Did Joe Biden take a bribe? The tech giants and legacy media have taken extreme and unprecedented measures to silence news accounts that probe this question. Beyond Twitter and Facebook, there are reports of TikTok censoring contributors attempting to share the New York Post reporting on Hunter Biden.
Contrary to the ridiculous attempts to discredit the New York Post reporting, the sourcing in that story is actually far superior to the journalistic standards followed in published attacks on Trump, which often rely on verbal accounts by anonymous sources. To bolster these attacks, other publications “corroborate” anonymous sources with still more anonymous sourcing—leading to the suspicion that it’s all just the same anonymous sources spreading rumors.
In contrast, the New York Post has produced an email trail from a trove of documents obtained from a now on-the-record store owner who received the laptop directly from Hunter Biden. Neither Joe nor Hunter has disputed the authenticity of any specific document. Indeed, as of Monday, the campaign called a “lid” on all public campaign activities until after the Thursday debate. With so few days left before the election, it’s unprecedented to hide a candidate from the public for four days. That’s a desperate measure to avoid answering questions.
Let’s walk through the evidence to consider whether Biden did, in fact, take a bribe.
Federal law defines “bribery of a public official” as when a “public official . . . receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept anything of value . . . in return for being influenced in the performance of any official act.” Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani claims to have a screenshot of a text message from Hunter revealing that he was expected to pay for family expenses and give the elder Biden half his salary. This text appears to be evidence that the Democrats’ standard-bearer took a piece of Hunter’s salary (in-kind and directly), which seems to meet the bribery statute’s terms “receive” or “accept” something “of value.”
But there’s more.
The Washington Post just published an article recounting an interview with a former advisor to Hunter. According to that account, the advisor warned Hunter Biden, “They’re using you for your name. They will exploit your name to your detriment and your father’s.” Hunter Biden responded, “My mom and dad don’t have any money . . . I have to make money for the family.” This corroborates the text message Giuliani publicized—that Hunter was expected to use his salary to pay family expenses.
Even if Joe Biden hadn’t accepted money directly, Hunter’s enrichment could qualify under the precedent set in the prosecution of Representative William J. Jefferson (D-La.), who famously stashed $90,000 in cash in a freezer.