Oh, Joe. Did you really think that no media outlet wasn’t going to take any kind of look at just how much Hunter has ridden your coattails all his working life?

Now, to be fair, Joe Biden was used to the fawning, worshipful press coverage that came with being Barack Obama’s vice-president. How the times have changed. Obama won’t even endorse ol’ Joe in the primary, and Hunter’s entire life of making his last name his credentials has actually made more than a few ripples. Apparently, Joe knew that Hunter’s lobbying gigs might cause him trouble… in 2008.

Before Joe Biden launched his second campaign for president in November 2006, he sought to find Hunter Biden a new line of work as he became “concerned with the impact that Hunter’s lobbying activities might have on his expected campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination,” according to court documents filed by Hunter Biden’s former business associate Anthony Lotito in New York in 2007 as part of a dispute between the two men.”

According to claims Lotito made as part of a lawsuit targeting the Bidens, Joe Biden tasked his brother, James, with finding his son a new job, and James Biden reached out to Lotito for help.”

That lawsuit, which was settled in 2008, was costly for the Bidens, but it – surprise! – received little press coverage at the time. Joe Biden, after all, ended up being the vice-presidential pick of the blessed Obama, patron saint of the media left, and there was no way that Hunter’s lobbying would be used against Obama. There were too many degrees of separation. This does prove, though, that Joe knew that Hunter’s lobbying was a problem for him. But Joe had allowed Hunter to coast by on his name all his life, and directly intervening had happened before.

On at least two occasions, Biden contacted federal departments to discuss issues related to Hunter’s firm’s lobbying clients, according to records reviewed by the Washington Examiner.”

Biden’s behind-the-scenes outreach illustrates how his Senate work overlapped with his son’s business interests. Biden has faced scrutiny for taking actions that were perceived to benefit his son’s work, including calling for the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor and backing policies that helped the Delaware-based credit card industry while Hunter was working for MBNA, which is headquartered in the state.”

So, in 2007 and 2008, Joe actually called up specific federal employees to talk about issues directly connected to Hunter’s lobbying? Why, I’m shocked, SHOCKED, at the swampy implications!

“It’s implausible Sen. Biden did not know his son’s firm was lobbying on this arcane issue,” said Tom Anderson, the director of NLPC’s Government Integrity Project.

“Sometimes appearances are exactly what they are,” he said. “This is a recurring problem we’ve seen on the Hill, where family members are enriched because of their relationship with a member.”

Yes, I am certain that this becomes an entrenched mentality for those who serve decades in Congress and manage to amass a little seniority and power. But one thing I am also convinced of: if Joe Biden had entered the 2016 race, Hillary Clinton would have had no qualms about picking Hunter up and beating Joe around the head and neck with him. Remember that Biden, when he announced that he would not run for president in 2016, cited his son Beau’s death? It seems that Beau’s illness and tragic death was used as a convenient excuse for Joe not to deal with Hunter’s Ukraine involvement.

Deputy Secretary of State George Kent told investigators that he grew so concerned about the appearance of a conflict of interest presented by Hunter Biden’s role on the board of a Ukrainian oil and gas company that he conveyed his misgivings to an aide to the then-vice president, the sources said.”

Kent said in his testimony that Biden’s aide told him that the vice president didn’t have the “bandwidth” to address Hunter Biden’s professional work because his other son, Beau, was battling cancer, according to the Washington Post, which first reported Kent’s claim.”

We have talked about the dynamics between the Biden sons previously, and when Beau died of a brain tumor, all those plans were upended. Joe’s sole focus in life turned to making sure Hunter was okay, and glossing over his sins and ethical failings. (Hmmm, wonder where he learned those ethics?) Hunter, for his part, is no help to himself or his father.

Joe Biden used the swamp to benefit his family, and got cover from the press. Now that the press has dared dip a toe into the swamp and all the kickbacks that come with being a swamp creature, Joe is stunned that he’s not being addressed with the deference that he got before. No wonder Hillary is contemplating jumping in to the primary. She’d eat Joe – and Hunter – for lunch.

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