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Video: Hunter Biden Makes Surprise Appearance on Capitol Hill
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transcript
transcript
Hunter Biden Makes Surprise Appearance on Capitol Hill
Before two House committees voted along party lines to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, he made an unannounced visit on Capitol Hill, prompting a partisan tussle.
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“Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with the committee’s subpoenas is a criminal act. We will not provide Hunter Biden with special treatment because of his last name.” “Second question: You are the epitome of white privilege coming into the Oversight Committee. Spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed. What are you afraid of? I think that Hunter Biden should be arrested right here, right now, and go straight to jail.” “If the committee wants to hear from the witness and the chairman gave the witness that option, then the only folks that are afraid to hear from the witness with the American people watching are my friends on the other side of the aisle. I don’t know if there’s a proper motion, Mr. Chairman, but I’ll make a motion. Let’s vote. Let’s take a vote. Who wants to hear from Hunter right now, today? Anyone? Come on. Who wants to hear from Hunter? No one.” “Whoa [laughing]. Oh — I think it’s clear and obvious for everyone watching this hearing today, that Hunter Biden is terrified of strong conservative Republican women because he can’t even face my words as I was about to speak to him. What a coward.”
Recent episodes in U.S. & Politics
President Biden on Monday vetoed a bill that would have added 66 federal district judgeships over a span of more than a decade, a once-bipartisan effort designed so that neither political party would have an advantage in molding the federal judiciary.
Three presidential administrations, beginning with the incoming Trump administration, and six Congresses would have had the opportunity to appoint the new trial court judgeships, according to the legislation, which had support from organizations representing judges and attorneys.
Despite arguments from the organizations that additional judgeships would help with cases that have seen serious delays in resolution and ease concerns over access to justice, the White House said that Biden would veto the bill.
In a statement, Biden said he made his decision because the “hurried action” by the House of Representatives left open questions about “life-tenured” positions.
BIDEN’S DECISION TO COMMUTE SENTENCES FOR DEATH ROW INMATES SPARKS SOCIAL MEDIA FRENZY
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 10, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)
“The House of Representative’s hurried action fails to resolve key questions in the legislation, especially regarding how the new judgeships are allocated, and neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate explored fully how the work of senior status judges and magistrate judges affects the need for new judgeships,” Biden said.
“The efficient and effective administration of justice requires that these questions about need and allocation be further studied and answered before we create permanent judgeships for life-tenured judges,” Biden added.
The White House announced Monday that Biden vetoed a bill that would have added 66 federal district judgeships over a span of more than a decade. (Pete Marovich/Getty Images, File)
He said the bill would also have created new judgeships in states where senators have not filled existing judicial vacancies and that those efforts “suggest that concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now.
GOP CONGRESSMAN CHARGES BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S FOREIGN POLICY ‘LEFT THE WORLD IN A WORSE OFF PLACE’
When Biden’s plan to veto the legislation surfaced earlier this month, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told “America’s Newsroom” that the act is “the last spasm of a lame-duck.”
“President Biden and his team don’t want to allow it to become law simply because a Republican administration would get to appoint some of the judges,” Kennedy said.
“I wish they’d put the country first,” the senator added.
The legislation was passed unanimously in August under the Democratic-controlled Senate, though the Republican-led House brought the measure to the floor only after Donald Trump was reelected president in November, creating an air of political gamesmanship.
Biden’s veto essentially shelves the legislation for the current Congress.
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Overturning Biden’s veto would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, and the House vote fell well short of that margin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Politics
Opinion: Romney's Senate exit marks an end to the bipartisanship Washington desperately needs
Mitt Romney delivered his farewell speech before the U.S. Senate in early December. It isn’t hyperbole to say it marked the end of an era.
Romney’s time in public service, which has spanned well over two decades, will be considered historic — he is the only American to serve as governor of one state and senator for another, as well as presidential nominee for a major political party. But perhaps more important, Romney’s departure, along with others recently, represents the end of a period in which bipartisanship and dealmaking have been valued, or even aspired to, in Washington.
What we are left with is a Senate — and politics in general — that is too much like the House of Representatives: fundamentally partisan and majoritarian, less interested in cutting deals or passing major legislation, and far more inclined toward showmanship than workmanship.
