Once upon a time the contents of Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop were deemed akin to Russian “disinformation” by former law enforcement and national security authorities, candidate Joe Biden, and the media regurgitating the party line on Biden’s behalf. Anyone with an ounce of sense could see the party line a fairy tale, to put it kindly.
Now lawyers representing Hunter Biden seek criminal investigations of those involved in the dissemination of the materials for “making public restricted private information; accessing and disseminating stolen property; and making false statements to Congress[,]” as the Washington Post puts it in its story on the new Biden campaign. (The link is to Jewish World Review’s accessible version of Matt Viser’s Post story.)
One of the letters quoted by the Post acknowledges the contents of the laptop as Hunter Biden’s. “This failed dirty political trick directly resulted in the exposure, exploitation, and manipulation of Mr. Biden’s private and personal information,” the letter says.
One of Biden’s lawyers has separately demanded a retraction from Tucker Carlson/Fox News for allegations regarding Hunter Biden’s payment of nearly $50,000 a month in rent to the old man. The letter is posted here. As I followed the story via Miranda Devine on Twitter, I believed that allegation to be inaccurate, but I find it hard to see how the rent story has damaged Hunter Biden’s reputation in any respect.
On this point the attorney’s letter asserts: “Mr. Carlson reported as fact that Mr. Biden paid President Biden $50,000 rent implying that such rent payments were to essentially launder money to maintain President Biden’s supposed lifestyle[.]” That’s it. I find it hard to see how the allegation or implication damaged Hunter’s reputation. The old man, maybe, but he’s got his own problems. The letter to Tucker Carlson and Fox News barely articulates a theory of damages, if it does at all.
I would liken Hunter Biden’s new campaign to the Battle of the Bulge. It’s a last-ditch offensive throwing all available resources into a campaign supporting an evil cause. Of course, that’s not how the Washington Post puts it.
Accessible stories on the Biden offensive include those run by the Daily Mail/AP, CBS News (including links to copies of the letters sent on Biden’s behalf), and Bloomberg. Best of all is the New York Post story by Victor Nava, Miranda Devine, and Samuel Chamberlain (“So much for, the laptop ‘could be mine”).
Politico Playbook’s Rachael Bade excitedly previewed the new offensive yesterday. Which reminds me — so far as I can tell, none of the stories seeks a comment from the Deep State 51 or Natasha Bertrand/Politico. They all defamed the New York Post’s reporting on the laptop in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.
Students of ancient history may recall Politico’s publication and reporting on the “disinformation” line peddled by the Deep State 51 in a story under the heading “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say” (“More than 50 former intelligence officials signed a letter casting doubt on the provenance of a New York Post story on the former vice president’s son”). The old man himself owes the New York Post a retraction and an apology, but that is old news indeed.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.