The Hunter Baloney

[Pete F.]

The thing to understand about the Hunter Biden laptop story was that it was SUPPOSED to be the Trump campaign’s “October Surprise.”

Mainstream media and social media were supposed to take the bait and focus on the appearance of scandal for the last weeks of the election.

They didn’t take the bait. The New York Post story was shunned. Social media platforms treated it as manufactured propaganda with questionable sourcing.

And conservative elites have been PISSED ever since.

They’re supposed to be these brilliant media manipulators.

Roger Stone and Steve Bannon and the rest of the Pepe Patrol pretend at being these incredibly sophisticated actors, injecting precision memes to bend the public will.

But they’re actual just blunt instruments.

Trump got impeached the first time for trying to condition congressionally-approved military aid to Ukraine on Zelenskyy announcing an “investigation” of Biden corruption.

He wanted the appearance of corruption, so he could wrap the media’s attention around it.

The laptop was basically Plan B.

They wanted everyone to freak out about it for a few weeks. Normally what happens is conservative media shouts about it, mainstream media genuflects and “covers the controversy,” and Bannon and co high-five each other for setting the agenda.

It didn’t work this time. They’ve been pouting ever since.

It’s a lot like a kid who loses a video game and starts slamming the controller, insisting it’s rigged or the system is cheating.

It’s NOT FAIR! Their plan was supposed to WORK!

Musk and Taibbi are tapping into that well of resentment.

Why should we care about the President’s adult failson who doesn’t work in the administration? Two years later, what’s the scandal supposed to even be?

The media didn’t take the bait. No fair. That’s the scandal.

They’re gonna keep bitching about it for years. It’s going to be louder and emptier than the Benghazi hearings.

The scandal is that their clever propaganda effort sank like a lead balloon. And that has to be SOMEONE ELSE’S fault.

That’s it. That’s the whole thing.

[Jim in CT]

the scandal is that the fbi became nothing more than a political
weapon. if that’s baloney, fine, but then don’t cry when it happens to you.

the FBIs role isn’t to work to help elect politicians they happen to like.

The tech companies are free to censor it i guess, it’s a free country, and if fox news can have a bias in reporting, so can they. But they shouldn’t call it russian disinformation when there was never any evidence of that. This is t any more complicated than it appears.

But what the FBI clearly did, isn’t baloney. They work for us, not for the Biden campaign.

Obviously this story was crafted to help the trump campaign. but it was an accurate, legit story.

Diane feinstein sitting on the Kavanaugjvraoe allegations and waiting for maximum dramatic efffect on the last day of his hearings was also a political stunt. It was also complete BS. but that don’t bother you one bit, did it?

[PaulS]

But there are emails that say "don't forget about the big guy"

[PaulS]

Even Steve Doocy and Matt Tiabbi both admit the Feds did not get involved in the laptop.




The segment opened with a clip of Senator Ted Cruz amplifying Republican talking points about “Twitter Files,” though much of what he said was flat-out wrong. Doocy said that he didn’t know what the senator was talking about before citing Taibbi’s writing on Friday “although several sources recalled hearing about a general warning from federal law enforcement that summer about possible foreign hacks, there’s no evidence that I have seen of any government influence in the laptop story. In fact, that might have been the problem.”

“So, according to the guy who Elon Musk gave all the secrets to, he said I don’t see federal law enforcement involved in the laptop story at all,” Doocy included.

[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

the scandal is that the fbi became nothing more than a political
weapon. if that’s baloney, fine, but then don’t cry when it happens to you.

the FBIs role isn’t to work to help elect politicians they happen to like.

The tech companies are free to censor it i guess, it’s a free country, and if fox news can have a bias in reporting, so can they. But they shouldn’t call it russian disinformation when there was never any evidence of that. This is t any more complicated than it appears.

But what the FBI clearly did, isn’t baloney. They work for us, not for the Biden campaign.

Obviously this story was crafted to help the trump campaign. but it was an accurate, legit story.

Diane feinstein sitting on the Kavanaugjvraoe allegations and waiting for maximum dramatic efffect on the last day of his hearings was also a political stunt. It was also complete BS. but that don’t bother you one bit, did it?

Sure Jan, Russia is an imaginary threat.
Remember when Putin’s favorite “reporter” Tucker was going to get break the whole thing wide open but then he fedxed something to himself and it got lost or something?

From what I remember Tucker also went a lot softer on the story after a certain point.

Almost like the Fox legal department got a call from some very expensive lawyers and then they told their poster boy to back out of the whole thing.

