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Added on the 04/10/2019 09:12:39 - Copyright : AFP EN
Hunter Biden has been asked to provide information related to his work at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. He will make the disclosures as part of the DOJ tax investigation, a source involved in the process told the Associated Press. The president-elect's second son has also been asked to provide documents relating to his business dealings with China and other financial transactions. According to Business Insider it is not clear whether the younger Biden's work at the Ukrainian company is a central part of the tax investigation.
Outgoing US Attorney General Bill Barr most likely infuriated President Donald Trump even more on Monday. That's when he said he wouldn't be appointing special counsels to investigate either President-elect Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden or election fraud Business Insider reports Trump has reportedly pushed for conservative attorney Sidney Powell as a special prosecutor to investigate the matter. Powell was kicked off Trump's legal team after promoting a number of fringe conspiracy theories about election fraud. Barr's announcement signals another significant break with the president, who continues to insist the election was somehow stolen from him. If I thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool and was appropriate, I would name one. But I haven't, and I'm not going to. US Attorney General William Barr
Axios reports that President-elect Joe Biden is considering former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg to be his China ambassador. Buttigieg was one of Biden's rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. He endorsed and campaigned for Biden when he dropped out of the race. Business Insider reports that Biden promised to be tough on China during his election campaign. Axios also reported that Buttigieg is being considered for other key domestic roles. Buttigieg joined Biden's transition team in November.
CNN reports President Donald Trump's associates are making appeals to him in the hopes of obtaining pardons before he leaves office. The appeals come on the heels of Trump's decision to pardon his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Nine individuals in Trump's orbit, including Flynn and GOP operative Roger Stone, have been indicted or found guilty of various criminal conspiracies. A source says one such individual asking for a free pass is Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Recently, Giuliani has been leading the President's longshot legal battles to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Prior to the election, Giuliani was actively seeking 'oppo research' on Hunter Biden for Biden's business dealings in Ukraine.
Hong Kong (CNN) As United States President-elect Joe Biden faces an ugly, potentially contested transition, foreign policy may be the last thing on his mind. But in capitals around the world, foreign leaders are already clamoring for his attention, hoping to reset relationships and restore norms that shifted under President Donald Trump. Nowhere will there be greater opportunity for a shift than in the US-China relationship, which has deteriorated to historic lows during Trump's term in office. Over the past four years, both sides have slapped the other with trade tariffs, restricted access for tech companies, journalists and diplomats, shuttered consulates, and squared off militarily in the South China Sea.
While President Donald Trump busies himself with his apoplectic rejection of Joe Biden as president-elect, world leaders have swiftly moved on. In a sign of Biden's legitimacy, leaders of major democracies have stepped up to congratulate the President-elect Joe Biden in recent days. Doubtless salt to his wound, Trump's favorite network--Fox News--and media outlets across the board have also declared Biden the projected winner of the election. Business Insider reports that as a whole, EU leaders and even Israel and Turkey have congratulated Biden. Only Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Xing Ping, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro have yet to join in.