Politics
Opinion: I nominate Hunter Biden for most perfect troll of the year
Gotta hand it to Hunter Biden. He has been beating the MAGA congressional Republicans at their own game.
The GOP is desperate to find some kind of evidence that President Biden wrongfully profited from his son’s foreign dealings. So far, the quest, and their impeachment investigation, has yielded nothing. But House Republicans will not give up. In fact, their behavior reminds me of the old joke about the room filled with horse manure: They just know there’s a pony in there somewhere.
Opinion Columnist
Robin Abcarian
Hunter Biden has said, repeatedly, that he would testify in their disingenuous investigation. But he wanted to do so in public, not behind closed doors. Not good enough, said the Trump toadies, who want to grill him in secret. Why would testimony behind closed doors benefit Republicans?
“Lemme tell y’all why no one wants to talk to you behind closed doors,” explained Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett to her Republican colleagues on the House Oversight Committee before they voted on Wednesday to recommend that the full House find Biden in contempt. “Cause y’all lie.” (Partisans, she meant, would selectively leak secret testimony damaging to the Bidens. Republicans have said, and not without merit, that an open hearing would devolve into partisan bickering and posturing.)
To the committee’s surprise, Biden had shown up for the Wednesday hearing, sitting in the front row. But not for long.
To his credit, when it was MAGA Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s turn to speak, Biden did the most contemptuous thing possible: He abruptly stood and strode out of the room.
“Wow, that’s too bad,” said a disappointed Greene. “I think it’s clear that Hunter Biden is terrified of strong conservative women. What a coward.”
Aaron Rupar, the Washington journalist who covered the hearing on X, posted a screenshot of Fox News’ disingenuous chyron: “Hunter flees hearing room in face of GOP questions.”
Leaving was hardly the act of a coward, noted Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California. After all, he said, Greene “is the one who showed nude photos of Hunter Biden. Showing dick pics in this committee room!” (At a hearing last summer, Greene displayed photos of Biden that had been purloined from his notorious laptop.) Undaunted, Greene did it again on Wednesday, exploiting Biden when he was in the grip of addiction and despair over the death of his brother, Beau. Why should Hunter Biden sit still for Greene’s transparent attempt to humiliate him?
“You’ve got members of this committee who have engaged in revenge porn,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. MAGA Republican Rep. Nancy Mace had already set a bizarre and prurient tone, telling Biden, “You are the epitome of white privilege… . What are you afraid of? You have no balls.”
Between Greene’s fatuous display, Mace’s critique and — sorry, but I have to mention this — Colorado MAGA Rep. Lauren Boebert’s unseemly boyfriend groping at a Denver theater in September, one really has to wonder about the obsession MAGA Republican women have with male anatomy.
For the MAGA Republicans trying to unseat his father, Hunter Biden is so much more than a troubled son who has taken advantage of the family name. He is their chance to keep a Biden non-scandal in the news. If they can generate negative-sounding headlines about Hunter, maybe some of the stink will rub off on his dad.
“I think what they are doing to Hunter is cruel,” Jill Biden told MSNBC host Mika Brzezinksi on Thursday.
It is, but to his credit, Hunter Biden is refusing to let them do it without a fight. He has a deep-pocketed and loyal friend in Hollywood entertainment attorney Kevin Morris, who has been at his side since 2019 and lent him money to pay his back taxes, and a savvy and aggressive new defense attorney in Washington fixture Abbe Lowell.
On Friday, in a surprise move, Lowell told the chairmen of the two House committees seeking Biden’s testimony that his client would appear behind closed doors if they issued new subpoenas. I assume Biden folded rather than risk a House vote to refer contempt charges to the Justice Department, which might further exacerbate his legal woes. In any case, he had already made his point. Republicans, for their part, said they’d pursue contempt charges anyway.
Nonetheless, with the help of his father’s Democratic allies in Congress, Hunter Biden has been successfully rubbing MAGA Republicans’ faces in their own hypocrisy.
Congressional Trumpists have refused to hold their own colleagues who have spurned lawful subpoenas in contempt. The double standard is as predictable as it is shoddy.
Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz rattled off a whole list of them on Wednesday: GOP Reps. Scott Perry, Jim Jordan, Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs and former Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy, all of whom spurned subpoenas to testify in Congress’ investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection. “Show the American people that we apply the law equally,” said Moskowitz. “If you hold them in contempt, I’ll vote for the Hunter Biden contempt.” (At the end, no Democrats voted to forward the contempt resolution to the full House.)
