President Biden has butchered yet another speech during which he referred to legendary rapper LL Cool J as a ‘boy’ after mispronouncing his name at the Congressional Black Caucus on Saturday night.

LL Cool J and MC Lyte received Phoenix Awards for their musical contributions at the annual ceremony in Washington DC.

While on stage, Biden, 80, said: ‘Two of the great artists of our time representing ground-breaking legacy of hip hop in America, LL Jay Cool J, uhhh…’ – as the audience laughed at his latest gaffe over the rapper’s name.

But he then added: ‘By the way that boy – that man’s got biceps bigger than my thighs’.

The footage of the speech was quickly re-posted by RNC Research on social media where commentators swiftly pointed out that referring to African Americans as ‘boy’ is widely considered a derogative term. 

On X, formerly Twitter, one user said: ‘Ohhh god make it stop PLLEASE. He’s making a total mockery of this country’.

Another accused him of being an ‘ignorant racist Democrat’.  

This is not the first time the president has found himself in hot water for using the term. 

Biden was heavily criticized earlier this year when referring to Maryland‘s first black governor Wes Moore as a ‘boy’. 

‘You got a hell of a new governor in Wes Moore, I tell ya,’ Biden told members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in February. 

‘He’s the real deal, and the boy looked like he could still play. He’s got some guns on him,’ he added.

In May he also raised eyebrows after telling a White House attendee to ‘hush up, boy’ during an event celebrating Islamic holiday Eid-al-Fitr.

The awkward exchange came as the audience member, who is believed to be a Muslim man, interrupted the president as he marked the occasion before a packed crowd.

‘You want to come and make a speech?’ Biden responded after he was heckled.

‘Hush up, boy, as my mother would say’ he continued in a mimicked Southern drawl. 

In 2019, Biden made a similar slip-up when he told a crowd on the campaign trail that he could work with all people – even those who he did not agree with.

He told how he worked with James Eastland, a Mississippi senator and plantation owner, who was an open white supremacist. Eastland resigned as a senator in 1978 and died in 1986, aged 81.

Biden said that Eastland respected him, declaring: ‘He never called me ‘boy,’ he always called me ‘son.”

Senator Cory Booker, who is black, rebuked Biden for downplaying the use of the word ‘boy’ to diminish black men.

Booker, on CNN, said it was inappropriate. ‘You don’t joke about calling black men “boys”,’ he said.

He later added that he’d had a constructive conversation with Biden about his use of the term, adding: ‘This is about him invoking a terrible power dynamic that he showed a lack of understanding or insensitivity to by invoking this idea that he was called ‘son’ by white segregationists who, yeah, they see in him their son.’

In 2021, the president also clumsily referred to Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama, who was 29 at the time, as a ‘boy’.

He told the Japanese prime minister during a press conference: ‘You’ve got a Japanese boy coming over here and guess what? He won the Masters. He won the Masters. He won the green jacket.’

Biden’s Saturday night blunder is just the latest in a long line of recent speech disasters as critics increasingly raise concerns about the president’s age and health. 

During a speech in Washington on Thursday at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 46th Annual Gala, Biden had celebrated Sister Norma Pimental, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, for her gala award.

Biden praised her for living the lessons based on the Gospel of Matthew before adding: ‘The Congressional Black Caucus embodies all those values.’

Just days ago Biden repeated the same story twice within minutes at a private fundraising event in New York, sparking further concerns about his age.

The story was one the president tells often about how events in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, and the reaction of Donald Trump, inspired him to run for the White House.

On Aug 11, 2017 white supremacists and neo-Nazis descended on the city and clashes continued into the following day.

Biden, who was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, attended a fundraising gathering hosted by food security expert Amy Goldman Fowler at her home.

According to a White House pool report of the private event he began speaking just after 4pm in a living room in front of about two dozen people.

Biden talked about his economic record and reflected on his decision to seek the presidency and ‘talked about the events of Charlottesville’ as the reason for his campaign, the report said.

‘A few minutes later, he told the story again, nearly word for word,’ the report went on.

The incidents have sparked further concern about his age and health after he seemingly wandered off a stage failing to shake hands with Brazil’s president.

When in Vietnam earlier this month, his rambling press conference was brought to a sudden end with his mic cut and jazz music playing him off the stage, like he went too long in an awards speech.

Biden was mid-flow and answering questions from journalists when he was interrupted and forced to shuffle away and head backstage.

‘We talked about stability, we talked about the Third World, excuse me, the Southern Hemisphere has access to change. It wasn’t confrontational at all….’ Biden said as he rambled on.

Suddenly, the booming voice of his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, could be heard butting in.

‘Thank you everybody. This ends the press conference. Thanks everyone,’ she said as she brought the presser to a close.

Sophie Turner stepped out with her daughter Willa in New York City on Thursday –  after accusing her ex Joe Jonas of ‘abducting’ their kids and blindsiding her with his divorce filing in explosive court documents.

The actress, 27, looked happy to be stepping out with her eldest daughter, three, amid her increasingly acrimonious split from the Jonas Brothers rocker, 34, after she claimed he lied in court documents and said a birthday row sparked the end of their marriage.

Sophie, who is suing her estranged husband so she can return with their children to the UK, wore a cropped black tee, baseball cap, joggers and sneakers as she doted on her daughter.

The star accessorized with a colorful handbag and shades – while flashing her noticeably ring-free hand,

She sweetly held her daughter’s hand and chatted with pals as she strolled – as the divorce and child custody battle ramps up, 

Earlier in the day Sophie  tried to keep a low profile as she was spotted on Thursday for the first time since she sued her estranged husband Joe.

The Game Of Thrones star was pictured exiting the St. Regis Hotel in New York City while flanked by her friend, the Australian actress Olivia de Jonge.

