The New York Times reports that Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt privately recorded his intentions to give Donald Trump money in order to advance his business interests in the United States. Pratt wrote, “If Potus is having his election party at mar Lago I’ll book as many rooms as available,” because doing so would not only help Trump win the election but also “be good for business.”
The Times reports that, according to witness testimony to federal prosecutors, Pratt “spent $1 million to attend the party, well in excess of the normal charge.” That is to say, Pratt was not merely indulging himself in amenities offered by Trump’s private club but consciously using those payments as a vehicle to pay Trump directly.
While there is no evidence this alleged scheme violates any criminal statute, the colloquial term for this behavior is bribery.
Meanwhile, House Republicans are continuing to circulate allegations that President Biden was connected to his son Hunter’s influence-peddling business. Representative James Comer has made a series of uncorroborated allegations that the conservative media have uncritically promoted, insinuating that Joe Biden personally benefited from his son’s business. Republicans have produced communications between Hunter Biden and his father, which might be expected between a father and a son, but no clear evidence that Joe Biden received any payments stemming from Hunter’s work.
They are attempting, so far without success, to show Biden did what Donald Trump is proven to have done.
Whataboutism is the lowest form of political argument. Trump’s misconduct does not excuse Biden’s poor judgment in permitting his son to trade on the family name, even if he was only selling the illusion of access.
At the same time, however, the swirling charges of corruption are obviously being used in the context of a presidential-election contest between Biden and Trump. And whatever combination of criminal charges he is ultimately convicted of, Trump is unambiguously guilty of corruption. The Republicans’ accusations against Biden usefully frame the scope of Trump’s culpability.
The facts of the Hunter Biden case are that he performed consulting work for a series of clients who obviously hoped he would have influence with his father. The accusation Republicans make, but haven’t proven, is that Joe Biden was in on this arrangement and collected money from it.
Trump also had a son running a business during his presidency. But the idea Trump profited from the business isn’t an accusation. It’s a fact nobody denies.
Instead of a consulting business, Trump ran a social club at Mar-a-Lago. Unlike the bank-shot proposition offered by Hunter — Hire me, and maybe I’ll put in a word with my dad — Trump offered a direct proposition: Put money directly into my pocket, and I will be grateful.
Three years ago, the Times reported in detail on the extensive corruption embedded in Trump’s running of Mar-a-Lago. The story, which is some 10,000 words long and came out in the crazed final days of the 2020 election, did not receive the attention it merited. But its primary conclusions were extremely damning. The Times found:
– Despite promising to leave the handling of his business to his son, Trump took a direct role in overseeing the cash flow of his properties.
– After winning election, Trump noticed an increase in the demand to join the Mar-a-Lago club and gain access to him and twice raised membership prices to capitalize on it.
– Pratt is one member who exploited this arrangement by gaining access to Agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue, whose influence over food regulations pertained directly to Pratt’s packaging business.
– The Times found “over 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that patronized Mr. Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration.”
– One lobbyist paid the membership fee because “the president’s wishes had been made clear to him — and he needed to ante up.”
Just imagine if Joe Biden were not only receiving money from Hunter’s business but letting lobbyists know they’d better pay up if they wanted favors from him!
Biden shouldn’t lower his standards to Trump’s. But the conservative hyperventilation about unproven allegations against Biden, combined with a complete lack of interest in proven corruption by their party’s nominee, doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously as a form of accountability. If your interest in corruption is primarily directed at Joe Biden, then you are not in the corruption-exposing business. You’re in the corruption-enabling business.
