During a hearing this week on the rise in antisemitism on college campuses‚ Rep. Glenn Grothman‚ R-Wis.‚ said a lack of ideological diversity contributed to the hateful educational environment endured by Jewish students since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas.  He’s right.  A recent poll found that 73% of Jewish college students and about 44% of non-Jewish students have experienced or witnessed some form of antisemitism since the beginning of the 2023-24 school year.  “Since Oct. 7‚ students who have felt comfortable with others knowing they’re Jewish decreased significantly‚” according to the poll results released jointly by the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish outreach organization Hillel International.   The poll found that‚ before Oct. 7‚ 63.7% of Jewish students surveyed said they “felt ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ comfortable‚ but now only 38.6% feel the same.”  Among those testifying Tuesday before the House Education and Workforce Committee was University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill‚ who finds herself under increasing fire from critics. Penn is one of the Ivy League schools at the center of controversy over free speech on college campuses amid the troubling increase in antisemitism‚ especially since Hamas’ terrorist attacks in Israel.   Previously‚ the existence of DEI (diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion) initiatives at Penn and on other college campuses made it look like universities actively promote safe environments for minority groups such as Jews.   Magill’s DEI statement on the University of Pennsylvania’s website‚ for example‚ reads: “Penn is a place with deep-seated values that reflect respect for all and a sincere commitment to service‚ to diversity in all its forms‚ and to creating conditions where all can thrive so we can as a Penn community have our greatest impact on the world.”  ‘Context-Dependent’ But antisemitic speech isn’t respectful of “diversity in all its forms‚” nor does speech advocating genocide promote a safe environment for Jewish students.  Rep. Elise M. Stefanik‚ R-N.Y.‚ pressed Magill at the hearing on whether “calling for the genocide of Jews violates Penn’s code of conduct when it comes to bullying and harassment.”  “If the speech becomes conduct‚ it can be harassment‚” Magill said‚ adding later: “It is a context-dependent decision‚ Congresswoman.”  Stefanik told Magill that it was the easiest yes-or-no question to answer. But Magill didn’t say “yes.”  University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill listens during her testimony Tuesday before the House Education and Workforce Committee. (Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Following backlash for her testimony‚ on Thursday morning Magill posted a video statement on X stating her intention to clarify and evaluate campus policies on free speech. She didn’t apologize.  Penn donor Ross Stevens‚ founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management‚ later withdrew a $100 million donation to protest the university’s stance on antisemitism on campus and Magill’s congressional testimony‚ Fox Business reported.  “In what world is a call for violence against Jews protected speech‚ but a belief that sex is biological and binary isn’t?” Rep. Tim Walberg‚ R-Mich.‚ asked Harvard President Claudine Gay during the hearing.   Walberg was referring to the fit thrown by Harvard’s diversity administrators after an evolutionary biologist stated on Fox News that there are only two sexes. Gay didn’t answer his question.  Double Standard At Penn‚ a clear double standard exists for protecting free speech‚ alumnus Arjunan Gnanendran told The Daily Signal. Gnanendran said he spoke on behalf of a law professor‚ Amy Wax‚ during her examination by Penn’s Faculty Senate for allegedly creating a hostile classroom environment by the way she talked about affirmative action in her course‚ “Conservative Political &; Legal Thought.”  “They’re defending the right of the pro-Palestine students to say things like ‘From the river to the sea’ and call for the genocide of Israelis‚” Gnanendran said of university administrators.   “That’s free speech‚ [but] it’s not‚ you know‚ creating a hostile environment for Jewish students?” he argued.  “But then at the same time‚ they’re saying when Professor Wax talks about racial preferences in affirmative action‚ that creates a hostile environment for students of color and she should be stripped of tenure‚” Gnanendran said. “So‚ there’s no free speech for Professor Wax‚ but there’s free speech for the pro-Palestine people who are harassing Jewish students.”  Like others interviewed for this article‚ Gnanendran is a fellow member of The Heritage Foundation’s internship program‚ called the Young Leaders Program. Their stories illustrate the existence of the ideological echo chambers at today’s colleges and universities. