#paid for by the cocaine tax!

[da-riya]

Now they're onto something!

[daywalkers-fic]

12. why the 1880s?

something about this decade really sings to me. I find in particular, nearing the end of the nineteenth century, so much was happening on around the world in terms of arts, politics, technology, colonization. world events and global news don’t personally reach the day-to-day lives of the everyday folk, but they are an important part in gauging what life, thought, and society was about—what things were important then and now?

basically for myself, reminding me of notable things that occured during the 1880s—some thematic, some of relevance to context and characters, and the rest just ?? interesting and/or wild?

cocaine is a hot new cure for everything and anything. perscribed, sold in foods and more. heroine introduced as a lesser-addictive substitute for morphine…

lots of developments in fields of psychology; many experiments and happenings; Freud starts his work 1886.

1880-1914 had +twenty million immigrants to the United States: Germany, Ireland, England, China had the most arrivals.

William Dorsey Swann, the first self-proclaimed drag queen, organizes a series of drag balls in Washington, D.C. 1880-1890s.

Jack the Ripper claims his “first” victim in 1888 White Chapel, London. big scare.

Sherlock Holmes first appears in Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study In Scarlet as part of the British magazine’s Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887.

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is published in 1886. Gothic fiction, drawing from emerging fields of science and psychology. & Treasure Island was published earlier in 1883 by him too!

Mark Twain drops The Prince and the Pauper (1881), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889).

Bel-Ami, Guy de Maupassant’s second novel is published in 1885. about a man who seduces and manipulates high society French women in the French colonies for power and wealth. MOVIE WAS ADAPTED IN 2012 STARTING ROBERT PATTINSON LOL

western European art movements very romantic and swirly and pretty: Monet, Debussy xoxo.

meanwhile, African American ragtime music becomes the “pop” music across the pond here.

North Dakota (1889), South Dakota (1889), Montana (1889), Washington (1889) become states.

train segregation laws flag beginning of Jim Crow; Civil Rights Movement of 1875 voided, making discrimination in private is not illegal, and prohibiting state intervention to personal or commercial segregation. l*nching continues throughout the south. slavery may be over on paper, but indentured labour is legal.

1882 infamous O.K Corral gunfight.

Gold Rush continues, all over the world—South Africa, to British Columbia, to California, to Argentina, to Russia-China borders.

centuries of American “Indian” wars continue.

American Dawes Act of 1887 granted American government authorization to regulate indigenous lands, including creating and assigning and enforcing reservations.

Sitting Bull’s 1883 speech of the atrocities experienced at the hands of white American settler colonists.

Canadian Pacific Railway 1881-1885. foreign labourers were hired to do a lot of heavy, dangerous, unwanted work. in America, more than 100,000km of tracks were laid by majority Chinese, Irish, Scandinavian workers.

America’s Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Canada’s Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 was officiated, enforcing law of a Head Tax to be paid for every Chinese person entering North America. over the course of the next couple of decades, the fee of $1,500 was doubled to $5,000 was increased 500% to $25,000 in today’s currency—per person. this had devastating and lasting impacts on generations and societies of Chinese living both overseas and already in North America. propaganda at this time created many racist myths that persist today: there are too many Asians, they are taking our jobs, (the men) are gross and effeminate and a threat to (white) women, they shady and scheming people. these were the first and only major federal legislation to explicitly suspend immigration for a specific nationality in American and Canadian history. (I study Asian Canadian history, I can go on about this all day)

Tong Wars (1883-1913) had Chinatown gangs and factions in violent street wars across America, San Fransisco to New York.

large, targeted, and repeated anti-Jewish rioting (pogorm) and antisemitism rampant throughout Imperial Russia, 1881-1882 had more than two hundred anti-Jewish events alone. Jews continue to be racialized and othered.

fuck ton of colonization happening in Africa and the Middle East, Southeast Asia. Berlin conference 1884-1885 literally chopped up Africa to distribute to European powers.

Irish nationalist efforts to push forth Home Rule bill of sovereignty is defeated in British Parliament. Irish are not “white”, they are “othered” in Europe and in Americas.

use of photographic film pioneered by George Eastman, who started manufacturing film. his first camera (Kodak) was ready for sale in 1888.

Thomas Edison gets lit in New York 1883 with first electrical power station. next several year sees major cities being lit up with street lamps and public lighting with the science and works of a Nikolas Tesla (1886-1893).

hell of a lot more inventions in the works and patents being claimed. Hertz and radiowaves, Bell for telephone services.

“Between the years of 1850–1900, women were placed in mental institutions for behaving in ways the male society did not agree with”

way too much history to cram, obviously. here are some keywords for further research oki

prison industry / spiritualism / opium epidemic / irregular and uneven “modernizations” in rural vs. urban areas / class and poverty gaps / morality scares, checks, comparisons, gaps / new businesses and gadgets, products, tech to help with anything / fascination of the (colonial) Other; side shows, “freak shows” and other human zoos

[shop-korea]

Live Chat - Jasmine - Why is

being attacked associated

with Boost Infinite as Partially

Blind - Example -

Lee County - Fort Myers

Front of my Opthalmologist

Eye Centers of Florida - est

10:28A - FAT - Hispanic Pig

was - 215 lbs - Raped - Kate

early morning - on - Heroine

Homeless - Divorced - Half

Pinay - Daughter - Pinoy Hubby

Divorced - Get Lost - More

Beautiful than Marilyn Monroe

Same Birthday - Being on yes

Heroine - Effective Rape as FL

watch - Illegal Screen Doors

Property Manager always

Trespassing with Hispanic

Lawyer - Hispanic Maintenance

Fooling around - Dead Tenant's

Restroom - All murdered asthma

Oldest - and - Original tenant

since over 20 years - Can't

lock screen door - Section 8

Hud - Illegal - No Landlord

Past - Karen - Prune - Bag

failed 2 give reasonable yes

Protection 4 Criminal Intrusion

Tanaka Films

Ning Ning - takes - Kate's

Place

Karina - Aespa - takes my place

10:28A - getting laundry - was

yelling from outside fat hispanic

'Little Mermaid' - Like Stork was

already there

Grieving Kate - and - Jonghyun

2nd Amendment

No fully auto machine gun

No knife 2 gut - Japan girl

who grabbed my baby boy

8th month - He sang as my

As my 5th baby

Public Park - American blond

ordered his taking 4 auctions

Asian Babies - Talent - Smart

8th month - was - hard

Pregnancy paid - Twins

or regular - Called me - fat pig

tub - Fat ugly train - Show your

breasts - ugly fat porky pig

Tokyo female police - Ugly pig

That night - Male Tokyo Police

2 - brought me 2 paid hospital

2 - held my twins - 9P - 9:10 P

Identical - felt was coming out

10 min - they came out

Boost Infinite - No exception

New Babies - Baby - Taken

Jasmine - Your baby stolen

from you - what has that to

do with - Billing Questions

Jasmine - Live Chat - Finger

Typing - South Korean Girls

Where safe - Stand like you

are removing dust of shoes

sandals - say for the evil

men and women of Boost

Infinite - Lousy Service but

Google Fi - Illegal and Worst

Both - shake your - Sandals

HDG - App - Daily - Shake

Foot Apparel them and the

United States - Age 246

Shake Feet about Haiti

American Blks - Hispanics

500 Billion Won - x - 500

Tax Paid - Daily

Never go 2 USA - same Won

Daily - Tax Paid

Janette Rivera - Apt 1

gave - Blow Job - 2 - Apt 2

Mental USC - David Iorio

No beatings happened

Forgive with a knife he

wanted me 2 stay - Clean

his toilet and apartment

Looked like Hunchback

Notre Dame - Dad former

NYPD - family wealth other

relatives - Hispamic male

police - looking 4 hole on

forehead wanted 2 arrest

me 4 not allowing more

beatings - not enjoying rape

Fort Myers - Roaches Rabbies

Humans - Illegal Courthouses

Lee County Courthouse

Marilyn Monroe St

Apt 1 & 2

Me partially blind

Partly Quadraplegic

She boxed L and R arm

Didn't feel anything

No Bruises - R arm

Courthouse - Prove beatings

b4 - Midnight - Internal Bleeding

Top L Shoulder edge - Beautiful

Light Blue circle - showed white

male worker - was chat she is a

Philippines - Mental - Psychiatrist

Hispanic Fat Doctor - Subscribed

Meds - You are on Heroine and

Cocaine from urine sample

Janette Rivera Fat Lesbian

Hispanic Pig - Kicked me &

boxed and kicked touched

breasts - Yelled while I was

Sony listening 2 Jonghyun

'Always be with you'

You want 2 hit me with

chair - Grabbed - Steel

chair what I used for

Thanksgiving Dinner

Hit my head several times

Faint and suck mouth live

Suck vaginal area for city

of Fort Myers - Rabbies 2

Not Jews and Rabbis

then grabbed left and

right ear area and hit

my face on cement

several times told deceased

now - Joe - asthma - former

Apt 3 - a knife - finished off

Kidney - Bladder - $9,000

each - kept slamming

[jc-lambert]

To Lady Officer, Grimes

Trina...

