Trump, Paul, & biden

Paul's brother David Whelan hit back at President Trump for his comments, arguing his attitude is "disappointing" from a former president.

"I think that what President Biden did was to take care of an American who was in peril and bring home the American that he could bring home. So it's disappointing that a former president would have that sort of perspective," Whelan said.

Whelan also added that "all Americans should be happy" Griner has been freed from wrongful detention, congratulating the WNBA player and her family on her release.

Paul Whelan has been in Russian custody for over four years at a labor camp in Russia's Mordovia republic. In 2018, while President Trump was in office, the Marine veteran was arrested and convicted on charges of espionage and spying for the U.S. government, facing up to 16 years in prison.

My brother pleaded from his prison for President Trump to tweet about him during President Trump's term in office, and President Trump didn't," Whelan said on "Cavuto Live" Saturday. "And now to talk about Paul at all, it's really offensive."

The U.S. government was not engaged in Paul's case for the first two years, and not all of that is President Trump's fault. I think the government wasn't prepared to deal with wrongful detentions by nation states. They were still focused on terrorist groups and hostages, the old-fashioned sort of approach," David Whelan said.

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., also shared his criticism on Twitter Thursday. "Where is U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who has been unjustly held by Russia for far longer? Celebrities over veterans?"

This is now the second prisoner exchange where President Biden has left Paul Whelan behind," tweeted Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich. "A Marine and Michigan native, Paul has been wrongly imprisoned for 4 years. Absolutely heartbroken for the Whelan family. They deserve better."

David Whelan responded to GOP critics. Despite his own frustration with his brother's wrongful detention and continued plea to see Paul freed, Whelan called on leadership to "fix the problem rather than complain."

Hunter Biden’s legal team in disarray ahead of GOP investigations: ‘Not fully coordinating’

A Saturday Washington Post report offered some details on the legal defense team taking shape to oppose congressional Republican investigations into Hunter Biden that are expected to start once the GOP majority takes over the House in January

The article noted that the Biden defense team is "almost frantically" assembling, "not fully coordinating" and running the risk that it will "not share a unified approach" when the investigations begin.

The piece, composed by reporters Matt Viser and Michael Scherer, began by detailing "a strategy session last September" where Hunter Biden’s lawyer Kevin Morris pushed "Hunter Biden’s camp to be more aggressive" against conservatives preparing to investigate Biden over allegations of corruption.

the article mentioned fears from people involved in Biden’s team that this frantic assembly will set up a shaky defense for Biden. It stated, "The risk for Hunter Biden, and possibly for President Biden as well, is that this hodgepodge of efforts is not fully coordinating and does not share a unified approach."

According to the outlet, Biden’s legal defense is split into several distinct teams. "Hunter Biden has been working with Morris, his friend and sometime financial benefactor, and a team of researchers. The younger Biden has also hired several other lawyers — Chris Clark, who is handling a federal criminal investigation into his business dealings and other matters."

It added that Biden has "a separate attorney, Joshua A. Levy, to deal directly with the House investigators," and that there is also a separate legal strategy being developed by the "White House and the Democratic National Committee."

Some involved argue that hunter and morris should stay out of the lime light so
Democrats can focus on painting the Republican investigations as a partisan political exercise."