Consider other departures from the Senate, including Democrats-turned-independents Joe Manchin III and Kyrsten Sinema, who conclude their service this year. And in the GOP, Rob Portman of Ohio, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Roy Blunt of Missouri, who left the chamber when their terms were up in 2023. The Republicans were firm in their conservative principles but welcomed opportunities to work with legislators from the other side of the aisle. Numerous examples can be found of similar recent departures from the House of Representatives as well.
Romney’s speech, typically gracious, acknowledged that his significant successes were built on partnerships with others, and that his “life’s work has been a group affair.” In the Senate, he has been a linchpin for bipartisan legislation on issues as eclectic as electoral reform, pandemic-era economic relief, marriage rights and infrastructure development. As governor of Massachusetts, he had a record of fiscal conservatism and reform. And as a presidential candidate, he sounded early warnings about the dangers of Vladimir Putin and a resurgent Russia and presaged the increasingly tense relationship between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China.
But of all his many accomplishments, it’s clear there is none he is prouder of than his effort to bring affordable health insurance to every resident of Massachusetts. Indeed, elements of “Romneycare” made their way into Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, and the Massachusetts law was the first major stroke of bipartisanship in Romney’s career in public service. It attracted the overwhelming support of state legislators from both parties, with the late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy — whom Romney ran against (and lost to) for U.S. Senate in 1994 — standing beside him when he signed the state health reform legislation into law in April 2006.
The irony is that Romney’s bold healthcare bipartisan dealmaking may have signaled the beginning of the end of the era in which working together advanced one’s political career. The tea party movement burst onto the political scene in 2009 and foretold a time just a few years later, when Romney’s signature gubernatorial achievement would turn into an albatross in his presidential campaign, as Washington battled over Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act had seeming structural similarities with Romney’s reforms, most notably the inclusion of an individual mandate for health insurance. (The provision was so broadly unpopular that Congress and then-President Trump effectively eliminated the requirement from Obamacare in 2017.)
I served as Romney’s policy director in that 2012 campaign, and we were constantly working to emphasize the benefits of the Massachusetts healthcare reforms without at the same time appearing to extol the ACA. No matter that Romney’s was a state plan and, as he argued, state policies might not be well-suited for the federal government. Rather than a badge of honor, Romney’s ultimate act of bipartisanship was seen by some Republican primary voters as a scarlet letter.
In the years since that 2012 campaign, we have witnessed the breaking apart of the political middle. The rhetoric around the 2024 election demonstrated that common ground among Americans is shrinking by the minute. And voices on both the far left and right have gained in notoriety and influence.
To close his farewell speech, Romney warned of the challenge created by those “who would tear at our unity.” It is a real challenge indeed, and one that we are sadly less able to confront with Romney and others like him gone from the Senate and public service.
Lanhee J. Chen, a contributing writer to Opinion, is a fellow at the Hoover Institution and the director of domestic policy studies in the public policy program at Stanford University. He was a candidate for California state controller in 2022.
A look at the people who influence the world’s richest man, and those who stand to gain from their association with him now.
Elon Musk occupies a rare place at the center of American power.
As the “first buddy,” he has won the ear of President-elect Donald J. Trump, having spent over $250 million in the final months of 2024 to help him get elected. Mr. Musk has appeared in family photos at Mar-a-Lago and joined Mr. Trump on calls with world leaders and chief executives.
Mr. Musk has never had more influence over business, global politics and the American democratic system. He helped kill bipartisan legislation in Congress to avoid a government shutdown, though a bill was later passed.
Where does he go from here?
These are the people who influence Mr. Musk right now, and those whom he influences in turn. They are longtime friends, investors, staff members or party buddies — and sometimes, those boundaries blur.
They shape how Mr. Musk operates and views the world. Many have propped him up, in the good times and the bad, and some now stand to gain from his new position in U.S. politics.
These people have fueled Mr. Musk and his businesses. Over the years, they’ve invested millions of dollars in SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, the Boring Company, X and xAI. Some have gained board seats or become close friends with Mr. Musk for their loyalty.