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)  Antisemitism on campus is another form of cancel culture from the ideological echo chambers entrenched at today’s colleges and universities‚ something Grothman alluded to during the House hearing.  For many young conservatives on-campus intimidation for their beliefs can come from all angles: peers‚ professors‚ and administrators. It’s no wonder that a new unifying issue for the Left‚ the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists‚ could result in hateful speech and behavior toward Jewish students. It already was happening to conservatives.  When some speech is protected and other speech is not‚ colleges become echo chambers for left-leaning ideology‚ where “there are things that you are prohibited from speaking about‚” Austin Gae said in an interview about the culture on his campus.  Cancel culture “is anything that represses free speech and open debate” and often is characterized by disrespect‚ said Gae‚ a senior at The George Washington University in the nation’s capital.  Indeed‚ cyberbullying‚ classroom censure‚ false narratives‚ administrative neglect‚ and social blacklists are all methods used on campus to discourage ideological diversity.  Peer-Pressured Into Silence  Gae said he became the target of cyberbullying in a class group chat after saying that then-President Donald Trump didn’t incite an “insurrection” by asking supporters at a rally near the White House to “peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard” at the Capitol on Jan. 6‚ 2021.  People who had never met him labeled him a racist homophobe during his freshman year at GWU for something that had nothing to do with race or sexuality‚ Gae said. The experience prompted him to go silent on his political beliefs for the remainder of his education.  “After that‚ I decided to not really talk to anyone on campus‚” Gae said.   Unless a person can first get to know someone else‚ and share that he is “a kind‚ real person with manners and stuff like that‚” he said‚ it’s hard to feel comfortable talking about politics on any level.  For Erin Leone‚ a junior at GWU‚ not even a history course on President Ronald Reagan was a safe space for conservative thought.   Reagan’s famous 1964 speech‚ “A Time for Choosing‚” was the subject of study for one lecture in which the professor filtered his analysis through a lens that saw the future president’s speech was “divisive and racist‚” Leone told me in an interview for The Daily Signal.   When she asked the professor for specific examples of racially divisive language in the speech‚ instead of answering the question‚ the professor called on three outspoken‚ left-leaning classmates to explain how Reagan’s words made others “afraid of black people‚” Leone said.  “Does that answer your question?” the professor asked Leone after her three peers finished yelling at her‚ she recalled.  False Narratives  In another one of Leone’s history classes‚ she said‚ a professor claimed that Catholic missionaries in Mexico “made up the Our Lady of Guadalupe apparitions to trick the Mexicans into converting to Catholicism.”   Afterward‚ Leone approached the professor with concerns that the remarks were racist toward Mexican culture and openly anti-Catholic. The professor‚ she said‚ later denied making the remarks.  “If a professor said that about Islam or Judaism‚ they should be fired‚” Leone contended.  In another situation at Penn‚ the student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian neglected to follow journalism ethics and reported allegations as fact to push a narrative that fraternities are places that harbor racism and should be removed from campus.   The student newspaper claimed that a person of color was assaulted by a Penn student‚ Nicholas Hamilton‚ at a fraternity party.   Hamilton had to go to court over the allegations and was found not guilty of assault in Philadelphia Municipal Court‚ the newspaper reported.   Administrative Neglect  At Nicholls State University in Louisiana‚ the Student Organizations and Activities Office neglected to process paperwork establishing a College Republicans chapter‚ former student Cooper Moore told The Daily Signal.  This occurred despite the university’s having a chapter of College Democrats as well as a Democratic Socialist Club‚ Moore said.  Moore served as vice president of College Republicans for the brief period the club was permitted to host activities on campus at Nicholls State. That ended‚ he said‚ when College Republicans’ “chalking campaign” during the 2020 presidential campaign resulted in a riot in which leftists called for his death and the banning of the club from campus.   On the campus quad‚ College Republicans chalked slogans such as “MAGA‚” “Vote Trump‚” and “Vote #1‚” this last a reference to a pro-life amendment on the state ballot at that time‚ Moore said.   “None of it was bigoted‚” he said. “None of it was derogatory toward the Democrats or Joe Biden or to liberal students.”  Yet the College Republicans’ chalk was washed away with mops and buckets by some of his peers‚ and the university hosted a town hall to discuss free speech on campus. In that forum‚ Nicholls State President Jay Clune neglected to take a clear stance on free speech‚ Moore said.   Nicholls State implemented a policy prohibiting “political chalk” on campus‚ he said‚ although Democrat-affiliated clubs had been doing so with no push-back from administrators.  The next day‚ Moore said‚ he had to be escorted from class by campus security because participants in a Black Lives Matter rally were yelling his name.   The university didn’t follow up to ask about his safety or mental health‚ Moore said. The only thing the school reached out about‚ he said‚ was to say that the College Republicans club was barred from campus because the necessary paperwork hadn’t been filed.  But the club did file the paperwork and the school’s Activities Office was at fault for it not being processed‚ Moore said.  Free Speech at Stake While she was at GWU‚ Leone said‚ two members of a Greek organization were shunned by their sorority sisters after someone found Instagram photos of them taken at a College Republicans event.  “Nobody would be friends with them anymore‚” Leone said of the two students‚ as if they were socially blacklisted for being conservative.  It’s the same in other student organizations‚ she said.   “The rhetoric in the groups is that‚ if someone were to not agree with [liberal ideas]‚ they’d be a horrible person‚” Leone said.   The Left has created a hostile environment on campus for those of any color‚ race‚ or creed who dissent from its Orwellian groupthink.  Since college and university administrators continue to discourage ideological diversity on campus‚ speech encouraging acts of genocide should come as no surprise.  Unless free speech‚ including dissent from the Left’s doctrines‚ is encouraged on campuses‚ our educational institutions will continue to embolden hostility that endangers those with a different view who speak out.  The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation.  Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.  The post Campus Echo Chambers Lay Groundwork for Antisemitism appeared first on The Daily Signal.

After Oct. 7‚ the public was shocked at what they saw and heard on America’s campuses.Americans knew previously they were intolerant‚ left wing‚ and increasingly nonmeritocratic.But immediately after Oct.7—and even before the response of the Israel Defense Forces—the sheer student delight on news of the mass murdering of Israeli victims seemed akin more to 1930s Germany than contemporary America.Indeed‚ not a day goes by when a university professor or student group has not spouted antisemitic hatred. Often‚ they threaten and attack Jewish students‚ or engage in mass demonstrations calling for the extinction of Israel.Why and how did purportedly enlightened universities become incubators of such primordial hatred?After the George Floyd riots in 2020‚ reparatory admissions—the effort to admit diverse students beyond their numbers in the general population—increased.Elite universities like Stanford and Yale boasted that their so-called “white” incoming student numbers had plunged to between 20% and 40%‚ despite whites making up about 70% of the general population.The abolition of the SAT requirement‚ and often the comparative ranking of high school grade point averages‚ have ended the ancient and time-proven idea of meritocracy. Brilliant high school transcripts and test scores no longer warrant admissions to so-called elite schools.One result was that the number of Jews has nosedived from 20% to 30% of Ivy League student bodies during the 1970s and 1980s to 10% to 15%.Jewish students are also currently stereotyped as “white” and “privileged”—and thus considered as fair game on campus.At the same time‚ the number of foreign students‚ especially from the oil-rich Middle East‚ has soared on campuses. Most are subsidized by their homeland governments. They pay the full‚ nondiscounted tuition rates to cash-hungry universities.Huge numbers of students have entered universities‚ who would not have been admitted by the very standards universities until recently claimed were vital to ensure their own competitiveness and prestige.Consequently‚ they are no longer the guarantors of topflight undergraduates and professionals from their graduate programs.Faculty are faced with new lose/lose/lose choices of either diminishing their course requirements‚ or inflating their grades‚ or facing charges by diversity/equity/inclusion commissars of systematic bias in their grading—or all three combined.The net result is that there are now thousands of students from abroad‚ especially from the Middle East‚ far fewer Jewish students‚ and student bodies who demand radical changes in faculty standards and course work to accommodate their unease with past standards of expected student achievement.And‚ presto‚ an epidemic of antisemitism naturally followed.In such a vacuum‚ advocacy “studies” classes proliferated‚ along with faculty to teach them.