Rudy gave it away when he bragged about going to Ukraine to pick up some “evidence”, which were the hard drives. It was all manufactured by Russian operatives. Doctored pics and videos and fake emails.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by PaulS

Even Steve Doocy and Matt Tiabbi both admit the Feds did not get involved in the laptop.




The segment opened with a clip of Senator Ted Cruz amplifying Republican talking points about “Twitter Files,” though much of what he said was flat-out wrong. Doocy said that he didn’t know what the senator was talking about before citing Taibbi’s writing on Friday “although several sources recalled hearing about a general warning from federal law enforcement that summer about possible foreign hacks, there’s no evidence that I have seen of any government influence in the laptop story. In fact, that might have been the problem.”

“So, according to the guy who Elon Musk gave all the secrets to, he said I don’t see federal law enforcement involved in the laptop story at all,” Doocy included.

the former head of content for Twitter said very explicitly, the FBI warned them about an impending misinformation campaign against Hunter.

I haven’t heard anyone claim they were warned specifically about hunters laptop. But they were warned it had to do with Hunter. When the laptop story broke, they all assumed that’s what the fbi warned them about, and they all dropped it even though there was never any evidence it was russian information.

Paul, the FBI had the laptop in their possession when they were telling twitter it was russian misinformation. They had the laptop, therefore they knew it wasnt russian misinformation. Come on, you know what happened here.

That’s what Twitter executives are saying. I’m assuming they aren’t lying.

[Jim in CT]

here, Yoel Roth testified that when he was a twitter executive, the fbi warned him of impending fake stories coming where Hunter was the target.

No one has any smoking gun that the fbi mentioned hunters laptop. But if the fbi tells twitter that a smear is coming against hunter, and then the laptop story breaks, what is Twitter supposed to think?

It’s not a big deal to me if twitter wants to have a political bias. Almost every outlet has a bias. But The FBI shouldn’t be involved in that game. and it’s also worth knowing exactly what the Biden family did and didn’t do.

Former Twitter CEO jack dorsey said it was a “total
mistake” to ban the story and suspend the new york posts account.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/...ak-operations/

[wdmso]

Jim still doesn’t understand the physical laptop my be real but there’s not a court in this country would accept anything on it as evidence.. seeing it was obtained illegally ! Not to mention how many people handle it and the data


But Jim and Gym Jordon could care
less about legality of the law. And burden of proof is an inconvenient
standard . So they will just make crap up
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[wdmso]

https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/email-...iz-man-to-dad/

Story ran October 14 2020 in print and online.

Keep claiming it was suppressed
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[PaulS]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

the former head of content for Twitter said very explicitly, the FBI warned them about an impending misinformation campaign against Hunter. as they prob. do bf every election

I haven’t heard anyone claim they were warned specifically about hunters laptop. But they were warned it had to do with Hunter. When the laptop story broke, they all assumed that’s what the fbi warned them about, and they all dropped it even though there was never any evidence it was russian information.

Paul, the FBI had the laptop in their possession when they were telling twitter it was russian misinformation. They had the laptop, therefore they knew it wasnt russian misinformation. Come on, you know what happened here.

That’s what Twitter executives are saying. I’m assuming they aren’t lying.

so what. The FBI prob. sends out a warning bf every election now that we know the Russians did all they could to get Trump elected. They met w/Twitter and FB weekly to discuss threats.

There has been zero evidence that President Biden benefited from his son's business dealings.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by wdmso

Jim still doesn’t understand the physical laptop my be real but there’s not a court in this country would accept anything on it as evidence.. seeing it was obtained illegally ! Not to mention how many people handle it and the data


But Jim and Gym Jordon could care
less about legality of the law. And burden of proof is an inconvenient
standard . So they will just make crap up
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Who broke the law? Have they been arrested?

If the press (both sides) did their job, we wouldn't need questionable dumps and leaks.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by PaulS

There has been zero evidence that President Biden benefited from his son's business dealings.

Well when everyone refuses to even discuss it let alone investigate, it's kind of a foregone conclusion that there will be zero accumulated evidence. You have to start an investigation before you can accumulate evidence, right?

There's the allegations of Hunters former partner, former Naval officer ( I think?), that Babolinski guy. Is there evidence he's lying? If we believe the lady who accused Kavanaugh, on what basis is she more credible than he is?

There will be hearings, posturing, political theater, and nothing will result.