Do you want to rob a few liquor and reefer stores with me, and call it "Vigilantism"? I am low on funds, seem to be deresourced, and need to make some money. So, may I rent or barrow your pistol? May I also barrow your badge?

Would you want to watch me work perhaps drive me to in a test driven car? Know anyone who's been laid off work as a police officer who would want to party it up? Neither reefer or liquor are legal on the reservation or in Kansas. Technically speaking, neither are lotto tickets.

I mean, there are mortgages that need paid. I mean, there are cop babies that need to be fed.

Bezos is the italian-portuguese mafia and everyone has been had for all their credit who worked as a cop and shopped on Amazon.

He's truly my mothers pimp from the sex trafficking ring in the 1970s. He drove through Kansas and had a business confrence in Emporia among all the former exotic dancers and hookers. Our family & IBM is their primary credit.

Nate Schweithale, is still being an egotistical jackass prevert again, encouraging human trafficking, sex trafficking, sodomy and other felonious behavior of the homeless population. Why is Daniel Gilmore not yet dead and why are there gangs of sexual preditors and homosexual rapists "regulating" in the streets of Delano, again and still???

Do remember, I am still in possession of a 3H rod the size of a urethra. It's designed in ways that can be snuck into prison easily, and assembled into a small nuclear bomb with nothing more than mop water and a beer drunk's piss. True, it wouldnt be a good one with mopwater and beer drunk's piss. Such a device would only be good for say, oh I don't know: Hollywood or a school class full of pre-teens. However, I have access to all the chemicals I need and it still remains to be such a hazard, most of my peeps are radioactive and with cancer. Me? Im already dead/undead and my emails are an echo from the future into the past. I've truly hit time sideways by entering into that wonderful dimension where all Romans are to be called Demons, can be slave driven by my family name, and where cocaine and heroin truly get planted regularly in the river and where Texan/Mexican Militants canoe our river and weed out all the heroin and cocaine planted.

Im still kidnapped and held hostage out of state. I am still in Wichita.

I am still very rudely and very racistly being called "dude" by everyone in the area: which means I am more prone to calling small children "nigger" and "spic" and kicking them in the head.

I am still being subjected to the gargoyles of the city. (Lookalike Persons descended of the faces on the Mayor's Office Building, ye olde clocktower courthouse. Bruce Deterding was one of them. We've done our voodoo to make his human form disappear by catching the spirit in a glass jar, a picture was sent to Nate... but another gargoyle in human form has popped up, started squatting in the Delano District, sleeps outside year round and has started winning over the city)

I've found a green wig. I have a fishnet t-shirt.

I think it would be cute and funny to wear a badge that says "Grimes" while I do the nasty on the bodies of dead cunt clerks in clothes that I have worn for a year without taking off or taking a bath.

Do you want to visit each of the dispensaries and head shops in town...

Dressed like militant slut walkers (gender impersonation + military garb + leave the radio car keys stolen from the dope scene = everyone gets away with it)

and rob them with me?

I think I would rather put a bullet in a few Oregonians and Washingtonese: and sort of just kill them and walk away with whatever inventory.

Most of them, are from out of town.

Most of them, are identity theives from Oregon & Washington alluding authorities.

Most of them, are born in Canada.

Some of them, are using my social security number to pay taxes.

All of them, believe marijuana and cocaine to be legal.

All of them, forget that this is a Kiowa Reservation, not a human or mohawk squat.

All of them, have fake felony officers from their areas on speed dial, in case they have trouble with the local indigenous cops.

I would only need 5 thou myself. (that's me being greedy) We could hit each store, most of which are using perfectly counterfeit notes & buy giftcards for internet websites.

Each store would be expected to have about a thousand to four thousand in the store... Each store at any given time has about 30,000 dollars worth of reefer, nicotine vape, and cocaine in the back.

I would give you a 70% cut of the money...

I would keep a 90% cut of the dope, as I am sure officer Nate Schweithale would probably want his share of the cocaine, roids, and penis pills he's obviously been taking behind his wife's back. She's not been putting out. he's been watching porn and jerking off with his kid.

Since I would be killing people and most likely urinating and defecating on their dead bodies...

I would prefer we target stores that employ homosexuals as well as persons and non-persons from the states of Oregon and Washington.

Have you ever seen a transvestite with a beard crap on a dead body while wearing a green wig and military cammo in a fishnet tank with CC sized boobs, then board the greyhound looking presentable and respectable?

Want to?

[bllsbailey]

New Details About What Hunter Biden Spent Money on Instead of Taxes Revealed at Pre-Trial Hearing

During a pre-trial hearing in Hunter Biden’s federal tax evasion case Wednesday, defense attorney Mark Geragos revealed his team’s unsurprising strategy and prosecutors laid out some details of the evidence they plan to introduce during the trial, which is scheduled to begin September 5 in Los Angeles.

Attorneys for both sides argued their motions in limine, which are "motions that seek the exclusion of specific evidence or arguments from being presented during a trial."

RELATED: Filings in Federal Tax Case Claim Hunter Biden Was Paid by Romanian Oligarch to Get Investigation Killed

Judging by the motions filed and the arguments made Wednesday, it seems the defense strategy will be to argue that while in the throes of addiction Hunter had diminished mental capacity, and secondarily that his tax preparers and advisors had some type of enhanced responsibility to ensure that his deductions were all legit and shirked that responsibility.

Assistant US Attorney Leo Wise hit back at that strategy, saying:

“No matter how many drugs you take, you don’t suddenly forget that when you make $11 million you need to pay taxes.”

Geragos argued at length that he should be able to call an addiction expert who’ll supposedly provide testimony that Hunter’s cocaine addiction was caused by traumas such as the 1972 car crash that killed his mother and sister and his brother Beau’s death in 2015, but in the expert witness disclosure he failed to list any of the particular opinions this expert would give or the methodology used or how the expert arrived at that opinion.

The prosecution argued that without knowing these details there was no way they could prepare to cross-examine the witness or call their own rebuttal expert. On that motion Judge Mark Scarsi ruled for the prosecution, excluding that expert.

Scarsi also ruled that witnesses can testify to what they observed about the level of Hunter’s drug use over time, but not opine as to what they think caused it. Witnesses such as Hallie Biden could testify to Hunter's drug use, Wise said, and other family members the defense might call to the stand could also be asked about it. Inexplicably, Geragos then said:

“The difference between the government and the mafia is that the mafia spares women and children."

Geragos attempted to exclude any evidence or testimony about “tabloidy” details of what Hunter Biden spent money on instead of paying taxes, saying:

“What they are asking to do is … we’re gonna sit here, we’re gonna read from his autobiography, we’re gonna talk about his paying for prostitutes, we’re gonna talk about him being on drugs 24 hours a day. That’s what they plan on presenting in their case in chief.”

The legendary defense attorney claims that the prosecution strategy is to “slime” his client by going into detail about the money Hunter spent on prostitutes, drugs, Lamborghinis, pornographic websites, and luxury hotel suites for drug-fueled orgies and claimed as business expenses.

“It’s actually a form of character assassination by the prosecution in order to paint a lopsided, completely untethered from reality, picture of Mr. Biden.”

AUSA Leo Wise retorted:

“[Hunter] describes his life as a bacchanal. Partying in those hotels with a cast of strippers. He chose to pay those strippers. He chose to take it as a business deduction.”

And, Wise argued, it’s necessary for the government to provide details of what the money was spent in order to meet their burden of proof:

“We don’t need to gild the lily here. He goes to pick this woman up at the airport. He rents a Lamborghini. Then he deducts that as a business expense. The jury needs those details in order to determine whether there was a mistake.”

In other words, if the prosecution doesn’t provide full details of what the money was spent on, which would come into evidence through bank or other financial records, or witness testimony, Hunter could argue that the inclusion of that expense as a business expense was a simple mistake.

As one example, Wise mentioned the website StreamRay, which he said their investigation revealed "allowed consenting adults to meet, and it's of a sexual nature,” adding:

'You can spend $30,000 on a porn website if you want. That's not illegal, but you can't claim it's a business expense.”

The government also plans on calling numerous women who were paid by Hunter during the time in question, whether through sites such as Venmo or as “employees.” Wise read from a transcript of grand jury testimony from one potential witness:

“I got a $1,500 Venmo payment.”

“Where'd you meet him?"

"In a strip club." 

"The [payment description] is for artwork. Did you sell him artwork?"

"No."

Wise also revealed that Hunter paid a number of women as employees through his Owasco PC company so that he would have the required number of employees on payroll to qualify for a corporate health insurance plan since Hunter needed health insurance. A few of the women actually signed up for the plan, as well. The problem is, none of the women were actually working for Hunter.

Scarsi provided a stern warning for the defense team should they try to allude to evidence he’s already ruled would not be coming in, as a Hunter’s defense team in the Delaware gun case (a different group) did.

“The Court’s pretty strict about motions in limine; I’ve overturned jury verdicts because of violations of motions in limine,” Scarsi said. And given the high-profile nature of this particular case, the number of witnesses flying in to testify, the extra security expenses of this trial, Scarsi warned that if there are violations of his rulings on motions in limine that lead to a mistrial, “the Court will issue monetary sanctions against attorneys” who are in violation and that those sanctions would likely be in the six-figure range.

