New York Times Front Page: ‘Biden Puts Son First, In Spite of Political Price’

As the press gradually acknowledged the undeniable threat Hunter Biden posed to his father’s political future, New York Times White House reporter Katie Rogers issued a 2,400-word front-page story Sunday, “The Peril in Biden’s Inability to Say No to Son.” That headline leaned toward sentimentality, but the one in the previous edition really made the President into a martyr: “Biden Puts Son First, In Spite of Political Price.”

Rogers previously praised Biden the family man in a July effort at Democratic damage control involving Hunter Biden and his “love child.” That one was also a Sunday front-page story. This time, Rogers pictured the president as a man whose hope had been sadly thwarted by legal machinations.

His son Hunter’s lawyers had struck a plea deal with federal prosecutors on tax and gun charges, and it seemed to the president that the long legal ordeal would finally be over.

But when the agreement collapsed in late July, Mr. Biden, whose upbeat public image often belies a more mercurial temperament, was stunned.

He plunged into sadness and frustration, according to several people close to him who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve their relationships with the Biden family….

Republicans have cast Hunter’s troubles as a stew of nepotism and corruption, which the Biden administration denies. But there is no doubt that Hunter’s case is a drain, politically and emotionally, on his father and those who wish to see him re-elected.

The saga reflects the painful dynamics of the first family, shaped by intense ambition and deep loss, along with anger and guilt. It is the story of two very different if much-loved sons, and of a father holding tight to the one still with him.

One can sympathize with the President worrying about his troubled son without descending into mawkishness. Rogers certainly betrayed none of the paper’s trademark distrust for everything Republicans do.

Tragedy and substance abuse have stalked the Biden family for generations. Hunter was not quite 3 years old when his mother and baby sister were killed in a car accident that left him and Beau seriously injured and in a hospital for months. Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, at age 46. After that, Hunter descended further into alcoholism and a devastating addiction to crack cocaine.

The Times protected the president from accusations of peddling influence for his son, evidence documented continuously by the Media Research Center.

No hard evidence has emerged that Mr. Biden personally participated in or profited from the business deals or used his office to benefit his son’s partners while he was vice president. And Mr. Biden’s advisers have pointed to legal experts who argue that the tax and gun charges against the president’s son are rarely prosecuted.

….Devon Archer, Hunter’s former business partner, told congressional investigators that Hunter used “the illusion of access to his father” to win over potential partners.

Mr. Archer said that Mr. Biden had been in the presence of business associates of his son’s who were apparently seeking connections and influence inside the United States government.

But Mr. Archer’s testimony fell short of Republican hopes of a smoking gun to prove the president’s involvement in his son’s efforts to drum up business overseas. The elder Mr. Biden would occasionally stop by a dinner or a hotel for a brief handshake, Mr. Archer said, or engage in a few pleasantries over the phone.

The Times has admitted twice, reluctantly, that President Biden “had made false or misleading statements regarding his family members’ finances.” It doesn’t bother to do so here, though a reminder would certainly be relevant.

’House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct,’ Speaker McCarthy said. ‘Taken together these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption, allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption. And they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives. That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,’ he noted.

‘This logical next step will give our committees, the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public. That’s exactly what we want to know the answers.’

House investigators are expected to issue subpoenas for the bank records of the president and his family. =====================================================

Republicans have charged Biden and his family made millions off shell companies Hunter Biden formed when his father was vice president. Hunter had business deals with an energy company in the Ukraine, received a discounted stake in a private-equity firm in China, and did consulting for a Romanian real-estate magnate.

The president has denied any involvement in his son’s business dealings. But Republicans claim at least a dozen Biden family members could be involved in a scheme to benefit financially from Biden’s public office.

The GOP also claims Biden sat in on at least 24 calls with Hunter’s influence peddling business partners and was referred to as ‘the big guy’ by Hunter’s business associates. And they say Joe Biden used pseudonyms to discuss his activities related to Ukraine with his son Hunter during his time as vice president.

Biden niece and Obama employee w/ sensitive US govt information to peddle.

Republicans should also talk to Biden’s niece Casey Owens - his sister’s child - who aided and abetted Hunter’s influence peddling schemes.

BACKSTORY w/ top-notch reporting by the NY Post.

