The House Ways and Means Committee chairman was asked to explain how documents provided by his panel showed evidence of wrongdoing or a two-tiered justice system.

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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.

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  • Nougat@kbin.social
    22·
    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.