In addition, it was learned that entertainment attorney Kevin Morris was paying a number of Hunter Biden's expenses during the time Hunter was not paying taxes, including rent on his Malibu mansion, a Porsche payment, retainers for a crisis communications team, and a security detail.

While jury selection in the trial begins September 5, opening statements are scheduled for Monday, September 9. The attorneys estimated that it would take eight court days to present their evidence.

[dankusner]

HUNTER BIDEN Firearm trial date set

Lengthy court battle may haunt president’s reelection campaign

WILMINGTON, Del. — The judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s federal firearms charges trial agreed Friday to block prosecutors from telling jurors about some other unflattering episodes from his personal life, but left the door open to allowing them in if the president’s son testifies.

It’s unclear whether the president’s son would take the stand during the trial that could last up to two weeks during his father’s reelection campaign and likely include sharp disagreements over evidence.

President Joe Biden’s son is charged with lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days in Delaware.

A trial is set to begin June 3 and could last up to two weeks as his father’s reelection campaign unfolds.

Hunter Biden has acknowledged an addiction to crack cocaine during that period, but his lawyers have said he didn’t break the law and the case is politically motivated.

Prosecutors won a victory on a key point as U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika found that they wouldn’t have to prove that he specifically used drugs on the day of the purchase.

She agreed to a defense push to keep out other details about his past, including a child-support case in Arkansas and his dismissal from the Navy after a positive drug test.

She also agreed to consider defense questions about the contents of a laptop that he allegedly dropped off at a Delaware repair shop.

Hunter Biden’s attorneys want to raise questions about the authenticity of the laptop’s data at trial.

Prosecutors say that there’s no evidence it has been compromised and that a drawn-out fight would be a waste of time.

The laptop has been the source of controversy for years after Republicans accessed and disseminated personal data from it.

Hunter Biden is also facing federal tax charges in Los Angeles and is set for trial in that case in September.

He’s accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years while living an “extravagant lifestyle” during a period in which he has acknowledged struggling with addiction.

The back taxes have since been paid.

Hunter Biden gun trial starts June 3, might run for 2 weeks

WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden’s trial on federal firearms charges in Delaware could last up to two weeks and likely include sharp disagreements over evidence as it plays out during his father’s reelection campaign.

President Joe Biden’s son is charged with lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days in Delaware.

Hunter Biden has acknowledged an addiction to crack cocaine during that period, but his lawyers have said he didn’t break the law and the case is politically motivated.

He didn’t speak to reporters as he accompanied his lawyers to and from the Wilmington courthouse for a hearing on Friday.

Prosecutors won a victory on one key point as U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika found that they wouldn’t have to prove that he specifically used drugs on the day of the purchase.

She agreed to consider, however, defense questions about the contents of a laptop that he allegedly dropped off at a Delaware repair shop.

Biden’s attorneys want to raise questions about the authenticity of the laptop’s data at trial.

Prosecutors say that there’s no evidence it has been compromised and that a drawn-out fight would be a waste of time.

The laptop has been the source of controversy for years after Republicans accessed and disseminated personal data from it.

Noreika said she will consider objections to specific pieces of data as the trial unfolds.

Prosecutors also plan to show jurors portions of his 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things,” in which he detailed his struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse following the 2015 death of his older brother, Beau, of brain cancer at age 46.

Defense attorneys argued prosecutors were cherry- picking evidence, and the judge agreed to allow Biden’s attorneys to introduce wider selections.

His attorney Abbe Lowell also says there are indications that the gun-purchase form was changed by employees after the sale.

Prosecutors say there were only minor additions unrelated to the parts Biden filled out.

Noreika didn’t immediately rule on whether the defense could introduce an altered version of the form at trial, which is expected to begin with jury selection June 3.

She agreed to block prosecutors from introducing other unflattering episodes in his personal life, though she said those could come in if

Biden decides to testify.

“There’s a number of issues that may become more contentious should Mr. Biden testify,” Noreika said.

Hunter Biden is also facing federal tax charges in Los Angeles and is set for trial in that case in September.

His lawyers have pushed unsuccessfully in both cases to have them dismissed.

They have argued, among other things, that prosecutors bowed to political pressure to indict him after a plea agreement hit the skids in court and was publicly pilloried by Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, as a “sweetheart deal.”

Hunter Biden trial to focus on drug use

President’s son has been open about his struggles

WILMINGTON, Del. – The felony gun trial for Hunter Biden will be the first in U.S. history for the child of a sitting president.

The proceeding at a Wilmington courthouse is expected to explore the depths of Biden’s drug use through the context of a bizarre series of events in which he purchased a gun in Delaware that authorities recovered after it was thrown into a trash can in a Delaware grocery store weeks later.

Jury selection begins Monday, and the case is expected to last about two weeks.

In October 2018, Hunter Biden walked into the StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply gun shop and purchased a .38 Special revolver along with other items.

People who purchase firearms are required to provide identification and fill out a standardized form collected by federal authorities.

On that form, they are asked whether they are an unlawful user or are addicted to controlled substances, narcotics and other listed substances.

Biden is accused of answering 'no' to that question on the form.

Biden has been open about his longtime struggles with crack cocaine addiction.

He’s written about it in his book and discussed it during a court hearing last year, stating he’s been sober since 2019.

He was able to purchase the gun and kept it for less than a month before it was thrown by his lover into a trash receptacle outside the upscale Janssen’s Market grocery store in Greenville.

This prompted a Delaware State Police search for a man who found the gun while collecting recyclables outside the store and − several years later − drew federal prosecutors’ attention back to the form. 3 felony charges

The first two firearm felony charges relate specifically to the form he filled out to purchase the gun, accusing Biden of lying about this drug use on the form.

The third charge pertains to Biden’s possession of a firearm while he was allegedly an unlawful user or addicted to controlled substances.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, though Biden is likely to get a shorter sentence if convicted.

It is atypical for defendants to get a maximum sentence when they are first-time offenders like Biden.

For the first charge, prosecutors must generally convince the jury that:

Biden filled out the form and that he made a false statement, specifying he was not an unlawful user of or addicted to controlled substances.

That he knew that statement was false.

That the statement was meant to deceive the salesman on a fact material to the sale.

In other words, the sale would not have occurred had he answered otherwise.

The second charge is similar.

Prosecutors need to show that Biden knowingly made a false statement, but need not show the statement was material to the transaction.

For the third charge, prosecutors need to prove:

Biden was either an unlawful user of or addicted to controlled substances.

That he knowingly possessed the firearm.

That he knew he was an unlawful user of or addicted to controlled substances.

Definition of user, ‘addict’

To find Biden was an unlawful user of controlled substances or addicted to drugs, the jury must have a common definition of what those terms mean in order to apply the evidence to the question.

This has been a hotly litigated topic in pretrial motions and continues to be where defense attorneys are concentrating their litigation days ahead of trial.

Last week, Judge Maryellen Noreika granted the prosecutors’ motion barring defense attorneys from arguing or suggesting that they must show Biden used controlled substances the day of the firearm purchase in order to get a guilty verdict.

Prosecutors successfully argued that relevant definitions dictate they need to simply show that the 'unlawful use has occurred recently enough to indicate that the individual is actively engaged in such conduct.'

However, the debate on the issue continues as of Wednesday in litigation over what definitions will be presented to jurors.

On Wednesday, the defense submitted arguments seeking a more constrained definition of 'addict' and unlawful user than what prosecutors have sought in their proposed jury instructions.

Evidence, witnesses for prosecution

A primary piece of evidence will be Biden’s own words exploring his drug use in his 2021 memoir 'Beautiful Things.'

In it, he said he was in active addiction for four years leading to March 2019 and speaks about rehab and relapses, according to excerpts identified by prosecutors.

Prosecutors will also lean on his text messages: missives like, 'I was sleeping in a car smoking crack on 4th Street and Rodney.'

Additionally, they will call close family witnesses including what court documents indicate are his ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, as well as Hallie Biden, the widow of Biden’s brother and Hunter Biden’s former lover.

In court, prosecutors said these witnesses will testify to Biden’s conduct, as well as verify digital communications entered as evidence in the trial.

Prosecutors also intend to call witnesses from the gun shop to testify about the purchase of the revolver.

Defense strategies

Biden’s attorneys have hinted at a defense that emphasizes the requirement that prosecutors show that Biden knowingly lied about his status as an unlawful drug user when he filled out paperwork to purchase the gun.

Abbe Lowell, Biden’s primary defense attorney, has sought permission to introduce at trial expert testimony from a specialist who can testify regarding a person with addiction’s understanding of and state of denial about their own addiction.

Hunter Biden called his stepmom Jill Biden a "vindictive moron" and "entitled c---" in a series of text messages after she urged him to go to rehab to deal with his rampant drug addiction.

Hunter Biden, President Biden's scandal-ridden son, branded his stepmother Jill Biden a "vindictive moron" and "entitled c---" in text messages from 2018 that have recently come to light, according to a report by The Sun.

