I noticed that there was a theme in some of the pro-Trump replies to my post involving the Lukoil scandal: "What about Hunter Biden?" Here's my response. The fourth point is particularly noteworthy.
First, as a response to the case for investigating these transactions, this is a logical fallacy (tu quoque). Whatever Hunter Biden did does not in any way lessen the need to investigate these highly suspicious transactions involving the Trump family and senior Trump officials, particularly when some involve Russia, which, for all intents and purposes, is at war with the West.
Second, Hunter Biden and his relationship with Burisma were investigated extensively. Those investigations identified legitimate concerns about the appearance of a conflict of interest, but did not establish that his position at Burisma improperly influenced U.S. policy toward Ukraine. Hunter Biden was subsequently prosecuted for unrelated tax and firearms offences.
Third, Hunter Biden was a private citizen. He was not simultaneously conducting American foreign policy while participating in transactions from which he benefited. That distinction matters enormously.
Fourth, the scale and nature of the current transactions are substantially different. We are talking about the proposed multibillion-dollar acquisition of Lukoil assets involving business partners of Witkoff and Kushner while Witkoff and Kushner are negotiating with Russia on behalf of the United States. The prospective investors include Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat, who are involved with Kushner and Ivanka Trump in a multibillion-dollar resort project in Albania, and interests controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whose business interests have also made major investments in Kushner's private-equity firm and World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency venture co-founded by Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Steve Witkoff's sons Zach and Alex Witkoff, and in which the Trump and Witkoff families have substantial financial interests.
Then there is a Kazakhstan tungsten project potentially receiving up to $1.6 billion in U.S. government financing in which Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump acquired an indirect financial interest, and the $2 billion MGX investment in Binance using World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin, followed months later by Trump's pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
Conflicts of interest should be investigated, and Hunter Biden was. Given the scale and magnitude of the Trump Cartel's (
#trumpcartel) transactions, and the fact that members of the Cartel like Witkoff and Kushner are acting in an official capacity, an investigation is more than warranted, and there is some urgency.