“Gender‚ Black‚ Latino‚ feminist‚ Asian‚ Queer‚ trans‚ peace‚ environmental‚ and green” studies courses demand far less from students‚ and arbitrarily select some as “oppressed” and others as “oppressors.” The former “victims” are then given a blank check to engage in racist and antisemitic behavior without consequences.Proving to be politically correct in these deductive gut-courses rather than pressed to express oneself coherently‚ inductively‚ and analytically from a repertoire of fact-based knowledge explains why the public witnesses faculty and students who are simultaneously both arrogant and ignorant.At some universities “blacklists” circulate warning “marginalized” students which professors they should avoid who still cling to supposedly outdated standards regarding exam-taking‚ deadlines‚ and absences.All these radical changes explain the current spectacle of angry students citing grievances‚ and poorly educated graduates who have had little course work in traditional history‚ literature‚ philosophy‚ logic‚ or the traditional sciences.Universities and students have plenty of money to continue the weaponization of the university‚ given their enormous tax-free endowment income. Nearly $2 trillion in government-subsidized student loans are issued without accountability or reasonable demands that they be repaid in timely fashion.Exceptions and exemptions are the bible of terrified and careerist administrators.Faced with an epidemic of antisemitism‚ university administrators now claim they can do little to curb the hatred. But privately they know should the targets of similar hatred be instead Blacks‚ gays‚ Latinos‚ or women‚ then they would expel the haters in a nanosecond.What is the ultimate result of once elite campuses giving 70-80% of their students As‚ becoming hotbeds of dangerous antisemitism‚ and watered-down curricula that cannot turn out educated students?The Ivy League and kindred‚ so-called elite campuses may soon go the way of Disney and Bud Light.They think such a crash in their reputations is impossible given centuries of accustomed stature.But the erosion is already occurring—and accelerating.At the present rate‚ a Stanford law degree‚ a Harvard political science major‚ or a Yale social science BA will soon scare off employers and the general public at large.These certificates will signify not proof of humility‚ knowledge‚ and decency‚ but rather undeserved self-importance‚ vacuousness‚ and fanaticism—and all to be avoided rather than courted. COPYRIGHT 2023 Tribune Content Agency LLC The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post How Were the Universities Lost? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A Rumble channel has been arranged by the Republican-controlled Subcommittee on Oversight under the Committee on House Administration for releasing the second batch of surveillance video from the events of January 6 at the US Capitol. Rumble was likely selected due to its commitment to free speech and anti-censorship principles. With the initial videos uploaded to the Rumble channel on December 5th‚ over 100 videos have been added so far. The initial release took place earlier on Nov. 17‚ consisting of 90 CCTV clips on the House of Representatives website. All publicly accessible CCTV footage from the day is set to make its way to the Rumble channel as part of a push for transparency. The Capitol Police’s reluctance to permit public access to its extensive CCTV footage‚ has faced criticism. Nonetheless‚ House Speaker Mike Johnson declared the commitment towards uploading “thousands of hours of footage” in an effort to rebuild the nation’s faith in their government. Though‚ in some instances‚ Johnson said that some faces would be blurred. Detractors have accused Johnson of concealing the faces to protect undercover members of law enforcement‚ an accusation the speaker denies‚ insisting upon the precautions to safeguard innocent individuals. “We want the American people to draw their own conclusions‚” Johnson said. “I don’t think partisan elected officials in Washington should present a narrative and expect that it should be seen as the ultimate truth.” “This decision will provide millions of Americans‚ criminal defendants‚ public interest organizations and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day‚ rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials‚” he said in a statement. The channel is available here. The post Free Speech Platform Rumble Is Selected To Host Publicly