Donald Trump Indicted in New York

[bilateralrope]

Good thing these particular fash have been undermined by their own massive incompetence, then, because what other aspiring tyrant has been dumb enough to alienate the army in the run-up to a coup attempt?

*sigh* I suppose it's a sign that American democracy must have something going for it if the first serious attempt to get rid of it since at least the 30s was carried out by a bunch of absolute morons...

I can't remember where now, but I saw where someone was saying that there was an attempt to get a riot going, but every time one of them tried to start the ball rolling, the others would accuse them of being "government agents", "Anti-Fas", or "trying to get us arrested".

That's not the lesson I'd have liked them to learn from Jan 6, but it's close enough for now.

[Zaune]

By the way, does anyone remember exactly what the Republicans want Hunter Biden arrested for in reprisal for charges being brought against Trump? Because it's been coming up a lot on Twitter.

[Broomstick]

I've asked my Trumpist friend and didn't get a clear answer. He's convinced Hunter did something illegal but what exactly is as fuzzy as a vaseline-covered camera lens.

[bobalot]

I've asked my Trumpist friend and didn't get a clear answer. He's convinced Hunter did something illegal but what exactly is as fuzzy as a vaseline-covered camera lens.

Sounds like an idiot.

[Rogue 9]

By the way, does anyone remember exactly what the Republicans want Hunter Biden arrested for in reprisal for charges being brought against Trump? Because it's been coming up a lot on Twitter.

Something something Ukrainian corruption something.

[Gandalf]

By the way, does anyone remember exactly what the Republicans want Hunter Biden arrested for in reprisal for charges being brought against Trump? Because it's been coming up a lot on Twitter.

Something something Ukrainian corruption something.

But importantly, all done in a way that differentiates it from Republicans with similar overseas dealings.

[Broomstick]

I've asked my Trumpist friend and didn't get a clear answer. He's convinced Hunter did something illegal but what exactly is as fuzzy as a vaseline-covered camera lens.

Sounds like an idiot.

He's actually quite intelligent in some respects, but he's blinded to his own political bias. He also, despite being well educated in some other areas, has a poor grasp of politics.

Fortunately, we have quite a few common interests outside of politics.

[Zaune]

Something something Ukrainian corruption something.

But importantly, all done in a way that differentiates it from Republicans with similar overseas dealings.

Oh, yeah, I remember now. Something about someone finding incriminating documents on a laptop that they acquired under questionable circumstances...

Honestly, if they're actually committed to trumping up some charges out of spite they'd have more luck trying to get Hunter on something narcotics-related, there's at least an outside chance they wouldn't have to fabricate evidence for that.

[bobalot]

They got nothing on Hunter because that laptop was obtained illegally and went through numerous hands.

[Dominus Atheos]

The big thing that the right thinks they have on Hunter Biden is that he effectively sold his last name to several Russian, Chinese, and Ukrainian businesses, especially Ukrainian energy company Burisima.

That's not actually a crime though, being hired by a company to do nothing because of who you are related to. The trump children would be serving life sentences if being hired by a company solely because of there last name was a crime.

[Solauren]

They got nothing on Hunter because that laptop was obtained illegally and went through numerous hands.

I'm surprised Hunter's laptop wasn't encrypted.
My work provided laptop is

Password to decrypt for boot up (Note - Bios password is different, and I don't have that)
Requires a password to login to windows
Another password for the VPN
Another password for the software encryption (I can now decrypt and read files beyond that needed for start up)

(After that, it's standard password/security set up I've seen any decently secured office).

[Rogue 9]

That's assuming it actually is Hunter Biden's laptop. I stopped taking the story seriously right about the time the computer repair guy said Hunter brought it into his shop in Delaware (Hunter lives in California) for repair and then never came to pick it up. Makes no sense.

[bilateralrope]

That's assuming it actually is Hunter Biden's laptop. I stopped taking the story seriously right about the time the computer repair guy said Hunter brought it into his shop in Delaware (Hunter lives in California) for repair and then never came to pick it up. Makes no sense.

The thing that came closest to convincing me that it was Hunter Biden's laptop was his lawsuit about it. Though even that comes with:

Biden’s lawyers continue to stop short of acknowledging if the laptop was actually his. “This is not an admission by Mr. Biden that Mac Isaac (or others) in fact possessed any particular laptop containing electronically stored data belonging to Mr. Biden. Rather, Mr. Biden simply acknowledges that at some point, Mac Isaac obtained electronically stored data, some of which belonged to Mr. Biden.”

[Zaune]

That's assuming it actually is Hunter Biden's laptop. I stopped taking the story seriously right about the time the computer repair guy said Hunter brought it into his shop in Delaware (Hunter lives in California) for repair and then never came to pick it up. Makes no sense.

I think the implication that Hunter was visiting his dad at the time, for extra guilt-by-association points. But either way, I'm fairly sure that if the laptop
existed at all then that computer repair guy is not being honest about how he came by the contents of its hard drive. Most likely scenario for the whole thing not being imaginary is that it developed a fault while he was visiting the family home, he took it to the repair shop and was informed that it was beyond economic repair, he paid them whatever nominal fee they charge for disposal of e-waste but the owner decided to rifle through the hard drive looking for blackmail material instead of wiping it.

[LadyTevar]

That's assuming it actually is Hunter Biden's laptop. I stopped taking the story seriously right about the time the computer repair guy said Hunter brought it into his shop in Delaware (Hunter lives in California) for repair and then never came to pick it up. Makes no sense.