The 54-year-old troubled son of Joe Biden allegedly launched the venomous tirade against his stepmother after she encouraged him to seek help for his well-documented substance abuse problems.

In a particular exchange with his late brother Beau's widow, Hallie Biden, who was in a controversial romantic relationship with Hunter at the time, Hunter does not mince words about the now-incumbent First Lady.

He confessed to bulking out another insult-laden text to his uncle, James Biden, referring to Dr. Jill Biden as a "f---ing moron, a vindictive moron".

Further probing text exchanges with his uncle revealed Hunter bragging that he was intellectually superior to his stepmother.

"And you do know the drunkest I've ever been is still smarter than you could ever even comprehend and you're a shut grammar teacher that wouldn't survive one class in a Ivy graduate program," he wrote.

"So go f--- yourself Jill let's all agree I don't like you anymore than you like me."

In a successive text, Hunter griped to his uncle about the apparent absence of his father, then-vice president, during previous stints in rehab.

"Literally has never come to one never actually called me while in rehab," Hunter wrote of his father. "So that's a little insane."

The text messages were uncovered on an iPhone that was found backed up on Hunter's laptop from hell, The Sun reported.

It comes as the First Lady attended the federal gun trial of her step-son.

Jury chosen in Hunter Biden’s federal firearms case; opening statements set for Tuesday

WILMINGTON, Del. — A jury was seated Monday in the federal gun case against President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, after prospective jurors were questioned about their thoughts on gun rights and drug addiction while the first lady watched from the front row of the courtroom.

Opening statements were set to begin Tuesday after the panelists — six men and six women plus four women serving as alternates — were instructed by Judge Maryellen Noreika not to talk or read about the case.

Hunter Biden has been charged in Delaware with three felonies stemming from a 2018 firearm purchase when he was, according to his memoir, in the throes of a crack addiction.

He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.

The case is going to trial following the collapse of a plea deal that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty and has argued he’s being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department, after Republicans decried the now-defunct plea deal as special treatment for the Democratic president’s son.

The proceedings are unfolding just days after Donald Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, was convicted of 34 felonies in New York City.

A jury found the former president guilty of a scheme to cover up a hush money payment to a porn actor to fend off damage to his 2016 presidential campaign.

The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity underscores how the courts have taken center stage during the 2024 campaign.

Jury selection moved at a clip.

Roughly 65 prospective jurors were questioned, and 29 had been dismissed by late afternoon.

People who answered “yes” on a questionnaire were quizzed individually by Noreika to determine whether they could be fair and impartial.

Their names were not made public.

The questions tested their knowledge of the case, surveyed their thoughts about gun ownership and inquired whether they or anyone close to them have struggled with substance abuse or addiction.

Other questions focused on the role politics may have played in the charges.

One potential juror who was sent home said she didn’t know whether she could be impartial because of the opinion she had formed about Hunter Biden based on media reports.

“It’s not a good one,” she replied when an attorney asked her opinion.

Another was excused because he was aware of the case and said, “It seems like politics is playing a big role in who gets charged with what and when.”

One man was dismissed after telling the judge he had sold guns in the past and was familiar with the forms that need to be filled out.

Also dismissed was a woman who said her husband was a friend of Joe Biden’s late son, Beau, and that she thought Hunter was a good man.

Jurors who were chosen included a woman whose sister was convicted about 10 years ago of credit card fraud and drug charges in Delaware.

Another woman on the panel has a husband who is a gun owner and formerly in law enforcement.

A third juror, also a woman, gets her news from YouTube and said she was vaguely aware of the case.

Hunter Biden also faces a separate trial in California in September on charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes.

Both cases were to have been resolved through the deal with prosecutors last July, the culmination of a yearslong investigation into his business dealings.

But Noreika, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, questioned some unusual aspects of the deal, which included a proposed guilty plea to misdemeanor offenses to resolve the tax crimes and a diversion agreement on the gun charge, which meant as long as he stayed out of trouble for two years the case would be dismissed.

The lawyers could not come to a resolution, and the deal fell apart. Attorney General Merrick Garland then appointed the top investigator as a special counsel in August, and a month later Hunter Biden was indicted.

This trial isn’t about Hunter Biden’s foreign business affairs — which Republicans have seized on without evidence to try to paint the Biden family as corrupt.

But it will excavate some of Hunter Biden’s darkest moments and put them on display.

The president’s allies are worried about the toll the trial may take on the elder Biden, who’s long been concerned about his only living son and his sobriety and who must now watch as his son’s painful past mistakes are publicly scrutinized.

Allies are also worried the trial could become a distraction as the president tries to campaign under anemic poll numbers and as he is preparing for an upcoming presidential debate while the proceedings play out.

In a statement Monday, the president said he has “boundless love” for his son, “confidence in him and respect for his strength.”

“I am the President, but I am also a Dad,” he said, adding that would have no further comment on the case. “Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today.”

The president was nearby, in their Wilmington home, until he left for a campaign reception in Greenwich, Connecticut.

He is traveling to France on Tuesday and will be gone the rest of the week.

The first lady is scheduled to join him later.

Hunter Biden’s sister, Ashley Biden, was also in court, and his wife, Melissa.

When the court adjourned for lunch, Hunter Biden walked over to his mother and leaned over the railing that separates the audience from the trial participants to hug and kiss her on the cheek.

Monday was the first lady’s 73rd birthday.

A family friend, Ricky Smith, sat in the audience and embraced him warmly during a break.

“It ain’t right for him to be sitting there because he was a drug addict,” Smith said.

The case against Hunter Biden stems from a period when, by his own public admission, he was addicted to crack.

His descent into drugs and alcohol followed the 2015 death of his brother, Beau Biden, from cancer.

He bought and owned a gun for 11 days in October 2018 and indicated on the gun purchase form that he was not using drugs.

Defense attorneys have suggested they may argue that Hunter Biden didn’t see himself as an addict when prosecutors say he checked “no” to the question on the form.

They will also attack the credibility of the gun store owner.

If convicted, Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.

HUNTER BIDEN

Attorneys highlight addiction as trial opens

Prosecutors say president’s son knew he lied when buying gun

WILMINGTON, Del. — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday painted President Joe Biden’s son Hunter as deceptive and driven by addiction, a man whose dark habits ensnared loved ones and who knew what he was doing when he lied on federal forms to purchase a gun in 2018.

Jurors also got their first look at the document at the center of the case, and Hunter Biden’s attorney argued that his client did not zbelieve he was in the throes of addiction when he stated in the paperwork that he did not have a drug problem.

In the short time that he had the gun, he did nothing with it, and the weapon was never even loaded, attorney Abbe Lowell said in opening statements.

“You will see that he is not guilty,” Lowell said.

Hunter Biden has been charged with three felonies stemming from the purchase of the Colt revolver when he was, according to his memoir, addicted to crack.

He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.

The first day of testimony in the case dredged up painful memories for the president and his family and revealed new and highly personal details about some of their struggles with addiction as the 2024 election looms.

For part of the day, the first lady watched from the front row of the courtroom.

Toll on family

Attorneys said jurors would hear testimony from the president’s brother James Biden, who is close with Hunter and helped his nephew through rehab stints in the past.

They will also hear how Hallie Biden, the widow of the president’s late son, also became addicted to crack during a brief relationship with Hunter.

Hallie took the gun from Hunter and tossed it into the garbage at a nearby market, afraid of what he might do with it.

The weapon was later found by someone collecting cans and eventually turned over to police.

The president was in Washington on Tuesday, announcing an immigration order and hosting a picnic for congressional leaders before a scheduled departure for France later in the day.

He will be gone the rest of the week.

Jill Biden planned to meet him in Europe.

The president’s allies are worried about the toll the trial may take on the elder Biden, who’s long been protective and deeply concerned about his only living son and his sobriety and who must now watch as those past mistakes are publicly scrutinized.

Contents of laptop

Prosecutors on Tuesday spent hours on Hunter Biden’s drug problem, using his own words and missives to show the depth of the addiction and to suggest it was still ongoing when he bought the gun.

They showed jurors his old laptop computer, the same one he left at a Delaware repair shop and never retrieved.

In 2020, the contents made their way to Republicans and were publicly leaked, revealing highly personal messages about his work and his life.

He has since sued over the data breach.

An FBI agent read aloud messages from the laptop’s data to the jury that chronicled a desperate effort to buy drugs.

The data also included email receipts for a detox facility he attended before relapsing and showed that he withdrew large sums of cash.

In one exchange with Hallie, she wrote: “I called you 500 times in past 24 hours.” Hunter replied less than a minute later, informing her that he was “sleeping on a car smoking crack on 4th street and Rodney.”

“There’s my truth,” he added in a follow-up text.

But during cross examination, the FBI agent testified that the messages — plentiful when he was actively using — slowed during October, around the time when he purchased the gun.

Lowell also called into question the receipts for the rehab facility.

Since law enforcement does not have his medical records, they cannot tell whether he was detoxing from drugs or alcohol.

It’s not illegal to purchase a gun if the buyer is drinking.

Defunct plea deal

The jury also heard lengthy audio excerpts of his memoir, “Beautiful Things,” in which he narrates his return to Delaware around the time of the gun purchase and his descent into drugs following the death of his brother, Beau, in 2015 from cancer.

