ABC This Week’s “Powerhouse Roundtable”, hosted this week by Martha Raddatz, discussed the indictment of Hunter Biden on tax charges. The conversation threatened to veer into “a father’s undying love” territory, but it only took former DOJ spokesperson Sarah Isgur 39 seconds to bring the discussion back into focus.
Watch as Isgur makes the case for the indictment of Hunter Biden to ABC’s viewers, with enough time to sprinkle in a “hookers and blow” reference:
SARAH ISGUR: But this is worse than the gun…
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: How serious do you think this is?
ISGUR: …because politically this is worse. Legally, frankly, both of them are pretty bad for him. There’s a reason he was going to take the plea deal. This is bad because it highlights the weakness in the Biden candidacy when it comes to the corruption issues. This is Hunter Biden taking money from foreign governments, using his father's name to get that money that nobody else without the last name Biden would have been, you know, qualified if they had Hunter's resume, and then blowing it on, you know, hookers and blow literally. That's going to be really bad to have a trial in an election year for the president when it's the money that goes to that Biden corruption.
Were it not for Isgur, the panel would consist entirely of the “a father’s love” (plus “but Trump’s criminal charges”), and “empathy for a recovering addict” narratives, as espoused by ABC Senior White House correspondent Mary Bruce, and former DNC Chair Donna Brazile, respectively.
In the case of Mary Bruce, she used “a father’s love” to later echo Team Biden’s beliefs about former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles being on the ballot. Even so, Bruce had to admit that the indictment was a “political headache”.
Likewise Brazile, started by talking about Hunter Biden’s trials and tribulations as laid out in his biography, before pointing out that the younger Biden enjoys the presumption of innocence- but ultimately conceding that “to read the indictment was blistering”.
39 seconds is clearly not enough time to get into the weeds about Burisma’s relationship with Hunter Biden, the firing of Victor Shokin, Hunter’s shrinking post-2016 Burisma compensation, or what any of that has to do with a potential impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden. However, 39 seconds was plenty of time for Isgur to lay the very basics of the case out to ABC viewers who might otherwise be walled off from that information. And she was virtually uncontested in doing so.
There was no substantive response to Isgur’s quick and devastating explanation of the significance of the indictment of Hunter Biden, both in legal and political terms. There was nothing beyond what we expect to hear a lot more of from the corporate media in the coming days and weeks: “a father’s love”, “a recovering addict”, and tons of “but Trump!”
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned segment as aired on ABC This Week on Sunday, December 10th, 2023:
MARTHA RADDATZ: Lots of different issues this week, and Mary, the president is facing a lot of criticism for all kinds of things, but he also had his son indicted on further charges this week. Tax charges. How does the White House handle it? How does President Biden-- those charges had to be very, very hard to hear, but we assume he knew they were coming.
MARY BRUCE: Yeah, and I think you have to remember, you know, anyone who knows Joe Biden, I think, knows that he responds to all of this as a father first, and not as a politician. And Joe Biden is devoted to his son, Hunter. He was by his side as he fought this horrific addiction, and I think it's hard not to think that he must be concerned about what this spotlight now may do for his son's, you know, continued recovery. I think, you know, if you set that aside and put your political hat on, sure, it's a political headache for this administration, for this campaign. They thought they were behind all of this just a couple of months ago when they thought a deal had been reached. That of course, fell apart. I don't think, you know, in talking with the campaign, that they're too worried about this. They have dealt with these issues for many years, and they certainly, I think, overall believe, you know, that Hunter isn't the one on the ballot. His legal troubles aren't on the ballot, you know, Trump's are.
SARAH ISGUR: But this is worse than the gun…
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: How serious do you think this is?
ISGUR: …because politically this is worse. Legally, frankly, both of them are pretty bad for him. There’s a reason he was going to take the plea deal. This is bad because it highlights the weakness in the Biden candidacy when it comes to the corruption issues. This is Hunter Biden taking money from foreign governments, using his father's name to get that money that nobody else without the last name Biden would have been, you know, qualified if they had Hunter's resume, and then blowing it on, you know, hookers and blow literally. That's going to be really bad to have a trial in an election year for the president when it's the money that goes to that Biden corruption.
RADDATZ: But Donna, what they say continuously is- he wouldn't have been charged if his name wasn't Biden.
DONNA BRAZILE: You know, if- I took time this summer to read Hunter’s book where he gave some of the most rawest form of description of his addiction. So if you read his book and you know what he was fighting, and you know what people with that type of addiction's fighting, you should not come- this should not come as a surprise. Yes, a lot came out in that indictment this past week. A lot came out in the book that Hunter wrote, but I -- but President Biden has not interfered with any of these investigations. Hunter has to face the music. He's not above the law just because his last name is Biden, but he should also be innocent until proven guilty just like we've said about Donald Trump. I hope that his lawyers are able to help Hunter through this, but it was blistering to read that indictment.
