Americans need to know whether President Biden “is a crook,” while they brace for a deepening “disaster” at the border that will affect every community in the country, says Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

As President Nixon said of himself just prior to his resignation in the Watergate scandal, Hawley says “the American people deserve to know if the president is a crook.” Indeed, a House committee revealed Wednesday that the Biden family received in excess of $10 million from foreign nationals in an alleged influence-peddling scheme with some of the world’s most corrupt nations, including China.

“We’ve got to get to the bottom of this,” Hawley told The Heartlander in an interview. “If (Biden) has nothing to hide, he should cooperate. Why all the stonewalling? Why won’t his administration release the documentation related to all of those financial transactions, all the money his family made from China (and from) Romania and other countries? What’s going on here? What explains this? They should cooperate fully if they have nothing to hide.”

Asked if he thinks the Bidens committed any crimes, Hawley hedged, but edged in that direction.

“It looks to me, based on the evidence that we’ve seen in the House, that there’s a strong inference here that there have been crimes committed. You look at the money that was moved to the Biden family while Joe Biden was vice president …”

Meanwhile, Hawley predicts an avalanche of calamitous ills for the nation and his own state of Missouri due to the Biden administration’s open-border policies and the lifting of Title 42 – which until now has allowed the U.S. to turn back some immigrants in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. The rule is set to expire just before midnight Thursday night.

Even before Title 42’s lifting, though, apprehensions of immigrants at the border earlier this week were surging to record levels.

The Heartlander asked Hawley if the expected worsening of the border crisis will be as bad as conservative media outlets have been predicting.

“Oh yeah, it’s horrible,” he said. “And it’s gonna get much worse. We haven’t even seen the formal lifting of Title 42 yet. Listen, tomorrow the border is going to be open, effectively. It’s already been open under Joe Biden, but at least they’ve formally had Title 42. Tomorrow that comes off.

“And, I mean, it will just be an absolute circus. There are caravans of people headed to the border. We already know that (nearly 350,000) children have been smuggled across this border in the last two years. That number is going to explode. 

“So, we’re going to see something that I think we have never seen when it comes to border crossings in American history.”

Hawley warns of catastrophic consequences, even for states that are far removed from the border.

“For Missouri, the drugs that are going to pour into our state, I just think are going to be off the charts. And I have to tell you, I’m very, very, very worried about it – for every family, every school, every kid in our state.”

What might the long-term effects be?

“Well, the long-term consequences are more people dying of overdoses in the state of Missouri, whether it’s from fentanyl, whether it’s from meth, whether it’s from other drugs that get moved across the border. The long-term consequences are probably an increase in crime – because the cartels control the border, so the cartels will move more of their people into the country. We’ll see more of their gangs, more organized crime associated with the cartels. And we’ll see that all across the country – I predict in the state of Missouri as well.  

“So, it’s going to be a disaster, and it’s going to be tragic. And it is incumbent upon this Congress to do everything we can to get those border policies back in place to close the border, and then certainly for the next president.”

The Heartlander published a report earlier this week that officials appear to actually be giving out U.S. passports at the border.

Is that legal? Hawley laughed at the notion.

“No, no, of course it’s not legal,” he said. “But virtually nothing that happens at the border is legal. That’s the problem. The cartels know how to exploit the system. They know how to exploit this administration. And here’s what’s sad: This administration has become a willing participant, a willing cooperator with the cartels. They are effectively helping the cartels smuggle kids. They’re helping the cartels smuggle drugs. They are facilitating this tidal wave of drugs into our communities. 

“And that’s why I say, this is on them. This didn’t happen until the last administration. This isn’t a cause of nature. This is Joe Biden and his policies. This is what he is giving to the people of Missouri.”

Have the major media adequately forewarned Americans about the coming consequences of an unprecedented wave of migration into the U.S.?

“No, they’re trying to ignore it,” argues Hawley. “I mean, the liberal media, the corporate media, (are) trying to ignore it. But I just think that when you see the number of caravans coming across this border, when you see the drug running, when you see the human smuggling, it’s impossible to ignore. And when all of that comes to our communities – and it is going to … 

“Listen, already, fentanyl – No. 1 cause of death for young people in Missouri. And not even young people: 18 to 50. So, it’s a huge swath of the population. Where’s it coming from? Mexico. How’s it coming into the United States? Across the border. And that’s going to get much, much worse.

“This is a disaster for the country, and it’s Joe Biden’s policy. It’s what he wants to do.”