Hunter biden

President Joe Biden is up against a wall following his disastrous debate performance last week, and his family is pulling out all the stops to try and ward off any last-minute intra-party challengers. They’re relying on a famous photographer and top surrogates to convince the Democratic Party that last week’s debacle was a one-off and not how the leader of the free world normally functions.Biden’s family is lashing out at staff for poorly preparing him for the debate, according to reports, rolling out Vogue cover shoots with first lady Jill Biden and and showcasing unwavering endorsements from the Democratic Party’s prime leaders, like former president Barack Obama. For the most part, it’s working.

Welcome to Thunderdome. Donald Trump took to Washington today in a series of meetings with business leaders, House members and senators in what was clearly meant to be a rousing “yes I’m still in charge” play. But it was also a Trump who seemed nervous about his prospects, particularly as it relates to how the abortion issue will be a drag on him in November: Abortion has emerged as Democrats’ most potent political weapon in the two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, a reality the former president acknowledged during a closed-door Capitol Hill meeting.

Hunter Biden’s defense against felony gun chargesa faced two toxic problems — problems that, in the end, proved insurmountable. One was that the crime itself was straightforward. It was easy to present to the jury. The other was that there was a mountain of evidence that Hunter actually committed the crime. A lot of that evidence came from Hunter’s own texts and his memoir. He had the best defense money could buy. Abbe Lowell is tough, a shrewd and smart defense attorney, but he had almost nothing to work with. One by one, the defenses he put forward collapsed under the weight of direct evidence. Lowell tried to show the gun shop employee might not have seen Hunter fill out the purchase form. Turned out the employee was two feet away.

The Biden White House had a difficult weekend as pro-Palestinian protesters continue to be a thorn in the side of the administration and the Democratic Party. Thousands arrived outside of the White House on Saturday to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and for Biden to stop sending weapons to Israel. Police erected additional fencing around the White House in anticipation of the protests and deployed pepper spray against at least one demonstrator, but no arrests were made. Instead, the pro-Palestinian activists left graffiti on statues in Lafayette Square and trash strewn around the perimeter of the White House complex.

The gun trial for Hunter Biden will likely wrap up early next week as the prosecution rested its case on Friday. The defense expects to call about two to three witnesses, including an employee of the gun store at which Hunter purchased a firearm while allegedly being an active drug abuser, Hunter’s uncle James Biden and Hunter’s daughter Naomi Biden.Naomi took the stand Friday afternoon and testified that her father seemed “hopeful” in October 2018, the month he purchased the gun, and that she did not personally observe any drug paraphernalia or other signs of abuse in her father’s car. She had previously visited Hunter at a rehab facility in the summer of 2018 and told him she was “proud” of him.

My favorite line in Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s novel The Leopard comes midway through the first chapter. The times are unsettled. The Risorgimento is sweeping Sicily. Prince Tancredi, the idealistic young nephew of the book’s protagonist Prince Fabrizo, is bantering about the political situation with his uncle. He suddenly waxes serious: “If we want things to stay as they are, everything will have to change” (Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga come è, bisogna che tutto cambi). Most readers will understand that the whiff of paradox points not to a contradiction but to a profound truth. There are plenty of historical situations in which fundamental assumptions about society are disrupted and can be restored only by something like revolution.

“This might be the most insane hearing that I have ever attended,” freshman Representative Robert Garcia quipped during today’s hearing featuring former head of the NIAID Dr. Anthony Fauci – the first time that “America’s Doctor” testified publicly in Congress since leaving government service. Fauci, who played a dominant role in dictating public health policy across multiple presidential administrations, appeared diminutive in both his physical stature and in addressing the role he played as America grappled with a once-in-a lifetime pandemic.

Attacking special counsels is fine now, apparently. At least, that’s according to the “Forrest Gump of political failure,” Ian Sams.Former special counsel Robert Hur testified to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that his report on Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, contrary to claims from the White House and Democrats — did not “exonerate” or “clear” Biden — and that there was evidence he willfully retained classified documents, that he shared them with others and that his ghostwriter obstructed the investigation. Sams, however, who is the White House’s spokesman on investigative matters, told CNN that Hur was “misleading” in his testimony.

President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump made dueling visits to the southern border this Thursday, as the issue of immigration becomes the political priority of millions of Americans. The latest Gallup survey (February 1-20) reveals that immigration ranks as the most important problem ahead of the 2024 presidential election. For context, 28 percent of Americans see the issue as the most crucial one, which is more than the following issues combined: federal deficit (3 percent), crime and violence (3 percent), foreign policy/foreign aid/focus overseas (3 percent), poverty/hunger/homelessness (6 percent) and inflation (11 percent).

Hunter Biden, the Biden family’s Mr. Worldwide, spent much of today behind closed doors in the Capitol for a deposition in front of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees. The younger Biden accused Republicans on the committee of peddling lies and operating on the “false premise” that his father, President Joe Biden, had any involvement with his foreign business dealings, a focal point of the GOP’s impeachment inquiry.“I did not involve my father in my business,” Hunter said. “Never.” The first son has been on an image rehab tour, recently sitting down with Axios to discuss how his continued sobriety is essential in the “fight for the future of democracy.” Today’s deposition was a substantial departure from Biden’s previous Capitol Hill trip.

Ronna Romney McDaniel confirmed months of reporting on Monday by officially announcing her resignation as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. She will step aside on March 8, a few days after the Super Tuesday primary contests.  “I have decided to step aside at our Spring Training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a chair of their choosing,” McDaniel said in a statement. “The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition.” Given that former president Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee — and that he has received McDaniel’s endorsement — he will choose her successor.

Some details of the latest congressional border deal, negotiated by Republican senator James Lankford and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, dropped Saturday. Conservatives didn’t have high hopes for negotiations, but the reported deal is worse than imagined. The Senate has been tight-lipped about discussions, but Rosemary Jenks, government relations director at the Immigration Accountability Project, says sources familiar with the negotiations have leaked details to her. The current framework of the deal reportedly involves expanding legal immigration and providing greater incentives to illegal immigrants in exchange for slight changes to border policy.

White House officials confirmed Tuesday that defense secretary Lloyd Austin kept his prostate cancer diagnosis to himself for a month before informing the White House, adding further scrutiny to Austin’s recent failure to inform Biden or the National Security Council that he was in the ICU for several days. Austin, who oversees a department tasked with deterring conflict, received his diagnosis in December, according to a statement from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center officials.