The mix-up "sounds more like a storyline from one of the 1980’s Police Academy comedies than what should be expected in a high-profile prosecution,” Biden’s attorney wrote.

Federal prosecutors mistakenly claimed in a court filing that a photo of sawdust they found while searching Hunter Biden’s electronics was cocaine, attorneys for the president’s son said Tuesday.

The sawdust picture was used in a court filing detailing incriminating information that prosecutors said they turned up while executing a search warrant of Biden’s laptop and electronics, but his legal team said in court papers that the picture was sent to their client by his then-psychiatrist as inspiration.

The picture shows three lines of yellow dust on a piece of wood near some other dust. The psychiatrist sent the picture to Biden in 2018, saying it was "lines of sawdust sent to me by a master carpenter who was a coke addict.”

Biden’s attorneys said the message and picture were “meant to convey that Mr. Biden, too, could overcome any addiction” and used the apparent mix-up to mock prosecutors.

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    The picture from the article.

    Yes, that’s a table saw in the mirror. (Edit: or is that a picture frame? Whatever the picture has a table saw.)

      • ikidd@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Maybe the really good stuff that they use is brown. Us plebs just get the white shit.

      • Oderus@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        They could have said it was heroin… cause that can be brown but no, they say cocaine which is clearly wrong.

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            one of my earliest clients working contract security, ran a paid parking lot. this was ages ago, i was the onsite guard for it, one of my things was walking the lots making sure everyone was paid.

            There was this idiot in a Jag. parked. started walking off to the strip club next door. I see him walk by me and I warn him. he gets Entitled-Rich-Dude (with a side of Horny-College-Kid. ProTip. Minivans are better for sex in the car. more room. better seating… better suspension.) he stalks off without paying so I slap a stupid “you owe us” ticket- its not even a city ticket… and we’re not going to send it to collection (the lawyers fee costs more than it’s worth.)

            Anyhow, he had this proximity alarm thing that sounds off if you get too close. “warning this car has a proximity alarm! it will sound in…”… well, I ignore it, slap the ticket on and go about my job. Turns out the ticket on the windshield is enough to set off the proximity alarm. It was sounding for a couple hours.

            his battery drains because the alarm is constantly going off. When he comes out, the thing won’t start. he sees the ticket and calls the cops.

            Says I vandalized my his Jag. I see the cops doing their bored questioning thing, so I walk out and basically make sure they see me. One comes over to ask what’s up. So I explained all that. “all i did was put the ticket on. His proximity alarm must have tripped.” “Proximity Alarm?” the cop asks. “yeah. You know those things from the 90’s that are like 'step away from the vehicle…” “So… those are illegal.” (because noise nuisance.) He looked rather happy at that. And up the hill, you could hear this guy making demands of the partner to arrest me. the cop is trying to be “nice” because Entitled Rich Fucks are annoying. The cops basically told him to call for a jump, but ERG “knows PeOpLe”

            Any how, after a moment, I say to the cop that had been talking with me, who absolutely doesn’t want to bail his partner out “So, I couldn’t help but notice, there’s a baggie sack covered in suspicious white powder on front passenger seat.”

            My cop walks up and looks in the window. They ask him to open the car. (“There’s a baggie with a suspicious white powder. We have probable cause…”)

            So the other cop sees this, raises an eyebrow. when he figures out what’s going on… the guy gets a rather evil gleam in his eye.

            They start that process over hostess powdered donuts. just to piss the rich fuck off. Ended up citing him for the proximity alarm and left it at that, but not before they searched his car.

            (who the fuck drives a jag and then has powdered sugar donuts in it? Ew. that shit gets everywhere.)

              • NoSpiritAnimal@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                Not the Cops trying to falsify evidence because they can’t be bothered to stand up to an asshole with connections.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  It didn’t sound like they were falsifying anything. It sounded like the person in OP’s story just had a bag of coke in their car.

              • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                I wouldn’t say ACAB, mostly because I haven’t met every cop. And rookies probably aren’t all bad- they’ll adapt or quit before long, mind.

                But, even assholes sometimes do the right thing. Like saving that single mom’s kid. Huge ego boost. Doesn’t meant they’re not still assholes, though,

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                  I would argue that you don’t have to meet every cop because any cop that isn’t a bastard is driven out by all the bastard cops. Especially if they report anything inappropriate their fellow officers do.

                  And staying silent while other cops break the law also makes you a bastard.

        • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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          This is true, but the “powder” is the exact color and consistency of if the sawdust under the saw.

          Did they think Hunter set up 3 lines of very chunky, brown cocaine up on a table saw, then just dumped fucking kilos more on the saw and floor for funsies?

          • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Well yea, what better place to hide it than in plain sight?! No one would even suspect it.

            Hell, mix in a little sawdust for the perfect cover. Did anyone test that sawdust for cocaine content?! A-ha! Check mate, atheists Democrats.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      Just saw a clip on Kimmel of Hannity after the sawdust thing came out still insisting that it is cocaine. Because “it’s arranged in perfect little lines.”

      He actually asks, “does that look like sawdust to you?”

      That’s how much they gaslight.

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        9 months ago

        If I were a prosecutor, I’d be pressing that question too – not a hard question to ask in the context of everything else on that laptop: admissions of smoking crack, videos of smoking crack while speeding etc.

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          9 months ago

          And that’s why you’re not a prosecutor, just like those guys are just about to not be. And that’s not a joke, a mistake like this and your career is done. Who the fuck’s gonna want the sawdust cocaine guys

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            9 months ago

            You do realize part of their job is to instill doubt, right? It’s not a mistake to push a narrative in a trial.

            • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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              A Prosecutor’s job is to find the truth. It shouldn’t be to push a narrative or instill doubt in the facts. The Prosecutor should want criminals to go to jail, not just anyone they can instill enough doubt on.

              It’s the Defendant’s job to install doubt, to ensure the Prosecutor has a solid case.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                On top of that, I’m pretty sure prosecutors are also expected to tell the truth and not make frivolous charges like “this obvious picture of sawdust on a saw is proof you’re using cocaine.”

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          Sorry… you still think that isn’t sawdust?

          Have you ever seen cocaine? Even in a movie? How about that prosecutor?

    • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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      Damn, as a woodworker I can’t tell you how many times we used to be talking or messing around in the shop and mindlessly making little lines of sawdust as if it was cocaine. None of us did cocaine, its just what you do when you have a large pile of dust in front of you.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        I’m not even a woodworker and I did that with sawdust back in middle school industrial arts class. Like you said, it’s sort of a natural thing to do. Humans like organizing things, even if they aren’t actually able to be organized.

  • OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this is a photo of the accused butt crack. This definitely proves that he is addicted to crack cocaine.”

  • dugmeup@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    This while amusing is a scary look at the current FBI and Federal LE’s ability to pursue groundless action.

    Hunter Biden and editorialising Joe Biden’s mental state, the highly ambiguous statement on Hillary Clinton’s emails - all under the roof of a Dem Executive.

    Not to mention the shitty work done by Mueller - what a god damn hack job that was

    Dems need to get it in their heads that LE needs a good wash through and needs a clean up. Having a “middle ground” DOJ and heads of LE is just going to get them and the country in deep shit and it will be too late.

    • BertramDitore@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Definitely. In an attempt to appear impartial, they end up going completely overboard and overcharging for things that no normal citizen would be charged for.

      Also kinda strange that apparently only republicans can be appointed as a special counsel. Dems will only ever appoint republicans as special counsels because they’re too concerned about appearances, and republicans will only ever appoint republicans as special counsels because they couldn’t care less about appearances and know that there won’t be pushback, because dems are too concerned about appearances. It’s insanely frustrating.

      If we’ve learned anything from the likes of Aileen Cannon, Matthew Kacsmaryk, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito, it’s that actual impartiality is and never has been the goal. It’s about exercising and expanding their own personal power over others, against the wishes of the vast majority of the electorate.

      Dems need to start acting like the consequences of this shit are real, stop equivocating about appearances and start using the power the people gave them.

  • eran_morad@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    When are we going to rid ourselves of these russian agents? Have we not suffered enough damage at their hands?

  • RunawayFixer@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    That it’s a picture of sawdust, that he not even took himself, makes this one funny, but even if it was a picture of an actual white powder that might have been actual cocaine, how could that picture be considered as evidence of substance abuse?

    There’s bound to be loads of pictures of white powders in a line around. There’s also probably loads of people who made flour lines in the kitchen and then send a funny pose to their friends. Harmless fun, until there’s a witch hunt out for you apparently. Just having such a picture on your phone is in itself proof of nothing, there needs to be more.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Dude still wrote an autobiography about how he was smoking a bunch of crack during the time he bought the gun.

    Like, he snitched on himself.

    I don’t understand why this being sawdust is so newsworthy it keeps getting reposted

    • takeda@lemmy.world
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      1. The picture clearly is a sawdust though on a carpentry machine with plenty of it on the floor as well
      2. I don’t think autobiography can be used as evidence as generally everyone bends truth a little to make the book more interesting. It is not a sworn statement
        • takeda@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Wasn’t that because it showed the rapper knew things that weren’t public about the murder so likely was the killer?

