Former President Trump’s office and Republicans have offered their justification and criticized Big Tech for censoring reports on Hunter Biden’s laptop after The New York Times confirmed the authenticity of emails from the device.
“Fake news covered it all up during the presidential election, which could be even more of a crime than the contents of a laptop. It’s time to find out the truth! Trump spokesman Taylor Budovic told .
The New York Times admits what we’ve known for years: The Hunter Biden laptop story was true. The censorship of this story by big tech companies was a disgrace,” Sen. Tom Cotton, D-Arkansas, tweeted. “For decades, the Biden family profited from Joe’s public service. Even today, Hunter Biden is being paid millions for his “works of art” in a corrupt arrangement blessed by the White House.”
Amid an ongoing investigation into his finances, Hunter has embarked on a career as an artist in recent years, where some of his work has reportedly been valued at half a million dollars.
Florida Senator Rick Scott said the cover-up helped Biden win the election. “Today @nytimes confirmed what many of us already knew: the Democrats and their allies in the media and big tech conspired to cover up the Hunter Biden story to help @joebiden win the presidential election,” he tweeted.
“Now that the New York Times has even confirmed the veracity of Hunter Biden’s laptop, can we accept that Joe Biden is, by definition, a compromised politician?” Interrogated Republican Party representative Lauren Bobert, Colorado.
“I told you so,” Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio joked on Twitter.
In a report on the ongoing federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes, the New York Times confirmed that a laptop abandoned at a computer repair shop in Delaware actually belonged to the president’s son.
had authenticated the laptop a year earlier and became the first and only news organization to publicly verify its contents through forensic analysis.
Last March, we hired the best cyber-forensic experts from Maryman & Associates to check the hard drive for authenticity.
In October 2020, the New York Post reported that the laptop’s hard drive held a cache of emails, texts, photos, and documents between Hunter Biden, his family, and his business partners. The correspondence details how Hunter used his father’s vice presidency as leverage in overseas business dealings.
Both Facebook and Twitter have blocked users from posting the original bombshell report, and Democrats all the way to the White House have suggested the laptop could be part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Emails specifically related to Biden’s tenure on the board of $50,000-a-month Ukrainian energy company Burisma were first released by the Post, with Democrats saying the laptop was likely part of some kind of Russian disinformation campaign.
The owner of a laptop repair shop reported to the FBI after he made a copy of his hard drive. The FBI seized the laptop and its hard drive.
According to the Times, prosecutors examined emails between Biden and Burisma-related business partners that were extracted from a laptop. Some of the correspondence in question was between Hunter and fellow businessman Devon Archer, who also served on the board of directors.
Prosecutors have already interrogated Archer and subpoenaed him to take documents and testimonies. Last month, he was convicted in another securities fraud case.
Those emails also reviewed by the Times “appear to have come from a laptop Mr. Biden abandoned at a Delaware repair shop.” People familiar with the investigation confirmed the authenticity of the emails to the Times.
In a report on the ongoing federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes, the New York Times confirmed that a laptop abandoned at a computer repair shop in Delaware actually belonged to the president’s son.
Other contents of the notebook obtained by detail how the first son, in a drug stupor, often spent tens of thousands of dollars on drugs and prostitutes.
The Times report also revealed that Biden Jr. paid off $1 million in tax liabilities and that he told an associate that he had to take out a loan to do so, a year after he revealed he was under Justice Department investigation. tax fraud.
When asked by about the New York Times report, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki countered. “I point you to representatives of the Department of Justice and Hunter Biden. I am the official representative of the United States. He doesn’t work for the United States.”
“The Hunter Biden story is Russian disinformation,” say dozens of former intelligence officials, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki wrote in October 2020, citing a Politico article.
While paying off his debts won’t rid him of possible criminal charges, the payment could make it harder for prosecutors to get a conviction or a lengthy sentence for the crime. Judges and juries can show more sympathy for defendants who have paid their debts.
Biden admitted he struggled with drug addiction and a range of other mental health issues while dealing with international business deals. He is pictured above with what looks like a smoking pipe in his mouth.
Hunter Biden was reported to have taken out a loan to pay off $1 million in back taxes following a series of sex and drug scandals.
But the investigation also extends broadly into how Hunter’s business career could be linked to his last name, and investigators have looked into his dealings with business interests in Kazakhstan, the Chinese energy conglomerate, Burisma and others.
The investigation is looking for criminal violations of tax laws, as well as foreign lobbying and money laundering rules. So far, Biden has not been charged with anything.
People familiar with the investigation said prosecutors have looked into payments and gifts Biden and his associates received from foreign investors, including a car paid for by a company linked to the Kazakh oligarch and a diamond paid for by a Chinese energy tycoon, the Times reported.
Over the past year, has shared stories about the laptop, including:
Prosecutors questioned possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by Washington-based consulting firm Blue Star Strategies, which worked with Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings in a deal allegedly brokered by Biden. Officials are trying to determine whether Biden should register under FARA on behalf of Burisma.
Investigators analyzed emails between Biden and his business partner Devon Archer and others about the company and its dealings.
In one April 2014 email to Archer, Biden suggested he was familiar with FARA and wanted to avoid any infractions.
He allegedly mentioned that his father, then vice president, would announce a trip to Ukraine, writing that the announcement “may be a really good thing or it might create too high expectations.” We need to moderate expectations for this visit.”
Biden did not specifically name his father, but instead referred to him as “my boyfriend.”
In the same message, Biden argued that Burisma officials “should be made clear that we will not and cannot directly interfere in the affairs of national politicians and that we must comply with FARA and any other US laws in the strictest sense across the board.” .’
He also suggested engaging Biden’s law firm at the time to “guide discussions in government, energy, and the NSC,” and said the firm “could develop a media plan and provide legal protection, as well as mitigate the negative attitude of the US domestic press towards the current situation.” leadership if needed.”
The email was written about a week before the vice president’s trip to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
In another series of emails dated April 2015, Biden and Archer allegedly discussed inviting foreign business associates, including a Burisma executive, to dinner at a D.C. restaurant where the vice president was scheduled to appear.
The Times reports that it is not clear if a Burisma chief was present at the dinner, but Joe Biden did show up.
However, a Burisma adviser wrote an email the day after thanking Hunter for the “opportunity to meet your father” and the email was received and verified by .
“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving me the opportunity to meet your father and spend [sic] some time together. this is reality [sic] honor and pleasure,” wrote Vadim Pozharsky on April 17, 2015.
Pozharsky’s email first surfaced in October, when the contents of Hunter’s laptop were first leaked to the New York Post, however the Biden campaign at the time criticized the report and said a search of the records showed no such meeting took place.
In another series of emails dated April 2015, Biden allegedly invited the Burisma adviser to meet with his father, then Vice President Joe Biden.
Prosecutors also spoke to Lunden Alexis Roberts, who sued Hunter for child support and paternity after one of his companies stopped paying her and providing her with health insurance. A DNA test proved Hunter to be the father of Roberts’ child.
According to the Times, prosecutors traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, to question Roberts about Biden’s finances, point out which legal organization he paid her through and whether that organization received payments from Burisma.