John Smith
2020-10-20 13:12:52 UTC
Enough about Hunter Biden. What about Ivanka Trump?
Trump?s strategy of focusing on Hunter Biden becomes a way to turn the
corruption spotlight away from the Trumps and onto the Bidens.
By Joan Vennochi Globe Columnist,Updated October 19, 2020, 3:55 p.m.
266
A recent Senate committee report entitled ?Hunter Biden, Burisma, and
Corruption: The Impact on US Government Policy and Related Concerns?
contains this statement: ?The extent to which Hunter Biden?s role on
Burisma?s board affected US policy toward Ukraine is not clear.?
Related: Trump campaign seizes on dubious Biden-Ukraine story
Translation: Despite their best efforts, Senate Republicans could find
no evidence that Hunter Biden?s role on the board of a Ukrainian energy
company directly affected US policy toward Ukraine. If Senate
Republicans had uncovered such evidence, they would deliver it, gift-
wrapped, to Sean Hannity, all in the interest of tainting former vice
president Joe Biden. But they could not. So, denied an official smoking
gun, President Trump?s political allies turned to the smoke of a New
York Post story so dubious that the staff reporter who wrote much of it
refused to put his name on it, The New York Times reported.
Trump?s strategy is clear. His own children are brazenly trading on the
Trump family name to advance the Trump Organization?s business
interests. Changing the subject to ?What about Hunter Biden?? becomes a
way to project the corruption spotlight onto the Bidens and away from
the Trumps. Plus, if the final weeks of the campaign are all about
Hunter Biden, that allows Trump to distract from what are the real
issues: Trump?s failed leadership, especially regarding the coronavirus
pandemic; Trump?s ongoing commitment to dividing the country by race and
political ideology, rather than trying to unite it; and Trump?s utter
lack of character, integrity, and honesty.
Get Today in Opinion in your inboxGlobe Opinion's must-reads, delivered
to you every Sunday-Friday.
Related: ?As an epidemiologist, I want to vomit?: Health experts slam
Trump comments to Woodward on COVID-19 threat
The Hunter Biden-Burisma story isn?t pretty. The Senate committee report
said the work that Hunter Biden did in Ukraine, for which he was paid
$50,000 a month, created a conflict of interest when his father, as vice
president, was the public face of the Obama administration?s handling of
Ukraine. Hunter Biden ? who clearly has had challenges in life ? ?cashed
in? on his father?s name, the report said, raising concerns from at
least two Obama administration officials. Still, the report found no
clear connection between his role with Burisma and US policy with
Ukraine. The New York Post is trying to establish one, with its story
alleging that Hunter Biden helped arrange a 2015 meeting between a
Burisma executive and his father. The Biden campaign says no meeting, as
alleged by the Post, took place.
Related: ?It is disgusting?: Experts weigh in on revelations about
Trump?s tax payments
At least Joe Biden acknowledges it was a mistake for his son to join the
Burisma board and is pledging that no family members will have any
involvement with any foreign government if he?s elected president.
Trump, meanwhile, calls the Bidens ?an organized crime family,? yet
takes no responsibility for the conflicts of interest corrupting his own
presidency.
?Can you imagine if my kids did what this guy Hunter has done,? Trump
said at a campaign rally in Florida. ?Ivanka! Oh my beautiful, my
wonderful Ivanka. She?s a good kid. Can you imagine? "
We can do more than imagine. According to Forbes, the Chinese government
has granted 41 trademarks to companies linked to Trump?s daughter. And
?the trademarks she applied for after her father became president
reportedly got approved roughly 40 percent faster than those she
requested before her father?s victory in the 2016 election,? Forbes
reported.
Related: Trump paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years,
New York Times reports
Then there are the millions of dollars taken in by Trump properties
around the world from people trying to ?curry favor? with the president,
as The New York Times put it. A Times investigation found ?over 200
companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that
patronized Mr. Trump?s properties while reaping benefits from him and
his administration.? It all amounts to ?a system of direct presidential
influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics,? the Times
said.
Trump?s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has also benefitted from Trump?s
presidency. As the Times has reported, companies owned by the Kushner
family got millions in loans after a White House meeting with Kushner.
Everyone involved denies any impropriety, but the appearance of conflict
is there.
Those examples are just the tip of the Trump corruption iceberg, which
sinks deep into the Trump swamp. Voters are smart enough to see that and
won?t be distracted by Hunter Biden ? right?