Steve Jurvetson
Mr. Jurvetson is a longtime Silicon Valley venture capitalist and was an early investor in Mr. Musk’s SpaceX, where he is a board member. He is also a superfan of Mr. Musk’s. On a podcast in 2020, he praised the billionaire for being “the greatest gift of the American dream living right now.”
Marc Andreessen
The venture capitalist is one of Mr. Musk’s big financial supporters in Silicon Valley: His firm, Andreessen Horowitz, has backed SpaceX, X and xAI.
Shaun Maguire
A partner at Sequoia Capital, Mr. Maguire led the firm’s deals into Mr. Musk’s SpaceX, X, xAI and Boring Company, a tunneling venture. He has played a big role in Mr. Musk’s work during the presidential transition.
John Hering
Mr. Hering, a venture capitalist, invests in Mr. Musk’s companies and has become a trusted adviser. Recently, Mr. Hering has spent time in Palm Beach, Fla., helping with the presidential transition.
Peter Thiel
Mr. Thiel and Mr. Musk are members of the so-called PayPal Mafia, a group of founders and early employees of the payments company. While Mr. Thiel helped oust Mr. Musk from the company decades ago, he has recently become a political ally and supporter. Vice President-elect JD Vance once worked for Mr. Thiel’s venture capital firm, and Mr. Thiel was the one who introduced the running mates.
Roelof Botha
A fellow South African, Mr. Botha was a member of the PayPal Mafia. Now, as the managing partner of Sequoia Capital, he oversees the venture firm’s various investments into Mr. Musk’s companies, including X and xAI.
Larry Ellison
Mr. Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, is a self-described good friend of Mr. Musk’s and has taken part in some Trump transition meetings. When Mr. Musk bought Twitter in 2022, Mr. Ellison committed $1 billion to the deal.
Mr. Musk’s friends come from different areas of his life. Some started as colleagues or investors, but later developed personal relationships with the billionaire — to the point where they’ve attended Burning Man or vacationed together.
Mr. Musk has also grown close with a number of figures in the tech scene around Austin, where he has been relocating some of his companies’ operations to, away from the San Francisco area.
Antonio Gracias
Mr. Gracias is one of Mr. Musk’s oldest friends; he was an early investor in SpaceX, Tesla and other companies, and he helped fund a pro-Trump super PAC started by Mr. Musk.
Ken Howery
A co-founder of PayPal, Mr. Howery is very involved in Republican politics. He and Mr. Musk are part of the same social circles in Austin.
Michael Kives
Mr. Musk has sometimes stayed with Mr. Kives, a Hollywood agent and Democratic financier, when he is in Los Angeles.
Luke Nosek
A close friend in Texas now and active in conservative politics, Mr. Nosek is one of the several entrepreneurs who helped start PayPal.
David Sacks
A PayPal Mafia associate, Mr. Sacks is a longtime friend who has grown closer to Mr. Musk after the acquisition of Twitter and his rightward political shift. Mr. Sacks has been picked to a tech position in Mr. Trump’s White House.
Sriram Krishnan
A former venture capitalist at Andreessen Horowitz, Mr. Krishnan was part of the crew that took over Twitter after Mr. Musk bought it. President-elect Trump recently tapped him to work with Mr. Sacks on artificial intelligence initiatives.
Joe Lonsdale
A co-founder of the software company Palantir, which has numerous Defense Department contracts, Mr. Lonsdale provided guidance to Mr. Musk’s pro-Trump super PAC and has helped advise the world’s richest man on the presidential transition.
Rupert Murdoch
Mr. Musk dined at Mr. Murdoch’s apartment just before Election Day. The media mogul has remained close with Mr. Musk even as his flagship newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, has reported critically on him.
James Murdoch
A current Tesla board member, as well as a SpaceX investor and a son of Rupert Murdoch’s, James Murdoch and Mr. Musk are friends who have vacationed together.
Joe Gebbia
A former Airbnb executive, Mr. Gebbia sits on Tesla’s board and is also part of the crowd that Mr. Musk hangs out with in Austin.
Jason Calacanis
A start-up investor and podcaster, Mr. Calacanis has been a longtime supporter of Mr. Musk’s from the early days at Tesla. He has attended Burning Man with Mr. Musk and most recently advised the billionaire during the takeover of Twitter.
