Hunter Biden is under federal investigation for tax fraud and money laundering regarding foreign business dealings. Have any outlets who called this “Russian disinformation” in October issue a mea culpa?
Summary
Hunter Biden has made his way back into headlines after announcing he is being investigated by federal authoritiesregarding his finances.
- Hunter Biden’s statement, released by the Biden-Harris team, said his “tax affairs” are being scrutinized. It was accompanied by a quote from the Biden-Harris team saying Joe Biden “is deeply proud of his son.”
- According CNBC, neither the White House nor the U.S. Department of Justice commented on the story.
- Investigations into Biden’s taxes apparently began in 2018, though Biden claims he is just now learning of it.
- According to Politico, federal investigations have expanded to other members of the Biden family, as Joe Biden’s brother James is now involved in a criminal investigation of a hospital for which James’ role has been questioned.
- Axios noted the revelation of the investigation comes after Hunter Biden became a lightning rod during the presidential campaign over accusations of corruption regarding his foreign business dealings.
- In its own report about the investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, NBC News called the previous allegations “unfounded and baseless.”
- CNN’s reporting attempts to connect the now-confirmed investigation into Hunter Biden to allegations, like those CNN’S Brian Stelter made before the election, that news of Biden’s business dealings and data from a laptop reported to be his was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
- Newsweek reported on outrage from Senator Chuck Grassley, who conducted a Senate investigation into Biden, for the media’s coverage of the story, quoting a tweet from Grassley: “For over 1yr I led review of Hunter Biden’s biz deals overseas w big focus on China but many Dems/news orgs dismissed/ignored.”
- The New York Times plays down the money laundering aspect of the investigation, saying “FBI agents were unable to gather enough evidence.”
- The Washington Post reports the investigation was intentionally muted during the heat of the 2020 presidential election and has now been spun back up after November 3rd.
- The New York Post noted a laptop reported to be Hunter Biden’s, a story the NY Post broke in October, is part of the investigation, while Miranda Devine writes in the Post’s opinion section that as evidence and allegations continue to mount, the Biden family is putting national security at risk.
- In a secondary story, Fox News reported on former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell criticizing CNN, and asking the CNN’s Jake Tapper “were you instructed to ignore [the Hunter Biden allegations] until after the election?”
- The Daily Caller reported on Jake Tapper’s dissatisfaction with the Biden-Harris team for releasing a statement but not responding to CNN’s questions.
- Breitbart roasted mainstream media while reporting on efforts by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to further investigate the relationships between the Biden family and China and Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) lambasting mainstream media and social media platforms for trying to “tap down” (suppress) the New York Post’s story in October.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2020
