Corporate media figures and former intelligence officials continue to spin the facts surrounding their gross mishandling of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.
Brian Stelter, formerly of CNN and now a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, falsely claimed that Hunter Biden’s laptop was not labeled Russian disinformation by the establishment media, even though he had pushed the false narrative during his time as a CNN anchor.
Brian Stelter (The Poster Boy Of DISINFORMATION & MISINFORMATION & JUST OUTRIGHT LIES) Falsely Claims Laptop from Hell ‘Wasn’t’ Labeled Russian Disinformation https://t.co/TDUayZYUbD via @BreitbartNews
— @QueenB_wiov Deborah R Culver (@queenb_wiov) February 26, 2023
Stelter was among many media personalities that pushed this narrative for months. At least 15 media personalities claimed Hunter’s laptop was likely Russian propaganda before The New York Times admitted it was authentic in 2022, contradicting many in the Democrat-allied media.
The controversy over the Hunter Biden laptop scandal started with the release of emails through Breitbart News and The New York Post in October 2020. U.S. authorities investigated whether the emails were connected to an ongoing Russian disinformation effort. Many media personalities followed in Stelter’s footsteps, claiming that the laptop contained disputed disinformation.
The media’s handling of the scandal has been criticized, and The Washington Post authenticated almost 22,000 emails from the laptop, revealing that Hunter Biden and his uncle, James Biden, were paid $4.8 million by a Chinese energy company and its executives.
James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, was a signer of the open letter that falsely suggested the Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s emails was part of a “Russian information operation.” Clapper incredibly accused Politico of distorting “what we said” over two years after the fact.
The intelligence officials’ letter is now the subject of investigations by the now GOP-led House Judiciary and Intelligence committees. The committees have demanded interviews with Clapper and 11 other letter signers, and subpoenas will likely be issued if they refuse to appear voluntarily.
The false letter was seized on by then-candidate Joe Biden in order to mislead the public about the laptop. During the final 2020 presidential debate with Trump, Biden referenced the unfounded allegation, calling The Post’s reporting on the laptop and the emails found on it a “Russian plan” and “a bunch of garbage.”
Clapper tried to downplay the controversy over the letter he and 50 other ex-agents signed, stating that “all we were doing was raising a yellow flag that this ‘could be’ Russian disinformation.” Clapper claimed he was unaware of how Joe Biden relied upon the letter during the final debate with President Trump.
