Republicans Plan to Declare Trump's Entire Business Model a High Crime and Misdemeanor - emptywheel
By: emptywheel
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
September 28, 2023/9 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, Financial Fraud/by emptywheel
The Republicans have decided that the perfect time to kick off an impeachment is just before their own incompetence leads to a government shutdown, which will lead to millions of government workers and service members either getting laid off, or working without pay, will strain food support for poor families and limit food inspections, and will result in holdups for people traveling by air.
The GOP really does plan to launch a no-evidence impeachment while Rome burns.
Yesterday, House Ways and Means released another document dump from purported whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. I'm wading through those now, but even a cursory review shows that Shapley makes claims that go beyond what his colleagues backed, at times delving into bad faith.
In advance of a hearing featuring Fox News pundit Jonathan Turley, Republicans released their justification for an impeachment inquiry.
It is nothing short of batshit insane.
That's true, first of all, because they plan to impeach Joe Biden for actions his son took while Joe wasn't even in government. One of their latest new fetishes is that in 2019, Hunter Biden used his father's address as a permanent address and got legal financial transfers at it.
Again, much of this impeachment is about Joe Biden being a Dad.
Crazier still, the premise of this impeachment is that Hunter Biden traded on the family brand and he and his associates (including James Biden, but also a bunch of people who made far more money) made a paltry $24 million by doing so.
In other words, just days after a judge ruled that Trump and two of his sons had wildly inflated his own value — including by adding a brand premium to his properties!!! — continuing into the years he was President, Republicans want to impeach Joe Biden because business interests Joe Biden wasn't part of tried to do that on a far, far smaller scale.
Republicans are impeaching Joe Biden because his son had business interests with a Chinese company, the most salacious interactions of which occurred the year after the Obama Administration, even though Trump's own daughter benefited from her own family's brand and her nepotistic job in the White House to obtain trademarks from the government of China during some of the same years.
The Chinese government granted 18 trademarks to companies linked to President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump over the last two months, Chinese public records show, raising concerns about conflicts of interest in the White House.
In October, China's Trademark Office granted provisional approval for 16 trademarks to Ivanka Trump Marks LLC, bringing to 34 the total number of marks China has greenlighted this year, according to the office's online database. The new approvals cover Ivanka-branded fashion gear including sunglasses, handbags, shoes and jewelry, as well as beauty services and voting machines.
The approvals came three months after Ivanka Trump announced she was dissolving her namesake brand to focus on government work.
China also granted provisional approval for two "Trump" trademarks to DTTM Operations LLC, headquartered at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York. They cover branded restaurant, bar and hotel services, as well as clothing and shoes.
And Trump's own tax returns — released after a years-long fight — revealed that in the same year Republicans are obsessing about Hunter over, 2017, Trump's company made $17.5 million in China, far more than Hunter made personally during this entire period.
Mr. Trump's plans in China have been largely driven by a different company, Trump International Hotels Management — the one with a Chinese bank account.
The company has direct ownership of THC China Development, but is also involved in management of other Trump-branded properties around the world, and it is not possible to discern from its tax records how much of its financial activity is China-related. It normally reports a few million dollars in annual income and deductible expenses.
In 2017, the company reported an unusually large spike in revenue — some $17.5 million, more than the previous five years' combined. It was accompanied by a $15.1 million withdrawal by Mr. Trump from the company's capital account.
Republicans want to make the bread and butter of Trump's corporate existence a High Crime and Misdemeanor.
Democrats should use this opportunity to show that Trump is the one who should have been under a five year tax investigation, Trump is the one who should be impeached for using his position in the White House to enrich himself, his daughter, and her spouse.
In an interview after yesterday's House Ways and Means roll out, Richard Neal raised several problems with the impeachment inquiry. Notably, Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith — who was humiliated at his own press conference yesterday — has never made a 6103 request to the IRS to officially release these documents, as Neal himself did in the protracted effort to get Trump's tax returns. It's not clear any of this — especially Shapley and Ziegler going back to get files from IRS servers after they have been removed from the investigation — is legal.
As families face severe financial crisis because of Republican incompetence, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, James Comer, and the recently-humiliated Jason Smith are going to pursue an impeachment premised on the notion that Trump's entire business model is a High Crime and Misdemeanor.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-28-at-10.08.14.png11101104emptywheelhttps://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.pngemptywheel2023-09-28 05:05:512023-09-28 08:06:27Republicans Plan to Declare Trump's Entire Business Model a High Crime and Misdemeanor
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Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) became defensive and accusatory after repeatedly being unable to answer a reporter's questions in a press conference Wednesday, held to announce what House Republicans claim is "evidence" against President Joe Biden.