She stuck to a low-key all-black ensemble and covered up with large black sunglasses while making her way out of the hotel, after her ex Joe publicly lashed out at her.

The sighting also comes after reports that Sophie joined her friend Taylor Swift for a night on the town on Tuesday, when the pair enjoyed ‘martinis and caviar bumps’ at the trendy celeb haunt Temple Bar.

A source told PEOPLE that it ‘cheered [Sophie] up’ and that she enjoyed the normalcy of it all.

‘They were normal. Completely normal. Everyone was all excited, but they were normal,’ an insider recalled, adding: ‘Sophie seemed to be enjoying the night.’

Another continued: ‘Taylor is a great friend — Sophie can talk to her about anything. It cheered Sophie up to spend time with Taylor.’

Joe accused his estranged wife of ‘lying’ in her filing and clarified that their ‘children were not abducted,’ after she petitioned to have them return to the UK.

Sophie continued her all-black theme with a black baseball cap that read ‘Aspen’ in white block letters. Her long blond hair was swept back and peaked out in messy waves rolling down her back.

She covered up with black Wayfarer-style sunglasses and added a splash of color to her otherwise-muted ensemble with a small purple, green and blue handbag with a thick gold chain that she carried tucked under her arm, and she also lightened up the look with white trainers.

Sophie filed documents in US District Court for New York to petition for ‘the return of children to England,’ her home country. 

Jonas had previously filed for divorce from the actress earlier this month. 

The couple, who married in 2019, share daughters Willa and D.J., one.

In documents seen by DailyMail.com, Turner made the claim that Jonas had refused to return the children’s passports, effectively preventing them from traveling back to the UK.

In the filing, she says the exes met on September 17 to discuss a previously planned trip to the UK with her children set for September 20, but Jonas allegedly would not turn over the passports or send the children to the UK on his own.

‘Based on the Father’s express statements that he will not return the children to England and will not return the children’s passports to the Mother, on September 20, 2023, the Mother has submitted her Hague Convention Application for Return to the Central Authority for England & Wales seeking the return of the children to England,’ the filing read. 

She added that the move to the UK was not unexpected, as the couple had allegedly planned to spend an extended amount of time there in the near future.

According to Turner, she and the children expected to accompany Jonas on his US tour with the Jonas Brothers, and then when it wrapped up the entire family had planned to travel to the UK and to live at a rented property near her parents’ home.

She claimed that the move was a prelude to a full-time life in the UK, and that the couple had agreed to move their children there as their oldest Willa prepared to begin attending school. 

The X-Men actress alleged that she and Jonas toured properties from December 2022 until July of this year, when they discovered a ‘beautiful country property’ in Oxfordshire and they ‘both agreed they would purchase the property for the family’s permanent home.’

They allegedly signed a contract for the property in July and planned to finalize the sale in December of this year. 

Last year, Turner and Jonas put their Miami mansion on the market after previously buying it for $11 million.

They sold the property in August at a profit for $15 million, only after they slashed the asking price by $2 million, suggesting they may have been trying to unload it quickly.

In her filing, Turner also disputed Jonas’ claim in his divorce filing that their children had resided in Florida for six months, which would make it easier for a court in that state to decide custody matters.

She appears to allege that a fight on August 15 was a major precipitating event for their separation, and afterward the couple had agreed ‘with some hesitation’ to have the children travel to the US to accompany their father on tour, as Jonas was able to care for them during the day on dates when he was scheduled to perform.

While Jonas was on tour with his brothers, Sophie was engaged filming the new series Joan in the UK, which would have significantly impacted her ability to care for the children during the limited period that she was on set.

Unlike Jonas’ tour, which would presumably allow him some free time when he wasn’t on stage or in rehearsals, Turner would likely have had little free time while working, as film and television productions often keep actors working for long hours each day on tight schedules.

According to TMZ, the musician allegedly realized his marriage was finished after catching Turner ‘saying and/or doing something’ that irked him on their security camera. 

Early reports focused on Jonas’ alleged devotion to their children after parenting them on his own for a short period of time, but critics subsequently defended Turner, pointing out that her work required her husband to share some of the burden for a limited period, and that Jonas should not have been praised for fulfilling his parental obligations.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has fired the starting gun on a monumental battle that could lead to Joe Biden becoming the first U.S. President removed from office – but there is still a long way for Republicans to go. 

By launching a formal impeachment inquiry McCarthy has increased the chance of Biden, his son Hunter and their associates, being dragged before Congress to answer questions about allegations of corrupt foreign business dealings.

The Bidens could now have their bank records, mortgage details, emails, text messages and mobile phones subpoenaed, along with anything else Congress wants to see.  

Such impeachment inquiries into a president have been extremely rare throughout U.S. history.

What is an impeachment inquiry?

The Constitution gives Congress the power to impeach the president for treason, bribery and other ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’

An impeachment inquiry can be launched by the Speaker, or by any member of Congress who secures a majority vote for it in the House of Representatives.

In the Biden case several committees – Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means – have already been investigating allegations that he corruptly used the office of Vice President to help his son Hunter make money from deals in countries including China and Russia.

Their discoveries included that Biden repeatedly met with his son’s foreign business partners, and took him on Air Force Two trips. 

It contributed to McCarthy’s decision to announce a formal inquiry to pursue more evidence. 

The committees will now be able to hold hearings and call witnesses, who could include Hunter, his business partners, and even Joe Biden himself. 

Ultimately, the findings of the various investigating committees will be considered by the House Judiciary Committee.

What are articles of impeachment?

The Judiciary Committee will prepare articles of impeachment, which are proposed charges based on the evidence.

The Republican-led Judiciary Committee will then vote on whether to adopt the articles.

If it does, then the articles will be sent to the House, which will debate them and then vote on whether the president should face a trial on the charges.

Only a simple majority of the House – where the Republicans outnumber Democrats 222 to 212 – is needed to proceed.

