THE SHOW NOTES: Charging Hunter Biden, Firing School Presidents, & The Evolution of John Fetterman

Welcome! Hunter Biden faces nine new tax charges.

OUTRAGE: CAIR executive director ‘happy to see’ Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack - JI

NEW: The US economy added a surprising 200K new jobs in November tempering expectations of a rate cut.

HEADLINE: Woman arrested for pouring gasoline, trying to burn down Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth home - WSB

PUTIN: Russia's Putin claims he will run for president again in 2024.

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Charging Hunter Biden

The special counsel tasked with investigating Hunter Biden levied nine new tax evasion charges against him in a California court yesterday. The three felonies and six misdemeanors are in addition to the gun charges that Hunter Biden faces in Delaware.

Quote: Special counsel David Weiss said Hunter Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills.” While the investigation remains ongoing and a plea deal is all but certain, the younger Biden faces up to 17 years in prison.

Whistleblowers: Republicans are crediting the new charges as a result of the congressional testimony of two IRS whistleblowers who came forward to say that the Justice Department was giving the President’s son favorable treatment. Whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler called the news “a complete vindication of our thorough investigation.”

Firing School Presidents

After the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn refused to denounce blatant antisemitism on their respective campuses in a shocking congressional hearing on Tuesday, a growing number of prominent business leaders are calling for their removal.

UPenn: The University of Pennsylvania is expected to ask President Liz Magill to step down later today following yesterday’s emergency board meeting. The university’s renowned Wharton School of Business demanded her removal while Stone Ridge Holdings CEO Ross Stevens is threatening to claw back a $100 million donation that was pledged to the school if her employment is not terminated.

If this wasn’t bad enough, someone hired a truck to drive across the University of Pennsylvania campus playing this message:

The Evolution of John Fetterman

Democrats are furious with Dem. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman’s recent outspoken views on seemingly everything from Israel to the border.

The Border: “I hope Democrats can understand that it isn’t xenophobic to be concerned about the border. It’s a reasonable conversation, and Democrats should engage.” When discussing the number of illegal immigrants coming across the border every day, Fetterman said, “Honestly, it’s astonishing. And this isn’t a Fox News kind of statistic. This is the government’s. You essentially have Pittsburgh showing up there at the border.”

Israel: After taunting Palestinian protestors who were being arrested outside his offices by waving an Israeli flag, John Fetterman hung pictures outside his office of the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. When protests broke out outside his building, Fetterman traversed the halls with an Israeli flag draped across his back.

Menendez: Embattled Democratic Senator Bob Menedez has faced multiple calls to resign from office due to a plethora of charges in a 39-page federal indictment. Democrats have been quiet on the matter as they cling to a one-seat majority in the upper chamber. Not John Fetterman. On multiple occasions, Fetterman has forcefully demanded that Menedez resign and went so far as to troll Menendez with a video from the recently expelled George Santos. Seriously, go watch this.

Elise Stefanik: Harvard Bans ‘Cisheterosexism’ but Shrugs at Antisemitism

What constitutes bullying and harassment at Harvard? A mandatory Title IX training last year warned all undergraduate students that “cisheterosexism,” “fatphobia” and “using the wrong pronouns” qualified as “abuse” and perpetuated “violence” on campus.

But when I asked Harvard President Claudine Gay at a congressional hearing whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated the university’s rules on bullying and harassment, she answered: “It depends on the context.” Pressed further, she said it would qualify “when it crosses into conduct.” I received similar answers from the presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania.

This lack of moral clarity is shocking. If only it were surprising. In the months since Oct. 7, the mainstreaming of anti-Jewish hate has been on full display at the poisoned Ivy League and other so-called elite schools, as has the gutless lack of response from university leaders. When 34 Harvard student groups signed a statement that they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” Ms. Gay and other Harvard leaders were silent for days.

Full story at The Wall Street Journal (paywall)

Letting Hamas Control Gaza?

The Palestinian Authority is working with US officials on a plan to run Gaza after the ongoing war is over, with one of its top leaders arguing that Israel’s aim to fully defeat Hamas is unrealistic and the militant group should instead join it under a new governing structure.

Speaking to Bloomberg in his West Bank office on Thursday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said his preferred outcome of the conflict that started Oct. 7 would be for Hamas to become a junior partner under the broader Palestine Liberation Organization, helping to build a new independent state that includes the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Full story at Bloomberg (paywall)

Trending news:

• Israel could open second front in Lebanon, defense minister hints - Politico

• ‘Target list,’ ammo and conspiracy theories: Authorities reveal details on UNLV gunman who killed 3 faculty members - CNN

• RFK Jr. on 2024 White House Bid: ‘My Intention is to Spoil the Race for Both of Them’ - The Messenger

• 2 Russian intel officers charged with hacking into U.S. and British government agencies - NBC

• U.S. political ad market projected to reach record $16 billion in 2024 - Axios

• FDA approves cure for sickle cell disease, the first treatment to use gene-editing tool CRISPR - NBC

• Jonathan Haidt: I’m Worried About the Boys, Too - The Free Press

Market snapshot: