USA Midterms....

[dutchguylivingintheuk]

Firstly, I don't recall saying that the laptop (hard drives) issue was "only about naked women." The vile Marjorie Taylor Green showed nude pictures of Hunter Biden during a committee hearing, but there was the fundamental issue of the chain of custody of the drives.

No you mixed in ''vile Majorie Taylor Green'' and a discussion about the legality of those files, whilst i (and i haven't changed my opinion on that) think the contents of of what was on that laptop(and not drives that is an unproven Hunter Biden's legal defence spin) is far more concerning. And it most likely would have impacted or resulted in Biden losing the elections if it weren't from then Twitter's, Facebook's and some Msm(like the Washington post) so called muting this story.
Hell if it weren't for social media and/or Musk's twitter takeover we wouldn't have heard anything about it and that is concerning. (and if you want to deny the importantance of that point save yourself the efforts by simply thinking what if Trump or Trumps son did the same? You would have had an dayjob posting here, s evidence by your current posting history on Trump)

Secondly, you kept banging on about Hunter Biden benefitting from his father's role in the White House, when there was no evidence of it and, so far as I am aware there is still no evidence of it.

There are several if we put it very mildly ''very strong suggestions'' he did benefit from it. there are emails leaked that show him litteraly trying to use his credentials as being close to his dad and Obama to get someone.
But indeed they haven directly charged him with that, and it remains the question if they ever are going to, does not take away that it's still wrong. And again i don't believe you would spend so much time to deny that if it was not about Biden's son but Trump's son.

Neither have MAGA Republicans on the House Oversight Committee publicly produced any evidence, which I would have expected them to do if they held it.
Rather we have the MAGA Republicans wanting to have a behind closed doors session with Hunter Biden. I wonder why? If the evidence was there, I would have expected the MAGA Republicans on the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees to want public hearings so that they could pillory Hunter Biden and Joe Biden. Or perhaps they don't want to publicly humiliate themselves again because the evidence just isn't there. - And please don't bring up the 3 payments Joe Biden made on Hunter Biden's Ford Raptor and which James Comer was either incapable of understanding or deliberately mischaracterised.

i'm not talking about the political fractions i'm talking about the procecuter who is currently busy with Hunter Biden and is so far in the process off charging him for tax fraud offences, that does not say he is not guilty of other offences.

Thirdly, to the best of my knowledge, Hunter Biden is charged with failing to disclose he was a drug user when acquiring a firearm and not paying his taxes on time. So the link to the laptop/hard drives is?

He is in the process off being charged with tax Fraud, that is something else than not paying your taxes, it means you deliberately tried to pay less taxes by misinterpretation, downright lying or any other way. While not paying your taxes at least means you reported them correctly.

Providing false/incorrect/withholding information to get a fire arms license is not a minor offence.

 

[albion]

The slightly strange thing is that the gun thing might just have come about, him being one of many Trump targets left fearing for their life.

 

[dutchguylivingintheuk]

The slightly strange thing is that the gun thing might just have come about, him being one of many Trump targets left fearing for their life.

Nope because that is an different discussion, whatever reason he had to be wanting a fire arms license does not change the fact that he lied/provided false/or was withholding information on his license application.

 

[albion]

Well, it is not a valid defense, so he will be just another Trump victim.

 

[Bazzer]

No you mixed in ''vile Majorie Taylor Green'' and a discussion about the legality of those files, whilst i (and i haven't changed my opinion on that) think the contents of of what was on that laptop(and not drives that is an unproven Hunter Biden's legal defence spin) is far more concerning. And it most likely would have impacted or resulted in Biden losing the elections if it weren't from then Twitter's, Facebook's and some Msm(like the Washington post) so called muting this story.

The legality of how Giuliani and other Republicans acquired the data, is a separate issue from what I stated in my post and in earlier posts about the chain of custody.
I can only assume you have never been involved in handling digital data that could be used for the purposes of prosecution, the imposition of civil penalties, or to support some other form of action or sanction. Were you to have done so, you would appreciate the significance of what might loosely be called a paper trail. From what I have seen this appears to be missing. Were one to exist, I would have anticipated there to be sufficient Republican lawyers who appreciated the significance of it in demonstrating that claims being made could be supported and that the documents on the digital media had not been tampered with.

There are several if we put it very mildly ''very strong suggestions'' he did benefit from it. there are emails leaked that show him litteraly trying to use his credentials as being close to his dad and Obama to get someone.
But indeed they haven directly charged him with that, and it remains the question if they ever are going to, does not take away that it's still wrong. And again i don't believe you would spend so much time to deny that if it was not about Biden's son but Trump's son.

