For the life of me, I will never understand the conservative obsession with Hunter Biden, President Biden’s eldest surviving child. Their fixation borders on QAnon-lite and leads them to pick apart every aspect of his life, hoping that it will be their classified-stolen-documents-in-a-spare-bathroom moment. That only ever seems to happen to Republicans though. Oops.
The latest saga in the weird obsession comes courtesy of Republican U.S. House member Marjorie Taylor Greene, and as an added bonus, it comes with a side of potential felony! Greene was in a meeting of the House Oversight Committee yesterday and decided it would be a good idea to share leaked, non-consensual censored nude photos of Hunter Biden. Our tax dollars at work, everyone! Per The New Republic:
Greene tried to claim that Biden engaged in sex trafficking and listed payments to sex workers as a tax writeoff. As part of her argument, she held up poster-size prints of Biden’s nude photos, which were taken off his laptop.
Everyone else in the room grew visibly uncomfortable as Greene displayed photo after photo. At one point, Democrats interjected, pointing out that Greene had gone over her allotted time and warning that her actions were not appropriate. But House Oversight Chair James Comer, who has spearheaded the investigation into the Bidens, did not reprimand Greene.
The whole committee meeting was a sham that involved questioning the Hunter Biden IRS whistleblowers. Per NBC News:
The hearing before the GOP-led committee featured testimony from Gary Shapley, an agent in the IRS’ Criminal Investigation division, and Joseph Ziegler, who works in the agency’s International Tax and Financial Crime section. Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said the witnesses had “critical information” to share about the panel’s investigation into what he alleged is “the Biden family’s influence-peddling schemes.”
I think I speak on behalf of the majority of Americans when I say this: who the f*** cares?! Seriously? Who cares?! Hunter Biden has pled guilty to his tax crimes. Why are our elected officials wasting any more time on this nothing burger?! Unlike the former President, our current President hasn’t employed any of his children in any capacity while in the White House. Leave this man alone!
So let’s get back to Greene, shall we? She wasn’t content to wave around the nude photos in a committee meeting, which seems like it might be a first for the country. She had the gall to send out images of Hunter Biden, nude, to her official House mailing list as well!
So we’ve dealt with the f*** around part, now let’s get to the find out portion, shall we? What Greene did was illegal by D.C. revenge porn laws. Per DCist:
Under D.C.’s image exploitation law,[…] the publication of a sexual image of another person without their permission was formally criminalized in 2014.
Depending on how many people saw the image, the crime can be considered a misdemeanor (if it was disclosed to five or fewer people), which comes with a maximum fine of $1,000 and/or 180 days in prison, or a felony, which carries a maximum fine of $12,500 and/or three years in prison.
Well, more than five people saw those images, I’ll tell you that much. In fact, Greene may have dug her own grave here because she acknowledged that people were watching the broadcast from home before she showed the images:
So that’s D.C.’s revenge porn laws sorted, which Greene clearly violated. What about on the off-chance she sent out her email with the nude photos from her district office in Georgia, instead?
Well, I have good news and bad news, if you want Greene to face accountability. The bad news is what she did is not a felony in Georgia. The good news is it is still punishable with jail time! Per HerLawyer:
Revenge porn is an aggravated misdemeanor if the offender posts the photograph or video on any other electronic means [other than a website that distributes sexually explicit material]. This offense carries a prison sentence of up to 12 months and a $5,000 fine.
The whole thing is just sad, embarrassing for the country, and pathetic on the Republican’s part. Waving around non-consensual nudes during a shambolic committee hearing says a lot about the current state of America. I won’t hold my breath for Greene to be held accountable by either Georgia or D.C. for her performance yesterday, but man, would I be glad if she was. There has to eventually be a bottoming out to what the American people will tolerate from her, right!?
(featured image: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
