Politics and corruption seem to go hand-in-glove and have been at least since Mark Antony reportedly solicited a bribe from King Herod in return for Rome propping up Herod's claim to the throne of Judea. It hasn't gotten much better since then; an old Army buddy of mine, who grew up in Arkansas in the '60s and '70s, once told me that one term as a country sheriff would set you up for life in his part of Arkansas due to the favors the position enabled you to do for key people.

It sure seems, however, like the Biden family intends to take all this to the next level, and we can learn one thing from an analysis of their shenanigans: Being vice president enables one to wield a fair amount of influence, to cash in on that influence, while not too many people are paying attention to you. That's what Joe Biden did as Barack Obama's VP; he and his family cashed in on dealings with one of America's adversaries.

 Hunter Biden informed his business associates in late 2013 that a top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader allegedly asked him to travel to China to talk about future "business opportunities," according to an email obtained and verified by Fox News Digital.

In December 2013, Biden accompanied his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, on a six-day trip around Asia that included China, South Korea and Japan. While in Beijing, Biden introduced his father to one of his Chinese business associates, who was accompanied by another associate, in the lobby of the hotel they were staying in.

"Business opportunities," indeed. And his father accompanied him, meeting those "business associates." 

During the China leg of the trip, Biden attended multiple events with his dad, including a lunch that featured some of the most powerful CCP leaders in China. On Dec. 5, Jonathan Li, the business associate who Vice President Biden was introduced to, emailed Biden asking him how his China trip was going, prompting Biden to email later that day that everything "went very well."

"Do you know former Governor of Hong Kong- C.H. Troung (sp?)," Hunter asked. "He wants me to come to HK to visit to discuss business opportunities. He sat next to Dad at lunch w/ Premiere and implied we knew each other- but I don't remember him."

"Very good, I can go with you to find out what he can do for us," Li said to Hunter.

"Troung" refers to C.H. Tung, a former governor of Hong Kong and billionaire who served as the vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) between 2005 and 2023, a former business associate of Biden confirmed to Fox News Digital.

As for what the CPPCC is:

According to a 2018 report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a U.S. government agency, the CPPCC is a "central part" of China’s United Front system, which works to "co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)."

None of this presents a pretty picture.

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So, to summarize: We have Hunter Biden, the ne'er-do-well son of the vice president, receiving a probe from a Chinese Communist Party official asking him to travel to China to talk about "business opportunities." We next have Vice President Biden, as was, dropping in while on a trip to Asia to meet this Chinese official. We have a later email from Biden praising that meeting - and then discussing more "business opportunities" with a former governor of Hong Kong, who also met the vice president and who is a key Communist Party official, offering even more "business opportunities."

The results of these meetings never resulted in even one product being manufactured or offered for sale - but somehow resulted in vast amounts of money flowing, including into the various shell corporations and bank accounts belonging to the Biden family. In a sane world, that would be called bribery.

I’m old enough to remember – barely – when the Republicans in Congress went to President Richard Nixon and told him they would have to support impeachment and conviction, for his malfeasance in the Watergate cover-up. My father made me watch those proceedings, telling me, "You're seeing history made." Those people, Barry Goldwater among them, had principles in those days. 

But that won't happen now, even though this is the very picture of high crimes and misdemeanors. Now it’s all about the side, and while the House may be able to impeach President Biden on a narrow party-line vote (assuming no Republicans defect, and I wouldn’t take that bet), the Senate will never vote for removal. Hunter Biden could walk into the Senate, bare his soul, and spend days detailing his facilitating corruption and laying the blame at the feet of "The Big Guy," complete with emails, bank records, and whatnot, and the Senate still will not vote to convict.

While this would be a clear-cut case for impeachment and removal, there just are no principles; only principals. No matter what evidence comes to light, it just isn’t going to happen.