Oooh "very strong suggestions". See my earlier comments about chain of custody.
And please don't come up with some BS about emails can't be tampered with. Some years ago on the retirement of a colleague, I easily produced a spoof email to her allegedly from the head of our employer.
It is not about denial. If Hunter Biden or for that matter Joe Biden are demonstrated to have done wrong, they should face the same consequences as others would do. However, for the time being, I have seen no evidence of wrong doing. Indeed, had such evidence existed, at least based upon previous efforts, I would have expected the House Republicans to have been on Fox and other right wing outlets, shouting about it. But instead, they call a House recess for the holidays.

i'm not talking about the political fractions i'm talking about the procecuter who is currently busy with Hunter Biden and is so far in the process off charging him for tax fraud offences, that does not say he is not guilty of other offences.


He is in the process off being charged with tax Fraud, that is something else than not paying your taxes, it means you deliberately tried to pay less taxes by misinterpretation, downright lying or any other way. While not paying your taxes at least means you reported them correctly.

Something about Hunter Biden, the cover-up and the arrogance and stupidity to leave it at a pro-republican computer shop. You known the think @Bazzer said was only about naked women. Well facts have been checked and proven wrong. He is hanging for a whole list of crimes but none of them involves naked pictures.
And Joe Biden doesn't look good because the way they tried to silence it.(and partly managed) The facts on itself are off course solely on Hunter Biden.

I repeat my question. The link to the laptop/hard drives is?

As I said earlier, if Hunter Biden is found to have done something wrong, he should be treated the same as any other US citizen. I don't think I have previously written anything to the contrary. What I do object to is Joe Biden and Hunter Biden being convicted in the court of public opinion, based upon misinformation and innuendo.

Providing false/incorrect/withholding information to get a fire arms license is not a minor offence.

Other than you, who said it was a minor offence? My words were Hunter Biden had been charged with failing to disclose he was a drug user when acquiring a firearm. It is a Federal offence, but publicity earlier this year surrounding Hunter Biden, would suggest prosecutions are rare, as does this article from the Washington Post.
Again the link to the laptop/hard drives is?

 

[Unkraut]

What I do object to is Joe Biden and Hunter Biden being convicted in the court of public opinion, based upon misinformation and innuendo.

Isn't that par for the course these days, especially in the social media era?

 

[Bazzer]

An interesting trial month ahead for Trump.
9 January. The DC Court of Appeals is due to hear oral argument about Trump's claim to have absolute immunity for criminal conduct as a President.
However, as well as receiving briefings from the parties, the Court of Appeals has also received amicus (friends of the court) briefs from two other groups. Both briefs were in opposition to Trump's assertions; one on the grounds of presidential immunity, the other on the grounds that the court should not be hearing the matter unless Trump is convicted in the lower court.
Amicus briefs don't have to be accepted by the Court, as those submitting them are not parties to the proceedings. But it looks like they have been accepted, as an order has been issued telling both Special Counsel Jack Smith and Trump's lawyers to be prepared to answer questions on the matters raised in the briefs.
11 January sees closing arguments for the New York civil fraud trial, which could result in Trump Org being hit with a hefty fine and being barred from trading in New York.
Then on 15 January, the second E Jean Carroll defamation hearing is due to take place. The presiding judge has already found that defamation has taken place and the hearing is solely to determine the amount of damages.
Trump's lawyer Alina Habba, failed to nominate in time, an expert witness to speak on behalf of Trump. He has therefore no expert witness. The expert witness for E Jean Carroll, is the professor who was instrumental in recently securing a claim of $148m against Rudi Giuliani.
Then on 29 January, subject to a pending motion to dismiss, Trump and his company are due to go trial in a civil case, for a multilevel marketing scheme.
And there remains the possibility of the US Supreme Court getting involved this month in one or both of; the presidential immunity claim and the Colorado removal of Trump from the ballot paper.

 

[dutchguylivingintheuk]

The legality of how Giuliani and other Republicans acquired the data, is a separate issue from what I stated in my post and in earlier posts about the chain of custody.

I mentioned that because it is all based on media reports, what we have heard about it so far. But i'm personally convinced, judged by the efforts the democrats took to get the topic ''muted''during Biden's election run (who needs Russians if you have friends with (social) media networks?) it seems onlikely that legally they would have some grounds to stop it, they would have done so already wouldn't they? Hunter Bidens team also doesn't take any efforts to deny that they left it there and therefore transfered ownership they just seem to be hellbend on trying to claim it was an hard drive.