Thursday, Hunter Biden was in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles, pleading not guilty to tax charges. The case against him, which came after a plea deal fell apart, is serious, but he’s already made the government whole, repaying the taxes he owed, plus penalties and interest.
As for the MAGA-led committees hoping to use the son to impugn the father? They can sift through as much Biden, uh, dirt as they want, but they are never going to find a pony in there.
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A Wyoming city councilman is facing backlash after posting a comment suggesting the state should “hang bad judges” in response to a court ruling on abortion, later insisting the remark was “not a threat.”
State Rep. Mike Yin, a Democrat, shared a post from Wyoming Public Radio & Media on Facebook regarding a Natrona County judge temporarily blocking the state’s six-week abortion ban, allowing abortions to resume while the law faces ongoing legal challenges.
“The legislature should obey the Constitution and the freedom to make your own healthcare choices. Instead we keep making it harder to keep doctors in Wyoming and kids in this state,” Yin wrote in the post. “The only way that changes is at the ballot box.”
Troy Bray, a city councilman in Powell, Wyoming, commented on the post about a judge blocking the state’s so-called “heartbeat” abortion law.
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“In order for Wyoming to find justice, we will have to hang bad judges,” Bray wrote.
The comment quickly drew criticism from other users, some of whom described the remark as dangerous and inappropriate given the role of elected officials.
Bray later addressed the backlash in a lengthy Facebook post, saying his comment was “a statement of my beliefs, NOT a threat,” and not intended as a call for others to act.
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Wyoming Republican Gov. Mark Gordon signed the fetal heartbeat abortion restriction in March, but he acknowledged the likelihood of legal challenges to come from it. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)
“That is a statement of my beliefs, NOT a threat, as some have characterized it, nor is it a call for others to act,” Bray wrote.
Bray added that he is working to address what he sees as systemic issues “by any means necessary,” a phrase that has drawn additional scrutiny, though he said he intends to pursue peaceful solutions.
“I will exhaust every peaceful means I can find,” he wrote.
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Anti-abortion rights demonstrators march to the Supreme Court for the 52nd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 2025. (Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
He also argued that Wyoming’s judicial system is “broken” and accused judges of overstepping their authority, writing that courts are often the “last place you will ever find justice.”
Bray expanded on that point in his follow-up post, arguing the legal system is often inaccessible to ordinary people.
“Lawyers file frivolous lawsuits intended to use the system as a punishment, financially draining their adversaries with a process that is formatted to require a specialist lawyer just to participate,” he wrote. “Show up without a lawyer, and you aren’t even allowed to present an argument. Justice is denied to anybody who doesn’t pay for it.”
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He also pointed to historical and international examples of public unrest, arguing that people will “fight” for justice when they believe it is being denied.
The comment came as legal battles over Wyoming’s abortion laws continue to play out in court.
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Bray, who serves on the Powell City Council, is one of several local officials who have weighed in publicly on the issue, which has drawn strong reactions from both supporters and opponents of abortion restrictions.
Fox News Digital reached out to Bray for additional comment but did not immediately receive a response.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has enlisted new allies in his legal battle to unravel Nexstar Media Group’s takeover of rival television station group Tegna Inc.
Late Thursday, Bonta announced that five additional states have joined his coalition that is suing to block the $6.2-billion merger. With the additional plaintiffs, the group of top state law enforcement officers has grown to 13 — and the campaign now is a bipartisan effort.
“Antitrust enforcement is not political — it’s about protecting working families and helping ensure the benefits of a vibrant economy are for everyone, not just well-connected corporations,” Bonta said in a statement. “We welcome our sister states into the fray and look forward to fighting alongside them.”
The new states are Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont. They have joined existing the plaintiffs that represent the people of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.
Nexstar owns KTLA-TV Channel 5 in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley two weeks ago granted a request by the attorneys general to issue a preliminary injunction halting the merger as the legal case proceeds. The proposed merger — which Nexstar rushed to complete despite opposition from the states — would create the nation’s largest broadcast station group with 265 television stations, up from 164 that Nexstar currently controls.
In dozens of markets, including San Diego and Sacramento, Nexstar would own multiple major TV network affiliates. That duplication has raised concerns about staff consolidations and widespread newsroom layoffs.
“State attorneys general nationwide understand just how important robust antitrust enforcement is to American life — and what a rotten deal this is for consumers, for workers, for affordability, and for our local news,” Bonta said.
