Rep Sylvia Garcia Defends Biden

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blog.com


Today, Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), one of the House managers presenting the impeachment case to the Senate, went into great detail in defending Joe Biden and his son Hunter in the Burisma-Ukraine issue.

It was President Trump's phone call to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy last July 25 that forms the basis of this impeachment. President Trump asked President Zelenskyy to investigate the alleged Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election, mentioning Crowdstrike, and also asked him to look into the Biden issue involving the firing of the prosecutor (Viktor Shokin), who was investigating Burisma, which had put Hunter Biden on its board of direetors for no discernible reason. (Well, there was one obvious reason).

Given the famous video of Joe Biden bragging to the Council on Foreign Affairs that he had gotten Shokin fired while visiting Ukraine as vice president, the obvious conclusion is that Biden was acting to protect his son.

Not so, argued Rep. Garcia. Shokin was considered corrupt, and people in the US Congress and other international bodies were complaining to Ukraine about him. Garcia argued that Biden was merely carrying out the wishes of the US government in demanding Shokin's firing,

As for Biden's son being on the Burisma board of directors, which was under investigation for corrupt practices at the time by Shokin? Just a coincidence. (My words, not hers)

I don't buy that for a minute, but even if true, Biden should have had the sense to recuse himself from such a task due to the obvious appearance of a conflict of interest. But even that is giving Biden the benefit of the doubt.

Garcia also argued that nobody in Ukraine or anywhere else had alleged any corrupt, illegal or improper actions by Hunter Biden during the time he was serving on Burisma's board. That may be so, but it is irrelevant. What is important is the mere fact that he was on the board itself. Hunter Biden has no experience in energy, Ukrainian matters, or any other field that might justify him being on the board. The younger Biden was receiving a salary from Burisma that was $50,000 a month or $80,000 a month depending on your source. Let's be real: Hunter Biden was sitting on that board (likely doing nothing-proper or improper) and getting a huge salary because he was the son of the Vice President of the United States.

It's called influence peddling.

Garcia went on to discuss the Crowdstrike story, which involved Ukrainian interests coming into possession of hacked Democrat emails and acting against the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Garcia argued that it had been conclusively proven that it was the Russians who got those emails not Ukrainians.

That may be so. Trump's defenders are not disputing the fact that Russians meddled in the 2016 election to the detriment of Clinton. The important point-the final conclusion of the Mueller investigation- is that neither Trump nor his campaign were involved or colluded with the Russians.

But was there Ukrainian meddling as well-meddling that was to Trump's detriment? Did not Alexandra Chalupa, a  DNC operative, go to the Ukrainian embassy in Washington and ask officials to dig into Trump's associates in Ukraine, specifically Paul Manafort? Mr Manafort was investigated and successfully prosecuted for his shady business dealings with Ukraine, which took place  before he briefly became Trump's campaign manager. The Kiev District Court itself said that there was Ukrainian meddling in our election by those who leaked information about Manafort's dealings. And finally, did not the then-Ukrainian ambassador write an op-ed in the Hill severely criticizing candidate Trump for comments he made relative to the Ukraine-Russia conflict?

Rep. Garcia has not only tried to explain the inexplicable and defend the indefensible. She tried to tell us that there is no elephant in the back of the room. (Biden's action in getting Shokin fired). She may have opened up a can of worms. It is my opinion that when the Republicans put on their defense, they should address Garcia's claims. I have been saying for a long time that the Republicans are not talking enough about what Joe Biden (the supposed victim) did. I say let them respond to Garcia's claims. Make Joe Biden the centerpiece of the defense. Let the TV viewers see for themselves what Biden did, how he bragged about it on video, and let the public decide as to why he did it.

In my view, there was Russian meddling and Ukrainian meddling, the latter probably being much less sophisticated. The Mueller investigation has already established that neither Trump nor his campaign were involved. However, the actions of Ms Chalupa, a DNC operative, suggest that if there was Ukrainian meddling, there was Democrat collusion with that meddling.

The fact is that Trump was within his presidential rights to ask his counterpart in Ukraine to investigate these allegations even if some might prove unfounded. But even if you think Trump's motives were personal and political (which I don't completely discount though I don't think it will be proven), the public should ask: Which is worse- Biden getting the prosecutor fired to protect his son's interests, or Trump asking the Ukrainians to investigate it?

Rep Garcia has made her assertions trying to defend Biden. She has opened the door, and the Republicans should march right through it.

Swedish Sexual Assault Stats Since 2015

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Nyheter Idag


The below article from Nyheter Idag shows statistics in reported sexual assault cases in Sweden since 2015. It shows a dramatic increase. Translation by Fousesquawk.


https://nyheteridag.se/anmalda-fall-av-sexuellt-ofredande-mot-kvinnor-och-flickor-har-okat-kraftigt-sedan-2015/

Reported cases of sexual molestation against women and girls has increased sharply since 2015

Sweden: On Thursday, the Crime Prevention Council's preliminary statistics for reported crime during 2019 were released. The statistics show that the number of sexual molestations against women and girls has increased sharply since 2015. The number of reported sexual molestations in the group of girls 15-17 has increased by 51%.

The number of reported rapes increased during 2019 by 6%  up to 8,350 reported crimes compared to the previous year. Something that Nyheter Idag earlier reported on.

The total number of reported cases of sexual molestation remained at the same level as the previous year-9,730. However, among women 18 or older, an increase of 5% was reported-to 5,294 reports.

Now Nyheter Idag has reviewed the number of reports of sexual molestation against women since 2015, five years back in time.

- Women age 18 or older: From 4,173 to 5,294. An increase of 27%.

-Girls 15-17. From 718 to 1,084. An increase of 51%.

-Girls up to 15 years of age: From 2,072 to 2,304. An increase of 11%. 2014, the first year with complete statistics from BRA, however, is extremely high-3,000.

In total, the number of reported cases of sexual molestation has more than doubled in 20 years. From 4,963 total reported cases of sexual molestation in 1999 to 10,310 cases in 2019- an increase of 108%. 

There are different theories as to why the number of reports has increased. Criminologist Nina Rung has earlier said that she believes that the tendency to make a report has increased.

After a large number of cases of sexual molestation against especially young girls were reported, the police compiled a report in 2016 in which, among other things, described that there were found cases of how groups of men surrounded a girl (who was) alone then abused them.

In at least ten cases, a lone girl was surrounded by several men (from 5-6 to a larger number) who are sometimes estimated to be 14-16 years of age. On these occasions, some have held (the girl) while others have touched her breast and body, and in one case, some have photographed the abuse.

In some cases, the perpetrators have unbuttoned the girl's pants and attempted- in certain cases-also succeeded in pulling them down before  rescue arrived. Similarly, it has occurred that several girls in a peer group have been exposed at the same time by a large gang. A few suspected offenders have been identified.

Those identified are citizens of Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia. All of the investigations in Stockholm  and Kalmar from 2014-2015 have been closed due to the difficulty in identification or  lack of evidence.
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I don't know what that crimininologist is  thinking unless she made other statements not included in the article. The cause is obvious. 2015 is the year that, thanks largely to the Syrian civil war, the number of refugees and asylum-seekers in Europe exploded. That is not to say that Syrians are  the only problem as shown by the fact that there are so many migrants from Afghanistan and Somalia. As mentioned in the article, they make up a large part of the cases, at least in Sweden.

Never Again Is Now

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com





In December 2018, I was contacted by Evelyn Markus, a Jewish Dutch emigree and daughter of Holocaust survivors. She was about to release her documentary entitled, "Never Again Is Now", about anti-Semitism. The film recounts the story of her family during the German occupation of the Netherlands and brings us up to date with the worldwide problem as it exists today including in the US.

Ms Markus had seen the video of the disruption of a pro-Israel event at UC Irvine by Students for Justice in Palestine in May 2017, which I had videotaped since I was present.  She was asking for my permission to use clips of that disruption in her film, which I readily agreed to.  I just saw the film in its entirety this week, and I urge all my readers to watch it. It features interviews with people like Ben Shapiro, Muslim apostate Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Muslim reformers Shireen Qudosi and Dr Qanta Ahmed. Unlike many depictions of today's anti-Semitism, the film does not limit the finger of blame to just right wing, white anti-Semites, but also points out the problem of anti-Semitism within Islam including among immigrant communities in Europe and anti-Israel forces on American college campuses.

This film is available on Prime Video.