If the articles did pass the House then Biden would be officially ‘impeached’. 

The ensuing trial of President Joe Biden would be held in the Senate, presided over by the Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts.

The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate to convict the President and remove him from office.

Has a President ever been successfully impeached? 

In the history of the United States so far, no President has been convicted in the Senate.

Donald Trump was impeached twice and acquitted both times in Senate trials.

Bill Clinton was impeached and acquitted on charges of perjury and obstruction relating to the Monica Lewinsky affair.  

Richard Nixon resigned before he was impeached amid the Watergate scandal.

What does the Constitution actually say about impeachment?

The United States Constitution says that the House of Representatives ‘shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that “the Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments…(but) no person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present’

Impeachment can be pursued against the president, vice president, and other government officials.

The process of impeachment started in England and it was later adopted by state governments in America.

In the U.S. Constitution it became a key plank of the system of ‘checks and balances’.

It allows Congress charges to hold executive officials to account and remove them for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.’

The wording ‘high Crimes and Misdemeanors’ was not defined further by the Founding Fathers and its meaning has long been debated.

Shocking footage shows thousands of migrants crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas – despite Joe Biden vowing to crack down on the influx.

More than 2,200 people crossed the river from Coahuila into Eagle Pass in a tactic pushed by drug lords to deliberately overwhelm U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

By tying up crucial resources, it leaves Mexico’s cartels free to carry out human trafficking and smuggling operations uninterrupted.

As midnight approached the group could be seen wading through the deep waters to reach the other side, much to the surprise of some local Mexican residents.

One could be heard on camera exclaiming how only a small portion of the group were crossing at that one moment – with hundreds more following behind. 

By the time daylight arrived, the group were being rounded up by Border Patrol as they huddled under a bridge in Eagle Pass.

The footage was shot in Piedras Negras, the Mexican town which lies directly across the river from Eagle Pass.

The flagrant breaking of immigration rules took place next to the port of entry as those crossing the border thumbed their noses at the Biden Administration.

It was March 2021 when Biden pleaded with those thinking of making the journey to the U.S. ‘do not come’ with the threat of  ‘consequences’ for those crossing illegally.

‘I can say quite clearly: Don’t come. We’re in the process of getting set up, don’t leave your town or city or community,’ Biden said.

This latest wave of migrants who are mainly Venezeulan are believed to have travelled up through Panama.

Similar scenes have been witnessed along the border with towns and federal processing centers are now at overcapacity as a crush of crossings cripples the nation.

Last week there were more than 7,000 illegal crossings across the U.S.-Mexico border on several days. 

Nearly 500 miles away from Eagle Pass in El Paso, a similar surge was experiences as 1,700 migrants crossed in a 24-hour period. 

The migrants would then line up along the border wall and surrender to officers to then claim asylum in the US.

About 500 asylum-seekers mainly from Venezuela lined up at El Paso on Monday, reported KVIA.

Over the last week the region has seen a spike in encounters with 1,200 on average coming over each day. 4,200 migrants are being housed in local hotels rather than shelters.

Across the border as a whole, as many 9,400 migrants have crossed into the US in a single 24-hour period – almost equalling figures seen in May before the end of Title 42 which saw 10,000 people come into the country each day. 

‘The way it’s being orchestrated through the cartels, I believe it’s meant to overwhelm the system. The [places] that are being impacted the most are border communities,’ former El Paso City Councilmember Claudia Rodriquez told The New York Post. 

No street releases have been made in the El Paso region unlike in California and Arizona. 

Last week, photos depicted at least three white unmarked Border Patrol buses filled with migrants parked in San Diego.

It led to several hundred people being released onto the streets. One migrant was even told by an agent: ‘You’re free to go on and do wherever you want. You’re free.’

He asked: ‘It’s no problem if I go to Chicago?’

‘You can do whatever you want,’ the official replied. 

Border Patrol in San Diego has reportedly been dealing with 20,000 migrants in custody last week – 5,000 more than facilities can manage.

It can’t accommodate more than 15,000 migrants and migrants are being released onto the streets to fend for themselves after being processed at the border.

Similar migrant releases took place in Tucson, Arizona, with agents coming across 2,000 people a day and dealing with packed shelters. 

In Texas, State Representative Eddie Morales says the migrants made the trek by hopping on trains.

‘It’s obviously a security issue, we have concerns over their safety and we need to address this in the most – expeditious manner,’ Morales said to News4SA. 

‘Under U.S. immigration laws, most non-citizens coming to our border are not eligible to remain in the United States. Asylum laws do not provide for relief solely for economic reasons or for general violence,’ U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) tweeted on Monday.

After the public health order known as Title 42 was lifted in May 11, CBP says the U.S.  ‘returned to fully enforcing Title 8 immigration authorities to expeditiously process and remove individuals who arrive at the U.S. border unlawfully and do not have a legal basis to stay.’ 

Texas Congressman also Terry Gonzales also shared similar frustrations.

‘Eagle Pass is completely overrun right now. El Paso is getting overwhelmed right now. Arizona is getting overwhelmed right now.

‘The only way we can regain control of the southern border is by enforcing the laws that are on the books. That’s exactly what the administration needs to do. That’s exactly what Congress needs to focus on.

‘All Americans deserve to feel safe in their own communities and right now they do no. A lot of folks see it on TV and they think it will never happen to them. Well I’m here to tell you it’s already happening, whether you’re in New York, whether you’re in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles.

‘These folks that are coming over illegally, they’re coming to all parts of the country. It’s only going to get worse.’

One day earlier, a cargo train filled to the brim with migrants was spotted speeding toward the Mexican border with the United States. 

Astounding footage of the FerroMex train was shot as the locomotive with hundreds in tow could be seen coming out of the Central Mexican city of Zacatecas as it made its way northbound on the 750-mile journey toward the U.S.

