Written By: Anton Sawyer
As an American, I have learned to expect certain things from our political leaders, and by proxy their families as well in some cases. And in most cases, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It’s because of these Americanized expectations that the recent legal troubles of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have stunned me to the core. I read in the news that Johnson, the equivalent of a British president, wrote a law, broke that law, and then received an actual criminal charge with a fine. In the land of the free, this would NEVER happen. Sure, as an average American citizen we are constantly told that "nobody is above the law," but as you are about to see, this is one of the greatest lies to ever flourish.
I'm going to look at a few examples of those with money and powerful political ties in both Jared Kushner and Hunter Biden, along with their ability to escape any repercussions for their transgressions. I'm going to show how congress creates laws to shield their own from harm, and how maybe we could learn something from Britain's examples when it comes to accountability.
Speaking of Britain...
In an attempt to maintain complete transparency, all research and statistical fact-checking for all articles can be found in the bibliography linked here.
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Boris Breaks the Law & His Accountability
In a bit of irony, in early April 2022, Johnson was fined by police for attending a lockdown party in Downing Street, thereby breaking the coronavirus laws. Laws made in the very same building by the very same man. After his punishment was announced (a fine), Johnson said that he had paid the fine, though he did not say how much it was. He also stated, “I once again offer a full apology.” The announcement by London’s Metropolitan Police made Mr. Johnson the first holder of his office in living memory to be found in breach of the law and provoked anger from Britons who obeyed strict coronavirus rules that sometimes even forbade contact with dying relatives. The significance of this transgression was amplified by the fact that opposition politicians pointed to the statements made by Johnson who had said no breaches of Coronavirus protocol occurred in Downing Street or any other government buildings.
Contrary to how things happen in America, this lie isn't something that can be misdirected or swept under the rug because, in Britain, ministers are normally expected to resign if they mislead their fellow lawmakers. Opposition party leaders have called for such a thing, though Johnson has vehemently opposed the idea stating he will not step down.
When I read this, I was shocked because this kind of this simply would never happen in America; ex-President Donald Trump has proven this time and time again. When perusing through the lawsuits brought about by the FBI, DOJ, or other governmental agencies against Trump, nothing has really happened in the way of consequence. I know that there will be those who point to the ruling of fraud against Trump University and the fact that the University itself is no longer around as an example of accountability against the man, but that’s missing the point. The Trump organization—a conglomerate of Trump along with his goons—was found guilty.
What I am specifically getting at is there has never been a law that Trump himself broke after becoming President and the breaking of this law weaves its way up the judicial chain until Trump himself is standing before a court magistrate where he hears the words “YOU have been found guilty of committing [X] crime and therefore YOUR punishment will be …” This is what happened to Johnson, and it is what will never happen in the United States because of how insulated the president has become against accountability when it comes to legal infractions. This level of power has also had some side benefits for those who are presidential offspring.
Let me ask you a question.
I am the president’s son.
Since my father gained political power, I’ve been given the opportunity to work directly with other nations and world leaders, though I am woefully underqualified for this position. My work will have a massive impact on not only our political relationships with them but also a massive economic/monetary effect on both nations as well.
Though scandal has followed me from the announcement of my new position, along with a myriad of facts rearing their ugly head that would normally cause anyone else to end up in jail, I have been able to skirt those laws with zero punishment being doled out as a result.
Am I Hunter Biden or Jared Kushner?
With the evidence I am about to present, you’re going to see that these two are one and the same.
Jared Kushner
Jared Kushner did a famously bad job as a senior adviser. From the prolonged government shutdown and a Middle East peace plan that involved calling Palestinians “hysterical and stupid,” to the initial dismissal of COVID-19 as not actually being a public health emergency and the scrapping of nationwide testing because the virus was primarily affecting Democratic states, the list is seemingly endless. Time and time again during the Trump administration there was a new headline exposing that Kushner (and the political job assignments he had been given), was in way over his head. Yes, he eventually had his security clearance downgraded and some tried to stem the access he had to certain, sensitive materials, but that’s about it. He’s never faced any criminal charges for his hand in certain legally dubious activities. Activities like potential conflicts of interest in which it seemed Kushner’s businesses were influencing Trump’s foreign policy. The evidence of this influence was becoming so large that it necessitated him to be the target of an interview during the Mueller probe.