El Segundo-based DirecTV separately filed a lawsuit to block the deal, saying the Nexstar-Tegna consolidation would harm their business by forcing DirecTV to pay significantly higher fees for the rights to carry their stations as part of its programming lineup.
A Nexstar representative was not immediately available for comment.
Nexstar contends the deal would strengthen TV station economics, allowing stations to bolster their news gathering and expand the number of newscasts. But DirecTV countered that in markets where Nexstar owns two stations, it relies on just one newsroom to program both channels.
Nexstar’s proposed purchase of Tegna would give the Irving, Texas-based Nexstar stations in 44 states covering 80% of the U.S. population.
The federal judge ruled there was sufficient merit in the antitrust arguments brought by Bonta and the others to pause Nexstar’s takeover of Tegna until a trial can be held to decide whether the merger is illegal.
“Nexstar must permit Tegna to continue operating as a separate and distinct, independently managed business unit from Nexstar,” Nunley wrote in his 52-page order on April 17. “And Nexstar must put measures in place to maintain Tegna as an ongoing, economically viable, and active competitor.”
The Justice Department on Thursday accused the Biden administration of pushing policies that were unfair to Christians, releasing a report that amounted to the latest rhetorical broadside by the Trump administration over what it calls the “weaponization” of government.
The 197-page document, released by a task force led by the department, sought to portray what President Trump’s advisers contend was anti-Christian bias among those who worked for President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is Roman Catholic. The report, which refers to decision-making at more than a dozen agencies, comes weeks after Mr. Trump publicly attacked the pope.
“The Biden administration’s policies regularly clashed with a Christian worldview and burdened traditional religious practices,” the report said. “These conflicts frequently arose over abortion, gender ideology, and sexual orientation.”
The document is the Justice Department’s latest effort to argue that it is removing purported political bias from the work of prosecutors. But critics say that the department under Mr. Trump has abandoned its tradition of operating independently from the White House, including by pursuing the president’s rivals, like James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, who was indicted this week for posting a photograph last year of seashells on a beach arranged to say “86 47.” The administration argues that the image was a coded threat to kill the president.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department issued a report accusing Biden-era prosecutors of unfairly pursuing anti-abortion activists through the use of a law that makes it a crime to obstruct or intimidate a person seeking abortion services or participating in a religious service at a house of worship. The Trump administration, in turn, has charged dozens of protesters, as well as the former CNN anchor Don Lemon, with violating the same law during a demonstration inside a church in St. Paul, Minn.
In a statement accompanying the release of Thursday’s report, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, vowed that the department would “continue to expose bad actors who targeted Christians, and work tirelessly to restore religious liberty for all Americans of faith.”
The report sharply criticized a leaked internal memo from 2023 by the F.B.I.’s field office in Richmond, Va., that said far-right extremists could be attracted to Catholic churches or groups.
For decades, the F.B.I. has worked to develop sources at churches, universities and mosques, but the Richmond memo quickly became a talking point on the right. Republicans argued that it showed the bureau was targeting Catholics.
F.B.I. officials quickly withdrew the memo after it was leaked, and an internal investigation found no evidence of “malicious intent.” But the new report argues otherwise. The memo, the report asserts, stemmed from a “misplaced reliance on baseless allegations from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the religious affiliation of a single law enforcement target who happened to identify himself as a ‘radical traditional Catholic.’”
Earlier this month, the Justice Department charged the S.P.L.C. with fraud, accusing the group of paying informants inside hate groups not to fight racism and extremism, but to promote them. The group has denied the charges and called it a politically motivated prosecution.
The new report also criticized a memo issued in 2021 by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in response to concerns raised by the National School Boards Association about purported threats to local education officials, as parents and teachers grappled with restrictions enacted during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr. Garland’s memo ordered the creation of a task force of Justice Department prosecutors and F.B.I. investigators to use their “authority and resources to discourage these threats.”
That directive, however, raised significant internal concerns at the F.B.I. and Justice Department. One senior prosecutor warned that “the vast, vast majority of the behavior cited” by the National School Boards Association did not violate federal law.
“Almost all of the language being used is protected by the First Amendment,” the Justice Department lawyer warned shortly before the Garland memo was issued.
While the Trump administration report cites the Garland memo as an example of anti-Christian bias, the document leaves unclear how school board fights over masks, remote learning and safety in public schools constitute a religious issue.
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