Federal prosecutors are [CNN]considering charges against Hunter Biden for failing to report income and lying about his drug use when purchasing a firearm. We were warned weeks ago the investigation was narrowing to these two topics and leaving behind all the corruption involving Burisma, violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and all the rest of the questions about Hunter Biden’s international business dealings and his father’s involvement therein.
Hunter Biden is not the only Washington figure raising eyebrows. Anthony Fauci is another.
Senator Rand Paul set the stage in June when he asked Fauci during a hearing about royalty payments received by NIH scientists. From 2010 to 2016, Paul said, 1,800 NIH employees received $193 million in royalties, but NIH refused to reveal their names. This makes it impossible to determine whether there are any conflicts of interests.
For example, did scientists on vaccine review committees receive payments from vaccine manufacturers? We don’t know, because NIH won’t divulge the information. Fauci said during the hearing NIH employees are not required to disclose such information, not even on their financial statements. That’s a problem – public servants possibly on the take while making important public policy decisions and we don’t even get to know about it? I feel better already, don’t you?
As for Fauci himself, his net worth nearly doubled during the pandemic, to over $12 million dollars.
He is the federal government’s most highly paid employee – making more than the President – but what’s troubling is that part of his wealth came from prizes outside groups award to bureaucrats. Bureaucrat prizes? Who knew that was going on? Fauci received a prize worth almost a million dollars from an Israeli foundation for “speaking truth to power” and “defending science” during the Trump administration. The ins-and-outs of this have not been reported, but it raises the possibility Dr. Fauci was not following the science but was chasing the money when he contradicted himself on numerous occasions and gave the Trump administration fits. Should public servants win awards from outside groups for policy decisions the bureaucrats are supposed to be making in the public interest? That spells trouble, it seems to me. Congress should take a close look at that one and either put guardrails around the practice or eliminate it all together.
Other swamp creatures have been in the news, recently.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was slapped with a Hatch Act violation for urging viewers to vote Democrat in a magazine interview. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from participating in political campaigns.
The wife of the White House Chief of Staff just got a U.S. Special Envoy position at the State Department – nice work if you can get it. Another White House adviser has a brother who is a lobbyist. General Motors paid the lobbyist $350,000 to go after federal electric vehicle subsidies. The Energy Department is now lending General Motors $2.5 billion dollars for lithium battery production. See how this works? Pretty incestuous.
Speaking of incestuous and high net worth, how did Chelsea Clinton come to be worth $30 million? The daughter of a former president brought in $9 million for serving on the board of an Internet investment company. She earned over $600,000 as a special correspondent for NBC News eight years ago and more from another board membership. No doubt part of her wealth comes from appreciation of her ‘luxury fortress’ apartment in Manhattan, now worth $10 million. And she got all this just because she is the daughter of a former president.
No wonder Donald Trump wanted to drain the swamp. And no wonder he was run out of town for trying it.
