Say It Ain’t So, Joe

For most Americans of a certain age, the iconic movie Field of Dreams strikes a chord. Using baseball as a metaphor, the film extols virtue, goodness, faith, innocence, and the all-Americanism of a not-too-long-ago past.

In W.P. Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Joe, on which the movie was based, Kinsella tells the tale of the Black Sox Scandal. Eight members of the Chicago White Sox, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money. Kinsella writes of a street urchin who tugged at Shoeless Joe Jackson’s sleeve as he emerged from a Chicago courthouse. The small boy said simply, “Say it ain’t so, Joe.”

The plaintive cry of the young boy could well express the feelings of disbelief and profound sadness of our new-age jaded nation as allegations of bribery, influence peddling, corruption, and money laundering swirl around President Joe Biden.

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The mainstream media, working with high tech and social media outlets, effectively censored mention of the Hunter Biden laptop story that has been the catalyst for many of the allegations. Immediately before the 2020 election, formerly respected leaders of our nation’s intelligence community opined that the laptop was a Russian disinformation hoax. The political conspiracy influenced the outcome of the election. Over the last few years, the traditional media downplayed the story. Yet the evidence against Joe Biden is overwhelming.

In a limited-length article, I will simply note that whistleblower testimony, witnesses including business partners, documents, financial records, possible audio recordings, photos, emails, and texts make a strong case that Joe Biden has been deeply compromised by multiple foreign actors and nations. Despite Joe Biden’s repeated denials, more and more evidence is surfacing regarding then-Vice President Joe Biden’s active role in the Biden family business. As a former criminal investigator, I believe the quality, quantity, and variety of the evidence is solid.

Most of my career was spent as a Special Agent with the Department of the Treasury. I have been involved with anti-money laundering efforts for over 30 years. In the Biden case, the money trail is still being unraveled. The findings to date are shocking.

Reportedly, approximately 150 suspicious activity reports (SARs) have been filed by numerous banks detailing the Biden family’s questionable financial transactions. Dozens of shell companies and LLCs were constructed to layer and launder money to numerous Biden family members. IRS investigators have documented that influence peddling operations have enriched the First Family and their business associates in excess of $17 million. With the pending release of additional bank records, that total is sure to climb.

Logic tells us that the money could only be paid in return for access and influence. The Biden family has no business product, skill, or service other than proximity to power.

Pundits and “talking heads” often overlook the fact that corruption is a predicate offense or specified unlawful activity to charge money laundering. Unfortunately, the politicized Department of Justice allowed the statute of limitations to run out on bribery/corruption charges. Despite the White House’s claims that the DOJ did nothing to thwart the investigation, whistleblowers with first-hand access to internal deliberations make clear that the FBI and the DOJ slow-walked if not rigged the investigation in the Bidens’ favor. According to whistleblowers, certain investigative steps weren’t allowed to take place that could have led directly to President Biden.

The DOJ also decided not to prosecute Hunter Biden and other family members for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, even though it was very aggressive in using FARA to prosecute cases in other administrations.

As a former federal criminal investigator, it profoundly hurts to see our revered system of equal justice under the law trashed by political apparatchiks.

The heart of the matter is that evidence shows Joe Biden, as Vice President and possibly senator, took money from foreign business interests to influence U.S. government policy and to protect and enhance the business interests of his family and those who paid him. While President, he appears to be directly engaged in using political power to cover up and impede justice. At the same time, he is using power to persecute and prosecute his primary political rival.

This outrage feels different than others. If proved true, it could be the biggest corruption scandal in U.S. political history. More frightening still is that we will probably never know the specifics of how U.S. policy has been influenced by the millions of dollars of laundered money flowing into the Biden family.

Even the appearance of illegality, impropriety, and the cheapening of the office of the Presidency of the United States should be shocking to all.

Of course, the above alleged criminality is not happening in a vacuum. Laws pertaining to the border are ignored. Revered institutions such as the military and education have likewise seen scandals and their missions perhaps irrevocably compromised by wokeness and ineptitude. Our foreign policy is an embarrassment, and both our allies and our adversaries are laughing at us.

Biden has lost the moral credibility America once had in sermonizing to the world about the advantages of transparent democracy. Formerly stellar American corporations, Hollywood, and professional sports increasingly favor communist China rather than the United States. Biden has lost the moral credibility America once had in sermonizing to the world about the advantages of transparent democracy. Tweet This

Urban crime is spiraling out of control. Tent-city homelessness, transgender madness, the perversion of science, climate hysteria, and the growing inversion of morality are jarring. The continuing breakdown of the traditional nuclear family has had devastating results. The middle class is suffering. Social crassness is rising. Meanwhile, the president’s party and media are mostly silent or offer distractions.

The political Left has been very successful at systematically destroying governmental, societal, and cultural anchors. The result is a palatable crisis of faith in our institutions that provide the bedrock of our tranquility.

Belief in God among U.S. adults is at an all-time low. Our nation is paying the price for its growing secularization.

Meanwhile, the Church is not giving us guidance. There seems to be a reluctance to talk from the pulpit about morality, sin, and eternal punishment. Despite being the most pro-abortion president in history and publicly violating all of the Ten Commandments, self-described “good Catholic” Joe Biden is not being called out by bishops, cardinals, or the current pope.

The allegations against Joe Biden are also a metaphor for the rot in institutions that were once held in esteem. I feel like the street urchin in Kinsella’s story who can’t believe he has been let down by somebody he so much wanted to admire. In the book, when Shoeless Joe was asked by the boy whether the charge of bribery was true, he replied, “I’m afraid it is, kid.”

The boy’s innocence and belief in worldly things was broken.

Only God is constant.

Lord Jesus, I trust in You.

[Photo: President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, and Hunter Biden watch fireworks on July 4, 2023 [Credit: Getty Images])

John Cassara is a retired U.S. Treasury Special Agent. His area of expertise is anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. His most recent book is China – Specified Unlawful Activities – CCP Inc, Transnational Crime and Money Laundering. You can visit his website at www.JohnCassara.com.