Hunter Biden got fabulously wealthy in Ukraine, when his dad was the executive branch's point man there. There are a lot of countries around the globe. That's a heck of a coincidence. Biden also applied pressure to get Ukraine to fire a corrupt prosecutor. I'm asking a question here, not making a statement, was that guy investigating a company that Hunter was involved with? Some are saying that, but they say a lot of things, don't they.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by PaulS

so what. The FBI prob. sends out a warning bf every election n

Has the FBI disclosed what their evidence was, that Russia was about to smear Hunter? We know the FBI had the laptop at the time. If the FBI goal was to bury the laptop story, you're right, the FBI could have specified that a smear was coming regarding the laptop, and they didn't get that specific.

You're assuming the FBI does this every year at election time. Maybe.

Let's have hearings and find out.

[Pete F.]

Poor victim
The Republican Party in its death throes is planning on investigating a set of files that had been copied by the legally blind computer repair guy, then a copy was made from those copies for Rudy's lawyer, who made ANOTHER copy for Steve Bannon, who gave ANOTHER copy to the NY Post -- with ZERO assurance that the files were not tampered with.
Actually, we know for a fact that the files were tampered with because there's a directory with a creation date after they were handed over to Bannon and Rudy, one that doesn't appear on Mac Isaac's image of the drive.
As far as the actual laptop itself, it's never been established whether Hunter actually owned the thing. The provenance is sketchy at best.
But I’m sure the Jims from the House and CT are eagerly anticipating the possibility of #^&#^&#^&#^& pics, and claiming Hunter got some kind of vast fortune in Ukraine while ignoring the Billions the nepotistic family members of the former administration received.
Because Jared’s smart
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[PaulS]

During the latest segment of "Fox & Friends," Doocy weighed in with his take and pointed out one glaring detail that the rest of the panel strongly disagreed with. The panel opened their discussion with a clip of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) perpetuating unfounded claims about the Twitter files.

Doocy admitted that he was unsure of what Cruz was referring to as he noted the reports written by Substack journalist Matt Taibbi on Friday, December 2.

He also said that, “although several sources recalled hearing about a general warning from federal law enforcement that summer about possible foreign hacks, there’s no evidence that I have seen of any government influence in the laptop story. In fact, that might have been the problem.”

At one point during the discussion, Doocy emphasized that Taibbi also noted that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) did not get involved which might insinuate that the claims are not as egregious as the far-right has perpetuated.

“So, according to the guy who Elon Musk gave all the secrets to, he said I don’t see federal law enforcement involved in the laptop story at all,” Doocy included.

Doocy's remarks stem from the infamous Twitter files that were released on Friday, December 2.

According to Mediaite: "Matt Taibbi posted a Twitter thread that was presented by Elon Musk as clear evidence of a First Amendment violation by the federal government. While many were quick to call it a bombshell, it was more of a dud, as I wrote Saturday morning."

The release has been widely dismissed by many who described the so-called Twitter files as underwhelming.

[wdmso]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Who broke the law? Have they been arrested?

If the press (both sides) did their job, we wouldn't need questionable dumps and leaks.

Who broke the law? Have they been arrested?

That’s not the point Jim is it? Get back to me when it goes to court

A congressional committee is not a trial you and the MAGA horde claim that daily over the Jan6th hearings But look at GYM refused a congressional subpoena ( jim jordan refuses subpoena)

But of course you have no issues with him leading the judicial committee

So much for morals and integrity and the rule of law ( can’t lie if you don’t raise your hand. ). Cowards

[Got Stripers]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Who broke the law? Have they been arrested?

If the press (both sides) did their job, we wouldn't need questionable dumps and leaks.

Now that’s funny, especially when you are the Faux News junkie, but guess who has broken the law; Trump organization guilty as charged. But but but Hunter.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

Now that’s funny, especially when you are the Faux News junkie, but guess who has broken the law; Trump organization guilty as charged. But but but Hunter.

WDMSO was saying the release of laptop information was illegal. Any idiot would know that's what I was referring to. Any chance you can do something modestly productive for once, and just tell me which laws were broken in that event, rather than lobbing stupid and baseless insults?

Trump literally has 0% of getting elected in the 2024 general election. He'd lose 40 states.

Maybe if we investigated Hunter, we'd see what happened, and if any laws were broken. When the powers that be get together and decide to bury a story, it's kind of hard to prove any wrongdoing related to that story, isn't it?

I'm NOT suggesting there's any equivalence between Biden's moral lapses and Trump's, because there isn't. But the fact is, we've spent a thousand more times the energy investigating Trump than we have investigating the Bidens, and as of right now, there are the same exact number of convictions against both men.

