When pressed by NBC News reporter Ryan Nobles on the timing of the message, which according to the panel’s records was sent after Biden concluded his second term as vice president but before his 2020 campaign, and how Biden could have been exerting political influence if he wasn’t in office or a presidential candidate, Smith sidestepped the question.

“Well, I think the facts speak for themselves. There’s over 700 pages of examples of where people should be very concerned,” Smith said, adding later that Biden “was a candidate” during that period.

Biden launched his 2020 bid in April 2019.

During the news conference, Smith also pointed to an August 2020 email from U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf allegedly directing investigators to remove all mentions of Biden, who was referred to as “political figure one,” from a search warrant for an investigation involving his son. Wolf had been part of U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ team investigating Hunter Biden.

Asked by Nobles about the timing of Wolf’s email, sent during the Trump administration when Bill Barr was U.S. attorney general, Smith suggested that Donald Trump’s role as president was inconsequential to the underlying assertion that there’s a two-tiered justice system in the United States.

  • @geekworking
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    401 year ago

    two tiered justice system

    The one that Trump is currently exploiting to its fullest. Any one of us would be rotting in jail awaiting trial.

  • IHeartBadCode
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    271 year ago

    Can you explain the timeline that all your evidence revolves around 2017-2020 and Biden was not VP nor President during that period.

    I see you’ll just never believe us.

    I loved the snap back the reporter had, I’m open minded, I just need you to explain it to me.

    I cannot pinpoint any one item.

    IT’S YOUR EVIDENCE!! — Literally the NBC reporter saying exactly that.

    Holy fucking shit that was fucking hilarious. The House Ways and Means Committee chairman was fidgeting like an alcoholic at an AA being held in a Las Vegas casino. Holy shit, and what’s crazy was the NBC reporter was literally going out of their way to give benefit of the doubt and dude was like two nanoseconds from sweating buckets.

    • Nougat
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      1 year ago

      To be perfectly clear:

      They’re saying that Joe Biden was involved in selling political influence. For this press conference, they put up two pieces of “evidence” on their little fucking easel. NBC News reporter asks, Hey, Joe Biden wasn’t a political figure at the dates of what you’ve put up in front of us there, if he wasn’t involved in politics at the time, how can there be a crime? GOP Representative Crazypants claims that he’s “not an expert on the timeline,” and goes on to say how horribly, horribly criminal it is, keeps talking about “700 pages” from the IRS, asks where the reporter is from (“NBC”), says “So you’ll never believe us, then [because you’re from NBC],” and just moves on, asking for the next question.

      The unspoken point here is that when you have 700 pages of “evidence,” and you have a press conference about it, you showcase your best evidence. Even if Joe Biden was using his notariety and name recognition to make deals happen, that’s literally what every lobbyist does. Is the GOP suggesting that lobbying is illegal? I mean, I could be okay with that, as long as they shut down all the lobbyists.

      Not to mention that Trump himself - also not currently elected to any office - is still pulling political weight all over the place, keeping pressure on his lackeys in the House to shut down the government by being obstructionst to Trump’s benefit about the budget. If Joe Biden is “guilty” as the GOP says, Trump is, too.

      • @joekar1990
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        91 year ago

        I mean using that same logic Jared Kushner got a nice hefty “investment” of an estimated $2bn from Saudi Arabia after Trump left office. These bozos will never admit to the hypocrisy though and Fox News would never say anything about Jared.

      • @[email protected]
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        41 year ago

        Republicans declare theatrics essential for America!

        And we thought they didn’t support public funding for the arts.

  • @Tylerdurdon
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    251 year ago

    These guys are really going extra low-effort these days.

    “Does this stick?”

    “Nah, let me try a different spit ball.”

    • @Burn_The_Right
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      21 year ago

      extra low-effort

      Extra low effort is all you need to manipulate extra low IQ’s.

  • @[email protected]
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    171 year ago

    Wolf had been part of U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ team investigating Hunter Biden.

    For context, Weiss is a Trump appointee who President Biden could’ve removed when he took office; U.S. attorneys are traditionally asked to resign by incoming administrations.

    However, this would’ve looked bad because Weiss was already overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation. So he was allowed to stay.

  • @[email protected]
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    101 year ago

    Honest question: x?

    GOP Buffoon: “HEY LOOK AT THAT FIRETRUCK!” (Waddles away quickly)

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    21 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee appeared to grow frustrated Wednesday as he struggled to respond to a series of questions at a news conference related to his panel’s investigation into President Joe Biden and allegations of influence peddling.

    Referring to the WhatsApp message, Smith said that Hunter Biden told a business associate that he was not willing to “sign over my family’s brand.”

    "We need to make sure the Department of Justice works for all people and doesn’t treat those who are politically connected or wealthy much differently.

    The comments come a day before the House Oversight Committee holds its first impeachment inquiry hearing focused on the president.

    Smith said in a statement that he believed the material, which consists of 700 pages of documents from IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, “is vital to understanding efforts by top officials to protect Joe Biden.”

    The committee’s ranking Democratic member Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said in a separate press event Wednesday that Republicans had presented “no conclusive new information.”


    The original article contains 640 words, the summary contains 174 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!