His sister Ashley Biden, watching from the courtroom, dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and eventually left.

Jill Biden, expected in Washington with her husband, left after lunch.

The proceedings come after the collapse of a deal with prosecutors that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election.

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty and has argued he’s being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department after Republicans decried the now-defunct plea deal as special treatment for the Democratic president’s son.

“No one is allowed to lie on a federal form like that, even Hunter Biden,” prosecutor Derek Hines said. “He crossed the line when he chose to buy a gun and lied about a federal background check … the defendant’s choice to buy a gun is why we are here.”

“When the defendant filled out that form, he knew he was a drug addict,” and prosecutors don’t have to prove he was using the day he purchased the firearm, Hines said.

Lowell said the form asks whether you “are” a drug user. “It does not say ‘have you ever been,’” and he suggested the president’s son did not think of himself as someone with a drug problem when he purchased the gun.

His state of mind should be considered at the time of the purchase, not “what he wrote in a book in 2021.”

Courts take center stage

If convicted, Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.

The trial is unfolding just days after Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was convicted of 34 felonies in New York City.

The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity underscores how the courts have taken center stage during the 2024 campaign.

On Tuesday, a former Trump aide and vocal Biden critic, Garrett Ziegler, attended court, prompting Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa, to approach him and say “You have no right to be here” and yelling an expletive.

Ziegler has been sued by Hunter Biden, who claimed he violated computer privacy laws by accessing and then manipulating the laptop data.

Charges in California

Hunter Biden also faces a trial in California in September on charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes.

Both cases were to have been resolved through the deal with prosecutors last July, the culmination of a yearslong investigation into his business dealings.

But Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, questioned some unusual aspects of the deal.

The lawyers could not come to a resolution on her questions, and the deal fell apart.

Attorney General Merrick Garland then appointed a former U.S. attorney for Delaware, David Weiss, as a special counsel in August, and a month later Hunter Biden was indicted.

Gun store clerk testifies about purchase at center of federal case against Hunter Biden 8–10 minutes

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden’s ex-wife and a former girlfriend testified Wednesday in his gun trial about finding his crack pipes and other drug paraphernalia, and jurors saw photos of the president’s son bare-chested in a bubble bath and heard about his visit to a strip club.

As the first lady sat in the front row, the courtroom grew quiet when Kathleen Buhle, who was married to Hunter for 20 years, walked in.

She testified that she discovered her husband was using drugs when she found a crack pipe in an ashtray on their porch on July 3, 2015, a day after their anniversary.

When she confronted him, “he acknowledged smoking crack,” she said.

The trial, about whether he lied on a gun purchase form in 2018 when he said he wasn’t using drugs, has quickly become a highly personal and detailed tour of the mistakes and drug use of Hunter Biden, whose struggles have been tabloid fodder for years and were used publicly by Republicans, including in their stalled impeachment effort against the president.

The proceedings are unfolding as the 2024 election looms, and allies worry about the toll it will take on President Joe Biden, who is deeply concerned about the health and sustained sobriety of his only living son.

Prosecutors argue the photos, testimony and other evidence are necessary to show Hunter Biden’s state of mind when he bought the gun.

Hunter Biden has been charged with three felonies stemming from the purchase in October 2018.

He’s accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.

Jurors have seen the gun and the form at the center of the case, and they have heard from the former clerk who sold the weapon.

The clerk, Gordon Cleveland, said he watched as Hunter Biden entered his name, address and other personal information on the form.

What to know about the trial

He said he was standing next to Hunter Biden when he began to answer a series of questions on the form with “yes or no” boxes to check.

Hunter checked a box saying he was purchasing the gun for himself.

Another question asked whether the buyer was “an unlawful user of or addicted to” marijuana, stimulants, narcotics or any other controlled substance.

“He wrote ‘no’,” Cleveland said.

He also testified that Hunter did not ask any questions or express any confusion about the question.

He paid $900 in cash, telling Cleveland to keep the change — about $13.

Prosecutors have hammered the idea that Hunter Biden was a habitual user, unable to stay clean for long.

Buhle testified that even before she found the drugs, she suspected he was using.

He had been kicked out of the Navy after testing positive for cocaine.

“I was definitely worried, scared,” she said.

They have three children and divorced in 2016 after his infidelity and drug abuse became too much, according to her memoir, “If We Break,” about the dissolution of their marriage.

Buhle, who was subpoenaed, was on the stand for a brief 20 minutes.

She remained composed but seemed upset as she recounted how she searched his car about a dozen times for drugs, whenever the children were driving it.

“Did you ever see Hunter using drugs?” defense attorney Abbe Lowell asked Buhle.

“No,” she replied.

Then prosecutor Leo Wise asked Buhle how she knew Hunter was using drugs.

“He told me,” she said.

Prosecutors also called Zoe Kestan, who testified under immunity about meeting Hunter Biden in December 2017 at a strip club in New York where she worked.

During a private session, he pulled out a pipe and began smoking what she assumed was crack.

“He was incredibly charming and charismatic and friendly, and I felt really safe around him,” she said. “I remember after he had smoked it, nothing had changed. He was the same charming person.”

Kestan detailed for jurors when she saw him use drugs, buy drugs, talk about drugs or possess drug paraphernalia.

Prosecutors asked her where he stored his drugs and pipes, and she testified he kept them in pouches and other places, such as a sunglasses cases.

On cross-examination, Kestan acknowledged that she had no contact with him in October 2018, the period when he bought the gun.

Jurors were shown dozens of pages of Hunter Biden’s memoir, “Beautiful Things,” written in 2021 after he got sober.

And they heard lengthy audio excerpts from the book, which traces his descent into addiction following the death of his brother, Beau Biden, in 2015 from cancer.

The memoir covers the period he bought the gun, though it doesn’t mention the weapon specifically.

Lowell has said Hunter Biden’s state of mind was different when he wrote the book than when he purchased the gun, when he didn’t believe he had an addiction.

And he’s suggested Hunter Biden might have felt he had a drinking problem at the time, not a drug problem.

Alcohol abuse doesn’t preclude a gun purchase.

The Delaware trial comes after the collapse of a plea deal with prosecutors that would have resolved the gun case and a separate California tax case.

He’s now facing a separate trial in September on charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes.

Hunter Biden has since pleaded not guilty and has said he’s being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department, after Republicans slammed the now-defunct plea agreement as a sweetheart deal for the Democratic president’s son.

In Congress, Republicans have for months pursued an impeachment inquiry seeking to tie President Biden to his son’s business dealings.

So far, GOP lawmakers have failed to uncover evidence directly implicating President Biden in any wrongdoing.

But on Wednesday, House Republicans accused Hunter and the president’s brother James Biden of making false statements to Congress as part of the inquiry.

At his criminal trial, Hunter Biden’s personal messages have been shown as evidence, including some that came from a laptop he left at a Delaware repair shop and never retrieved.

In 2020, the contents made their way to Republicans and were publicly leaked, revealing some highly personal messages about his work and his life — some that appeared in congressional hearings.

He has since sued over the leaked information.

Jurors are also expected to hear from James Biden, who is close with Hunter and helped his nephew through rehab stints in the past.

They will also get details on how Beau Biden’s widow, Hallie Biden, became addicted to crack during a brief relationship with Hunter after her husband’s death.

Hallie took the gun from Hunter and tossed it into the garbage at a nearby market, afraid of what he might do with it.

The weapon was later found by someone collecting cans and eventually turned over to police.

First lady Jill Biden went to court for the third consecutive day to support Hunter, ahead of her trip to France to meet President Joe Biden, who was in Europe to mark the anniversary of D-Day.

If convicted, Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.

The trial is unfolding shortly after Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was convicted of 34 felonies in New York City.

The two criminal cases are unrelated, but their proximity underscores how the courts have taken center stage during the 2024 campaign.

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL

Jury told of firearm’s disposal Brother’s widow says she ‘panicked,’ threw gun in trash

WILMINGTON, Del. — The widow of Hunter Biden’s brother told jurors in his federal gun trial Thursday about the moment she found the revolver in his truck, describing how she put it into a leather pouch, stuffed it into a shopping bag and tossed it in a trash can outside a market near her home.

“I panicked, and I wanted to get rid of them,” she testified about finding the gun and ammunition in the vehicle’s console in October 2018. “I didn’t want him to hurt himself, and I didn’t want my kids to find it and hurt themselves.”

The purchase of the Colt revolver by Hunter Biden — and Hallie Biden’s frenzied disposal of it — are the fulcrum of the case against him.

Federal prosecutors say the president’s son was in the throes of a heavy crack addiction when he bought the gun.

He’s been charged with three felonies: lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.

Hunter Biden, who has pleaded not guilty, has said the Justice Department is bending to political pressure from Republicans and that he’s being unfairly targeted.

Pardon ruled out

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC he would accept the jury’s verdict and ruled out a pardon for his son.

And the first lady left France, where she attended D-Day anniversary events with the president, to head back to Delaware.

She was expected to attend the trial again Friday before returning to France for a state dinner.