Lets investigate the potential Biden corruption with the same vigor we've investigated everything Trump has ever done, and then we can compare results. Hard to compare 2 guys when one is being investigated as much as possible (for some things, it turns out, that obviously never happened), and the other guy gets a free pass for everything he does. Again, not comparing the ethics of the 2, because Trump is in a class by himself. But no one wants to hear about possible fraud among the Bidens.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by wdmso

Who broke the law? Have they been arrested?

That’s not the point Jim is it? Get back to me when it goes to court

A congressional committee is not a trial you and the MAGA horde claim that daily over the Jan6th hearings But look at GYM refused a congressional subpoena ( jim jordan refuses subpoena)

But of course you have no issues with him leading the judicial committee

So much for morals and integrity and the rule of law ( can’t lie if you don’t raise your hand. ). Cowards

I'll ask again, who broke the law? You said the laptop release was against the law. I'm not trying to antagonize you,. I'm asking a sincere question.

You said this..."there’s not a court in this country would accept anything on it as evidence.. seeing it was obtained illegally"

What are you referring to? If the guy who owned the repair store broke the law, why hasn't he been arrested?

We also know the FBI had the laptop. Are you saying they broke the law in getting it?

Just asking you to clarify, that's all. Take it easy and just explain...

[wdmso]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

I'll ask again, who broke the law? You said the laptop release was against the law. I'm not trying to antagonize you,. I'm asking a sincere question.

You said this..."there’s not a court in this country would accept anything on it as evidence.. seeing it was obtained illegally"

What are you referring to? If the guy who owned the repair store broke the law, why hasn't he been arrested?

We also know the FBI had the laptop. Are you saying they broke the law in getting it?

Just asking you to clarify, that's all. Take it easy and just explain...

All you do Jim is bob for Apples

The vast majority of the data — and most of the nearly 129,000 emails it contained — could not be verified by either of the two security experts who reviewed the data

Most of the data obtained by The Post lacks cryptographic features that would help experts make a reliable determination of authenticity,

He willingly gave it to the FBI and was happy to see it go,” Della Rocca said.
He added that Mac Isaac, before turning over the computer, made a copy of its hard drive “in case he was ever thrown under the bus as a result of what he knew.”

In an email with the subject line “Why is it so difficult to be a whistleblower when you are on the right?” written on Aug. 26, 2020, Mac Isaac told Costello that he had copies of the hard drive from Hunter Biden’s laptop.
“For my protection I made sevral copies

My protection that’s funny

The Washington Post repeatedly asked Giuliani and Republican strategist Stephen K. Bannon for a copy of the data to review, but the requests were rebuffed or ignored.

Censorship Jim?

What the experts found
In their examinations, Green and Williams found evidence that people other than Hunter Biden had accessed the drive and written files to it, both before and after the initial stories in the New York Post and long after the laptop itself had been turned over to the FBI.

Your kind of integrity?

But the lack of what experts call a “clean chain of custody” undermined Green’s and Williams’s ability to determine the authenticity of most of the drive’s contents.


the portable drive he received from The Post to a crime scene in which detectives arrive to find Big Mac wrappers carelessly left behind by police officers who were there before them, contaminating the evidence.

West Coast location in October 2020, little more than a week after the first New York Post stories on Hunter Biden’s laptop appeared.
Over the next few days, somebody created three additional folders on the drive, titled, “Mail,” “Salacious Pics Package” and “Big Guy File” — an apparent reference to Joe Biden.

do let common sense get in your way

Next you’ll find a dress with a load on it.. because that’s what normal people do
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Pete F.]

Forgotten amid the breathlessness about Hunter Biden's #^&#^&#^&#^& pics is all the evidence that Bill Barr spent much of early 2020 protecting Rudy's efforts to feed DOJ dirt on Hunter Biden he got from a suspected Russian agent.
Thus far Republicans have not substantiated any unusual corruption by Hunter Biden.

Geoffrey Berman substantiated a GREAT DEAL of corruption by Bill Barr on the flip side of that inquiry.

Berman said Barr stymied SDNY from advancing the investigation into Rudy Giuliani not to protect Parnas, Fruman, or Rudy himself.

He stymied SDNY bc the investigation had "tentacles" that threatened to spiral out of (his, Barr's) control.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Jim in CT]

wayne, you said the laptop was obtained illegally, All i did was ask which laws were broken and by whom. I asked you respectfully, and i asked you twice.

Instead of answering, both times you came back with insults

So you have zero knowledge that any laws were broken. Yet you claim that’s the case. And i’m the one bobbing for apples.