Michael Dell
The billionaires have become closer as Mr. Musk has made Austin his home base. Mr. Dell has voiced his support of the government efficiency department and is developing computing infrastructure to help power Mr. Musk’s xAI.
Ari Emanuel
The Hollywood media mogul has grown close to Mr. Musk, who once sat on the board of his company, Endeavor. The SpaceX chief has vacationed with Mr. Emanuel and attended his wedding. Endeavor has also invested in X.
Robin Ren
Mr. Ren attended the University of Pennsylvania with Mr. Musk, who considered him to be better at physics during that time. Mr. Ren went on to work at Tesla as a vice president of business development and, for a time, led the company’s expansion into China. He also invested in Mr. Musk’s Twitter takeover.
Joe Rogan
The popular podcaster has hung out with Mr. Musk in Austin. Mr. Musk has appeared on his show five times in the last six years.
Mr. Musk has a large, complicated family. He has fathered at least 12 children with three different partners. He sometimes mixes business with family matters. His brother has sat on the boards of his companies, while his mother and young son have sat in on meetings for his companies and for his newly formed Department of Government Efficiency.
Kimbal Musk
Kimbal, Mr. Musk’s brother, has been a close confidant for years. He runs a restaurant business in Denver, but has long been involved in Elon’s companies: He was an early SpaceX and Tesla board member, in addition to advising on smaller endeavors.
James Musk
Mr. Musk’s younger cousin James now works as a trust engineer at X, after following Mr. Musk from company to company.
Errol Musk
Mr. Musk told a biographer that he and his father, Errol, are sometimes estranged, but Errol has said the two are in frequent contact. He has visited his son in Texas.
Tosca Musk
Mr. Musk’s sister, Tosca, is the head of a production company that focuses on adapting romance novels and erotic fan fiction. She has been a big Democratic donor, and helped host a fund-raiser for Stacey Abrams, the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia.
Grimes
The pop singer, born Claire Boucher, is the mother of three of Mr. Musk’s children and has been engaged in custody battles wtih him.
X Æ A-12 Musk
Mr. Musk’s eldest son with Grimes, the four-year-old X, as he is commonly known, has been a frequent presence with his father at his companies’ various offices and at Mar-a-Lago.
Justine Wilson Musk
Mr. Musk’s first wife and the mother of five of his eldest children, she helps parent some of those children with him. (Though one of the children, Vivian, has cut off ties with her father.)
Talulah Riley
Ms. Riley, an actress, is Mr. Musk’s second wife, having married and divorced him twice. They remain in contact.
Shivon Zilis
A former venture capitalist and current executive at Neuralink, Ms. Zilis is the mother of at least three children with Mr. Musk. She has been spotted at Mar-a-Lago after the election.
Maye Musk
Mr. Musk’s mother, a model and dietitian, frequently attends social and political events with her son.
With Mr. Musk leading six different companies, he’s kept a small circle of trusted advisers and deputies across those organizations to maintain operations. Some of these men and women have worked with Mr. Musk for more than a decade and joined Tesla or SpaceX in the early days, when neither company was a guaranteed success. Some of these lieutenants move from job to job with Mr. Musk as he deploys them on the latest issue he’s deemed important.
Alex Spiro
Mr. Spiro, an attorney with high-profile clients, notably defended Mr. Musk in a defamation lawsuit after the billionaire called a British cave explorer a “pedo guy” on Twitter in 2018. Recently, Mr. Spiro has become Mr. Musk’s attack dog against government regulators.
Chris Young
Mr. Young, a top Republican field operative, was hired to be Mr. Musk’s political adviser earlier this year. They did not know each other before the election, but Mr. Young has led Mr. Musk’s tactical work in Republican politics.
Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy
Mr. O’Shaughnessy, a retired Air Force general known as “Shags,” is one of Mr. Musk’s top lieutenants at SpaceX. He was recently pushed as a candidate for a Defense Department job.
Mark Juncosa
As the vice president of vehicle engineering at SpaceX, Mr. Juncosa has worked his way up the ranks in his more than 13 years at the company. He is one of Mr. Musk’s most trusted engineers.