Hallie Biden, who had a brief romantic relationship with Hunter after Beau Biden died in 2015, testified that from the time Hunter returned to Delaware from a 2018 trip to California until she threw his gun away, she did not see him using drugs.

That time period included the day he bought the weapon.

Much of her testimony focused on Oct. 23, 2018 — 11 days after he bought the gun and when she tossed it.

Hunter was staying with her and seemed exhausted.

As Hunter slept in her home, Hallie Biden went to check his car.

She said she was hoping to help him get or stay sober.

She said she found the remnants of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.

She also found the gun Hunter purchased in a box with a broken lock that kept it from fully closing.

There was ammunition too.

Hallie said she considered hiding the gun but thought her kids might find it, so she decided to throw it away.

“I realize it was a stupid idea now, but I was panicking,” she said.

Hunter Biden watched expressionless from the courtroom during her testimony.

She told jurors that she found crack at her home and saw him using it.

She was with him occasionally when he saw dealers.

Prosecutor Leo Wise asked Hallie about her own 2018 trip to California, where she visited Hunter at the Roosevelt Hotel, and asked her whether she was also using drugs.

“Yes, I was,” she said.

“And who introduced you to it?”

“Hunter did,” Hallie said as Hunter rested his face on his hand and looked down.

Hallie testified she stopped using drugs in August 2018, but Hunter continued smoking crack.

After Hallie Biden threw the unloaded gun in the trash can at Janssen’s Market, he noticed it missing and asked her whether she had taken it.

“Are you insane?” he texted.

He told her to go back to the market to look for it.

Jurors shown footage

Surveillance footage played for jurors showed her digging around in the trash can for the gun, but it wasn’t there.

She asked store officials if someone had taken out the trash.

Hallie said Hunter told her to file a police report because the gun was registered in his name.

She called the police while she was still at the store.

Officers located the man who inadvertently took the gun along with other recyclables from the trash and retrieved it.

The case was eventually closed because of lack of cooperation from Hunter Biden, who would have been considered the victim.

Jurors also heard from the officers who handled the case and from the man who found the gun.

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL

Daughter testifies, ending first week

She said her father was improving in weeks before he bought gun

WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden’s daughter Naomi Biden testified Friday in his federal gun trial about visiting her father while he was at a California rehab center, telling jurors that he seemed to be improving in the weeks before he bought the revolver in 2018.

“I hadn’t seen my dad in a long time, and I knew he was in a rehab facility there. He reached out,” she told jurors softly, explaining that they met at a coffee shop, along with his “sober coach.”

As she was dismissed from the stand, she paused to hug her dad before leaving the courtroom.

Defense begins

The defense began calling witnesses shortly after federal prosecutors wrapped up their case.

Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell started by calling another gun store clerk who was there when the gun was purchased, raising questions about what he saw as inconsistencies on the form.

He also questioned the owner of the shop who allowed the sale to go through using Hunter Biden’s passport, though it did not include an address as required.

Then he called Hunter Biden’s daughter.

In October 2018, the month Hunter Biden bought the gun, Naomi Biden traveled from Washington to New York in her father’s truck to move her boyfriend’s belongings.

Hunter Biden drove President Joe Biden’s Cadillac to New York later that month to retrieve his truck, leaving the Cadillac with Naomi Biden.

She told jurors she didn’t see any drug paraphernalia or evidence of drug use.

“He seemed great. He seemed hopeful,” she said.

But prosecutors showed Naomi Biden texts where he didn’t respond to her for hours after she messaged him about switching cars.

At 2 a.m., Hunter Biden texted Naomi Biden asking where the keys to his truck were and whether her boyfriend could meet and swap vehicles.

“Right now?” she responded.

“Do you know what your father was doing at two o’clock in the morning and why he was asking you for the car then?” prosecutor Leo Wise asked.

“No,” she said.

Wise read out to her a text message from the time, where she responded: “I’m really sorry dad I can’t take this.”

Family members

When court broke for lunch, and as Hunter Biden prepared to leave, he motioned to the first row that was full of his family members, including first lady Jill Biden, who traveled back from France for the proceedings.

Jurors were sent home for the afternoon after the defense had no more witnesses, and Lowell said he was weighing who else to call, though previously he said the president’s brother James would take the stand, and he was in court.

Hunter Biden's Laptop Shows Just How Far The Government Will Go For A Coverup

RedState reported that video reveals the extent to which the media and Deep State went to deceive Americans about Hunter Biden’s laptop:

“Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words—and in this case, a stunning viral video that has been watched over 34 million times sums up one of the greatest lies that our country has ever perpetuated on its public better than a thousand op-eds ever could.

“You remember—just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, the New York Post broke the story about how Hunter Biden’s laptop had been left at a computer repair shop and turned out to have photos and documents that showed his drug-addicted, lascivious lifestyle while its contents also revealed many dubious emails that appeared to show the Biden Crime Family illicitly profiting from all sorts of shady international dealings.

“Most of the nation’s media instantly joined forces with extremists in the intelligence community and other branches of government to throw their full power into discrediting—and censoring—the Post’s coverage, withholding crucial information from voters just as they were coming to their decisions.

“To this day, if you say the 2020 vote was rigged, many will call you a conspiracy theorist or, worse, an insurrectionist. But what do you call such powerful forces all pulling together to lie to you other than “election interference?”

“Of course, the government just admitted the laptop and its contents are, in fact, real, despite the fact that Joe Biden lied about it during an October 2020 presidential debate with Donald Trump.

Hunter is embroiled in a scandal-filled trial in Delaware, where the First Son is charged with lying on a federal form to obtain a gun—and much of the evidence federal prosecutors are using in the case comes from… you guessed it, the Laptop from Hell.”

Hunter Biden’s memoir surges on Amazon

Increase comes as book featured at federal trial

'Beautiful Things' is doing beautiful business.

While prosecutors are using Hunter Biden’s searing 2021 memoir of addiction and recovery as a rich seam of evidence in his federal trial, seeking to show that he was a drug addict and user when he bought a gun in October 2018, the book has shot up the Amazon sales charts.

It shows, perhaps, that there is indeed no such thing as bad publicity.

'Beautiful Things' was released in April 2021 to strong reviews and reached No.4 on The New York Times bestseller list.

Megaselling author Stephen King called it a 'harrowing and compulsively readable memoir,' while USA TODAY wrote that Biden’s journey was 'deeply relatable for others living with addiction.'

After reaching No.5 on Amazon’s bestseller list and No.14 on USA TODAY’s list that month, 'Beautiful Things' began a gentle but seemingly inexorable tumble down the sales rankings.

Now, after prosecutors in a Delaware courthouse played selections from the 'Beautiful Things' audiobook – narrated by Biden himself – to jurors, interest in the memoir has surged.

According to the industry publication Publisher’s Marketplace, 'Beautiful Things' jumped from 338,000 in Amazon rankings on Sunday to 12,900 on Monday, the trial’s first day, to the 4,200 range by late Wednesday afternoon.

It isn’t clear what that kind of leap means in terms of sales.

According to publishing industry tracker BookScan, 28,086 hardcover and softcover copies of 'Beautiful Things' have been sold in the U.S. as of May25, and more than 11,000 e-books were sold through February.

The president’s son is being tried on three felony gun counts after he checked 'No' on a federal form asking if he was using or addicted to illegal drugs when buying a .38 Special revolver in October 2018.

He also faces federal tax charges in California.

In addition to mining Biden’s memoir, phone backups and his infamous laptop for evidence, prosecutors on Wednesday called his former wife, Kathleen Buhle, and a former girlfriend to testify about his drug use.

Biden family holds tight in Delaware courtroom

WILMINGTON, Del. – A felony gun trial is a strange place for a presidential family reunion.

But that’s what jurors – and the rest of the world – saw in the first week of Hunter Biden’s trial in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

It’s not an easy place for any family to sit and watch.

Some of the testimony was gut-wrenching, including tales of Hunter Biden’s ex-wife finding a crack pipe in their home and an ex-girlfriend describing his incessant drug use.

Nevertheless, the first days of the trial saw a full-court press of Biden family members in the front row.

First lady Jill Biden showed up every day until she joined her husband in France Thursday to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Hunter’s half-sister Ashley Biden was a frequent presence, as were Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa, and son-in-law Peter Neal.

A courtroom packed with so many of the first family is a rarity – and rarer still is what their appearance revealed about a family watching as its dirty laundry was aired.

Breaks in the courtroom routine often saw the Biden supporters huddling, leaning into each other, massaging shoulders and clasping hands.

Many got a hug and kiss from the others.

Amid testimony of Hunter Biden’s desperate addiction and spiraling life, Jill Biden could be seen embracing her family pastor.

Hunter’s wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, extended her arms and blew kisses to her friends in the courtroom.

Jack Ownes, who is married to the president’s sister Valerie, patted Jill Biden’s sister Bonny’s head as he got through to his seat in the front row.

The second row has been filled with longtime friends and trusted allies including Francis Person, the president’s former aide; Kevin Morris, Hunter’s friend and a Hollywood lawyer; Anthony Bernal, senior adviser to the first lady;

Ricky Mouse, a friend of the president for 57 years; and the Bidens’ family pastor, the Rev. Dr. Christopher Bullock.

