World Net Daily ... A popular 1930s radio program began with a distinctive voice asking, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men." The answer then followed with an ominous laugh. 

Referencing the program's crime-fighting vigilante, the answer came, "The Shadow knows." For almost two decades, audiences gathered around their radios to listen to The Shadow's latest tale of mystery and suspense.

Today, we are listening to tales of mystery and suspense emanating from the shadows of the effort to impeach President Donald Trump. Democrats endeavoring to keep the spotlight on him, as we have seen with 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, are witnessing the results of that light spilling over, illuminating what has lingered in the shadows. 

This has led to the exposure of possible misdeeds by the offspring of party leaders or, at a minimum, the cultivation of their possible assistance by foreign interests. It is creating a very discomforting feeling, not only about where the priorities of our political leaders lie but why they are so determined to keep the spotlight focused on Trump.

As is often the case, with time the truth emerges. And, as such, a common thread linking various anti-Trump political leaders is starting to emerge, possibly giving us some insight as to why they are so committed to Trump's impeachment. In several cases we see a financial factor tied directly to a politician or a politician's offspring.

Let us begin with one of the first politicians to encourage their anti-Trump supporters to assume a confrontational role whenever possible, either against him or those serving in his administration: Rep. "Mad Maxine" Waters, D-Calif.

Trump was not even in the Oval Office two weeks before Waters was spreading her confrontational venom. As a representative of the party of alleged tolerance, she called on supporters to confront Trump administration officials wherever found, showing up where they were speaking, eating or visiting, creating a crowd and telling them"they're not welcome anymore, anywhere." It did not take long for her message to generate its desired impact.

But if one examines Waters under the microscope, it is easier to understand why she chooses to keep the spotlight off herself and on Trump. If you are dubbed "one of the most corrupt members of Congress," there is a keen interest in shifting that spotlight's focus to another target. 

One wonders how Waters has become so wealthy as a member of Congress supposedly serving the people, tallying several homes in a state having the highest number of homeless. Included in this race-baiter's real estate portfolio is a $4 million mansion in one of the wealthiest areas of Los Angeles – a neighborhood almost completely white, unlike her mostly Hispanic and black constituency.

Nor has Waters hesitated to share the wealth with other family members. 

Most recently, ethical concerns have been raised over her funneling public funds (more than $750,000 since 2004) to her daughter's company. Nothing like trying to avoid focusing on one's own vices by suggesting someone else be investigated.

And then there is the son of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., one Paul, whom, it is now reported, like Hunter Biden, has financial ties to Ukraine. 

Reporter Patrick Howley revealed a 2013 video of Pelosi promoting himself and using his mother's appearance in an ad. As a board member of Viscoil and part of the senior management team of its related company NRGLab, business was being done in Ukraine. While it appears he was not involved in anything untoward there, still it is indicative of a value placed on the offspring of Washington, D.C.'s "swamp" creatures and the need to maintain a stable for their possible future need.

More damning for Paul, however, is a charge of fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission against an investment company he co-founded, focusing on "environmentally friendly" ventures. The charge stems from the company secretly being controlled by two individuals with previous convictions for fraud running the business although banned from doing so.

For his Ukranian associates, Hunter Biden has clearly proven to be the most productive horse in the stable they maintain. He has his fingers in a number of ventures that are paying him dearly, enabling him to feed his penchant for drugs, alcohol, strip clubs and prostitutes. His involvement in the Ukraine has been well-documented where, allegedly, with help from his father as vice president, he managed to get the government to fire a prosecutor investigating Burisma Holdings, on whose board Hunter sits. 

And in a bombshell revelation by Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach, at some point Joe Biden was paid $900,000 personally for consulting services by that company.

Hunter also partnered with Christopher Heinz, the stepson of then senator and later Secretary of State John Kerry, to create an international private equity firm. 

Populated by political loyalists, the firm was positioned to make profitable deals overseas with foreign governments with which the U.S. was negotiating. Hunter's nefarious dealings also involve a financial stake in Megvii Technology – which raised billions of dollars to advance facial recognition technology in China and was recently blacklisted by the U.S. Commerce Department for human rights violations.

Adding to the Biden family's legal-troubles profile is Joe's younger brother, James, who has a history of murky financial dealings. He and his associates are accused of defrauding a Tennessee rural health-care company and of falsely promising to get Joe's help to land the firm some lucrative contracts by implementing their health-care models into his campaign. 

One can only wonder if Joe's off-the-wall promise during a campaign speech in Iowa last July to cure cancer was linked to helping brother James' marketing of such a cure as well.

The 2016 book "Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends" by Peter Schweizer details how Hunter's equity firm richly benefited from Joe's 2013 trip to China. Apparently unconcerned over the negative appearance traveling with his father on Air Force Two while conducting private business there might have, Hunter laid the groundwork during the trip for a billion-dollar deal with a subsidiary of the Bank of China. 

While Schweizer's book triggered an investigation of the Clinton Foundation, no similar investigation was prompted into Hunter's activities. There is a certain stench emanating from the swamp – and it is generational. 

As the spotlight now begins exposing the financial benefit to which families of swamp creatures believe they are entitled, we are in desperate need of a crime-fighter hero like The Shadow to drain it once and for all. A collateral benefit of doing so will clear it of the calls we keep hearing for impeachment.