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        Yeah, obviously that one was.

        But more importantly it was a picture sent to him, he didn’t take it. And the context is the person who sent it was a medical professional helping him with addiction.

        That’s what I mean.

        There is a shit ton of other evidence, hell, there’s pictures of him literally smoking crack.

        And he has been incredibly public about his crack addiction.

        https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/02/politics/hunter-biden-book-memoir-addiction/index.html

        During which he bought at least one gun.

        Why the fuck is everyone acting like there’s a single chance he won’t be found guilty except his access to some of the best lawyers and media connections in America?

        He broke federal gun laws. It’s pretty clear cut that he deserves the same punishment as anyone else.

        • ABCDE@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          No one is disputing the crime. Providing fake evidence and telling everyone to accept it is nonsense.

        • IHeartBadCode@kbin.social
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          9 months ago

          Because Government officials are expected to operate at a higher standard. Submitting very clearly erroneous evidence is indicating that they are not operating at that higher standard.

          Now does that mean the case altogether is bunk? No, of course not. But it allows defenders to sow mistrust in the presentation by the prosecutor. That’s the entire point. And that’s why it’s important for officials to do things “by the book”. When they start going off rails that technically allows defense to ask “what else did you mess up?”

          Good lawyers go after every advantage they can offer their client. When prosecutors mess up, defense lawyers are allowed to file with the judge the question of “Hey they made a mistake, may I be allowed to inform the jury of this mistake?”

          It’s up to the judge to allow that or not. But good lawyers file these kinds of motions. Now will it have major ramifications on the case as whole? Who knows? But the entire point is this, bringing a case to court needs to be airtight and things like this are reasons why. Same reason why folks like Matt Gaetz seems to continually avoid prosecution. If it’s not airtight small mistakes can completely derail getting a guilty verdict. You just need one juror out of twelve to be sympathetic on some sticking point, and mistrust of the government is a good sticking point for some people.

          I get where you’re coming from, but shit, I’ve seen people walk free on more damming evidence simply because defense was able to sway on some particular mistrust.

          • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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            And that’s why it’s important for officials to do things “by the book”. When they start going off rails that technically allows defense to ask “what else did you mess up?”

            Which is also why the prosecution in Trump’s various trials are taking their time to get things right, and giving him as much latitude as possible.

            They know he is going to appeal, no matter what they do, so they’re making sure that appeal won’t be sucessful.

        • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          He broke federal gun laws. It’s pretty clear cut that he deserves the same punishment as anyone else.

          You should tell republicans that because they’re absolutely not interested in Hunter getting “the same punishment as anyone else”.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            When I tell Republicans that they call me a stupid liberal.

            When I tell Dems Hunter should be, I get called a stupid conservative.

            When I say everyone that smokes weed and owns a gun is breaking this same law and we need to fix our legal system. It’s just crickets

            No one in power wants to fix it, they just want to use the laws only against people they disagree with. Maybe if Hunter just smoked weed Biden would finally legalize it.

            It just sucks when both political parties want shitty laws that only their enemies are held to

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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              When I tell Dems Hunter should be, I get called a stupid conservative.

              Weird, because I know a lot of people on the left, including myself, who say that if Hunter committed a crime, he should be prosecuted for it.

              When I say everyone that smokes weed and owns a gun is breaking this same law

              Are you sure about that? From August of last year-

              Aug 9 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that a decades-old law prohibiting users of illegal drugs from owning firearms was unconstitutional as applied to the case of a marijuana user, the latest fallout from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that expanded gun rights.

              https://www.reuters.com/legal/drug-user-cannot-be-barred-owning-guns-us-court-rules-2023-08-10/

              So if that is your issue here, then Hunter Biden should not be prosecuted.

              Meanwhile, he’s being treated far worse than anyone else who committed the tax crime he did. And to clarify, he did not pay his taxes and that is a crime… for which he was doing what he should have been doing and paying the taxes he owed.

              Hunter Biden is a piece of shit nepo baby and if there’s evidence that he deserves the level of persecution the Republicans are throwing at him, please do send him up the river.

              But so far, they’ve got an informant who turned out to be a liar, a tax charge which is usually a fine, and a drug/gun charge which courts have already said was bogus and which Republicans would normally go apeshit over if it were virtually anyone white but Biden’s son. And I do have to specify white, because Republicans didn’t even care when Philando Castile was killed for telling a cop he had a gun in his car that he was legally allowed to own.

    • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      Well, you’re a Republican shill, and it takes more than a pair of brain cells to understand.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      I smoked all the meth in Dallas and murdered 12 hookers!

      Now the cops have all the proof they need to put me in prison.