Container after container could be seen filled with migrants getting an easy ride as the goods train zoomed by. 

There was whistling and cheering from those on board as the group hitched a ride. Some of the travelers could even be seen hanging out from the sides of the train.

The train was headed for the U.S. southern border – where in the southwest, roughly 2 million migrants have already made their way into America in 2023. Border towns have been crushed by the influx thanks to the lax border policies of the Biden administration. 

The migrants looked to have prepared themselves for a long journey with many having erected tents and canvas over portions of the containers in a bid to shield themselves from the elements. 

The videos comes as the latest figures from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol show a rise in the number of encounters with migrants at the Southern Border.

In July there were almost 184,000 migrant crossings into the U.S. – up from 144,000 encounters with border patrol from June.

Although the figures rose on a month-by-month basis, the numbers are still well below that of previous years when in 2021 and 2022 more than 200,000 crossed into the U.S. from Mexico.

The U.S. border has seen a flood of migrants from across the world, not just Central and South American nations such as Venezuela and Mexico. There have been migrants from China and other places entering via the porous southern border.

The 2022 fiscal year saw record-breaking numbers of encounters with migrants at the Southwest border with 2,378,944 reported crossings from October to September.

In 2023, through July, there have been 1,973,092 – many of them coming as Title 42 expired.

The number of migrant crossings in August is set to exceed 230,000, according to Fox News.  

Most migrant encounters are single adults, at 64.9 percent, but almost 600,000 are individuals in a family unit and there have been 109,298 unaccompanied minors crossing the border.

Issues of overcapacity are happening all across the southern border. Along with Tucson – street releases are happening in the San Diego sector and in Santa Cruz County, California.

Texas has also been using razor wire to block migrants illegally entering as it battles a challenge from the Biden administration seeking to stop it from building a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande.

The Lone Star State has also been busing migrants to ‘sanctuary cities’ such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles in order to give border towns some relief.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott argues that Texas cities have carried the weight of illegal immigration and ‘sanctuary cities’ need to share that burden.

‘Texas has bused over 35,000 migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities,’ he wrote earlier this month on  Twitter.

‘Over 11,300 to D.C., over 13,300 to NYC, over 6,700 to Chicago, over 2,600 to Philadelphia, over 1,000 to Denver, over 480 to LA.’

 

People from the African nations of Senegal, Mauritania, Ghana, Sudan are part of the migrants who have recently made crossings into the U.S. from Mexico.

Cochise County, Arizona, is being slammed with waves of migrants bussed from other counties after crossing the border amid President Joe Biden‘s lax policies.

‘The intellectual avoidance and abandonment with intended consequences’ by those leaders in Washington, DC, reference our southern border continues to be a slippery slope for those doing everything we can to protect our quality of life here in Cochise County!’ Sheriff Mark Dannels said.

‘The migrants being released are from outside Cochise County but were bussed to Cochise County, processed and then released,’ Daniels noted in a Facebook post.

‘I applaud the local [Customs and Border Protections] agents and their leadership for doing all they legally can during this on-going crisis.’

It’s unclear exactly how many migrants the processing facilities in Tucson can accommodate or how many have been transported to other locations such as Cochise County.

The White House said President Joe Biden was just calling to check in on Hunter when he was on calls with his son’s business associates. 

‘This is part of the right-wing’s misinformation machine to try to confuse people about what the truth is,’ White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations Ian Sams told CNN on Wednesday morning.

‘The truth is that the president, as he said publicly for years, calls his family every day to check in. He calls his son every day to check in. He calls his other family members to check in to see how they are doing. He loves them. They are a tight-knit family.’ 

Hunter’s former business partner Devon Archer told the House Oversight Committee in testimony this summer that Hunter had put his father on speakerphone during business meetings about 20 times.

Sams argued those calls were personal as the White House doubled down on its pushback to Speaker Kevin McCarthy opening an impeachment inquiry into the president. The administration also sent a letter to news organizations pushing the outlets ‘to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies.’

At the time of Archer’s closed-door testimony, Democrats in the room said Archer described the calls as personal.

‘The witness indicated that Hunter spoke to his father every day, and approximately 20 times over the course of 10-year relationship, Hunter may have put his father on the phone with any number of different people, and they never once spoke about any business dealings,’ Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York said at the time. 

‘As he described it, it was all casual conversation, niceties, the weather, what’s going on. There wasn’t a single conversation about any of the business dealings that Hunter had,’ Goldman noted.

But Republican Chairman James Comer of Kentucky said Archer testified that Joe Biden ‘joined Hunter Biden’s dinners with his foreign business associates in person or by speakerphone over 20 times’ and was put on the phone to sell ‘the brand.’ 

Comer said the testimony shows ‘Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son’s business dealings and was not involved. Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family.’ 

The White House has accused Republicans of election-year politics with its impeachment inquiry.

‘The president has been in politics for a long time. I think as he would say, he has seen a lot of malarkey along the way, but this might take the cake,’ Sams told CNN. ‘He’s focused on issues that matter to the American people.’

Sams is White House point person on countering Republican accusations against the president and his family. He is part of a war room established in the White House counsel’s office specifically to deal with GOP investigations.

He noted Biden, who was vice president at the time, was calling Hunter to check in because the family was also dealing with the illness of Beau Biden, the late son of the president. Beau Biden died in 2015 of brain cancer.

‘He was checking in with Hunter during a particularly hard time, a time where the family was going through Hunter’s brother Beau’s illness. Of course the president checks in,’ Sams said.

Hunter Biden has spoken about how he relapsed into his drug and alcohol addiction after his brother died. The Biden family later held an intervention to get him to do another stint in rehab.

It was during that intervention that Joe Biden told his son: ‘I don’t know what else to do. I’m so scared. Tell me what to do.’ 

