The Oversight and Accountabilitys’ house of cards
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountabilitys’ house of cards appears to be crumbling with Alexander Smirnov’s arrest, but one witness has been a lot more difficult for democrats to dismiss.
After Alexander Smirnov, 43, was arrested and charged by the FBI for making false statements, democrats finally felt vindicated. Rep. James Raskin (D-MD) said in response to the charges, “I think the Smirnov revelations destroy the entire case.” His republican counterpart, James Comer (R-KY) and other republicans downplayed his arrest and charges.
For a time, however, Smirnov did have conservative politicians incensed with what they believed to be hard evidence which would finally link Joe Biden to an alleged $5 million bribe from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, who his son Hunter Biden worked for; but ultimately, while Smirnov may have had usefulness in some areas since 2010, the House Committee of Oversight and Accountability (“Committe”) have yet another peg which they can’t fit anywhere into the investigation.
He remains elusive to the public and his motives are all the more unclear as he was a long-time informant for the FBI. Spinning a web of lies to deceive his handlers is a head scratching even if Smirnov was genuinely deceived by his Russian intelligence sources.
Whatever Smirnov’s motives were, the game isn’t over yet. The democrats may not have the slam dunk they were hoping for due to another witness who’s now manning a stronghold for republicans.
The games continue as the Wall Street Journal backs another witness
Another name which continues to hold weight at the center of the investigation into Hunter Biden’s dealings is that of one Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden.
Bobulinski offers a similar tale of bribery, but his assertions are much more egregious. He claims that Joe Biden had direct dealings with CECF, a Chinese energy company linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). James Comer and his colleagues are more entrenched in this scenario than they are in Burisma due to the fact that it’s much easier to paint Burisma as a side to all of the Biden family’s foreign dealings even without proof. Communism endorsements could be the long-game republicans bounce democrats into.
The Committee laid out the alleged complex activities and payments from Chinese companies and how Hunter and Joe Biden are connected to all of it. Bobulinski is apparently much more convincing and useful to the Committee than Smirnov; the former has offered investigators and law enforcement officials alleged text messages, emails, and other records linking Hunter and Joe Biden directly.
Through several separate opinion pieces beginning since 2020 — the Wall Street Journal has suspiciously been providing a backdrop for conservatives and Bobulinski’. A recent article claims that he has been “ignored by the press” since 2020 despite coverage from C-Span, Tucker Carlson, and the Washington Post.
But is Bobulinski credible?
For the sake of objectivity, I tried look into several claims by Bobulinski and take them at face-value. However, there are several holes in his stories. First, Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-D) flagged a report from the Wall Street Journal which revealed Bobulinski’s text messages and emails never showed Hunter and James Biden alluding to Joe Biden’s role in their venture.
Secondly, Bobulinski was also not forthcoming with very important details such as what transpired when directly meeting Joe Biden. According to the transcript of the interview, contrary to what republicans asserted, Bobulinski could only recall his first meeting with Joe Biden being about matters such as Bobulinski’s “background,” the Biden family’s “background” and Joe Biden’s “appreciation of the military.” It didn’t involve business or Hunter Biden’s two other partners, James Gilliar and Rob Walker, nor were there any mentions of business with CCP backed companies.
Lastly, it’s important to note that Bobulinski met with Joe Biden when he was a private citizen in 2017. Republicans are well aware business dealings can be conducted outside of an official capacity with much more freedom than in a official capacity. Lest they forget that China spent over $5.5 million on Trump properties while Trump was in office.
So, there’s are a lot of doubts swirling around Bobulinski due to the fact the Joe Biden only ever appears by proxy to him aside from a couple of meetings. He’s also not offered anything new to the Committee.
The same back door deals, hush payments, and money still cannot be independently verified no matter how many times republicans suggest bank records can be faked. They either don’t exist or they’re completely devoid of context (redactions, hearsay, third-parties not witnessing the events, etc.). Even cash transactions in large sums would require washing and exchanging of hands.
The republicans know that as long as they continue to paint Biden as a figure who was virtually omnipresent in any and all of his son’s business dealings — they can keep votes and money flowing in. If there’s a plausible scenario that Joe Biden can merely be referenced, a whiff of him is enough for republicans to set it out on the counter to attract conspiracy theorists.
However, this can only last for so long. The impeachment collapse is imminent. They’re trying to sweep misinformation under the rug, but luckily, other outlets are paying attention and are pointing it out.