And yet, after all the damming evidence against Kushner, he has been able to walk away from the presidency unscathed. Actually, that’s the wrong word. Kushner has walked away with a very robust net positive. In fact, the New York Times reported in April 2022, that just six months after leaving the White House, the former first son-in-law’s newly formed private equity firm, Affinity Partners, was awarded a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is led by MBS. That’s billion with a ”B.”
Hunter Biden
Though the Hunter Biden Laptop Show has been going for years, this section is going to contain the least amount of historical recollection as we are still in the throes of this years-long investigation, and I prefer to comment on it as an entire piece after it’s all said and done. Given that the DOJ and FBI have been actively investigating him for potential tax crimes and other matters since 2018, both he and his laptop have been a limelight mainstay for some years now. Though the Republicans have been awarded a nothing-burger in the way of criminal prosecution for their efforts thus far, this inquiry isn't going to stop. No matter how much taxpayer money has been thrown at it, and especially if we see a red wave in the 2022 mid-terms, this investigation is guaranteed to hang around long after it’s worn out its welcome. However, when it comes to the long-term, I honestly don’t think that anything is going to happen to Biden in the way of criminal punishments all because of two little words: criminal intent.
When removing all of the political noise, at the end of the day, the writing of the law in this case is most likely to find nothing. Hunter Biden’s history of drug addiction, the untimely death of his brother Beau Biden in 2015, as well as his high-conflict divorce and debt problems around the time of the CEFC China Energy engagements could undermine the government’s case regarding requisite criminal intent. In layman's terms: both he and his life at the time were so messed up that it's difficult to prove the difference between him being evil or being an idiot. With how specialized the courts have become when it pertains to international laws, I truly believe there’s enough wiggle room in the verbiage of the charges and lack of evidence when it comes to criminal intent that he's going to skate on all charges.
It’s things like the nuances I’ve mentioned that lead me to the next section: how congress protects its own.
CONGRESSIONAL LAWMAKING TOM-FOOLERY
Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, if you are an elected official, you are guaranteed to have the entire congressional machine behind you when it comes to making laws to ensure that those with power can do really whatever they want and walk away mostly unharmed. My favorite example of this comes from the passage of the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act. Let’s turn back the hands of time …
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Bork, then a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to the Supreme Court. It's important to note that Bork was a strict constitutionalist and generally did not believe that individuals were guaranteed privacy protections beyond those specifically outlined in legislation.
This stance prompted Michael Dolan, who was then a writer with the Washington City Paper, to start looking into his video rental records.
One day, Dolan walked into Potomac Video and asked the manager on duty whether he could have a peek at Bork’s rental history—something that no specific legislation at the time barred. He walked out with a photocopy revealing the 146 tapes the judge had checked out in the past two years. Once it was revealed that anyone can walk into a tape store and get access to the private information of our leaders without a second look, Washington legislators went into panic mode and began drafting legislation post haste. Within seven months of Dolan's revelations, the Video Privacy Protection Act was introduced. Within the year it was signed into law. Usually, it takes two-to-three years for a piece of serious legislation to make its way through the House, sub-committees, and the Senate before passage. Unless, of course, it makes those with power look bad.
This is just one example. Because so many laws have been modified over the years through legislative interpretations and changes, there has been an incredibly intricate form of insulation built in our nation’s capital. Things we thought we once knew for sure have been tested quite sufficiently over these same last few years. From different opinions on what can be legally classified as falling under “executive privilege” to what the definition of executive privilege even means anymore as another example, it’s clear that there is no such thing as congressional oversight happening. The legal gatekeepers no longer have to answer to anyone.
Final Thoughts
I think it’s time that America learns from other nations when it comes to holding their elected officials to a higher standard (like England). If we refuse these lessons, then let's at least be honest with the American people and admit that Orwell and his book “Animal Farm” was correct—“all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The legal system in America is designed to either obfuscate certain facts which allow for those in power to continue their illegal ways, or the laws themselves get changed to allow for these indiscretions to proliferate. This is how America operates when it comes to power and accountability in the 22nd century. And sadly, I doubt that the future outcomes of the lives of either Kushner or Biden are going to change this fact.
I suppose at the end of the day this article does have one silver lining. We’re at least not going to have to guess how the January 6th insurrection commission findings/trial is going to turn out.
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