Hunter Biden did get sober but his business dealings are being investigated by House Republicans. And the impeachment inquiry – the first step in the impeachment process – will investigate whether President Biden personally benefited from his son’s work.

Biden has said he had nothing to do with Hunter’s business deals.

Speaker McCarthy, under heavy pressure from the conservative wing of his party and facing threats to his speakership, declared on Tuesday the inquiry would begin. 

‘House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct,’ McCarthy said. ‘Taken together these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption.’

‘These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption. And they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives. That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,’ he noted.

Republicans have charged Biden and his family made millions off shell companies Hunter Biden formed when his father was vice president. Hunter had business deals with an energy company in the Ukraine, received a discounted stake in a private-equity firm in China, and did consulting for a Romanian real-estate magnate.

The president has denied any involvement in his son’s business dealings. But Republicans claim at least a dozen Biden family members could be involved in a scheme to benefit financially from Biden’s public office. 

House investigators are expected to issue subpoenas for the bank records of the president and his family. The GOP also claim Biden sat in on at least 24 calls with Hunter’s business partners and was referred to as ‘the big guy’ by Hunter’s business associates. And they say Joe Biden used pseudonyms to discuss his activities related to Ukraine with his son Hunter during his time as vice president.

It’s estimated Hunter raked in $40 million through 20 shell companies and fake accounts created while Joe Biden was vice president.

President Joe Biden attended church services solo on Saturday amid son Hunter’s fresh legal woes. 

The president walked into St. Joseph on the Brandywine near his Wilmington, Delaware home shortly after 5 p.m., putting on his navy blue jacket as he strolled toward the door. 

Biden has yet to comment publicly on Hunter Biden facing three federal charges, with up to 25 years in prison, related to his purchase of a gun – allegedly lying on the form to purchase the weapon while he was addicted to drugs. 

The president didn’t take questions when he left the White House Friday for a weekend at home. 

When Biden attends church, the pool of reporters who follow him each day is kept outside the building and across the graveyard from the president. 

The president didn’t even look toward the journalists when a reporter shouted, ‘Mr. President, will you pardon your son?’ as he left church after services. 

At Friday afternoon’s briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted the president would not pardon Hunter, after Biden ignored a question on the matter, walking out of the room and shutting the door behind him. 

‘I’ve answered this question before and I was very clear. I said no,’ she said in her daily press briefing, echoing a reply she gave in July on the matter. 

The president, after making remarks at the White House on the United Auto Workers strike, kept walking out of the Roosevelt Room and out the door as reporters asked him if he would use his presidential powers to help his son.

‘That’s all I’m going to say,’ the president said as he finished his remarks on the strike.

 He ignored a shouted question on ‘will Hunter get a pardon,’ walking straight out of the room. 

Jean-Pierre on Friday wouldn’t answer a question on if the president has talked to his son since the charges were announced.

‘I’m not going to get into the conversation that the president has with his family,’ she said. 

Hunter Biden, meanwhile, is preparing to go to trial. 

His lawyer on Friday argued that the case against Hunter won’t make it to trial – but refused to say whether or not Hunter was on drugs when he purchased the gun that led to federal charges.

Attorney Abbe Lowell told ABC’s Good Morning America that the Justice Department bended to ‘political pressure’ from Republicans in Congress when it charged Hunter Biden on three felony charges for lying about his crack cocaine addiction when buying a gun in 2018.

The president’s son is now facing a maximum of 25 years in prison, but his attorney has insisted the case will be ‘dismissed’ before Hunter has to stand trial.

‘The U.S. Attorneys office has known about this for years. No charges,’ Lowell said. ‘What changed? Not the facts, not the law, but all the politics that have now come into play.’

‘The only thing that’s changed has been the political pressure put on by the Republicans in Congress and the media that supports them,’ he argued.

In the charges, two counts accuse Hunter Biden of having completed a form indicating he was not using illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018. The third count alleges he possessed a firearm while using a narcotic. 

Lowell said Hunter was not on drugs at the time he purchased the revolver. 

‘If you’re going to be specific, then be specific. If the form asks if you are a drug user on the day you buy a gun that is an issue. If it says have you ever used drugs that’s an issue. That will be played out in court,’ he said. 

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked him if the defense is going to argue Hunter ‘was not a drug user on the day he signed the form?’

‘No, our defense has multiple parts to it,’ Lowell responded. He also argued ‘I think the case will be dismissed before trial.’

Hunter Biden, in his memoir, detailed his drug use, including smoking crack cocaine. The first son talked about how he relapsed into his addiction after his brother Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. 

Video discovered on Hunter’s laptop computer shows him naked and brandishing a handgun in a hotel room in 2018, allegedly five days after buying the gun. 

But when asked if Hunter Biden was on drugs the day he purchased the gun, Lowell said: ‘I think that’s something that, if it ever gets that far, you and everybody else will see the evidence.’

He declined to be more specific. 

But he went on to rage against the Justice Department for the backing out an earlier plea bargin agreement, accusing the feds of caving to political pressure from Republicans in Congress, who have been investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign business deals and the Biden family finances.

U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by Donald Trump, is overseeing the prosecution and has been given special counsel status. 

Weiss and Hunter’s lawyers reached a plea deal in July that called for the president’s son to plead guilty in Delaware federal court to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes in return for prosecutors’ recommending probation.

A separate felony gun charge of illegally owning the Colt Cobra .38 special handgun would have been dropped in two years if Biden honored the terms of what is known as a diversion agreement. 

Lowell on Friday argued ‘there’s a deal in place that should have prevented’ the federal charges. He also argued that courts are now finding the statute used in the charges as unconstitutional.

‘The law changed,’ Lowell said. ‘But the law didn’t change in favor of the prosecution. The law changed against it because a couple of federal courts have found this gun charge to be unconstitutional.’