I think the implication that Hunter was visiting his dad at the time, for extra guilt-by-association points. But either way, I'm fairly sure that if the laptop
existed at all then that computer repair guy is not being honest about how he came by the contents of its hard drive. Most likely scenario for the whole thing not being imaginary is that it developed a fault while he was visiting the family home, he took it to the repair shop and was informed that it was beyond economic repair, he paid them whatever nominal fee they charge for disposal of e-waste but the owner decided to rifle through the hard drive looking for blackmail material instead of wiping it.

That is not a bad theory, and one I think may be what happened.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

That's assuming it actually is Hunter Biden's laptop. I stopped taking the story seriously right about the time the computer repair guy said Hunter brought it into his shop in Delaware (Hunter lives in California) for repair and then never came to pick it up. Makes no sense.

I think the implication that Hunter was visiting his dad at the time, for extra guilt-by-association points. But either way, I'm fairly sure that if the laptop
existed at all then that computer repair guy is not being honest about how he came by the contents of its hard drive. Most likely scenario for the whole thing not being imaginary is that it developed a fault while he was visiting the family home, he took it to the repair shop and was informed that it was beyond economic repair, he paid them whatever nominal fee they charge for disposal of e-waste but the owner decided to rifle through the hard drive looking for blackmail material instead of wiping it.

That is not a bad theory, and one I think may be what happened.

If so then it's a noob move on Biden junior's part for not retaining the drive or erasing/destroying it.

[Zaune]

If so then it's a noob move on Biden junior's part for not retaining the drive or erasing/destroying it.

Not really. Committing that kind of breach of trust should by rights kill a business stone dead, because even if the perpetrator somehow managed to avoid going to jail or being sued, nobody with any sensitive data stored on their computers would ever do business with them again.

[Solauren]

If so then it's a noob move on Biden junior's part for not retaining the drive or erasing/destroying it.

Not really. Committing that kind of breach of trust should by rights kill a business stone dead, because even if the perpetrator somehow managed to avoid going to jail or being sued, nobody with any sensitive data stored on their computers would ever do business with them again.

You'd be surprised how often people forget that kind of thing (that someone screwed up) when it comes to 'I know them, they do good work'.

[LadyTevar]

If so then it's a noob move on Biden junior's part for not retaining the drive or erasing/destroying it.

Not really. Committing that kind of breach of trust should by rights kill a business stone dead, because even if the perpetrator somehow managed to avoid going to jail or being sued, nobody with any sensitive data stored on their computers would ever do business with them again.

You'd be surprised how often people forget that kind of thing (that someone screwed up) when it comes to 'I know them, they do good work'.

Especially if the problem looked to be with the hard drive.
When I finally got my old Asus to a computer tech, they were able to copy the hard drive, but gave me back the physical drive. I wonder if the tech Hunter used just gave him the copy and kept the physical.

[Rogue 9]

As I recall it, the tech business claimed that he never returned to pick up the completed work and pay at all.

[Zaune]

That also strikes me as unlikely. Trusting that your laptop is reasonably secure while in the hands of a repair shop is one thing, even if the hard drive is unencrypted: It takes a certain amount of time and effort to circumvent the login password, and quite frankly the majority of techies have better things to do with their time when they're on the clock.

Handing a laptop over and then just... forgetting to collect it, or pay for the work, when there's supposedly compromising documents on it? That seems a lot less likely, to say the least.

If this laptop ever actually existed outside the fevered imagination of the guy who claims to have fixed it, which is still very much an open question, he is almost certainly lying about how he obtained the data on it. And if there was proof that Hunter Biden was involved in anything illegal on the thing then it's now completely worthless because there's been ample opportunity to tamper with it.

[Lord Revan]

That also strikes me as unlikely. Trusting that your laptop is reasonably secure while in the hands of a repair shop is one thing, even if the hard drive is unencrypted: It takes a certain amount of time and effort to circumvent the login password, and quite frankly the majority of techies have better things to do with their time when they're on the clock.

Handing a laptop over and then just... forgetting to collect it, or pay for the work, when there's supposedly compromising documents on it? That seems a lot less likely, to say the least.

If this laptop ever actually existed outside the fevered imagination of the guy who claims to have fixed it, which is still very much an open question, he is almost certainly lying about how he obtained the data on it. And if there was proof that Hunter Biden was involved in anything illegal on the thing then it's now completely worthless because there's been ample opportunity to tamper with it.

Also there might be a case of "fruit of the poisonous tree" here for any evidence gained this way, after all if there's any doubt as to if this "evidence" was gained legally then it cannot really be used in court.

[bilateralrope]

If this laptop ever actually existed outside the fevered imagination of the guy who claims to have fixed it,

One detail about him that I've heard is that he has poor eyesight. Which would make it easier for someone to pretend to be Hunter Biden when dropping off a laptop.

[Solauren]

Realistically, Hunter probably has tech people that work for him.

People he can have someone take the laptop to, watch it get fixed and not connected to anything, and then bring it back, without them knowing just who in the organization's laptop they were working on.

Also, most tech shops see evidence that a computer is from a company (without being told it was from that company, possibly even without picking it up from said company), they won't touch it, or stop touching the second they see it. I was working on a computer that wouldn't POST (Power up On STart), got it to boot up, and then saw a 'Property of " as the default background at the login, I'd be calling that company to let them know someone dropped their computer off at a store unassociated with them company, and then the police to come and secure it.

The laptop could be stolen, or contain the kind of information corporations arrange to have people arrested over. I'd rather not spend the next 5 - 10 in jail over what someone else did, thank you very much.

Really, the entire 'Hunter Biden's laptop' thing is absolute garbage.

I bet if the documents had been released online, they'd read like a 6 year old wrote them.

[LadyTevar]

Ok.. Now that we've gone over Hunter Biden...

What's Going On With Trump?