WTF? Why in hell did Ro Khanna send a supportive email to Biden smear merchant Bobulinski?

[highplainsdem]

An email which Bobulinski immediately turned over to Fox News, and John Roberts tweeted it. Trump supporters are crowing over this as confirmation that what Bobulinski says about the Biden family is true. Khanna did hedge a bit and says he told the NYT that he doesn't have any personal knowledge of Bobulinski's allegations, but he does vouch for Bobulinski being honorable and putting country over party.

Link to tweet

[lagomorph777]

1. Something is fishy. That is not normal behavior for Ro Khanna.

[JI7]

34. I would say it's normal and I'm not surprised at all. Haven't trusted him for a while

[George II]

56. Of the 538 members of Congress (438 House, 100 Senate), Khanna ranks #15 in net worth, and....

...he represents the second richest District in the country.

[Blue_true]

75. Neither am I. He has repeatedly shown the tendency to blow up Democratic Party efforts. nt

[Nevilledog]

2. That's fucked up

[BusyBeingBest]

3. Weird. Maybe someone needs to look more closely at Khanna if he

thinks this sleazy debt-ridden opportunist is in any way honorable. Just the fact that Bob Bobulinski immediately forwarded what was probably meant to be a private message of support to Fox News means he's a scumbag.

[JI7]

36. Remember Khanna was trying to blame Pelosi for failure

of relief bill when it's clearly McConnell's fault.

[BusyBeingBest]

37. No, I didn't know that. I do remember he was a Bernie guy, which was

fine with me because I was a Bernie gal for 2016. I sense he's mostly trying to get out in front of campaign donation or ethics issues here before someone else beats him to it.

[JonLP24]

48. I remember he followed a lot of us and invited us to a private All of US 2020 Twitter group

It was mostly used to promote Tweets and things like that but after the election he unfollowed a lot of us.

I don't mind, it seems weird to follow people for over a year then dump them. Even Amy Klobuchar still follows me.

[mr_lebowski]

4. Any confirmation as to whether this is real from Khanna?

If so ... man our side can be dumb sometimes.

[highplainsdem]

6. Nothing on either of Khanna's Twitter accounts.

[mr_lebowski]

8. Probably true then or he'd be denying it by now ...

What he said in support of this guy to the NYT was bad enough. Now this?

[BusyBeingBest]

7. Khanna may have some hinky business dealings with this guy and this is his way

of getting out in front of it and controlling the issue. I am interested to see what connections he has to this clown. Anyone who thinks the Biden family were the only Dem political contacts of this parasite are going to be surprised, I think.

[mr_lebowski]

9. That is a logical explanation for sure ...

Is anything about any of these activities that, if true, are actually illegal?

I've not followed the allegations being made TBH.

[BusyBeingBest]

10. No, nothing illegal. Just accusations that Biden

profited off foreign/Chinese business deals. (you know, what Trump family does every day with China, Turkey, etc.) Biden denies it. But this Bobulinski guy probably has burrowed through other (Dem) political circles or families in Congress trying to gain access to anyone with influence to help his "business deals". And now he's going to start spilling beans to maintain his credibility. I have no doubt the GOP/Russia is paying his debts off in exchange. Also, unless Khanna immediately says, "This guy is a tool and I have no idea what he's talking about", he's about to have a very shortened career as a Dem congressman. NO one likes a turncoat.

[mr_lebowski]

14. OTOH, painting the Bobulinski guy as some super-shady character is a bit of gamble ...

"Why were the Biden's involved with him at all if he's super-shady" type of deal.

Unless we know for sure the entire story is fabricated (which I don't imagine we do), seems to me it's risky to tear the man down outright.

That said, emails of support are taking it way too far. The interview was plenty.

[BusyBeingBest]

20. Well, honorable people don't usually do what Bobulinski is doing,

trying to smear the Bidens in the two weeks before the election. He's also up to his eyeballs in debt. He appears to be a politically-connected grifter.