The 'Biden family is Delaware,' Bullock said. 'There is a lot of support here for them.'

From time to time, some of the Bidens were called to testify for the prosecution under subpoena, giving painful details.

Those included Kathleen Buhle, who was married to Hunter Biden for 24 years and has three children with him.

She testified Wednesday about discovering a crack pipe in 2015 in the ashtray on a porch of their home in Washington while they were married.

He acknowledged smoking crack to her that day.

'I was worried, scared,' she said. 'His behavior had changed.' Her biggest fear was her children discovering the drugs or drug paraphernalia in their father’s car. 'When my daughter would take his car, I would check to make sure there they were not driving with drugs in them,' she said.

The first lady was in the courtroom both before and after Buhle’s testimony – but was missing during it.

The Bidens’ family pastor said he was praying for the family and that if President Biden could be at the trial, he would be.

The president went to France to mark D-Day and participate in other engagements.

'It’s times like these that we need to stand with the Bidens,' Bullock said

GUN TRIAL

Hunter Biden jury begins deliberating

President’s son faces three felonies in case involving revolver

WILMINGTON, Del. — Jurors in Hunter Biden’s gun trial began deliberating Monday whether the president’s son is guilty of federal firearms charges over a revolver he bought in 2018 when prosecutors say he was addicted to crack cocaine.

He’s charged with three felonies in the case that has laid bare some of the darkest moments of his drug-fueled past.

Prosecutors have used testimony from former romantic partners, personal text messages and photos of Hunter Biden with drug paraphernalia or partially clothed to make the case that he broke the law.

“No one is above the law,” prosecutor Leo Wise told jurors in his closing argument as first lady Jill Biden watched from the front row of the Wilmington, Del., courtroom.

Jurors deliberated for less than an hour before leaving the courthouse for the day.

Deliberations were to resume Tuesday morning.

President Joe Biden’s son has publicly detailed his struggle with a crack cocaine addiction before getting sober more than five years ago.

But the defense sought to show that that he did not consider himself an “addict” when he bought the gun and checked “no” on the form that asked whether he was “an unlawful user” of drugs or addicted to them.

The case has pitted Hunter Biden against his father’s Justice Department in the midst of the Democratic president’s reelection campaign.

The charges were brought by special counsel David Weiss, who was nominated by Republican former President Donald Trump to be U.S. attorney for Delaware and led the yearslong investigation.

Before the case went to the jury, the prosecutor urged jurors to focus on the “overwhelming” evidence against Hunter Biden and pay no mind to members of the president’s family sitting in the courtroom.

“All of this is not evidence,” Wise said, extending his hand and directing the jury to look at the gallery. “People sitting in the gallery are not evidence.”

Jill Biden and other family members left the courthouse shortly after deliberations began.

At one point Monday, Hunter Biden leaned over to whisper in his mother’s ear.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell told jurors in his closing argument that prosecutors had failed to prove their case.

Lowell said the his client may have a famous last name, but he is still presumed innocent until proven guilty like any other defendant.

“With my last breath in this case, I ask for the only verdict that will hold the prosecutors to what the law requires of them” — a verdict of not guilty, Lowell said.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers have suggested he was trying to turn his life around at the time of the gun purchase, having completed a detoxification and rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018.

The defense called three witnesses, including Hunter’s daughter Naomi, who told jurors that her father seemed be improving in the weeks before he bought the gun.

Closing arguments came shortly after the defense rested its case without calling Hunter Biden to the witness stand.

If convicted in the gun case, he faces up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.

Trump’s presentencing interview

NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s mandatory presentencing interview Monday ended after less than a half-hour of routine and uneventful questions and answers, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The former president was quizzed by a New York City probation officer for a report that will be compiled and presented to trial judge Juan Merchan prior to Trump’s July 11 sentencing in his hush money criminal case.

SCOTUS rejects Texas man’s 2nd amendment challenge of law protecting domestic violence victims

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Texas man’s challenge of a law prohibiting individuals under certain domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms.

The vote was 8-1.

The case revolved around whether 18 USC 922(g)(8) — a federal statute enacted in 1994 that disarms individuals subject to domestic-violence protective orders — is still constitutional, following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion.

“Since the founding, our Nation’s firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms,” Roberts wrote.

Zackey Rahimi was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Texas for violating Section 922(g)(8) after he was found to be in possession of several firearms while subject to a relevant protective order.

Rahimi attempted to have the charge dismissed, claiming that the law facially violates his Second Amendment rights.

However, he was denied because the Fifth Circuit had already found Section 922(g)(8) to be constitutional in a previous case.

Following the denial of his motion, Rahimi pleaded guilty.

When Rahimi’s appeal came before the Fifth Circuit, the appellate court initially affirmed the lower court’s decision that Rahimi’s Second Amendment challenge was foreclosed by its decision in a previous case.

However, following the new precedent set by the Supreme Court’s ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen, the Fifth Circuit withdrew its opinion and ultimately reversed the lower court’s ruling, finding that under the new precedent Section 922(g)(8) violates the Second Amendment on its face.

The Supreme Court accepted the case and during oral arguments questioned how the historical analysis utilized by the court in Bruen applied in the analysis of Section 922(g)(8).

Justices on both sides of the aisle seemed persuaded by arguments from the solicitor general that the restriction is in line with the longstanding practice of disarming dangerous people.

Rahimi was represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender J. Matthew Wright, who argued that there is no history of firearm bans or any comparable laws ,which would satisfy Bruen and, therefore, Section 922(g)(8) was unconstitutional.

The court’s decision in this case could impact previous rulings that involve gun laws.

This includes the high-profile conviction of Hunter Biden in which President Joe Biden’s son was found guilty on three felony charges relating to the purchase of a firearm while addicted to drugs.

Rahimi is currently jailed in Texas facing other charges. Wright declined to comment at this time.

The Supreme Court’s 2023-2024 term concludes at the end of June, with 20 cases still awaiting decisions.

[dertaglichedan]

The Curious Case of the Man Who Bought Most of Hunter Biden's Overpriced Art

How did the Central Intelligence Agency get threaded into the Hunter Biden scandal? We don’t know, but they interfered with federal investigators looking into Hunter Biden's activities. A whistleblower has come forward alleging that Langley blocked investigators from interviewing attorney Kevin Morris, who is not just a crucial Hunter Biden ally but the primary purchaser of his overpriced art. Mr. Morris paid Hunter’s tax bills, helped subsidize his opulent lifestyle, and seemingly had the protection of the CIA. 

Morris is a big Democratic Party donor, so protection from the Biden Department of Justice wouldn’t be unusual, but the CIA? Mr. Morris appears to be a jack-of-all-trades character within the Biden orbit. Law professor Jonathan Turley, who disclosed that he was threatened with a lawsuit by Morris, broke down this intriguing tale. Morris was not just a money man for the crack-cocaine-addicted son of the president, he was also an attack dog, reportedly organizing hit campaigns against the enemies of the Biden family. Look, when someone loans your son over $6 million, you better believe there’s going to be some ironclad protections for that individual (via Turley): 

The New York Post has created a stir in Washington with its report that a whistleblower claims that the CIA reportedly blocked federal investigators from interviewing Kevin Morris, the entertainment lawyer who has subsidized the expenses and bought the art of Hunter Biden. 

[…] 

He’s Hunter’s confidant, art patron, business partner, and his lawyer. 

Now there is a suggestion that we might have to add CIA asset or protected person. 

The unnamed whistleblower told the House Oversight and Judiciary Committee that the “intelligence agency stopped IRS and Justice Department investigators from interviewing Morris in August 2021.” That has led Oversight chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Judiciary chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) to demand answers from the CIA on whether two DOJ officials were summoned to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. to discourage their interviewing Morris. 

Given the allegations of special treatment by the Justice Department (including blocking efforts to interview Hunter or search Biden properties), this latest report is obviously quite serious. One would expect that the CIA would simply say that no such meeting related to the Hunter Biden investigation occurred. Instead, the agency responded that it “does not obstruct investigations.” The spokesman added   “CIA does not comment on specific investigations. We can say that CIA cooperates with law enforcement partners and does not obstruct investigations. CIA also fully and routinely cooperates with our oversight committees and will continue to do so.” 

[arpov-blog-blog]

..."Paul Fishman, an attorney representing James Biden, called the Oversight Committee’s description of the $200,000 repayment check from his client to Joe Biden highly misleading.

“The Committee has the bank documents that show both the loan Jim received from his brother in January 2018 and the repayment by check six weeks later,” Fishman said. “At no time did Jim involve his brother in any of his business relationships.”

Comer said Friday he doesn’t believe the president had given his brother a loan. He also said that it didn’t matter because James Biden was moving money around in a corrupt scheme that ultimately benefited Joe Biden.

“Even if this was a personal loan repayment, it’s still troubling that Joe Biden’s ability to be paid back by his brother depended on the success of his family’s shady financial dealings,” Comer said.

The same day James Biden repaid his brother $200,000, he received a payment for the same amount from a for-profit hospital chain called Americore Health. In a bankruptcy filing last year, the company said it had loaned James Biden $600,000 in two installments “based upon representations that his last name, ‘Biden,’ could ‘open doors’ and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections.”

