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If someone had asked you five years ago whether Hunter seemed fine, you probably would have answered yes as well. He was of counsel at Boies Schiller, was co-owner of an investment company, had bounced around at various government and private lobbying posts throughout his adult life, and carried on publicly like a respectable member of a political family. But for the laptop incident, that would still be the public view of him.
Being well-connected and having sympathetic political press at your disposal is hugely beneficial for families like the Bidens. The respectability is more of an effect of people not looking too closely than actually being respectable. I would venture a guess that a deeper look at the rest of the Bidens would probably reveal more of Hunter-type behavior than you might expect.
I think you couldn’t be more wrong. Hunter’s drug addiction has been discussed for decades, it was a big rumor in 2008. I googled his name and one of the first results was a CNN article from 2014 about Hunter being kicked out of the Navy Reserve for testing positive for cocaine. His shady lobbying activities were a big deal in the 2008 campaign; Obama ultimately forced him to step down over many of Joe’s protestations. There are stories as far back as the late 1990s about Hunter. Of course a sympathetic press is a boon, but the truth is usually printed somewhere.
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