Everybody is now saying the laptop story, and the emails, were legit. You seem to be then only one clinging to the debunked fantasy that it’s all a fabricated hoax. Liberal outlet after liberal outlet are all conceding it was legit.

But you, you know better.

That’s not bobbing for apples?

I’m not denying laws were broken. i just asked you to clarify. You clearly took that as a threat. That’s your issue not mine. if your beliefs can’t withstand a question that harmless, those are some flimsy beliefs.

[Pete F.]

Just a little more gaslighting by Jim

“Everybody is now saying“

Meanwhile a seven-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Andrii Derkach with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Acts (IEEPA), bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and four counts of money laundering in connection with the purchase and maintenance of two condominiums in Beverly Hills, California. Derkach allegedly purchased the properties in violation of new U.S. sanctions imposed earlier this year and concealed his interest in the transactions. Derkach remains at large.

In the fall of 2019, he gained access to Trump’s inner circle through Rudy Giuliani, the President’s personal lawyer. He then provided Giuliani with documents purporting to show that Joe Biden and his family were involved in corruption. After their first meeting, Derkach even posted a photo of himself with Giuliani on Facebook, mugging for the camera as they exchanged a stack of documents. In the months before Election Day, he released a series of secret recordings of Biden pressuring top Ukrainian officials to fight corruption. The source of those tapes remains a mystery to this day.
In the run-up to the election, the FBI and CIA both warned the Trump Administration that Derkach was advancing a Russian disinformation campaign. Trump and his allies nonetheless continued to amplify the narrative, initially on Twitter, Facebook and cable news and then, roughly a month before Election Day, from the stage of the first presidential debate.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Got Stripers]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

wayne, you said the laptop was obtained illegally, All i did was ask which laws were broken and by whom. I asked you respectfully, and i asked you twice.

Instead of answering, both times you came back with insults

So you have zero knowledge that any laws were broken. Yet you claim that’s the case. And i’m the one bobbing for apples.

Everybody is now saying the laptop story, and the emails, were legit. You seem to be then only one clinging to the debunked fantasy that it’s all a fabricated hoax. Liberal outlet after liberal outlet are all conceding it was legit.

But you, you know better.

That’s not bobbing for apples?

I’m not denying laws were broken. i just asked you to clarify. You clearly took that as a threat. That’s your issue not mine. if your beliefs can’t withstand a question that harmless, those are some flimsy beliefs.

Everybody meaning the talking heads at Faux News and Breitbart?

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

Everybody meaning the talking heads at Faux News and Breitbart?

SO you're saying only foxnews is claiming the laptop is legit?

How about CBS saying it's legit?

https://nypost.com/2022/11/21/cbs-co...t-broke-story/


How about the Washington Post saying it's legit?

https://nypost.com/2022/03/30/washin...aptop-is-real/

How about former Twitter CEO Jack Dorser saying it's legit?

https://nypost.com/2021/03/25/dorsey...total-mistake/

How about CNNs Brian Stelter saying it's real?

https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-wor...ng-media-story

How about the New York Times?

https://reason.com/2022/03/17/the-ne...nd-newsworthy/

You sure showed me, huh? You sure settled my hash.

Anything else to add?

[Got Stripers]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

SO you're saying only foxnews is claiming the laptop is legit?

How about CBS saying it's legit?

https://nypost.com/2022/11/21/cbs-co...t-broke-story/


How about the Washington Post saying it's legit?

https://nypost.com/2022/03/30/washin...aptop-is-real/

How about former Twitter CEO Jack Dorser saying it's legit?

https://nypost.com/2021/03/25/dorsey...total-mistake/

How about CNNs Brian Stelter saying it's real?

https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-wor...ng-media-story

How about the New York Times?

https://reason.com/2022/03/17/the-ne...nd-newsworthy/

You sure showed me, huh? You sure settled my hash.

Anything else to add?

I just love watching you spin, do you even have a life outside of this bubble? Getting a rise out of you isn’t even hard work.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

I just love watching you spin, do you even have a life outside of this bubble? Getting a rise out of you isn’t even hard work.

are you ever wrong?

[Got Stripers]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

are you ever wrong?

See Jim if I never get sucked into playing your game, yes I’m winning and never wrong.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

See Jim if I never get sucked into playing your game, yes I’m winning and never wrong.

what you are, is an angry, bitter, dishonest, not-very-bright old man.

[Got Stripers]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

what you are, is an angry, bitter, dishonest, not-very-bright old man.

Wrong on all counts, but that’s not surprising, couldn’t be happier and when this forum turned into a joke, I decided i would pop in and have some fun on occasion.