The plea deal, which Republicans blasted as a ‘sweetheart deal’ fell apart in a Delaware courtroom when the presiding judge started to question some of its details, including one that including would theoretically protect Hunter Biden from other tax-related crimes in the same period. 

Prosecutors said it would not. Hunter’s lawyers said it would. The agreement fell apart. The three federal charges were announced on Thursday.

Two of the counts carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years, while the third has a maximum of five years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000. 

Republicans are insisting that Biden’s son is guilty of even more felonies and that Weiss’ indictment on gun charges should just be the tip of the spear. 

On July 27, after the plea deal fell apart, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out President Biden issuing a pardon for Hunter. But it remains to be seen if the White House’s posture has changed now that Hunter faces the three new felony charges. 

Shortly before leaving office, President Bill Clinton pardoned his brother Roger for a 1985 cocaine and drug trafficking conviction for which he had already served time.

In the last weeks of his own administration, Trump pardoned a skein of friends and associates, including daughter Ivanka’s father-in-law Charles Kushner. Both Ivanka and Jared Kushner were White House advisors at the time.

The White House is not commenting on the new felony charges for the president’s son, and Biden joked he would get in ‘trouble’ if he answered press questions at the end of an economics speech later Thursday.

Still it’s a crushing blow to the president, who is running for re-election next year. Hunter’s legal issues were thought to be resolved with the plea deal and it was shocking when the agreement fell apart. 

The charges came the same week that Republicans in the House opened a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden for his alleged connections to Hunter’s business dealings and is likely to have a long-term impact on his political career. 

The First Son purchased a 0.38 Colt Cobra caliber pistol in Delaware, a state that makes any buyer answer a series of questions before they can lay their hands on a weapon. 

One from the 2018 application asks if the applicant uses or is addicted to drugs. The box is clearly checked ‘no.’

Hunter has admitted that he was addicted to crack cocaine at the time of the gun purchase. 

About two weeks later his lover and brother’s widow Hallie Biden found it ‘unlocked’ in his truck and threw it in a grocery store trash can. Its discovery sparked a police investigation. 

In addition, now-President Biden sounded close to tears in the voicemail left on Hunter’s abandoned laptop on October 15 – three days after Hunter bought the gun and lied about being a drug addict – begging him to get help.

‘It’s Dad. I called to tell you I love you. I love you more than the whole world pal,’ Joe said in the October 15 message. ‘You gotta get some help. I know you don’t know what to do, I don’t either.’

Joe Biden will not pardon his son Hunter, the White House insisted on Friday after the president ignored a question on the matter, walking out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

But White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later clarified that the president would not make such a move – echoing the answer she gave in July when she was asked about it.

‘I’ve answered this question before and I was very clear. I said no,’ she said in her daily press briefing. 

Hunter Biden faces three federal charges and 25 years in prison on charges related to his purchase of a gun.

The president, after making remarks at the White House on the United Auto Workers strike, kept walking out of the Roosevelt Room and out the door as reporters asked him if he would use his presidential powers to help his son.

Biden has not addressed the charges his son is facing. 

‘That’s all I’m going to say,’ the president said as he finished his remarks on the strike. He ignored a shouted question on ‘will Hunter get a pardon,’ walking straight out of the room. 

Jean-Pierre on Friday wouldn’t answer a question on if the president has talked to his son since the charges were announced.

‘I’m not going to get into the conversation that the President has with his family,’ she said. 

Hunter Biden, meanwhile, is preparing to go to trial. 

His lawyer on Friday argued that the case against Hunter won’t make it to trial – but refused to say whether or not Hunter was on drugs when he purchased the gun that led to federal charges.

Attorney Abbe Lowell told ABC’s Good Morning America that the Justice Department bended to ‘political pressure’ from Republicans in Congress when it charged Hunter Biden on three felony charges for lying about his crack cocaine addiction when buying a gun in 2018.

The president’s son is now facing a maximum of 25 years in prison, but his attorney has insisted the case will be ‘dismissed’ before Hunter has to stand trial.

‘The U.S. Attorneys office has known about this for years. No charges,’ Lowell said. ‘What changed? Not the facts, not the law, but all the politics that have now come into play.’

‘The only thing that’s changed has been the political pressure put on by the Republicans in Congress and the media that supports them,’ he argued.

In the charges, two counts accuse Hunter Biden of having completed a form indicating he was not using illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018. The third count alleges he possessed a firearm while using a narcotic. 

Lowell said Hunter was not on drugs at the time he purchased the revolver. 

‘If you’re going to be specific, then be specific. If the form asks if you are a drug user on the day you buy a gun that is an issue. If it says have you ever used drugs that’s an issue. That will be played out in court,’ he said. 

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked him if the defense is going to argue Hunter ‘was not a drug user on the day he signed the form?’

‘No, our defense has multiple parts to it,’ Lowell responded. He also argued ‘I think the case will be dismissed before trial.’

Hunter Biden, in his memoir, detailed his drug use, including smoking crack cocaine. The first son talked about how he relapsed into his addiction after his brother Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. 

Video discovered on Hunter’s laptop computer shows him naked and brandishing a handgun in a hotel room in 2018, allegedly five days after buying the gun. 

But when asked if Hunter Biden was on drugs the day he purchased the gun, Lowell said: ‘I think that’s something that, if it ever gets that far, you and everybody else will see the evidence.’

He declined to be more specific. 

But he went on to rage against the Justice Department for the backing out an earlier plea bargin agreement, accusing the feds of caving to political pressure from Republicans in Congress, who have been investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign business deals and the Biden family finances.

U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by Donald Trump, is overseeing the prosecution and has been given special counsel status. 

Weiss and Hunter’s lawyers reached a plea deal in July that called for the president’s son to plead guilty in Delaware federal court to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes in return for prosecutors’ recommending probation.