A shortened version of the video posted by the news organization Heartland Signal went viral, garnering nearly one million views in under three hours on the social media platform X.
"Mr. Chairman, question about the timing of all of this," began an NBC News reporter identified by Mediaite as Ryan Nobles. "You're talking about a two-tiered system of justice. If I'm not mistaken, on August 7, 2020 Bill Barr was the attorney general and Donald Trump was the president, so explain to me where the two-tiered system of justice comes into play. And then the WhatsApp message you have, I believe, is dated June 6, 2017. Joe Biden is not vice president or even a candidate for president at that time. So where is the direct connection to some sort of criminal malfeasance within these two pieces of evidence?"
Chairman Smith could not only not answer any part of those questions, he appeared to forget a portion of them.
"Well, I think the facts speak for themselves," Smith replied. "There's over 700 pages of examples of, where people should be very concerned, when you're talking about um, ah, – what was your first question?"
Smith went on to say, "It doesn't matter who's in the White House," after being reminded them President at that time was Donald Trump. "We need to make sure that the Department of Justice works for all people and doesn't treat those who are politically connected or wealthy much differently. And unfortunately, we have several examples that came forward by the two IRS whistleblowers, that proves that people are treated differently because they're politically connected."
"Are you suggesting that Joe Biden being the president now, is unfairly treating Donald Trump in his indictment?" Nobles asked.
Again, Smith did not answer the question.
"What I'm talking about is the 700 pages that we have before us, which is all the information that came from the IRS whistleblowers, and that's what we're releasing right now," Smith replied, again not answering Nobles' question. "And I'll tell you, I would encourage everyone in this room to look at those 700 pages. If you think it's okay, with what's in it, then we live on two different planets."
"Can you explain the timing of the August 6 WhatsApp message? Why is that evidence of some wrongdoing?" Nobles continued..
"I'm not an expert on the timeline," Smith admitted, before pivoting to say, "I would love to have President Biden and his family to tell us about all the timelines, because it's really, really unfortunate that we see so many meetings and so many phone calls that involved around official activity that the Vice President has been participating in, and then big sums of money follows later –"
"But he's not the president or the vice president at that time. Where, where's the wrongdoing? He wasn't even a candidate for president," Nobles pointed out.
"He was a candidate – " Smith claimed.
"On August 6 –" Nobles began before Smith interrupted him.
"So apparently apparent – what source are you with?" Chairman Smith asked Noble.
"I'm with NBC," the reporter replied.
"So apparently, you'll never believe us," Smith charged.
"I'm asking you a very direct question," Nobles explained. "You presented a piece of evidence that you say came on August 6, 2017, that demonstrates that Joe Biden was using political influence to help his son. He wasn't a political figure at that time. The first WhatsApp message you put up, where yo talk about the brand," Nobles explained. "I'm completely open minded about this. I'm asking you specifically, how does that demonstrate that there was some sort of political influence being put over him, if at that time, he is not a political – he's not an elected official?"
"I'm definitely not going to pinpoint one item," Chairman Smith said defensively.
"You presented it!" Nobles acclaimed. "It was the first thing that you brought up."
"So apparently, you don't agree with that. So report that you disagree with it. I'll take the next question. Yes?" Smith said, refusing to answer any of Nobles' questions.
Watch below or at this link .
This guy is real mental giant/s
what a continuous continuation of Trumped up charges, as 45 shows how it is and was done 10 X’s over, in the real word
It is best to get the facts and non-facts out in the open and deal with them rather than have innuendo and conspiracy theories simmer indefinitely.
They won’t let facts stop their conspiracy driven agenda a neva enda, cause the bullshit they brandish is a la outlandish, asz their continue S version of go fish leaves an empty dish , mounted on a Penthouse Roof, where 45 Roofied all he could s tempt to serve A, cause there IS ABSOLUTELY NO COMPARISON, between an awkward , barely adequate Biden, and a hyped up cranking Fuel Funny Car HoneD WILD and WITHOUT, morals and ethics , the Trumpster Dumpster Style FIRE STARTER gone wild, not mild that Madge would share B 4 pulling out a “stinkin Badge”, cause we don’t need know stinkin badges, now, Do Oui’….?, when your party holds NOTHING against YOU!
WTF, the clown is a 1 “man” criminal crime spree for those who can’t wait long enuff for another, to be, on a criminal crime spree when there R peep holes to meat and C at the Vegan dance, cause gutsy they be U c. asz they need knot cross another , with an upset ONE, and i B, till my last breath of gas and air, as it combusts like a pear that’s nicer than two of a kind, as we braid and bind
Is Donald Trump corrupt?
Geeee, i’m knot shore