"There is an old trial lawyers saying: 'When the facts are on your side, pound the facts. When the law is on your side, pound the law. When neither is on you side, pound the table.'” -- Patrick Buchanan, 1975
When it comes to making the case for Hunter Biden, Mika Brzezinski has managed to devise an alternative to pounding the table when the facts and the law are against you.
On today's Morning Joe, Mika repeatedly got choked up when discussing the trials and tribulations of Hunter, and the Biden family at large.
And to be clear: the case against Hunter Biden is about as open-and-shut as can be. There is overwhelming evidence to support the indictment, which the Department of Justice described this way [emphasis added]:
"Hunter Biden purchased a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver from a federally licensed firearms dealer on Oct. 12, 2018. When purchasing a firearm, a prospective purchaser must fill out a Firearm Transaction Record, ATF Form 4473, and certify that all of his or her answers on the form are true and correct. As alleged in count one of the indictment, Hunter Biden knowingly made a false written statement on the Form 4473, intended and likely to deceive the dealer he purchased the firearm from, when he certified that he was not an unlawful user of, or addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance. In fact, he knew that statement was false, according to the indictment."
The defense argument, as put forth by lead defense counsel Abbe Lowell, amounts to asserting that, well, yeah, Hunter was a user of, and addicted to, illegal drugs at the time he submitted his application. But in his drug-addled mind, he thought he was clean. Good luck with that -- although who knows what verdict a jury from the Big Guy's home state of Delaware might render.
Mika was emotional throughout, but in the video, you'll see her get especially choked up at 00:06, 00:59, and 02:41.
Mika touted an article by Molly Jong-Fast on how Republicans are playing a "dangerous game" by discussing Hunter Biden, that "shaming the family" is a political loser. She said of addiction: “The disease that Hunter Biden has is the same disease that I have. It’s the same disease that, you know, almost 20 percent of the country has.”
Note: Mika repeatedly tried to twang the heartstrings. She twice mentioned that Hunter is Biden's last "remaining son." She mentioned that Joe had lost a wife and a baby in a car accident, and that son Beau had died of a brain tumor.
But whereas she claimed that Americans think Biden is a "nice guy," she failed to mention that, for decades, Biden falsely claimed that his wife and daughter had been killed by a drunk driver. Biden has also falsely claimed, as even the leftist Daily Beast has acknowledged, that Beau died in Iraq.
And as for Biden being the loving father of Hunter, for years, Joe helped Hunter make piles of cash that he squandered on crack and hookers. Voters or jurors could see him (broad brush) as an enabler, not a stern dad. And it can be imagined that Joe enabled Hunter in part because the Big Guy was getting his "10 percent," or a piece of the grift.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
6/10/24
7:00 am EDTMIKA BRZEZINSKI: So, Molly, Trumpers and Republicans actually holding office [voice breaks] in Congress, they love this story. They love going after Hunter. They actually screamed at him nasty things when he walked into a hearing room, acting like eighth graders. I mean, really badly, poorly behaved eighth graders.
And that they love to sort of go after Hunter and equivocate with this versus Donald Trump's trial. Your latest opinion piece is really interesting to me because I saw this the last time around with Joe Biden. People don't like it when you go after his remaining son. They like Joe Biden overall. They think he's a nice guy. And going after the remaining son didn't seem to fare well for those trying to do it.
But you write this, "Republicans [sniffles, clears throat] going after Hunter Biden for his addiction are playing a dangerous game." And in it, you write in part this, "FoxNews' The Five co-host Jeanine Pirro reportedly complained about 'eight jurors who have someone in their family who's had a drug or alcohol addiction problem or someone who died from alcohol or addiction. So they picked a jury who is sympathetic. And herein lies the problem with the ongoing Republican attack on Biden: Seating jurors who have experiences with addiction to various degrees does not make a jury sympathetic. It makes it informed. Addiction is a disease. People who struggle with addiction are sick, not bad.'
. . .
I'm curious, Jon Meacham, the position that President Biden is in here. And by the way, I know that you have worked with him at times.
JON MEACHAM: Yeah.
MIKA: But personally, I want to talk to you personally about this. Because Americans know that he lost a baby and his wife decades ago in a car accident. Americans know that he lost his son, Beau, to a brain tumor. Americans know the family has struggled. He still steps up and serves.
I'm just curious, how is this fervent desire to hurt Hunter -- and I'm not talking about in court. He's got to go to court. He's got to show up, and he's got to face the music.
I'm talking about the people going crazy about Hunter. Whether it is Jeanine Pirro or Republicans in Congress or the Trump campaign, how does this [gets choked up] hurt Joe Biden, except for personally?
MEACHAM: Oh, I think it's simply a personal -- not simply. I think it's a personal cost. Politically, I don't think anyone --
MIKA: Yeah.
MEACHAM: I mean, the tone, and I appreciate the tone in which you asked the question and Molly speaking. I hate beginning a sentence about this topic with politically, comma, but I'll do it quickly --
MIKA: Right.
MEACHAM: -- because it transcends that. Politically, no, I don't think so.Anyone who --
MIKA: I don't think so either.
MEACHAM: Yeah, anyone who's going to vote against President Biden because of his son's struggles is not what I would call a swing voter, right?