A separate felony gun charge of illegally owning the Colt Cobra .38 special handgun would have been dropped in two years if Biden honored the terms of what is known as a diversion agreement. 

Lowell on Friday argued ‘there’s a deal in place that should have prevented’ the federal charges. He also argued that courts are now finding the statute used in the charges as unconstitutional.

‘The law changed,’ Lowell said. ‘But the law didn’t change in favor of the prosecution. The law changed against it because a couple of federal courts have found this gun charge to be unconstitutional.’

The plea deal, which Republicans blasted as a ‘sweetheart deal’ fell apart in a Delaware courtroom when the presiding judge started to question some of its details, including one that including would theoretically protect Hunter Biden from other tax-related crimes in the same period. 

Prosecutors said it would not. Hunter’s lawyers said it would. The agreement fell apart. The three federal charges were announced on Thursday.

Two of the counts carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years, while the third has a maximum of five years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000. 

Republicans are insisting that Biden’s son is guilty of even more felonies and that Weiss’ indictment on gun charges should just be the tip of the spear. 

On July 27, after the plea deal fell apart, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out President Biden issuing a pardon for Hunter. But it remains to be seen if the White House’s posture has changed now that Hunter faces the three new felony charges. 

Shortly before leaving office, President Bill Clinton pardoned his brother Roger for a 1985 cocaine and drug trafficking conviction for which he had already served time.

In the last weeks of his own administration, Trump pardoned a skein of friends and associates, including daughter Ivanka’s father-in-law Charles Kushner. Both Ivanka and Jared Kushner were White House advisors at the time.

The White House is not commenting on the new felony charges for the president’s son, and Biden joked he would get in ‘trouble’ if he answered press questions at the end of an economics speech later Thursday.

Still it’s a crushing blow to the president, who is running for re-election next year. Hunter’s legal issues were thought to be resolved with the plea deal and it was shocking when the agreement fell apart. 

The charges came the same week that Republicans in the House opened a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden for his alleged connections to Hunter’s business dealings and is likely to have a long-term impact on his political career. 

The First Son purchased a 0.38 Colt Cobra caliber pistol in Delaware, a state that makes any buyer answer a series of questions before they can lay their hands on a weapon. 

One from the 2018 application asks if the applicant uses or is addicted to drugs. The box is clearly checked ‘no.’

Hunter has admitted that he was addicted to crack cocaine at the time of the gun purchase. 

About two weeks later his lover and brother’s widow Hallie Biden found it ‘unlocked’ in his truck and threw it in a grocery store trash can. Its discovery sparked a police investigation. 

In addition, now-President Biden sounded close to tears in the voicemail left on Hunter’s abandoned laptop on October 15 – three days after Hunter bought the gun and lied about being a drug addict – begging him to get help.

‘It’s Dad. I called to tell you I love you. I love you more than the whole world pal,’ Joe said in the October 15 message. ‘You gotta get some help. I know you don’t know what to do, I don’t either.’

Jill Biden rescues Joe from impeachment questions

By Emily Goodin, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Published: 16:32 EDT, 13 September 2023 | Updated: 16:32 EDT, 13 September 2023

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Jill Biden rescued her stony-faced husband Joe Biden from having to answer questions about impeachment at his first public appearance since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the potentially devastating inquiry.

The first lady leaned over to whisper to the president and touched his arm when reporters started shouting questions about the probe during a Cabinet room meeting to discuss Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative.

Biden looked uncomfortable under the barrage of inquiries, stared at the ceiling, and made chewing motions with his mouth, but ultimately refused to talk as reporters were led out of the room.  

His wife stepped in as the White House ramped up their war with Republicans in the investigation into foreign business deals by Biden’s son Hunter.

The Cabinet meeting was on the Bidens’ initiative ‘to end cancer as we know it.’ 

Jill Biden praised her husband’s work on the issue, telling him on Wednesday that: ‘You did good things, Joe.’

The White House, meanwhile, has doubled down on its defense of the president, blasting the impeachment inquiry as ‘baseless,’ setting up a war room to combat the investigation, and sending a memo to news organizations to encourage greater scrutiny of Republican motives.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday called the Republicans’ impeachment probe a ‘baseless inquiry that the House Republicans can’t even really defend themselves.’

Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden‘s foreign business dealings since they took control of the House in January. They are looking into whether Joe, who was vice president during the time period, personally benefited from his son’s work and if the family used Joe Biden’s official office for their personal gain.

President Biden has denied any involvement with his son’s business affairs. 

Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday that he has done nothing wrong. 

‘Republicans in Congress, right they have spent all year investigating the president, that’s what they’ve spent, and have turned up with no evidence that he did anything. I mean, that is what we heard over and over again, from their almost clear year-long investigation, and that’s because the President didn’t do anything wrong,’ she said in her daily press briefing.

The administration is also going on the offensive to address specific charges against the president. 

Earlier Wednesday, the White House said Biden was just calling to check in on Hunter when he was on calls with his son’s business associates. 

‘This is part of the right-wing’s misinformation machine to try to confuse people about what the truth is,’ White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations Ian Sams told CNN on Wednesday morning.

‘The truth is that the president, as he said publicly for years, calls his family every day to check in. He calls his son every day to check in. He calls his other family members to check in to see how they are doing. He loves them. They are a tight-knit family.’ 

Hunter’s former business partner Devon Archer told the House Oversight Committee in testimony this summer that Hunter had put his father on speakerphone during business meetings about 20 times.

At the time of Archer’s closed-door testimony, Democrats in the room said Archer described the calls as personal.

‘The witness indicated that Hunter spoke to his father every day, and approximately 20 times over the course of 10-year relationship, Hunter may have put his father on the phone with any number of different people, and they never once spoke about any business dealings,’ Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York said at the time. 