Available January 6th CCTV Transparency Footage appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. When in a hole – just stop digging! Not the kind‚ however‚ of common-place‚ and friendly advice‚ the Mozilla Foundation seems like it’s ready to take in‚ these days. The number of websites that‚ one way or another‚ don’t render/function correctly anymore in Mozilla’s Firefox is not exactly growing at the same pace as the browser’s loss of market share‚ but it’s now becoming concerning. That’s because Google is eating Mozilla’s lunch with the Chrome browser‚ and faced with this stark reality of the once innovative‚ exciting‚ widely-used Firefox‚ a flagship for open source‚ now steadily losing users – what does Mozilla do? Focus all its resources on new features‚ promote the browser better‚ forge partnerships to‚ as it were‚ “make Firefox great again”? (Please‚ just fix the browser‚ please – that’s what so many of us early supporters of Mozilla are saying now. But the entity behind it clearly has other plans). Bafflingly‚ no – there’s so many other things the Mozilla Foundation has decided to put on its plate – such as sticking its nose into a legal battle‚ in the hope of the Supreme Court annulling free speech laws in two US states. Namely‚ those in charge over at Mozilla have managed to add the foundation to the list of those signed under an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to obliterate legislative pro-free speech efforts in Florida and Texas. In a blog post‚ Mozilla refers to its behavior as supportive of “responsible content moderation.” Like this: Mozilla sees Texas and Florida laws as impeding on Big Tech’s ability to block‚ remove‚ or demonetize content that these social media behemoths (arbitrarily‚ to all intents and purposes‚ it bears repeating) decide to see as “legal but harmful content.” Has there ever been‚ in the whole history of the US – a more Soviet definition of a rule or law‚ than saying something is legal‚ but “harmful” – and therefore needs to be censored‚ quick? “The laws under consideration by the (Supreme) Court do not serve speech‚ but would instead destroy online communities that rely on healthy moderation. Mozilla is standing with the community and allies to call for a better future online.” That’s what Mozilla said. The post Mozilla Asks The Supreme Court To Rule Against Florida and Texas Social Media Free Speech Laws appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

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The last meal of a Tyrannosaur has been discovered for the first time in a fossil that shows a juvenile Gorgosaurus with its stomach contents in situ. The picky eater only ate the legs of two small feathered dinosaurs that were likely a popular and abundant menu item around 75 million years ago‚ and the species Citipes elegans is now best known from the fossilized stomach contents.“It feels rather unfortunate for the Citipes‚ but lucky for us‚” study co-author Dr Darla Zelenitsky of the University of Calgary told IFLScience. Zelenitsky describes the Gorgosaurus specimen as a “once in a career fossil” – though‚ it’s worth noting that her career has involved a few of these by now – because of its uniqueness as the first Tyrannosaur ever found with preserved stomach contents.    The degradation of the bones tells us that the Gorgosaurus must have died within a week of eating the Citipes legs‚ but as for what killed it? “It's pretty clear what the cause of death of the small Citipes is‚” joked co-author Dr François Therrien of the Royal Tyrrell Museum. “But as for the cause of death of the Gorgosaurus? We have no idea‚ but [it] probably did not die of indigestion."“The carcass of the dinosaur was found at the bottom of a river channel deposit‚ but that doesn't necessarily mean that it drowned in the river. It’s just that this is an ideal environment to be buried because rivers transport a lot of sediments.”Francois Therrien (right) and Darla Zelenitsky (left) with the Gorgosaurus fossil with preserved stomach contents.Image credit: Royal Tyrrell Museum of PalaeontologyThe moment of death can have a big impact on our capacity to learn about extinct animals‚ particularly when it comes to their behavior which is rarely captured in fossils. Exceptions to this have been found in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert where ancient animals sometimes died from sudden dune collapse.