Views
1 week ago

FEB. 2025. Blues Vol 41 No.2

  • Text
  • Blues
  • Hiring
  • Trump
  • Helfman
  • Policing
  • President trump
  • Homan
  • Border
  • Ice
  • Police news
  • Law enforcement
  • Largest police magazine
  • Michael barron
  • Rex evans
  • Tina jaeckle
  • The blues
  • Blues police magazone
  • Warstories
  • Aftermath
  • Plane crash
FEATURES/COVER 90 MR PHILANTHROPY, ALAN HELFMAN: RAISES OVER -MILLION FOR HOUSTON AREA OFFICERS 102 HELL ON EARTH: OUR OWN JESSICA JONES BARELY ESCAPES LA FIRES 112 TRUMP: GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA BEGINS DEPARTMENTS PUBLISHER’S THOUGHTS EDITOR REX EVANS THOUGHTS LETTERS. READERS SOUND OFF GUEST COMMENTARY - MICHAEL BARRON GUEST COMMENTARY - BRIAN MCVEY GUEST COMMENTARY - DAVE SMITH GUEST COMMENTARY - TRAVIS YATES OFFICER INVOLVED - DANIEL CARR NEWS AROUND THE US MIGRANT CRIME BREAKING NEWS AIRBORNE AVIATION-BELL HELICOPTERS POLICE PRODUCTS - PEPPERBALL CALENDAR OF EVENTS REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN HEROES WAR STORIES AFTERMATH HEALING OUR HEROES DARYL’S DELIBERATIONS BLUE MENTAL HEALTH DR. LIGHT BULB AWARD ADS BACK IN THE DAY PARTING SHOTS ISD PD JOB LISTINGS NOW HIRING BACK PAGE

AROUND THE

AROUND THE COUNTRYWASHINGTON, D.C.The CROOKS have left the building, but not beforeBiden pardoned the entire crime family.By Steven Nelson andDiana GlebovaWASHINGTON — President Bidenissued a pardon Monday for hisbrother James Biden, effectivelyburying the final details of a morethan five-year probe into the firstfamily’s influence-peddling to savethem from possible repercussionsunder the incoming Trump administration.Congressional Republicans subpoenaedJames Biden, 75, alongwith first son Hunter Biden, 54, in2023 to investigate their involvementin the family’s domestic andforeign business dealings — afterevidence emerged that both menrepeatedly involved Joe Biden intheir lucrative relationships.Republicans accused James oflying to Congress and requestedcriminal charges. They alsosuggested his dealings may haveamounted to unregistered foreignlobbying, another crime.“My family has been subjectedto unrelenting attacks and threats,motivated solely by a desire to hurtme — the worst kind of partisanpolitics. Unfortunately, I have noreason to believe these attacks willend,” the outgoing president said ina statement minutes before leavingoffice.“I believe in the rule of law, andI am optimistic that the strengthof our legal institutions will ultimatelyprevail over politics. Butbaseless and politically motivatedinvestigations wreak havoc on thelives, safety, and financial securityof targeted individuals and theirfamilies. Even when individualshave done nothing wrong and willultimately be exonerated, the merefact of being investigated or prosecutedcan irreparably damage theirreputations and finances.”Biden added: “That is why I amexercising my power under theConstitution to pardon James B.Biden, [his wife] Sara Jones Biden,[first sister] Valerie Biden Owens,[her husband] John T. Owens, and[first brother] Francis W. Biden. Theissuance of these pardons shouldnot be mistaken as an acknowledgmentthat they engaged in anywrongdoing, nor should acceptancebe misconstrued as an admission ofguilt for any offense.”It’s unclear why Biden pardonedsome of his relatives, though SaraBiden was involved with some ofher husband’s business relationships,and Biden’s brother Frankallegedly used his brother’s name inbusiness dealings. The time framecovered by the clemency grantsalso was not immediately clear.Biden previously issued an unprecedentedpardon on Dec. 1 spanning11 years of his son’s conduct— stretching back to 2014, when42 The BLUES - FEBRUARY ‘25

