New Democrat Debate Tonight!

ramage,
I have no doubt that Burisma asked Hunter to be on the board in order to try to avoid sanctions. I completely agree that Hunter is a POS who lacks morals, integrity, and honesty and is a huge embarrassment to his family. Lucky for us, he's not running for president so I don't have to give a damn about him, he's a private citizen who can f*** up his own life all he wants.

Did he get that position because of his ties to his father? I have no doubt. Did Joe Biden help his son get any positions? Of that I have no doubt either. This is exactly the kind of status quo in politics that needs to stop.

Now y'all can do the Trumps, because what they're doing is far worse.

I do not believe that Joe Biden put the security of this nation at risk by his demand to Ukraine to remove a corrupt prosecutor. Rick, seriously, everything you are saying is the exact OPPOSITE of reality - read those articles I posted. Joe Biden's actions HURT Burisma and his son, not the other way around. And his actions were endorsed by other western nations fed up with Ukraine's corruption. If you can't accept those facts, and persist in believing conspiracy theories and propaganda, then discussing any of this with you is pointless.

The Trump children, his lawyer's kid, and his Attorney General's kid all work in the WH. They've benefited directly from their positions. Trump withholding military aid to Ukraine hurts our national security and he did it for personal gain, not because he was worried about corruption in Ukraine (else, why didn't he do something sooner?). Trump's personal lawyer is right now meeting with foreign Kremlin assets in Ukraine to dig up dirt on his client's political opponent not to weed out corruption in Ukraine or improve the safety and security of this country, but to help his client in the upcoming election against another American citizen.

That's f***ed up. And if Guiliani is not arrested the minute he disembarks, it's a travesty of our justice system. He damn well better be registered under FARA.

Trump launches unprecedented reelection machine
Unique structure of the president’s reelection campaign is an expression of his iron grip on the party.
By ALEX ISENSTADT, 12/18/2018 05:05 AM EST

President Donald Trump is planning to roll out an unprecedented structure for his 2020 reelection, a streamlined organization that incorporates the Republican National Committee and the president’s campaign into a single entity.

It’s a stark expression of Trump’s stranglehold over the Republican Party: Traditionally, a presidential reelection committee has worked in tandem with the national party committee, not subsumed it.

Under the plan, which has been in the works for several weeks, the Trump reelection campaign and the RNC will merge their field and fundraising programs into a joint outfit dubbed Trump Victory. The two teams will also share office space rather than operate out of separate buildings, as has been custom.

RNC bought $95,000 worth of copies of Donald Trump Jr.'s new book
By Melissa Quinn, November 22, 2019

How Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump Have Profited Off Their Dad's Presidency
No one knows a “clear conflict of interest” when they see it better than the president's children.
By Jay Willis, October 14, 2019

Setting aside the alternative facts underlying the Trump kids’ criticisms, however, their decision to wade into this controversy is notable for a different reason: During their father’s tenure as president, Don Jr. and Eric have repeatedly managed to cash in on their newfound positions of political privilege in their business dealings. So, too, have their sister Ivanka and brother-in-law Jared Kushner, both of whom hold senior positions in the administration and whose companies and investment portfolios netted them anywhere between $29 million and $135 million last year, per their financial disclosure forms. Here are some of the highlights of when the family's business intertwining with government affairs constituted the “appearance of impropriety” and “conflict of interest.”

The disappearing anti-nepotism laws

When news of Jared and Ivanka’s White House employment broke, observers noted the hirings appeared to be clear violations of federal anti-nepotism laws. Kushner, the heir to a mid-Atlantic real estate empire, had no experience that would qualify him for the many tasks to which his father-in-law would assign him: solving the opioid crisis, handling Middle East peace negotiations, modernizing the federal government, and reforming America’s criminal justice system.

Ivanka's résumé was similarly thin for someone taking on a senior West Wing position—a fashion designer, Trump Organization executive, and sometimes-judge on The Apprentice. She also experienced delays in her attempts to obtain a security clearance, and she was also the beneficiary of some timely presidential intervention: According to CNN, Trump pressured both Kelly and then White House counsel Don McGahn to make decisions on Ivanka's clearance "so it did not appear as if he was tainting the process to favor his family." When Kelly and McGahn refused, Trump went ahead and approved his daughter's clearance himself.

Not that you have to read all these, but this is just a sampling of what you can find if you take some time doing a search on this subject, and you can pick whichever source you prefer.

The troubling overlap between Jared Kushner's business interests and US foreign policy
Mohamad Bazzi, Mon 8 Jul 2019

Ivanka Trump’s Business Wins Approval for 16 New Chinese Trademarks Despite Shutting Down
By Caroline Zhang, November 5, 2018

Presidential adviser Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand won first trial approval for 16 new trademarks from the Chinese government in October. These approvals come about three months after Ivanka announced that her brand was shutting down, and mark the largest number of new Chinese trademarks she has received in a single month since President Donald Trump took office.

Ivanka’s business applied for these trademarks in 2016.

This is far from the first time that Ivanka’s Chinese trademarks have raised ethics questions. In May 2018, Ivanka Trump’s business received approval for several new Chinese trademarks a week before President Trump announced that he wanted to lift the ban on the Chinese company ZTE, for violating US sanctions. In 2017, the business received three new Chinese trademarks on the same day she dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump ordered top-secret security clearance for Jared Kushner despite concerns of John Kelly, intel officials
By Josh Dawsey and Seung Min Kim and Shane Harris, The Washington Post | Feb 28, 2019

President Donald Trump early last year directed his then-chief of staff, John Kelly, to give presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance - a move that made Kelly so uncomfortable that he documented the request in writing, according to current and former administration officials.

After Kushner, a senior White House adviser, and his wife, Ivanka Trump, pressured the president to grant Kushner the long-delayed clearance, Trump instructed Kelly to fix the problem, according to a person familiar with Kelly's account, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

Kelly told colleagues that the decision to give Kushner top-secret clearance was not supported by career intelligence officials, and he memorialized Trump's request in an internal memo, according to two people familiar with the memo and the then-chief of staff's concerns.

As Trump criticizes Hunter Biden, House Democrats should be investigating his daughter

Donald Trump’s Sons Have Sold More Than $100 Million Of His Real Estate Since He Took Office
By Dan Alexander and Chase Peterson-Withorn, Forbes | October 31, 2019

You asked how the Trump kids benefited from their Dad's name. I gave you a clear example.
1. Trump Organization and the RNC merge so as to work as one.
2. The RNC purchases almost $100K of Don Jr's newly released book

This isn't about the Trump kids making money on their portfolios, this is about them banking on their Dad's name to sell for more than they normally would have, for unknown political considerations/favors, and in using political contacts to gain things they normally may not have also in exchange for political or personal favor. They also received direct benefit in receiving top secret clearances thanks to their Dad after intelligence officials flagged that they shouldn't have for their questionable ties. Nepotism in the White House itself.

If you have no problem with that, but do with Hunter Biden's actions, then I can only suspect that you hold the two families to different standards.