‘As he described it, it was all casual conversation, niceties, the weather, what’s going on. There wasn’t a single conversation about any of the business dealings that Hunter had,’ Goldman noted.

But Republican Chairman James Comer of Kentucky said Archer testified that Joe Biden ‘joined Hunter Biden’s dinners with his foreign business associates in person or by speakerphone over 20 times’ and was put on the phone to sell ‘the brand.’ 

Comer said the testimony shows ‘Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son’s business dealings and was not involved. Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family.’ 

The White House has accused Republicans of election-year politics with its impeachment inquiry.

‘The president has been in politics for a long time. I think as he would say, he has seen a lot of malarkey along the way, but this might take the cake,’ Sams told CNN. ‘He’s focused on issues that matter to the American people.’

Sams is White House point person on countering Republican accusations against the president and his family. He is part of a war room established in the White House counsel’s office specifically to deal with GOP investigations.

He noted Biden, who was vice president at the time, was calling Hunter to check in because the family was also dealing with the illness of Beau Biden, the late son of the president. Beau Biden died in 2015 of brain cancer.

‘He was checking in with Hunter during a particularly hard time, a time where the family was going through Hunter’s brother Beau’s illness. Of course the president checks in,’ Sams said.

Hunter Biden has spoken about how he relapsed into his drug and alcohol addiction after his brother died. The Biden family later held an intervention to get him to do another stint in rehab.

It was during that intervention that Joe Biden told his son: ‘I don’t know what else to do. I’m so scared. Tell me what to do.’ 

Hunter Biden did get sober but his business dealings are being investigated by House Republicans. And the impeachment inquiry – the first step in the impeachment process – will investigate whether President Biden personally benefited from his son’s work.

Biden has said he had nothing to do with Hunter’s business deals.

Speaker McCarthy, under heavy pressure from the conservative wing of his party and facing threats to his speakership, declared on Tuesday the inquiry would begin. 

‘House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct,’ McCarthy said. ‘Taken together these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption.’

‘These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption. And they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives. That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,’ he noted.

Republicans have charged Biden and his family made millions off shell companies Hunter Biden formed when his father was vice president. Hunter had business deals with an energy company in the Ukraine, received a discounted stake in a private-equity firm in China, and did consulting for a Romanian real-estate magnate.

The president has denied any involvement in his son’s business dealings. But Republicans claim at least a dozen Biden family members could be involved in a scheme to benefit financially from Biden’s public office. 

House investigators are expected to issue subpoenas for the bank records of the president and his family. The GOP also claim Biden sat in on at least 24 calls with Hunter’s business partners and was referred to as ‘the big guy’ by Hunter’s business associates. And they say Joe Biden used pseudonyms to discuss his activities related to Ukraine with his son Hunter during his time as vice president.

It’s estimated Hunter raked in $40 million through 20 shell companies and fake accounts created while Joe Biden was vice president.

Joe Manganiello was spotted cradling his beloved chihuahua Bubbles in the nook of his bulging biceps as he left Gold’s Gym in LA.

The incredibly buff actor held the tiny pup with one arm as he made his way back to his car following a grueling workout session.

The chiseled True Blood star, 46, wore a muscle tee with his bag slung across his torso as Bubbles crossed his paws and relaxed in his fur dad’s arm.

His sighting with Bubbles comes just over a month after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that estranged wife Sofia Vergara ‘graciously’ agreed to hand over full custody of the pup amid their ongoing divorce.

Joe rocked a logo tee with shorts, opting for a black and yellow bag.

Joe and Sofia announced their separation in July after seven years of marriage.

 The former couple did not have children together; she has a 31-year-old son from her previous marriage.

Sofia adopted Bubbles – a Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix – in 2021. 

The two have been handling their split amicably, with DailyMail.com insiders revealed Sofia ‘graciously’ allowed her estranged husband Joe to keep their pup – which he had already almost take exclusive ownership of since she adopted him. 

‘Not in a million years would Joe part ways with his dog Bubbles and Sofia is well aware of this. Joe said Sofia was gracious about him keeping Bubbles after their break-up,’ a source close to the actor told DailyMail.com exclusively. 

‘Neither one of them is bitter or out for revenge, and Sofia loves Bubbles and wants her to be happy which is precisely why she’s letting Joe have custody.

‘He said Sofia has the biggest heart and would never do anything to intentionally hurt him or Bubbles.’

They are in the process of splitting up their assets and possessions as per their prenuptial agreement. 

Despite the fact that legally Sofia is Bubbles owner, it is clear in interviews Joe’s unbreakable bond with Bubbles.

Joe has not been shy stating his affection for the tiny pup, as well as holding him in almost ever post on his Instagram.

He proudly calls himself a ‘Chihuahua dad’ and has brought Bubbles with him on red carpets and TV interviews.

In July – one day before Sofia’s 51st birthday – Joe shared a cute video of Bubbles on his 10ths birthday as he spoiled the fur baby with a puppaccino.

In 2022, he said on the Kelly Clarkson Show that his wife ‘wanted the dog but the dog wanted me.’

Their split reportedly came largely from his desire to have children.

Insiders say his close bond with Bubbles has served as almost like a parent-child relationship. 

‘Joe said he couldn’t imagine life without his dog and never knew that kind of love. In his mind, he already has a child,’ the insider said. 

‘He said if Bubbles could speak, she would say that under no circumstances would she want to be with anyone else but Joe.’

The source added: ‘When we were working on a project together overseas, Joe took Bubbles with him everywhere. On the set, to bars, restaurants.

‘He always had that little dog is in arms. He even took Bubbles to a concert. The two are inseparable.

‘The only time have I’ve seen Joe without Bubbles was when he was actually on-camera working.

‘We were overseas for months, so even back then both Joe and Sofia knew Bubbles had a favorite.’