[mr_lebowski]

23. Quite possibly all very true, but that's kinda my point ...

The worse you make him look, the worse it looks for people who were actually trying to do business with him.

Double-edged sword you might say.

[BusyBeingBest]

29. The way I see it, the Bidens were taken in by an unscrupulous business associate

and once they realized it, they stopped playing ball. That's pretty much where the "scandal" ends. I think most people would recognize that. Joe Biden wasn't among my top choices for nominee, but I never thought he was corrupt. I don't think anyone else really does, either.

[mr_lebowski]

33. I'm sure you're right ...

It's still a bit of a balancing act in terms of how to present what happened to the public.

[highplainsdem]

11. The second paragraph of Khanna's letter alludes to possible campaign-donation violations and

the measures to avoid those that Khanna said he took. No explanation there of why Khanna brought that up.

Now I'm wondering if Bobulinski had written to Khanna first about possibly illegal contributions to his campaign. Putting pressure on him.

I do want to see this explained.

[BusyBeingBest]

12. I think he's got some goods on Khanna and he's threatening to expose them.

[highplainsdem]

13. Possible. But if so Khanna can expose Bobulinski as a blackmailer. He might as well,

since that second paragraph of the letter raises that possibility.

[BusyBeingBest]

16. Bobulinski got his statement of support from Khanna, that was

probably all he wanted (for now) to bolster his case (as it appears no one gives a fuck). He might be contacting other Dem pols he's done business with or donated to in the past and threatening them with allegations, to make them ALSO give public statements on his behalf. Guess we'll see. He's a real sleaze merchant, isn't he?

[highplainsdem]

19. Bobulinski's a self-righteous POS.

As far as I can tell from what I've gleaned, he tried to make money off the Bidens, the deal fell through because he was very greedy (Hunter wasn't supposed to do any business with anyone else, Bobulinski would get half while others split up the other half, etc.), and he's never forgiven the Bidens for this and now wants to destroy Joe's campaign as revenge.

Plus he's in legal and financial trouble for other misdealings.

[BusyBeingBest]

21. Yep.

[UCmeNdc]

63. Political blackmail?

[Spazito]

5. Geez...

I can only hope Ro Kanna's email was hacked otherwise his kowtowing to that POS is absolutely appalling, imo.

[rusty fender]

15. Who the fuck is Ro Khanna?

And yes, I know that I can google him, but who is he

[highplainsdem]

17. Congressman from California who was Bernie's national co-chair.

[rusty fender]

26. Thanks!

That kinda ‘splains it

[SlogginThroughIt]

18. Will he be on Thom Hartman today?

[highplainsdem]

24. No idea.

[melman]

22. Why are you posting Fox crap?

[highplainsdem]

25. It's an email from a Democratic congressman.

[melman]

38. According to this Fox guy

Have you seen it in any legit media?

[Cha]

45. Has Ro Khanna Denied IT? Khanna says

"Bobulinski puts country before party & is honorable.." when he's telling obvious Lies about Joe Biden. What's up with that?

..he doesn't have any personal knowledge of Bobulinski's allegations, but he does vouch for Bobulinski being honorable and putting country over party.

[melman]

46. Has it been reported in any legit media?

No. It has not.

[Cha]

47. This news is Out.. Let us know when Ro Khanna Denies it.

[melman]

49. Personally, when I see something is on Fox and nowhere else

That makes me think it's probably bullshit. I suppose you see it differently and that is your right.



I don't really care.

[Cha]

51. Deny it all you want, melman.. Doesn't Change the FACTS..

[melman]

53. Show me where I denied anything

You can't because I didn't.


All I said was I don't take Fox's word for things. If you feel differently that is your right.


I really don't care.

[Cha]

54. Yes Ro Khanna's email to "assist" Bobulinsky

is true.

[melman]

55. According to Fox News

[George II]

57. According to Ro Khanna.

[melman]

58. Then you'll have no problem proving that with a link to a non-rightwing source

I look forward to seeing it.

[George II]

59. If I said the sky is blue on a bright, sunny warm day in July you'd say "prove it".

Thanks but no thanks.

