Feb.23

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Biden Impeachment: GOP Hopes Are Shattered

Continuing with headaches for the Republican Party, their efforts to paint the Biden family as a bunch of crooks have hit some rather large snags this week. We already had an item about how the key "witness" (in fact, the only "witness") to Hunter Biden's alleged shady dealings, Alexander Smirnov, turns out to have been full of it. His lies were so transparent that they've not only been disregarded by the Justice Department, they've also led to his indictment. Smirnov was arrested yesterday (actually, to be precise, he was re-arrested).

Since we wrote that item, there have been a number of new, and very relevant, developments:

• James Biden, brother of Joe, testified before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, and was apparently very credible in asserting that Joe Biden had nothing to do with any of his business dealings.
  
  
• Hunter Biden's attorneys revealed that the plea bargain that was very nearly signed, sealed and delivered, was torpedoed by information from the now-discredited Smirnov.
  
  
• That, in turn, means that the plea deal might come back to life. It's also possible the whole thing will be dismissed. And if the case continues, Special Counsel David Weiss might have to remove himself, since he's now overseeing two cases (Hunter Biden and Smirnov), and he is a material witness in the latter.
  
  
• Meanwhile, it turns out that Smirnov was not only lying, but that he was getting his phony information from Russian intelligence, and that he knew it. That makes him, for all intents and purposes, a Russian spy. Oh, and House Republicans were reportedly warned that Smirnov was probably a Russian operative.
  
  
• Putting several of the above puzzle pieces together, it looks like the Hunter Biden laptop might well have been a Russian disinformation operation.

In summary, the chances of a Hunter Biden trial, particularly before the presidential election, have grown much smaller. Meanwhile, the key witness that might be used in a Joe Biden impeachment has gone south, and the most infamous source of evidence appears to have done the same. Further, pressing these matters could serve to remind voters that Republican politicians are broadly in the thrall of the Russians, and more specifically that they keep falling victim to Russian spies. Even Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who was beating the impeachment drum most loudly, has backed off noticeably. This story would appear to be nearing its conclusion. (Z)