Hunter Biden’s laptop admission prompts fierce criticism of media who initially dismissed it: ‘Corrupt allies’

First son Hunter Biden’s apparent admission that the laptop at the center of a federal investigation belonged to him was widely criticized in a letter from his lawyers late Wednesday to mainstream media organizations that called it unreliable and even That was dismissed as Russian disinformation.

“Hunter Biden admits the infamous laptop is his. Not Russian disinformation, not a ‘plant’ as his father and 51 unscrupulous ex-intelligence officials pretended,” journalist Miranda Devine, who wrote the book “Leap Top from Hell,” he tweeted, citing 51 intelligence experts who signed a letter in 2020 expressing doubt over the scandal.

OutKick founder Clay Travis wrote, “So Hunter Biden is admitting now, after three years, that everything on the laptop is real? Bold strategy. Especially when Democrats and their media allies have attacked Hunter. Laptops spent years discussing Russian disinformation.”

Hunter Biden’s lawyers call for criminal investigation of laptop leakers, Giuliani and others, admit laptop is his

Writer Kelly Jane Torrance asked, “How many people and publications owe the @NYPost an apology?”

Biden’s attorney Abby Lovell wrote letters Wednesday to the Department of Justice and Delaware’s attorney general demanding an investigation into Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon and John McIsaac, who own the computer repair shop where Biden used to work. He is said to have left his laptop behind. Biden’s lawyers also sent cease-and-desist letters to others who obtained and disseminated the laptop’s contents.

Lovell argued in the letters that McIsaac and others had no right to inspect the contents of Biden’s computer, much less make copies of it to share with the media. He told Fox News’ Jackie Heinrich on Thursday, however, that the letters requesting an investigation were not an admission that the laptop belonged to his client.

CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post and NPR did not immediately respond when asked if a correction or statement would be issued following Hunter Biden’s apparent admission. All of these outlets have confirmed the laptop’s legitimacy to some extent in their reporting in the years since 2020.

The laptop story began in October 2020, when the New York Post reported on a 2015 email from a Ukrainian energy executive to Hunter Biden, thanking him for introducing him to his father. , that it was obtained from the hard drive of Biden’s laptop. Joe Biden was vice president at the time of the message, and his son has since taken a lucrative position on the board of Borysma, a Ukrainian energy firm, raising concerns about his powerful father trying to influence him. gave birth to

The laptop’s contents include peeks into Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings, as well as domestic sex tapes and videos showing him using illegal drugs.

The laptop was widely rejected by print and television outlets, notably The New York Times, The Washington Post, MSNBC and CNN, and in a surprising display of synchronicity, Twitter and Facebook attacked Biden. The New York Post article about was blocked or restricted. Twitter locked the New York Post out of its account for weeks.

Hunter Biden saga: Washington Post confirms laptop after denying ‘fake’ scandal in 2020

Then-CNN host Brian Stelter speculated that the emails could be “made up” and that the story was simply a “right-wing media machine.” “60 Minutes” host Leslie Stahl told then-President Donald Trump in 2020 that the laptop could not be “verified,” and NPR announced that it would “not waste our time” with “stories that Not really stories.”

The Washington Post finally did an about-face in its laptop coverage, but didn’t let readers know the truth until after President Biden took over the White House.

In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, billionaire Jeff Bezos’ paper largely kept its readers in the dark about the seriousness of the Hunter Biden scandal.

The Washington Post first addressed the Biden controversy on October 14, 2020, the day the New York Post broke its story, using a variation of the “Republican Ponce” trope to frame the story, headlined, “On Election Day Three weeks before ., Trump allies Hunter — and Joe — go after Biden.”

Right out of the gate, the report cast serious doubt on the legitimacy of Hunter Biden’s emails and raised doubts among GOP sources who first obtained the laptop. Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler also wrote a skeptical “commentary” about Biden’s laptop, and the paper published several opinion pieces urging readers to dismiss the controversy altogether.

NPR silent on Twitter files after Hunter Biden calls laptop story a waste of time

Both The New York Times and The Washington Post finally confirmed Hunter Biden’s laptop after Big Tech dismissed the New York Post’s bombshell reporting during the 2020 presidential election.
(Getty Images | New York Post)

In March 2022, The Washington Post finally confirmed thousands of emails from the laptop in a lengthy report about Hunter Biden’s “multimillion dollar” financial ties to Chinese energy company CEFC China Energy.

Like the Washington Post, The New York Times confirmed the laptop’s authenticity in March 2022, after the Gray Lady reported doubts about it during the 2020 campaign. Politico, NBC News and CNN also eventually confirmed the laptop.

The New York Post covered the news Thursday with a front-page story, “It’s Mine.”

Other media critics like Glenn Greenwald took to Twitter with thoughts on Hunter Biden’s apparent admission.

New York Times, Washington Post prompt reporting media to ‘take stock’ after initial skepticism over Hunter Biden laptop

An upcoming hearing for the House Oversight Committee will focus on Twitter’s censorship of the original New York Post story. Other House investigations are expected to focus on Hunter Biden’s business dealings. These investigations are likely to rely heavily on laptop content.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Jackie Heinrich, Joseph A. Wolfson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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