The large investment from the Middle East never materialized, and James Biden never repaid the loans, the company said.

There’s no doubt that James and Hunter Biden traded on their famous last name in ways that some ethics experts consider inherently corrupt, if not illegal. State Department officials have said that Hunter Biden’s position with a Ukrainian gas company created the appearance of a conflict of interest when Joe Biden oversaw Ukraine policy as vice president.

Republicans have focused most of their investigatory work on the accusation that as vice president, Biden pushed for the ouster of a Ukrainian prosecutor they claim was investigating the gas company. But the same State Department officials who questioned Hunter Biden’s role with the company testified in 2019 and 2020 that they were unaware of any such investigation and that Joe Biden hadn’t done anything to enrich his family.

Hunter Biden faces criminal charges for illegally buying a gun while addicted to crack cocaine in 2018 and for failing to pay federal taxes for several years. Democrats have conceded that the younger Biden broke the law, but have aggressively defended Joe Biden from accusations that he was in on his family members’ schemes.

Comer did not accuse Joe Biden of taking any action to benefit Americore Health.

White House spokesperson Ian Sams said Republicans should pick a House speaker instead of picking on the president’s family members.

“After rummaging through thousands of pages of a private citizen’s bank records, they have again turned up zero evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden — and that’s because there is none,” Sams said."

[vantasei]

tw animal death

at about 3pm today, 4/9/23, my little guy sugar died at age 14. i will miss him dearly. he was our little skrungulus haunted porcelain victorian lamb doll. may you reincarnate a little larger next time for that autonomy you always wanted.

some fun sugar lore

- was an aristocrat who sold opium to the rich in a past life

- could spawn cocaine from his hair

- owned the entire state of massachusetts

- owned and ran an entire thriving real estate business all on his own because hiring workers lowered profit margins

- paid taxes (disputable)

some real sugar facts

- was born 1/3/09

- his full legal name is sugar bandit

- his nickname at home was "miserable creature" at one point

- he was a very picky eater

- never once played with a toy

- only got the zoomies approximately 1 time in his life if you add all his sort of zoomies experiences together

- did get somewhat more dog-like once we got spice

- loved going out and going on adventures despite his size. even in his old arthritic age, barked at us to let him walk when he barely could.

- he was about 4-5 lbs his entire life

- purebred toy poodle who was white despite his mom being red and his dad being black (dad was a champion showdog)

- he had a sister named cookie bandit

- he was about $700 to buy

- only really began to tolerate me after about 10 years despite me owning him since we got him (we got him at a year old). and only started liking me when he developed blindness and dementia and couldnt tell who i was

- never needed to be on leash so long as mom was around. he would only follow her. only liked her. brat.

- he was my first dog. ill never forget him. sugar.

[shegottosayit]

I ordered weed to pick up near a movie theatre because I want to see cocaine bear. So I paid $8 more for the weed than I would’ve with delivery because official shop sales are taxed. And I’m not going to cocaine bars because I’m not paying $19 to see it at a lesser theatre than others I could go to. And a problem: the weed store is near an iconic independent bookstore and I already bought two books yesterday.

[pochaunnuswalker]

Watch "5 Bravest dogs that will face even wild beasts😱🔥 #shorts" on YouTube

Hey babies I met this guy in jail cause we live on a farm and these muthafuckas I go to the stores and talk to are really helping me with they fuck ups and idonot give a fuck about it I've told the public that the war in the middle East is exactly what it is a bunch of bullshit and it's really on YouTube that. The innocent Arabians who made it out of the way came to get cmurderst ambrosia and these muthafuckas are that damn stupid I've been locked up people trying to count my money cause they fucking thieves fly in cocaine when I order something cause they that damn stupid my first husband mantwell is the reason the bigger gigantic dogs are re barking back cause he's that goddamn old they aint old enough to fuck with my intligance causevirgil e Walker ain't my real daddy Mr Walt Disney is and my other last name besides Walker bush like bush stadium is why they that goddamn stupid my last name is daily like the daily newspaper they that goddamn stupid and I don't give a fuck who a muthafucka got stung up like Christmas no means no and these several other people that feel that way they so goddamn stupid I be glad

When the legal policel come thru andlow they asses up bef I re I get 197 ?more years in jail these muthafuckas ain't never amounted to shit I done had six jousels 3 in Missouri my taxes are paid by my uncle Neil or uncle Ronald waters or George Walker bushes estateee they so godamn dtupid

[jahmeelahlamb]

Vanessa slept with Marcus and Justin. Her Marcus and Justin. Please leave her alone. Then she tried to sleep with my Marcus because she realized that MF set her up. He's in a coma of sorts now because he tried to kill himself and blame Justin for it. Justin went over to Scooters house and was done with being used and abused. All to find out that Hailey married Marcus. Marcus took her out of rehab which is where I left her to get better from her cocaine addiction and because she got a little money all of a sudden he couldn't live without her. She brought it hook line and sinker because she wanted the money and the fame. She didn't realize that his mother handle his money and that she own taxes to the USA that were taken out of the money that she was paid for her years as his wife. 10 million for the years and 2 million for the photos. I am just happy to be here and please pay your taxes. I told you to turn on those camera Scooter, so glad you did because it really save Justin's ass.

[shop-korea]

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[atlanticcanada]

N.S. man arrested after drugs, illegal tobacco seized from Linwood property: RCMP

A man from Linwood, N.S., has been charged with several drug-related offences after police say hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs and other illegal items were seized from a home in the community.

The RCMP executed a search warrant at a property in Linwood on Monday.

Police say a 35-year-old man was arrested.

During the search, officers seized cocaine, cannabis, psilocybin, tobacco, cash and a trailer. Police value the seizure at approximately $500,000.

Shane Thomas Richard has been charged with:

three counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking

possession of cannabis for the purpose of distribution

possession of cannabis for the purpose of selling

unlawfully possessing unstamped tobacco

possessing tobacco on which tax has not been paid

possessing tobacco not bearing a prescribed mark

Richard was released on conditions, including a curfew.

He is scheduled to appear in Antigonish provincial court on Feb. 9, 2023 at 9:30 a.m.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/Lv0Qmt6

[taciturn-is-poggers]

You do know that being given money to spend on cocaine and drugs is not "being paid with taxes" right??? It's not like there's a riot or anything outside the castle!

aren't you the landlord of an entire empire?

I do love explosions & being exploded

But also don’t ever call me that

[luckyladylily]

Some of the positions of Biden going into this election:

Abolish the death penalty.

End cash bail as it disproportional punishes the poor.

End cocaine sentencing disparity as racist

Eliminate mandatory minimums

Scrap past marijuana convictions

Eliminate private prisons

Raise minimum wage to 15$/hour

Supports a government mandated 12 weeks of paid family leave for all workers

Two years of college free

Expand student debt forgiveness, including 10K of forgiveness for all student loans and complete forgiveness for all undergraduate loans from 2 and 4 year public colleges and universities, and other loan forgiveness and payment reduction plans.

Eliminate funding gap for k-12 schools based on location (essentially between white and non white/poor and non poor division) with specific first steps outlined to do so.

Increase teacher pay, especially in underfunded schools (poor and POC schools)

Plan outlined to get us back in on the Paris agreement and goal of switching to clean energy by 2035 with first steps specified.

Supports voluntary gun buyback (similar programs have had huge success in reducing gun violence in other countries)

Supports firearm registry

Supports universal background checks for fire arm purchase

Supports huge expansions of medicare and the creation of a public run health insurance option that everyone is automatically enrolled in if they lose other coverage. You would also be able to use this free option if you did not want to use employer coverage. He has moved left in a huge way since the pandemic came into full swing but most people just ignore it. There is a good chance that by the time we get to the point of implementation he could just go medicare for all.

Citizenship for dreamers (DACA)

Outlined steps for increasing the quality of life, access to resources, and autonomy of disabled people, including expansion and strict enforcement of non discrimination policies

Universal hazard pay for “front line” workers during the pandemic

Specific first steps outlined for reducing systematic LGBTQ discrimination

Large increase of taxes on the wealthy, including a direct wealth tax and increasing taxes on corporations, with short term proposals in place that include undoing much of the damage done by trump.

You will notice that a lot of these positions can be described as halfway progressive. As in they move in the right direction but stop short of the ultimate goal. Sure, we didn’t win the primary and get a truly progressive candidate in, but the strong showing of progressive ideals during the primary means that we strong armed the democrat party into compromising with us. We forcibly moved the Overton window significantly left, imagine if we did this election after election! We could force real change regardless of the presidential candidate that is ultimately chosen.

We are slowly winning, but in order for it to stick we have to demonstrate that progressives will reward the shift in our direction. We absolutely need to vote Biden in, as well as support democrats in the senate, congress, and local levels. We need to prove that progressives are a powerful political group that can make promises and deliver to those who compromise with us. This is critical for the long term viability of progressive politics.

Biden isn’t just damage control. We wont be sprinting towards an ideal world but we will be taking significant steps in that direction. Don’t throw away all the progress we made because you don’t like the names on the ticket.