Happy Wednesday!

Today’s Brew is made with dirty Swamp water…

How Dirty was the FBI?

We did another full story yesterday on the Durham Report, called “Reacting to the Durham Report Reaction.”

But this little nugget from the report can’t be missed.

According to the Durham Report, the FBI wanted to pay Steele Dossier sub-source Igor Danchenko as a confidential human source after learning he had spent months “fabricating dirt” on Donald Trump. About $220,000 … and wanted to pay up to $300K more. The Federalist explains this was an “apparent bid” to buy his silence and “avoid further scrutiny.” Making Danchenko a Confidential Human Source (CHS) would protect him from congressional oversight.

That’s right. They wanted to spend a half a million of your dollars to keep you from the truth that Trump Russia Collusion was a lie.

Go After Their Funding and Their New Dream Headquarters

Ironically enough, money may be the only way to clean the FBI up. Rep. Jim Jordan is proposing the House hold up appropriations for the FBI until they reform. Jordan told Fox News last night, “The only way we can hold them accountable is to go after the one thing that everybody cares about: the money. That’s the only leverage we ultimately have in Congress.”

They can use more than just money. The FBI wants to build a massive new billion-dollar headquarters. In a perfect bit of symbolism, the current Hoover Building headquarters is falling apart. The Bureau is currently deciding between two sites, one in Maryland and one in Virginia. (It’s actually a rather fascinating fight between the two states. But that’s for another day.)

The House can insist not a blade of grass be moved until the FBI is restructured or replaced with something better. In fact, make it a mantra: “New Building, New Agency.”

Whoa: So Those Chinese Donors to Biden Think Tank Were Tied In With Hunter’s Deals and the CCP?

Remember the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, where Biden stashed a bunch of classified documents? (Not to be confused with his garage, where he stored classified documents along with his classic Corvette.) When that story broke a few months ago, we talked about how anonymous Chinese donors had poured millions into the Center and University of Pennsylvania.

Well, Americans for Public Trust got hold of financial records, and, as Fox News reports, “The logs show money originating from China far exceeds what was previously known or reported. Furthermore, some of the Chinese donors have ties to previous Hunter Biden business deals and others are linked to the Chinese Communist Party.”

How much money are we talking about? Chinese donations to the University of Pennsylvania, home of the Biden Penn Center, totaled at least $105 million from mid-2018 to mid-2022. According to Americans for Public Trust, the Chinese cash skyrocketed as Biden ran for President.

Trump gets a birthday card from anybody with a Russian-sounding name and he’s got a Soros-funded DA and the DOJ launching criminal investigations. So you’d think it would warrant a look-see when Chinese donors connected to the CCP and Hunter start dropping millions toward the Biden Center as Biden headed toward the White House. I mean, wasn’t the whole Crossfire Hurricane supposed to be about foreign actors trying to woo and influence a candidate and campaign?

In a brief aside, having nothing whatsoever to do with the millions poured into the Biden family from China, Joe Biden Tuesday vetoed a bipartisan bill that slapped tariffs back on Chinese solar panel imports.

But will this DOJ do anything about it?

NY Post Report: DOJ Retaliated Against IRS Whistleblower

Another breaking story answers that question. The New York Post reports that the IRS on Monday removed the “entire investigative team” that’s been investigating Hunter Biden for tax fraud. Gone. Off the case. The IRS whistleblower who claimed interference in the investigation claims the move was ordered by the DOJ and was “retaliation” for his coming forward.

IRS Commissioner David Werfel testified last month before Congress, “I can say without any hesitation there will be no retaliation for anyone making an allegation or a call to a whistleblower hotline.” The whistleblower’s lawyers say the move is not only “clearly” retaliatory but “may also constitute obstruction of a congressional inquiry.”

How’s this all tie in? Why’s the Biden DOJ anxious to mess with the IRS investigating Hunter? As the New York Post reminds us, Hunter griped in texts to his daughter found on his laptop, that he paid up to “half” his income to his father. Did Joe pay taxes on the money funneled to him by Hunter? (Whether it was 50% or 10% for The Big Guy.)

Here’s another bit that ties it all together and suggests the DOJ won’t do anything about it. The Special Counsel investigating the Biden classified documents issue, Robert Hur? Rep. Elise Stefanik noted in January when Hur was appointed that he is mentioned by name in the Inspector General report on the origins of the Trump Russia probe. When he was at the FBI, Hur “likely” had direct knowledge of the FBI’s relationship with Christopher Steele. In other words, Stefanik says, he was “in on the corrupt Steele Dossier.”

Biden’s Special Counsel was in on the corrupt Steele DOSSIER & directly cited by the DOJ Inspector General as having direct knowledge of the FBI relationship with Christopher Steele. (1/2)https://t.co/42oqpOcZm5 pic.twitter.com/17z95nj5q6

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) January 12, 2023

In keeping with our earlier theme of dodging responsibility … with a mix of “Humans do the darndest things” …

Blaming the Dog? Colorado Man Switches Seat With Dog to Try and Get Out of DUI Arrest

Man’s best friend is his dog. A dog’s best friend is his lawyer … at least in Colorado. A Colorado man was pulled over Saturday night for speeding. According to the Springfield Police Department, as cops approached his car, “the driver attempted to switch places with his dog who was in the passenger seat. He then exited the passenger side of the vehicle and claimed he wasn’t driving.” When asked if he’d been drinking, the man ran. He was soon caught and busted for DUI.

As for the pooch? Police say the dog “does not face any charges and was let go with just a warning.”

Along The Stream

The new “Conversations with Christians Engaged” podcast is up. Part Two of the series, “Life in a Post-Roe World: Supporting the Hurting.”

Al Perrotta is Managing Editor of The Stream and proud grand-uncle to Dominic, who was selected by Johns Hopkins to throw out the first pitch at tonight’s game between the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels.