Joe Biden, corruption, and fiduciary duty

If you don’t have time to read Peter Schweizer’s excellent Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite (HarperCollins), Christopher Roach has a column at American Greatness that summarizes the corruption in the Biden family.  Here’s a brief extract:

Hunter Biden’s self-enrichment in Ukraine, far from being a “conspiracy theory” or “discredited allegation,” is, in fact, textbook corruption.

Biden was making money from a shady Ukrainian natural gas company, and his father was pressuring the Ukrainians to fire the prosecutor looking into it. The sleight of hand dismissal from the Bidens’ defenders arises because they have demanded a higher burden of proof to show wrongdoing here than we do in other contexts.

The proper evidence is not a “quid pro quo” or an admission of wrongful intent, but a violation of fiduciary duty.

In business partnerships, boards of directors, and other positions of trust, people are expected to treat those whom they are serving as well as they would treat themselves. They are to disclose any conflicts and recuse themselves from decisions when those conflicts exist. When other considerations arise—helping oneself, helping a family member, or trying to serve the interests of two opposing entities—we assume that wrongdoing is afoot.

. . .

Because of difficulties with proof and the possibility of “wink and a nod” conspiracies, the law uses common sense and asks “Who benefits?” to determine wrongdoing when transactions benefiting insiders are involved. The same principles apply to self-dealing by corporate officers and insider trading.

If there is not already a law against the Biden family’s self-dealing, there should be. It isn’t unique, and the fact that it’s met with a shrug by many of our lawmakers suggests a much bigger problem in their attitude about public service. We are not a banana republic. Public service is not there for people to get rich indirectly by shepherding money, contracts, access, and the like to family members, whether domestically, in Ukraine, or anywhere else.

The full column is here.

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Peter Schweizer on Sen. Sherrod Brown

Here’s more from Peter Schweizer’s chapter in Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite (HarperCollins) on Sen. Sherrod Brown (footnote numbers silently deleted) :

Sherrod Brown has always relied on a certain roguish charm when in the public spotlight. Described by the media as a “handsome, gravelly-voiced defender of the working class; perpetually mentioned in presidential conversations,” he has spent almost his entire adult life either serving in political office or running for it. The unique appeal to his supporters, in addition to that charm, is the fact that he viewed “himself as a progressive before it was cool.”. . .

. . .

Brown displays his working-class sentiments in his Senate office reception area, where he has a miner’s safety lamp sitting on the table, as well as a beer stein from the United Mine Workers. . . .

His wife, Connie Schultz, once sent an email to a colleague at the Cleveland Plain Dealer who had drawn a political cartoon critical of him. She wrote: “For 30 years, Sherrod has fought for those who would have no voice and no future without him . . . (and he) remains a hero to so many. . . .

But Brown himself, as we will see, grew up privileged. While he has campaigned with a hole in one shoe (and drawn the media’s attention to it with an early, infamous reelection advertisement), his roots are far from working class.

. . .Sherrod Brown’s friend John Eichinger jokingly explained at a Democratic Party roast back in 1982 that Brown’s approach is to “get money from the rich and votes from the poor by promising to protect them from each other.”

It is a formula that has worked in American politics for more than one hundred years.

However, a closer examination reveals a far more complex picture than that of a conventional progressive politician. More than simply using that political strategy to win office, Brown seems to have used his government office to benefit his family, in particular, his brother’s legal practice, which has engaged in what some might consider strange and suspect lawsuits. Additionally, Brown’s advocacy for “workers” appears to be far more about protecting union leaders who donate to his campaigns than rank-and-file union workers. Indeed, when the interests of union leaders and the union members clash, Brown consistently sides with the bosses who have underwritten his many political campaigns.

The chapter contains over 100 footnotes to print and online sources.  I chose the above extracts to provide a partial overview of chapter 6, and there is much more on Sen. Brown’s relationships with and activities involving labor pension funds and his association with his brother’s law firm.

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Peter Schweizer on Fox/Levin tomorrow

Peter Schweizer has been making the rounds on the news shows, talking about his book, Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite (HarperCollins). I am partway through the book, and it’s both frightening and well-documented.  As I linked the other day, Rebecca Mansour at Breitbart reported that the

bombshell investigative book contains 1,126 endnotes totaling 83 pages of source material, Breitbart News has learned.

In addition, the book contains no unnamed sources. Instead, it is based on hard evidence and documents, including: foreign and domestic corporate and legal records, tax liens, lobbyist disclosures, property records, White House visitor logs, federal bankruptcies, and federal criminal trial records.

Anyway, Mr. Schweizer’s appearances on, e.g., Watter’s World, are frustrating, as most hosts do most of the talking. But Sunday evening (tomorrow), Mr. Schweizer will be on Mark Levin’s Fox broadcast at 8pm of Live, Liberty and Levin.  While I go hot and cold on Mr. Levin, his Sunday evening broadcasts on Fox are generally restrained, well-prepared, and designed to maximize the commentary by the guest. I’ll be tuning in.

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Profiles in Corruption, including Sherrod Brown

Peter Schweizer’s book, Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite (HarperCollins), is out today, and Rebecca Mansour at Breitbart reported that the

bombshell investigative book contains 1,126 endnotes totaling 83 pages of source material, Breitbart News has learned.

In addition, the book contains no unnamed sources. Instead, it is based on hard evidence and documents, including: foreign and domestic corporate and legal records, tax liens, lobbyist disclosures, property records, White House visitor logs, federal bankruptcies, and federal criminal trial records.

Publishing giant HarperCollins has kept Profiles in Corruption under a strict embargo. The book will reportedly expose how five members of Joe Biden’s family—the “Biden Five”—scored “tens of millions of dollars” in taxpayer money and guaranteed loans. In addition, the book is said to contain never-before-reported bombshell revelations about Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, and Eric Garcetti.

Last week Amazon named the book its “most anticipated” nonfiction book based on pre-sale volume. Ten days before the book’s January 21 release, it had already hit #1 on Amazon across all book genres.

The book’s writer, Government Accountability Institute President and Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer, is a five-time New York Times bestseller author who penned Clinton Cash and Secret Empires. According to Axios, Schweizer and his GAI team of investigators spent a year and a half researching Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite.

While Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders will likely be getting most of the headlines, there is a chapter on Ohio’s own Senator, Sherrod Brown. Several sections in that chapter may resonate with reports of Joe Biden's son and brother allegedly benefiting from the Vice President's position of influence:

[Sherrod] Brown’s congressional career—in both the House and Senate—is marked by a devotion to progressive causes before they become widely supported within the Democratic Party. Brown’s efforts in the minutiae of health and medical issues — those that seem designed to help put a lot of money in the pocket of his brother— are less well known.

More to come.

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Yet more evidence forthcoming

There's good news over at Breitbart; Ezra Dulis reports:

‘Profiles in Corruption’ Hits #1 on Amazon 10 Days Before Book Release

The highly anticipated investigative bombshell book Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite hit #1 on Amazon Saturday, despite the fact that the book’s official release is still over a week away.

When Axios and Breitbart News first reported about the book’s unveiling by publisher HarperCollins on Thursday, Profiles in Corruption was #822,128 on Amazon. Less than 48 hours later, the book zoomed to #1 across all book genres.

Very little is publicly known about the book’s contents. Government Accountability Institute President and Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer and his investigative team spent a year and a half researching it. A source close to the publisher said the book’s contents will “upend official Washington” and that Schweizer’s prior bombshell revelations about Hunter Biden were “just the tip of the iceberg.” The book is said to contain brand new evidence that five members of Joe Biden’s family—the “Biden Five”—scored “tens of millions of dollars” in taxpayer cash and guaranteed loans.

Mike Allen of Axios, who exclusively announced HarperCollins’ forthcoming release of Profiles in Corruption, reported that the book’s table of contents includes chapters on leading progressives, including:

• Joe Biden
• Eric Garcetti
• Cory Booker
• Elizabeth Warren
• Sherrod Brown
• Bernie Sanders
• Amy Klobuchar

If Schweizer’s next book is anything like his four previous consecutive New York Times bestsellers, Washington will feel its shockwaves. 

Interesting to see Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown on the list. On the other hand, Mr. Schweizer’s previous books, Secret Empires and Clinton Cash, already dug up enough evidence to get indictments. Exit question: where are the indictments?

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