Casey Owens official trip to China was part of Obama’s US delegation led by then-Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. During the visit, then-Chinese Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao presented Owens with a “small jade vase as a birthday gift,” according to an article in her high school’s alumni magazine, The Tower Hill Bulletin.

The Obama US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue team “worked very closely” with Zhu, the article states.

Months later, Casey Owens shared a Bloomberg News article highlighting a “record year” for CIC after the 2008 financial crisis and was put in touch with another associate of Rosemont Seneca to discuss coordination between government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and China.

“Per our conversation regarding GSEs and China, I wanted to put you in touch with Hunter’s cousin, Casey Owens, who is at the Obama Treasury Department and works on the Strategic Economic Dialogue,” Schwerin wrote in an Aug. 4, 2010, email to the associate, Jack Casey. “I have cc:ed Casey on this email. Feel free to reach out to her directly, she’s expecting to hear from you.”

“Jack, Happy to speak at your convenience,” Casey Owens replied. Schwerin also forwarded the exchange to Hunter.

Eric Schwerin then connected Hunter and Devon Archer in an email with a ranking of the world’s top sovereign wealth funds.

Fox News first reported on the emails between Casey Owens, Hunter and his associates, and a source familiar with the situation told the outlet Rosemont Seneca had likely been pursuing CIC to invest in their clients.

One year later, Schwerin looped in Hunter and fellow Rosemont Seneca co-founder Devon Archer on an email with a ranking of the world’s top sovereign wealth funds — including CIC, which listed $332 billion in assets at the time.

“Let’s discuss today what else we can be doing to connect with these groups,” Archer said in response to the March 8, 2011, email, noting an upcoming meeting they had scheduled with CIC on April 21.

That meeting occurred the following month, The Post has previously reported, though there is no evidence that a deal was ever struck between the parties.

Owens also apparently emailed her uncle Joe while he was vice president, according to communications on Hunter’s laptop, and in one email said she was “deeply” affected by “incredible” remarks he gave to her Treasury team.

Owens wrote to Hunter and his partner Eric Schwerin in the missive from her official Treasury email account, along with text from an article by AsianInvestor.com.

“That was really something else, Uncle Joe. What a way to exit the Treasury,” she wrote on May 10, 2011, to a pseudonymous email address titled auks@att.blackberry.net. “I’m almost embarrassed by how deeply today has impacted me. I’m simply happy to be close to you, and I just wanted to say thank you for including me,” she told the account, named for the mascot of Archmere Academy, where Biden and his son attended high school.

Two years later, Rosemont and Thornton would form the private investment fund BHR Partners with two Chinese entities linked to the state-owned Bank of China.

Biden, still while vice president, “had coffee” with BHR Partners CEO Jonathan Li the same year and Hunter later put his dad on speakerphone with the executive, according to sworn congressional testimony Archer gave in July.As recently as late 2021, Hunter was known to hold a 10% stake in the company, which manages $2.1 billion in assets.

=================================================

Owens got her privileged job at Obama’s Treasury Department shortly after her uncle Joe took office as veep and remained there for two years before leaving for Starbucks, where she currently works as a vice president, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The White House, the Treasury Department and Hunter’s defense counsel Abbe Lowell also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Republicans need to talk to Eric Schwerin since emails from Hunter's hard drive show Schwerin moving money on behalf of Joe and Hunter while helping the latter handle family expenses. Schwerin received Joe Biden’s “Delaware tax refund check” while he was vice president and he and Hunter talked by phone about Joe Biden’s mortgage.

In February 2014, Hunter advised Schwerin to describe himself as a “close confidant and counsel” to his VP dad WRT a letter of recommendation Schwerin was penning on Joe Biden’s behalf.

The NY Post reported that Eric Schwerin was involved in the transfer of Joe Biden’s Senate papers to the U of Delaware in March 2010 — which may have included “sensitive” and “classified” documents.

By December 2017, Hunter had fallen out with Schwerin and attempted to cut ties with him.

HUNTER UNLEASHED “I terminated you as an at will employee for gross negligence. Also if you continue to sit with friends of mine and relationships that are mine and defame me I will sue you for defamation of character and embezzlement and for the debt with you still have not contributed your supposed 25% share of,” Hunter wrote on Dec. 12, 2017. “ … We are no longer just done as business partners you should consider moving to somewhere in Florida I’ll never go. Naples is perfect you can live in perpetual time share with your parents and talk about what a horrible person I am.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.