I can only assume you have never been involved in handling digital data that could be used for the purposes of prosecution, the imposition of civil penalties, or to support some other form of action or sanction. Were you to have done so, you would appreciate the significance of what might loosely be called a paper trail. From what I have seen this appears to be missing. Were one to exist, I would have anticipated there to be sufficient Republican lawyers who appreciated the significance of it in demonstrating that claims being made could be supported and that the documents on the digital media had not been tampered with.

I can only assume you lived under a rock and never heard of Panama papers? That was based on a data leak yet govements around the world used it to find tax dodgers. In the potential case Hunter Biden might have against that hardware shop there and only there the legal things are important. For the FBI and such it is not, the only thing important for them is to assure legitimacy of the documents, emails etc. present on that laptop. But even if a judge rules that laptop shop owner should not have accessed that data because the laptop was not his yet it still doesn't matter for the FBI.

Oooh "very strong suggestions". See my earlier comments about chain of custody.
And please don't come up with some BS about emails can't be tampered with. Some years ago on the retirement of a colleague, I easily produced a spoof email to her allegedly from the head of our employer.

Yes but if the FBI or our British GSHQ/Scotland yard would have been involved in that matter that would have found the scam instantly, you see if you got the original emails it becomes much easyer to track them, especially if you are the government. Anything Hunter Biden sent using a goverment email has been extra loggged, as all us goverments emails are logged.
So yes emails can be tamperec with, no just claiming that is not gonna help Hunter Biden, the FBI will make sue they have evidence it are the original emails.

It is not about denial. If Hunter Biden or for that matter Joe Biden are demonstrated to have done wrong, they should face the same consequences as others would do. However, for the time being, I have seen no evidence of wrong doing. Indeed, had such evidence existed, at least based upon previous efforts, I would have expected the House Republicans to have been on Fox and other right wing outlets, shouting about it. But instead, they call a House recess for the holidays.

Well Hunter Biden has been shady to say the least, if he has done something that's also punishable by law is an second one but there are clear indications, for example when he was offered of was about to be offered a plea deal of which the republicans didn't agree. What has been publicized on that deal he had joining the board of that Ukrainian energy company also made it very clear to only reason he was offered that job was the Biden family. (with Joe Biden then being Vice president.)

I repeat my question. The link to the laptop/hard drives is?

if i remember correctly you contributed they he was only charged with having an firearm and lying about being an drug user on his application, so ask yourself?

As I said earlier, if Hunter Biden is found to have done something wrong, he should be treated the same as any other US citizen. I don't think I have previously written anything to the contrary. What I do object to is Joe Biden and Hunter Biden being convicted in the court of public opinion, based upon misinformation and innuendo.

I agree that he indeed should be tried before an court, using uS laws and such as any other US citizen. But that doesn't mean people can't form a opinion about him on a public forum based on public facts. That the burden that comes with being a public high profile person.

Other than you, who said it was a minor offence? My words were Hunter Biden had been charged with failing to disclose he was a drug user when acquiring a firearm. It is a Federal offence, but publicity earlier this year surrounding Hunter Biden, would suggest prosecutions are rare, as does this article from the Washington Post.
Again the link to the laptop/hard drives is?

Minor offence where indeed my words i stand corrected on that, i already commented on the laptop link above, the Washington post article points out persecution also depends a lot on state, Pennsylvania had 472 prosecutions for example. but the overal line is there is not enough funding.. So it's not necessary never/not often procecuted because off priorities but lack of manpower.

 

[Bazzer]

I mentioned that because it is all based on media reports, what we have heard about it so far. But i'm personally convinced, judged by the efforts the democrats took to get the topic ''muted''during Biden's election run (who needs Russians if you have friends with (social) media networks?) it seems onlikely that legally they would have some grounds to stop it, they would have done so already wouldn't they? Hunter Bidens team also doesn't take any efforts to deny that they left it there and therefore transfered ownership they just seem to be hellbend on trying to claim it was an hard drive.

Well of course you are convinced. But you call a thug who attacks an innocent man with a hammer a hippie and believe Q Anon conspiracies and right wing rhetoric are not responsible for threats and attacks on people. So no surprise there.
Why would Hunter Biden's team deny he left the laptop/hard drive? This is an accepted fact.
Your claim of transfer of ownership is disputed and is part of the legal action being taken by Hunter Biden.

