THE SHOW NOTES: Devon Archer Speaks, Capitalism Strikes Back, & ESG By Other Names
Welcome! Out-of-control Canadian wildfires have moved into the US.
OUCH: Bud Light distributors no longer expect sales to recover from the Dylan Mulvaney disaster.
HEADLINE: After a New York Times report, the FBI investigated who had paid for a spy tool for use by the U.S. government. The FBI found it was the FBI. - NYT (paywall)
NEW: Illegal California Lab Run by Chinese Biotech Firm Contained Mice Engineered to Spread Covid - National Review
BIG MONEY: ‘Sound of Freedom’ has outgrossed ‘Mission: Impossible,’ ‘The Flash’ - CNBC
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MUST READ: The Illusion of Access
Hunter Biden sold the “illusion of access” to his then-Vice President father according to Devon Archer’s closed door testimony to the House Oversight Committee. Archer claimed that Hunter Biden included his father on at least 20 different phone calls with shady overseas business partners but stated that the elder Biden never discussed business. On two separate occasions in Paris and China, Vice President Biden dined with Hunter Biden and overseas business associates.
More: While Joe Biden was Barack Obama’s point person in Ukraine, a Ukrainian company with ties to Hunter Biden pressured the White House to request a local prosecutor be fired who was investigating corruption allegations at the company. Archer claimed that the CEO of Burisma "placed constant pressure on Hunter Biden to get help from D.C." to fire the Ukrainian prosecutor.
It worked: Just days after the pressure was applied, Joe Biden traveled to Ukraine and gave a speech claiming the government needed to fix the Ukrainian prosecutor's office and threatened to withhold $1 billion in aid. The prosecutor was fired and here’s Joe Biden telling the story.
Big picture: The Biden team has been adamant from the beginning that Joe Biden did not speak to his son about business or was involved with his son’s business partners. We now know this is not true.
Perspective: DOJ Does What Trump Was Indicted for Doing - NR
Related: Be Skeptical about Devon Archer’s House Testimony - NR (paywall)
Trump vs Biden
Despite facing two indictments with more likely on the way, Donald Trump is tied with Joe Biden in a brand new poll from The New York Times. While Democratic support has consolidated around Joe Biden, 23% of Democrats plan to vote for Robert Kennedy Jr or Marianne Williamson while 50% of Democrats would still prefer someone other than Biden.
Bad to worse: The Times poll found Joe Biden earned a shockingly low approval rating of 39%. This falls in line with yesterday’s CBS poll reporting Biden’s approval rating of just 40%. You can track all of Biden’s approval numbers through Real Clear Politics polling averages.
Bonus: Biden Needs Black Voters in Georgia. They’re Feeling Pretty Lukewarm - Bloomberg (paywall)
Trump Spending
Donald Trump and his affiliated political committees are spending more cash than they are bringing in according to financial records obtained at last night’s deadline. Trump’s joint fundraising committee raised an estimated $53.8 million in the first half of 2023 but spent $57 million with a growing percentage of spending dedicated to covering his ever-increasing legal bill.
Details: Trump’s Save America leadership PAC started the year with $105 million in cash on hand and now has less than $4 million. The group spent a staggering $21 million on legal expenses in the first half of the year and was forced to issue a highly unusual $60 million refund request to other Trump entities to remain solvent.
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