THE SHOW NOTES: The Israeli Situation, Biden’s Basement Strategy, & Hunter's New Scandal

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The Biden Basement Strategy

A growing number of signs suggest that the Biden team is increasingly worried about the President’s age and stamina according to parallel stories at NBC and The Washington Post.

NBC: “Apparent to anyone paying attention is that the Biden they may remember from the Robert Bork Supreme Court confirmation hearings of 1987, or the vice presidential debate with Sarah Palin in 2008, is a different man today. His gait is less steady, his speech not as fluid. He has confused Iraq with Ukraine and Rolling Fork, Mississippi, with “Rolling Stone.” At a conference last year, he looked out at the audience and called for a congresswoman who had recently died in a car crash.” 

In response, Biden’s team is doubling down on tactics that reduce the physical toll on the nation’s oldest President. After multiple instances of stumbling on stairs, the White House is minimizing the public use of stairs and shortening staircases when appropriate. Additionally, the White House has upped the font on the teleprompter and employed note cards to keep Biden on track during press conferences.

Basement campaign: It comes as no surprise that the Biden team is doubling down on the basement strategy that candidate Biden successfully employed in 2020. The Biden campaign team plans to funnel the bulk of the 2020 campaign through the DNC claiming a tactical advantage that provides donors the ability to contribute unlimited funds. The reality is that a basement campaign that avoids the spotlight and hopes for a rematch with Donald Trump drastically reduces the campaign-related toll on an 80 year-old-president.

Hunter’s Shady Art

When Hunter Biden put his art collection for sale in the spring of 2021, the White House claimed a firewall was in place that prevented anyone from knowing the identity of the artists. This turned out to be false.

Details: Business Insider now reports that two close friends of the Biden’s who donated to the DNC and Biden’s presidential campaign purchased a portion of Hunter’s paintings. One buyer, Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, was appointed to a special commission by the White House either before or after purchasing expensive paintings from the President’s son. Hunter’s collection grossed a staggering $1.3 million from the sale with $800K coming from an individual Business Insider could not identify.

Hearing: The news comes as the DOJ has offered David Weiss, the Trump-appointed holdover US attorney tasked with investigating Hunter Biden, as a witness before the House of Representatives after substantive allegations were made regarding the politicization of the Hunter Biden investigation.

Biden Inc: When Joe Biden was Vice President, Hunter Biden dialed his father into multiple business-related calls with overseas business partners according to reports from the younger Biden’s former best friend. While then-Vice President Biden was Obama’s point person for Ukraine, Devon Archer claims that Ukrainian executives at Burisma pressured Hunter Biden to call the elder Biden to help navigate pending corruption allegations by the Ukrainian government. Devon Archer is expected to testify later this week before Congress.

Burisma bribe: Hunter Biden and Devon Archer were paid upwards of $4 million for their dealings with Bursima according to new documents. Additionally, the FBI has partially confirmed a report from a confidential source that Biden and Archer were paid an additional $5 million in bribes if then Vice President Biden protected Burisma “from all kinds of problems.”

Ukraine

Speaking of Ukraine, the Biden administration is worried that the Ukrainian counter-offensive to retake land occupied by Russia is hitting a brick wall. Russia’s strategy of diverting Ukrainian troops to fight on multiple fronts has drastically slowed the much-anticipated counter-offensive. Additionally, Russia has left a portion of Ukraine that equals the size of Florida as a landmine field that cannot be de-mined until the conflict is over.

The news comes as the Senate aims to pass a highly contested annual defense policy bill that provides substantial funding for Ukraine's military.

Related: Russia Strikes Danube Port, Escalating Attacks on Ukraine Grain Routes - NYT (paywall)

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