I can only assume you lived under a rock and never heard of Panama papers? That was based on a data leak yet govements around the world used it to find tax dodgers. In the potential case Hunter Biden might have against that hardware shop there and only there the legal things are important. For the FBI and such it is not, the only thing important for them is to assure legitimacy of the documents, emails etc. present on that laptop. But even if a judge rules that laptop shop owner should not have accessed that data because the laptop was not his yet it still doesn't matter for the FBI.

Your assumption would be incorrect. I strongly suspect I know much more about the Panama papers than you, given I had first hand experience in handling some of the data.
Your sentences regarding the FBI are not making sense to me. If the FBI is involved, they will, as I have previously stated, want to be sure of the chain of custody. Also, contrary to the claim in your final sentence, I suspect there would likely be concerns about how the data was obtained. As a general rule in the USA, evidence must be obtained lawfully in order for it to be used in a prosecution, otherwise it would be a violation of an individual's constitutional rights.

Yes but if the FBI or our British GSHQ/Scotland yard would have been involved in that matter that would have found the scam instantly, you see if you got the original emails it becomes much easyer to track them, especially if you are the government. Anything Hunter Biden sent using a goverment email has been extra loggged, as all us goverments emails are logged.
So yes emails can be tamperec with, no just claiming that is not gonna help Hunter Biden, the FBI will make sue they have evidence it are the original emails.

So do you have evidence that Hunter Biden used a government email account, or is this more speculation?
Also see my earlier comments about chain of custody and how information was obtained.

Well Hunter Biden has been shady to say the least, if he has done something that's also punishable by law is an second one but there are clear indications, for example when he was offered of was about to be offered a plea deal of which the republicans didn't agree. What has been publicized on that deal he had joining the board of that Ukrainian energy company also made it very clear to only reason he was offered that job was the Biden family. (with Joe Biden then being Vice president.)

"Shady to say the least" eh? Yep that's good enough. (Bollocks)
Assuming your claim about how Hunter Biden joined the board of a Ukrainian company is correct, this has been covered previously. It may be unsavoury, but it happens all of the time. How about turning your attention to the nepotism exhibited by your cult leader Trump?

Minor offence where indeed my words i stand corrected on that, i already commented on the laptop link above, the Washington post article points out persecution also depends a lot on state, Pennsylvania had 472 prosecutions for example. but the overal line is there is not enough funding.. So it's not necessary never/not often procecuted because off priorities but lack of manpower.

Your evidence for a lack of manpower is?
If there is not enough funding to enforce this law, that would suggest most States really don't consider it a priority.

 

[albion]

As an 'exclusive'the Guardian is reporting that his 'insurrection allies' are also behind the similar, very fake 'Impeach Biden' thing.

Personally, they really to jail Trump to get the lunatic right more centred. Looney times.

 

[Bazzer]

The US Supreme Court has issued dates in relation to Trump's appeal against disqualification in the Colorado ballot. The decision is also likely to embrace the recent Maine disqualification.
18 January Trump's brief to be filled
31 January filing by the group (CREW) who brought the action.
5 February Trump's opposition reply and amicus briefs to be filed. (2 have already been accepted)
8 February oral argument.

 

[Beebo]

The US Supreme Court has issued dates in relation to Trump's appeal against disqualification in the Colorado ballot. The decision is also likely to embrace the recent Maine disqualification.
18 January Trump's brief to be filled
31 January filing by the group (CREW) who brought the action.
5 February Trump's opposition reply and amicus briefs to be filed. (2 have already been accepted)
8 February oral argument.

It’s funny how they have found time to fast track this particular issue and not others.

 

[Bazzer]

It’s funny how they have found time to fast track this particular issue and not others.

I'm not aware of any other Trump SC hearings. Special Counsel Jack Smith wanted a fast track hearing for Trump's claim of absolute immunity in his criminal case. Trump opposed this and the SC is letting the DC Court of Appeal hearing take place. In contrast Trump tried fast track to the SC his claim of presidential immunity in the E Jean Carroll defamation case and that too was stopped. So I suppose to that extent that have been consistent.
The only other 6 January related hearing I am aware of, is one of the rioters has succeeded in getting to the SC, consideration of a charge made against him and many other rioters, by the Department of Justice. That I think is due to be heard in the current session, but under the normal time frame.

 

[multitool]

Here's a long thread highlighting the characteristics of Trump's fascism.

https://x.com/JeffSharlet/status/1743695945211031708?s=20

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Trump has said that the Civil War (the American one) should have been negotiated

Exactly what you can negotiate about slavery was not detailed

but then - he did write "The Art of the Deal" so I guess he knows best

post may contain sarcasm!