[melman]

60. Oh that is unfortunate

Very unfortunate but not at all surprising.

[George II]

68. Yes it is, very unfortunate but not at all surprising.

Last edited Sat Oct 31, 2020, 09:13 AM - Edit history (1)

[melman]

77. 9 hours later

lol

[George II]

79. lol.........

Sorry I don't stay up until after midnight just to respond to you. I'll try to do better.

[AmericanCanuck]

67. Ro Khanna has a lot to answer to. K&R

[highplainsdem]

28. See reply 27 below.

[George II]

70. The source is Ro Khanna. It's right there in the header of the email: "From Ro Khanna".

[melman]

76. According to Fox News

[highplainsdem]

27. Tweet saying Ro Khanna's spokeswoman confirmed the authenticity of the email:

Link to tweet

[Spazito]

30. I'm glad to see this OP back....

I believe it is worthy of discussion given the disgusting behavior of Bobulinski in his attempt to smear VP Biden and his son.

[highplainsdem]

31. Me, too.

Re Bobulinski -- I've been seeing tweets wondering, as we do here at DU, just what Bobulinski had said to Khanna earlier that had Khanna defending the campaign contributions he accepted. Apparently other people think Bobulinski was pressuring Khanna in some way.

[Spazito]

35. A response from Ro Kanna regarding this email would be helpful for sure...

He certainly has been completely betrayed by Bobulinski by his handing this email over to FOX especially when Ro Kanna said this, "you have always acted honorably with me" in that email. Bobulinski's action is certainly not honorable and, hopefully, Ro Kanna will call him out otherwise it certainly will cause one to wonder why not.

[highplainsdem]

42. Definitely. And I agree Khanna probably didn't expect Bobulinski to give the email to Fox to

publish.

But no one should trust Bobulinski at all.

[George II]

71. Me three. I was going to respond earlier yesterday but was unable.

[melman]

39. Another Fox guy

[JI7]

32. Ro Khanna has done some questionable things for a while

and I don't trust him at all .

Recently on the issue of providing economic relief he went after Pelosi when the problem was McConnell who never had any intention to help.

[BlueLucy]

40. Did RoKhanna get money from this guy?

Is this quid pro quo? I remember RoKhanna criticizing Biden's policy regarding fossil fuel during the primary. He and his wife own millions in fossil fuel stock though. Biden doesn't own any stock.

[highplainsdem]

41. If you check the subthreads above starting with replies 3 and 4, you'll see mention of the second

paragraph of the letter, which is really odd without any context and is apparently answering something Bobulinski said earlier about possibly illegal campaign donations to Khanna, with Khanna responding about his campaign being careful.

[BlueLucy]

43. Exactly!

It might as well read, "Please do not tell anyone about the money your family gave me, it's a crime. In turn I will vouch for your character to anyone who asks."

[Cha]

44. KR for Exposure.. TY hpd!

[R B Garr]

50. Wow

Can’t say this is surprising, though...

[Statistical]

52. His ass needs to go. Any chance of a primary challenger in 2022?

[R B Garr]

61. It will be interesting to see if that happens.

[radius777]

62. Khanna seems to be the new Tulsi.

Though he supported Bernie previously, he always seemed fairly loyal to 'establishment' Dems as well.

But recently has taken a weird turn - almost in a Greenwald type of direction.

[betsuni]

64. +1

[JI7]

69. The same happened with Tulsi

[uponit7771]

65. Email confirmed, what an asshole !!!

[maxrandb]

66. For those old enough to remember The Godfather Part II

https://m.

[MineralMan]

72. Anyone who believes that Ro Khanna is a friend is a fool.

That, of course, is my opinion. Your opinion might differ.

[Kahuna]

73. I agree. nt

[Blue_true]

74. I am pretty much fed up with that guy.

He seems to have a tendency to throw bombs into party gatherings. He has a massive “holier” that thou vibe about him when dealing with most other democrats.

[Gothmog]

78. That was a bad move by Khanna

Why did Khanna do this?