Joan Vennochi can be reached at ***@globe.com. Follow her on
Twitter @joan_vennochi.
Trump?s strategy of focusing on Hunter Biden becomes a way to turn the
corruption spotlight away from the Trumps and onto the Bidens.
By Joan Vennochi Globe Columnist,Updated October 19, 2020, 3:55 p.m.
266
A recent Senate committee report entitled ?Hunter Biden, Burisma, and
Corruption: The Impact on US Government Policy and Related Concerns?
contains this statement: ?The extent to which Hunter Biden?s role on
Burisma?s board affected US policy toward Ukraine is not clear.?
Related: Trump campaign seizes on dubious Biden-Ukraine story
Translation: Despite their best efforts, Senate Republicans could find
no evidence that Hunter Biden?s role on the board of a Ukrainian energy
company directly affected US policy toward Ukraine. If Senate
Republicans had uncovered such evidence, they would deliver it, gift-
wrapped, to Sean Hannity, all in the interest of tainting former vice
president Joe Biden. But they could not. So, denied an official smoking
gun, President Trump?s political allies turned to the smoke of a New
York Post story so dubious that the staff reporter who wrote much of it
refused to put his name on it, The New York Times reported.
Trump?s strategy is clear. His own children are brazenly trading on the
Trump family name to advance the Trump Organization?s business
interests. Changing the subject to ?What about Hunter Biden?? becomes a
way to project the corruption spotlight onto the Bidens and away from
the Trumps. Plus, if the final weeks of the campaign are all about
Hunter Biden, that allows Trump to distract from what are the real
issues: Trump?s failed leadership, especially regarding the coronavirus
pandemic; Trump?s ongoing commitment to dividing the country by race and
political ideology, rather than trying to unite it; and Trump?s utter
lack of character, integrity, and honesty.
Get Today in Opinion in your inboxGlobe Opinion's must-reads, delivered
to you every Sunday-Friday.
Related: ?As an epidemiologist, I want to vomit?: Health experts slam
Trump comments to Woodward on COVID-19 threat
The Hunter Biden-Burisma story isn?t pretty. The Senate committee report
said the work that Hunter Biden did in Ukraine, for which he was paid
$50,000 a month, created a conflict of interest when his father, as vice
president, was the public face of the Obama administration?s handling of
Ukraine. Hunter Biden ? who clearly has had challenges in life ? ?cashed
in? on his father?s name, the report said, raising concerns from at
least two Obama administration officials. Still, the report found no
clear connection between his role with Burisma and US policy with
Ukraine. The New York Post is trying to establish one, with its story
alleging that Hunter Biden helped arrange a 2015 meeting between a
Burisma executive and his father. The Biden campaign says no meeting, as
alleged by the Post, took place.
Related: ?It is disgusting?: Experts weigh in on revelations about
Trump?s tax payments
At least Joe Biden acknowledges it was a mistake for his son to join the
Burisma board and is pledging that no family members will have any
involvement with any foreign government if he?s elected president.
Trump, meanwhile, calls the Bidens ?an organized crime family,? yet
takes no responsibility for the conflicts of interest corrupting his own
presidency.
?Can you imagine if my kids did what this guy Hunter has done,? Trump
said at a campaign rally in Florida. ?Ivanka! Oh my beautiful, my
wonderful Ivanka. She?s a good kid. Can you imagine? "
We can do more than imagine. According to Forbes, the Chinese government
has granted 41 trademarks to companies linked to Trump?s daughter. And
?the trademarks she applied for after her father became president
reportedly got approved roughly 40 percent faster than those she
requested before her father?s victory in the 2016 election,? Forbes
reported.
Related: Trump paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years,
New York Times reports
Then there are the millions of dollars taken in by Trump properties
around the world from people trying to ?curry favor? with the president,
as The New York Times put it. A Times investigation found ?over 200
companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that
patronized Mr. Trump?s properties while reaping benefits from him and
his administration.? It all amounts to ?a system of direct presidential
influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics,? the Times
said.
Trump?s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has also benefitted from Trump?s
presidency. As the Times has reported, companies owned by the Kushner
family got millions in loans after a White House meeting with Kushner.
Everyone involved denies any impropriety, but the appearance of conflict
is there.
Those examples are just the tip of the Trump corruption iceberg, which
sinks deep into the Trump swamp. Voters are smart enough to see that and
won?t be distracted by Hunter Biden ? right?
Joan Vennochi can be reached at ***@globe.com. Follow her on
Twitter @joan_vennochi.