We non-aligned types await some chewy drama from the US if, as predicted, Trump engages in an orgy of vengeance upon political foes who arguably weaponised institutions of state against him.
In particular, the contents of the laptop fecklessly abandoned by Biden jr. should get the Pandora treament.
Hitherto, damage control took two forms: firstly, pretending that the laptop’s contents relate to sex, drugs etc. (which are mere side dishes; the main course is substantiation of an appalling conflict of interest involving hundreds of thousands of deaths, and hundreds of billions of dollars).
Secondly, officialdom points to the circulation of multiple versions of the “leak,” and labels it evidence of a Russian frame-up. Indeed that could explain a fraction of purported laptop contents, but nonetheless the deliberate sowing of altered versions is the best way to cast doubt upon a devastating set of evidence. A similar scenario played out in the “Pentagon”/“Discord” leaks for which Jack Texeira recently got 15 years (for the hard-of-memory or those who missed it: his main criterion in choosing classified material to leak was whether it proved systematic deceit of the public).
However, unlike Texeira’s case where the evidence was leaked into the public domain over a period of time, where some was obviously doctored (whether by Russian assets or damage-controlling US authorities or both) before coming to the attention of the media, the laptop material has a “chain of custody.” The repair man was fortunate to have relatives in the security establishment who ensured that copies were kept in safe places, before the FBI was informed. With the new political will now headed for the FBI, the original can be identified.
And it will be. While recording his adventures, Hunter was technically a director of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company. So besides sordid videos, there is email correspondence, apparently negotiating bribes for “the big guy.” What explains Biden sr.’s casual on-stage boast that he arranged the dismissal of a Ukrainian prosecutor-general (who now resides in the US and is presumably being courted by Trump’s team)? Is it pure coincidence that the $5bn-per-year deal for transporting Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine’s pipelines is being ended only days before the big guy’s departure from office?
Never mind the pardon granted by “the big guy” to his son. The question will be whether the Supreme Court ruling granting indemnity to presidents for acts performed while in office extends to vice-presidents, because that’s what Joe was while Hunter was assembling the evidence. Also, whether the clemency-on-grounds-of-senility defence can be re-deployed (as it was when classified documents were found in the big guy’s garage). The usefulness of this excuse, of course, improves with time.
All this is of course mere froth on the sea of corruption, which also embraces Trump and his team. Much of it is lawful, because the perpetrators shape laws and policies. Since 2014 Ukraine has been a goldrush for global corporations like Blackrock; its assets have been privatised and its future mortgaged. Besides the looming military disaster, there will be financial one. Both are already under way, but behind a veil of soapy news.
In a remarkable turn of events the Wall Street Journal has chosen, during Biden’s swansong, to run a feature on his “diminished” condition. The evidence adduced would have been highly valuable to the Trump campaign and/or the budding Harris-for-prez campaign, before Biden withdrew his candidature. But who stands to benefit from it now? Given the abovementioned possibility that clemency may be in demand, how about Biden himself? Plus of course his accomplices… some of whom probably assisted the WSJ compile its hit job.