“Say there was a rainstorm‚ and the dunes collapsed on top of dinosaurs‚ you often get them [preserved] in these life positions‚ which is really neat‚” Continued Zelenitsky. “So you'll Oviraptors sitting on a clutch of their eggs actually brooding them. The famous specimen that's known from Mongolia was a dune collapse‚ and it's the Velociraptor and Protoceratops that are actually physically interlocked and fighting one another.” “That said‚ this specimen from Alberta‚ which is preserved in the river environment‚ does give us a good snapshot of behavior in a Tyrannosaur dinosaur‚ and that's its feeding behavior. That it was this precision eater‚ a picky eater‚ and it was off chasing after small and swift prey like Citipes.”Discovering the dietary habits of juvenile Tyrannosaurs delves into an idea Therrien and Zelentisky have been investigating about how these animals were able to dominate certain ecosystems. They argue that rather than following one dietary behavior throughout their life‚ these animals' diets changed as they got older – meaning that though they represented just one group of animals‚ they were taking up multiple positions within the food chain.Analysis of the bones in the Gorgosaurus stomach contents indicates it ate two Citipes a couple of days apart before dying.Image credit: Kohei Tanaka (University of Tsukuba) and Francois Therrien (RTMP)We know from bite marks found on fossil bones that the adults were partial to taking down big herbivores like ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs) and hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs). Adult Gorgosaurus weighed around 1‚000 kilograms (2‚200 pounds) and used their massive skulls and "killer banana" teeth to catch large prey and bite through bone – but for a long time‚ we didn't know if the juveniles (that are about a third of that weight) did the same.“Now we have evidence that the young Tyrannosaurs had a different diet from adults‚ we want to try to pinpoint if there are any other things we can say about it‚ like what type of prey did they feed upon‚ or at what exact timing did the diet change‚ and how‚” said Therrien. “The fact that Tyrannosaurs were capable of occupying different ecological niches throughout their lives was probably one of the factors that made them such successful animals that they could control their ecosystems without leaving room for other species of theropods to come in and try to carve a niche.”Occupying different ecological niches would've given Gorgosaurus the benefit of not competing for resources with its older and younger counterparts‚ and may have contributed to Tyrannosaurs eventually becoming some of the largest predatory dinosaurs in Earth's history.The study is published in the journal Science Advances.

The internet has a special place in its heart for animal stories‚ and this one is particularly heartwarming. It’s no secret that people are drawn to the charm of animals‚ whether it’s a newborn giraffe taking its first shaky steps or an otter joyfully splashing around. These moments of pure‚ unadulterated joy have a way... The post Fierce papa lion crouches down to come face to face with his baby for 1st time appeared first on Animal Channel.

On their flagship Friday morning news shows‚ the “big three” of ABC‚ CBS‚ and NBC spent nearly 12 and a half minutes (12:24) on the latest indictment facing Hunter Biden with nine new charges relating to his failure to pay taxes and instead on drugs‚ hookers‚ and vacations. While the liberal media seem increasingly comfortable with throwing Hunter overboard‚ they’ve made sure to continue sheltering his father‚ President Joe Biden. ABC’s Good Morning America had over half this tally with three full segments and a news brief for six minutes and 26 seconds. In the lead-off segment‚ chief Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas said Special Counsel David Weiss’s indictment “la[id] out chapter and verse some of the most troubling aspects of Hunter Biden’s life.” Thomas went right to the sordid details: Weiss accusing the President’s son of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes from 2016-2019. All done‚ according to Weiss‚ during a time when Biden was living in extravagant lifestyle. Prosecutors claim he spent his money “on drugs‚ escorts‚ and girlfriends‚ luxury hotels and rental properties‚ exotic cars‚ clothing…In short‚ everything but his taxes.” Those expenses include more than $600‚000 in payments to various women‚ and another $397‚000 on clothing and accessories‚ and more than $180‚000 on adult entertainment‚ including porn. Thomas was the lone network correspondent to even point out the most damning part of it all; that the Biden Justice Department finally admitted the President’s son committed crimes involving his foreign business dealings: “According to the special counsel‚ Hunter Biden earned millions of dollars from foreign entities in Ukraine‚ Romania‚ and China‚ noting his expenditures increased as his income increased‚ leading him to spend ‘wildly.’” Nonetheless‚ Thomas fretted the charges came despite Hunter having “admitted many of his shortcomings in his recent memoir‚ tying many of his poor decisions to a crack cocaine addiction that had gone out of control” with his “business dealings and personal failings have been fodder for Republicans”. Thomas also defended the