Hunter Biden joined the board ofUkrainian gas giant Burisma Holdings— heading off sentencing ongun and tax evasion convictions andpotential additional charges.James Biden, unlike his nephew,was not charged with committingany federal crimes, though his conductwas actively investigated byHouse Republicans and the press.The pardon of James Biden, whostruggled to manage his own financesdespite earning large sums,indicates the president likely fearedthe incoming Trump Justice Departmentwould further investigatehis family’s dealings, as James wasinvolved in many key initiatives thatincluded the president and Hunter.The first brother for decadesmonetized his proximity to power— dating to Joe Biden’s 36-yearSenate tenure — and House Republicansturned up records thathe sent 0,000 to Joe Biden in2017 and 2018 from funds linked toalleged influence peddling, whichJames said were personal loanrepayments.In one of the earliest knowninstances of his dealings thatgarnered scrutiny, James in 2006allegedly crowed, “Don’t worryabout investors, we’ve got peopleall around the world who want toinvest in Joe Biden” when he andHunter Biden were in the process oftaking over a New York City hedgefund.“We’ve got investors lined up in aline of 747s filled with cash,” Politicoreporter Ben Schreckinger wrotein a 2021 book.Joe Biden was the top Democraton the Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee at the time.Law firm SimmonsCooper — associatedwith wealthy asbestoslawyer Jeff Cooper — invested million in 2006 in that hedge fund.The same year, Congress consideredasbestos reform legislation,in which then-Sen. Biden (D-Del.)played a pivotal role in blockinga change that could have limitedfunding for payouts after lobbyingby Cooper’s firm.A Biden spokesman claimed in2008 that the money was unrelatedto the bill and that the investmentwas later returned.Cooper subsequently partneredwith the Biden family on businesspursuits in Mexico during theObama-Biden administration — andposed for a 2015 group photo withMexican guests and Joe Biden at theofficial vice president’s residenceand riding aboard Air Force Two foran official 2016 trip to Mexico.James Biden was wiretapped bythe FBI in 2007 — when his brotherwas still a senator — as part of abribery investigation of Mississippilawyer Dickie Scruggs, the WashingtonPost reported in 2023.James Biden, who was notcharged in the case, was in talkswith Scruggs and conspirator TimBalducci about setting up a law firmthat would have employed himself,his nephew Hunter Biden, andJames’ wife.Scruggs at one point flew JoeBiden to a fundraiser on his privateplane, the Washington Post reported.Then-Sen. Biden went from opposingfederal legislation to punishtobacco companies for lying aboutthe addictiveness of cigarettes toa supporter after Scruggs — thearchitect of a multi billion-dollarlitigation plan — paid James Biden’slobbying firm 0,000 in 1998, theWashington Post also reported.“I probably wouldn’t have hiredhim if he wasn’t the senator’s brother,”Scruggs told the paper.Another disbarred Mississippiattorney, Joey Langston, who wasconvicted in a different briberycase, told House impeachmentinquiry investigators that he loanedJames Biden 0,000 in 2016 and2017 during Joe Biden’s final term inoffice, but only got 0,000 back.The troubled attorney, who hadhosted fundraisers for Joe Biden,ProPublica reported, was unsuccessfullytrying to overturn a briberyconviction in court in 2016 —raising questions about whether hewas also seeking a federal pardonfrom Obama while Biden was hisNo. 2.James Biden was involved in anarmload of controversial foreignventures.Corporate bankruptcy documentssay James Biden received 0,000in loans in 2018 from rural hospitalprovider Americore, including aninitial 0,000 that January and alater 0,000 on March 1, 2018, bypledging to “obtain a large investmentfrom the Middle East basedon his political connections.”Politico reported that “one personon the receiving end of Jim Biden’shealth care pitch recalled a phonecall in which Jim Biden said he wassitting in a car next to his brotherJoe.”James Biden in 2018 apparentlymade a pitch to Qatar to invest million into a troubled rural hospitalprovider and directly mentionedthat he was the “brother” ofthen-former Vice President Biden in2018 in a presentation, according todocuments obtained by Politico.James told impeachment inquiryinvestigators that investor AmerRustom, whose corporate biographydescribes him as having “strong tieswith many of the Middle East andNorth African leaders and countryofficials,” referred him to anotherbusinessman, Michael Lewitt, for apotential million investment inAmericore, but that it didn’t materializein time to save the companyfinancially.The Securities and ExchangeCommission in 2023 charged Lewitt,a Florida resident, with stealing.7 million from investors of hisown fund.James Biden wrote his brother a0,000 check shortly after receivinghis final installment fromThe BLUES - FEBRUARY ‘25 43

The BLUES - Digital Issues 2020-2023

Blues Hiring Trump Helfman Policing President trump Homan Border Ice Police news Law enforcement Largest police magazine Michael barron Rex evans Tina jaeckle The blues Blues police magazone Warstories Aftermath Plane crash

Blog

© 2023 by YUMPU