloomberg News to do what The New York Times had skipped over in their efforts to act as a Giuliani transcription service. Bloomberg sent reporters to Ukraine, interviewed officials, checked with Giuliani’s supposed sources, and looked back at the very well documented, very public events. They immediately showed that everything Giuliani was claiming was nonsense.
The reason that Biden put pressure on Ukraine over Shokin was because he was refusing to investigate Burisma. And not just Burisma. Shokin was such a corrupt prosecutor that he was allowing oligarchs to do as they pleased, so long as they shared a little of their profits. It was actually a probe by the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office that opened the door on how corrupt Shokin was, and how his failure to investigate was turning Ukraine into a hotspot for international criminals. Getting rid of Shokin was a critical step in the fight against corruption in Ukraine.
Shokin himself has even confirmed that he was never investigating Burisma, which is all the testimony that’s needed to show that the whole thing is a farce. The truth is that Biden completely ignored how his actions might damage his son’s income in order to do the right thing in stopping corruption. And, no matter what Giuliani, Trump, or innumerable Republicans have said since then, there is not, was not, has not been, any evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe Biden or Hunter Biden in Ukraine.
But just because a crime doesn’t exist has never stopped Republicans from continuing to “investigate.” Since Republicans gained control of the House, that has meant Rep. James Comer cornponing his way across right-wing media repeating claims he knows are not true. Because truth has f*** all to do with it.
'17 tapes’ are latest attempt by Republicans to smear Biden
Here’s a hot tip for anyone trying to peddle a lie: Add a number. Don’t make it too big, or too vague, like “millions.” If you’re talking about stealing an election, 450,000 might work. Or 33,000. Or maybe 5,000. But really, all those numbers are a...
www.dailykos.com
Here’s a number for you. 18
That’s how many months are left before the Democrats take back the House.