President by huffing and puffing (and clearly not examining the dozens of revelations about the Biden family in recent years) that “House Republicans have launched impeachment proceedings against President Biden…without any evidence of wrongdoing”. Having previously questioned Weiss’s first case against Hunter‚ ABC chief legal analyst and NewsNation host Dan Abrams said Hunter’s “in a tough spot” as “these cases can be hard to defend” given the hard evidence prosecutors have in financial crimes. “These are very serious cases‚ and I think that President Biden‚ at some point‚ is going to have to think long and hard about the possibility of a pardon‚” he added. NBC’s Today clocked in way back in second with a single‚ three-minute-and-17-second segment from Justice correspondent Valerie Jarrett‚ the daughter of Obama confidante and Obama-Biden official Valerie Jarrett. Hunter Biden has been indicted on nine tax-related charges‚ including three felony counts‚ according to documents filed in a federal court in Los Angeles. @LauraAJarrett breaks down all the details. pic.twitter.com/LHUmeDee70 — TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 8‚ 2023 Along with co-host Savannah Guthrie stating plainly in a tease that “legal charges” are “mounting” against Hunter‚ Jarrett fretted that “a bunch of new details” are “all out in the open” that “are sure to kick up a political firestorm” as President Biden faces reelection (click “expand”): Ever since his plea deal with prosecutors fell apart over the summer‚ questions have been swirling about this investigation into Hunter Biden and where it might be going. His tax issues? They’re well known at this point‚ but now a bunch of new details all out in the open. (….) A new indictment charging Biden with failing to pay his taxes on time and‚ instead‚ spending millions of dollars on “an extravagant lifestyle.” A federal jury in Los Angeles indicting Hunter Biden on nine counts‚ including three felonies. The 56-page indictment saying Biden spent millions between 2016 and 2020‚ but “the defendant spent this money on drugs‚ escorts and girlfriends‚ luxury hotels and rental properties‚ and exotic cars and other things of a personal nature‚ in short‚ everything but his taxes.” Prosecutors laying out a devasting portrait of Hunter Biden including false business deductions. In one example‚ prosecutors alleging that Biden wired an employee money and labeled it a “golf member deposit” when‚ according to prosecutors it was “used to purchase a membership in a sex club.” (….)  President Joe Biden is not mentioned in this new indictment‚ but the allegations are sure to kick up a political firestorm. The President has held firm in his support of his son in the past.  (….) And now the possibility of his son going to trial in two places in the midst of his reelection bid.  Guthrie and Jarrett also hit on an important point some could diagnose as unseemly with the indictment spelling doom for any possible Hunter Biden testimony before Congress given any defendant’s concern of saying something that could be used against them in court. CBS Mornings also only had a single segment‚ but it clocked in even further back at two minutes and 41 seconds. That said‚ investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge had the story and thus it was free of any politicking. Herridge had a new angle as she began by revealing “Hunter Biden's legal team tried to meet with federal prosecutors earlier this week‚ but the meeting never happened.” She continued‚ noting the “sprawling indictment” was proof Weiss’s “investigation is ongoing” (click “expand”): HERRIDGE: The sprawling indictment brought by Special Counsel David Weiss‚ alleges Hunter Biden engaged in a four- year scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in federal taxes. CBS NEWS LEGAL ANALYST JESSICA LEVINSON: Hunter Biden is facing serious charges here. HERRIDGE: The President’s son is accused of taking false business reductions to reduce his tax liability. The indictment alleges he spent this money on drugs‚ escorts and girlfriends‚ luxury hotels and exotic cars. LEVINSON: One of the things I think that jumps out from the indictment is that Hunter Biden‚ allegedly knew what he was doing.  (….) HERRIDGE: The new tax charges were filed in California‚ because he lived there when the alleged crimes were committed. In a statement‚ Hunter Biden’s attorney said‚ “based on the fact the law if Hunter's name was anything other than Biden‚ the charges in Delaware and now California would not have been brought.” LEVINSON: This is what he wanted to avoid with the plea deal. He wanted to be able to avoid jail time. Herridge later concluded in part by highlighting the possibility that‚ if convicted and sentenced in full‚ Hunter Biden “could face up to 17 years in prison.” Exit question: How long before the liberal networks make this story disappear?