Omead Afshar
Mr. Afshar, one of Mr. Musk’s right-hand men, previously oversaw the construction of Tesla’s factory in Austin, and is now involved with the production of the Starship rocket at SpaceX.
Tim Hughes
As a senior government affairs executive at SpaceX, Mr. Hughes has become vital to Mr. Musk as the company has looked to spread its influence and its satellite internet service, Starlink, outside the United States. Mr. Musk has put forth Mr. Hughes as a potential hire for the Department of Defense.
Ira Ehrenpreis
A current Tesla board member, Mr. Ehrenpreis helped push through a controversial pay package at Tesla that helped make Mr. Musk the richest man in the world.
Jared Birchall
Mr. Birchall, a former wealth manager at Morgan Stanley, is the longtime head of Mr. Musk’s family office, as well as of the Musk Foundation. He has also been advising the presidential transition.
Jehn Balajadia
Though she has the title of “operations coordinator” at the Boring Company, Ms. Balajadia is effectively Mr. Musk’s secretary, helping him with day-to-day tasks and scheduling. She often follows him as he travels, and was ever-present during his acqusition of Twitter.
Linda Yaccarino
A former executive at NBCUniversal, Ms. Yaccarino is the chief executive of X — and often parrots his political views and talking points.
Robyn Denholm
As the chair of Tesla’s board, the Australian business executive has exerted little oversight over Mr. Musk, who had to step down from his role as chairman after his fight with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018.
Tom Zhu
A senior vice preisdent at Tesla who oversees much of the company’s operations in China, an increasingly important market for the electric automaker.
Franz von Holzhausen
The lead designer at Tesla, he has been known to appear onstage with Mr. Musk during launch events. He has worked at the company for nearly 16 years and is one of Tesla’s longest-serving employees.
Ross Nordeen
One of Musk’s most trusted engineers, he has moved from Tesla to X and now to xAI. He has worked closely with Mr. Musk’s cousin James.
Steve Davis
Few people on this list have earned Mr. Musk’s trust more than Mr. Davis, who is often called upon to help with special situations. Mr. Davis, who by day is an executive at the Boring Company, has effectively led Mr. Musk’s work on the presidential transition.
Gwynne Shotwell
The second most powerful person at SpaceX, she has overseen the day-to-day operations of the rocket company as it has grown to be a major contractor of NASA and the Defense Department.
Mr. Musk’s introduction into the MAGA world has been swift, after his public endorsement of Mr. Trump’s candidacy in July. Since the election, Mr. Musk has become almost inseparable from the president-elect, building fast friendships not only with Mr. Trump, but also with some of his closest advisers. These alliances will become even more important, as Mr. Musk has said he will push to slash federal spending with his government efficiency organization.
Alex Lorusso
A business partner of Benny Johnson’s, the conservative media personality, Mr. Lorusso was a paid consultant for Mr. Musk’s super PAC. Mr. Lorusso is one of the several-high profile conservative voices who was once barred on Twitter and later reinstated by Mr. Musk.
Tucker Carlson
Before leaving Fox News, Mr. Carlson interviewed Mr. Musk for one of his last shows. Since then, the pair have bonded. Mr. Carlson posts episodes of his new online show on X, and has become one of Mr. Musk’s biggest defenders in media.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Leading up to the election, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur turned Republican presidential candidate was frequently cited online by Mr. Musk. Now, the two will be the co-leaders of the government efficiency department in an attempt to slash $2 trillion from the federal budget.
Stephen Miller
Mr. Musk has backed some of Mr. Miller’s prior political work. And the Trump senior adviser, known for his vocal stances on immigration issues that Mr. Musk cares deeply about, has worked side-by-side with the billionaire during the transition.
Nelson Peltz
Mr. Peltz has described himself as the “matchmaker” between Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk. Mr. Peltz, an activist investor, hosted a dinner at his home in Palm Beach this February where Mr. Musk first voiced his desire to become involved with the election.
Donald Trump
Though they did not know each other well six months ago, the two have appeared insperable since the election. Mr. Trump tapped Mr. Musk to be the co-head of the new effort to downsize government, and publicly, they often seem to be mesmerized by each other.
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