EDITOR’S NOTE, February 16, 2024: On February 15, Justice Department Counsel David Weiss indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov on two felony counts of making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record for claims made to the bureau. The charges are in relation to June 2020 FD-1023 form alleging President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden received a combined $10 million in a bribery scheme involving the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.
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The revolving door between CNN and the White House was spinning at great speeds on Tuesday’s edition of The Source with Kaitlan Collins as former communications director turned talking head Kate Bedingfield claimed that Democrats have “a really response” to the Biden-Burisma allegations. Unfortunately for CNN and Bedingfield, her main argument relied on some fake news.
Collins was discussing Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s remarks that the House may ultimately decide to open up an impeachment inquiry when she asked, “I mean, what does the White House do now, in response to this? Because, McCarthy is making clear that this is the clearest he's been that they're pursuing something like this?”
Naturally, Bedingfield began by responding that Biden will argue he is focused on “on jobs, on wages, on helping the middle-class,” but as for the actual allegations “I think, for the White House, this is something that has been an attempted attack that the Republicans have made, on Joe Biden, for five, six years now. It has been debunked by none other than Bill Barr, by Donald Trump's Justice Department.”
By “something,” Bedingfield is referring to the allegations that Joe and Hunter Biden agreed to a $10 million bribe with Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky that were revealed in an FD-1023 form recently released by Sen. Chuck Grassley.
As for the claim about Barr, Barr himself recently told The Federalist, “It’s not true. It wasn’t closed down” and that “it was sent to Delaware for further investigation.”
However, Bedingfield was not done as she proceeded to repeat herself, “And it's also, don't forget, from a communications perspective, in addition to the fact that the underlying facts have routinely been debunked, and there's been no evidence of these allegations that surfaced? From a communications perspective, this is also a really challenging argument.”
Tripling down on the use of the word “debunked,” Bedingfield continued “You sort of have to have a PhD, in Ukrainian energy payments, and, you know, how the FBI moves, you know, documents. I mean, for the average person to follow this? There's a really easy response for Democrats, which is, ‘This has been debunked by Donald Trump's Justice Department.’"
Collins ended the Biden portion of the segment by agreeing, “And I think it's important to note, I mean, we have invited the chairmen of these committees, people who are leading these investigations, and pressed them on that matter, on the lines of this that they're pursuing. And still no direct link.”
If only there was a profession out there that could investigate such things.
This segment was sponsored by LeafFilter.
Here is a transcript for the July 25 show:
CNN The Source with Kaitlan Collins
7/26/2023
9:17 PM ET
KAITLAN COLLINS: Yeah, and Kate, obviously, you just left working in President Biden's orbit. He was asked by Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich, today, about this. He clearly heard the question, but kept moving along, and did not comment on it.
I mean, what does the White House do now, in response to this? Because, McCarthy is making clear that this is the clearest he's been that they're pursuing something like this?
KATE BEDINGFIELD: Well, the White House will stay the course, which is to say, allow Kevin McCarthy, and the Republicans, Donald Trump, to continue to demonstrate that this is what they're going to focus on, while the President is going to continue to focus on jobs, on wages, on helping the middle-class.
I think, for the White House, this is something that has been an attempted attack that the Republicans have made, on Joe Biden, for five, six years now. It has been debunked by none other than Bill Barr, by Donald Trump's Justice Department.
And it's also, don't forget, from a communications perspective, in addition to the fact that the underlying facts have routinely been debunked, and there's been no evidence of these allegations that surfaced? From a communications perspective, this is also a really challenging argument.
You sort of have to have a PhD, in Ukrainian energy payments, and, you know, how the FBI moves, you know, documents. I mean, for the average person to follow this? There's a really easy response for Democrats, which is, "This has been debunked by Donald Trump's Justice Department."
COLLINS: And I think it's important to note, I mean, we have invited the chairmen of these committees, people who are leading these investigations, and pressed them on that matter, on the lines of this that they're pursuing. And still no direct link.
