AMAC Exclusive – By Andrew Abbott
As the public continues to learn more about the extent of the scandal and cover-up regarding the shady overseas business dealings and illegal activities of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, it has become increasingly clear that the New York Post’s bold coverage of the story, and subsequent censorship, is one of the seminal moments in recent history. Despite the best efforts of Big Tech, elected Democrats, and the mainstream media to suppress the truth, the Biden family corruption saga and the Post’s early reporting on the “laptop from hell” have exposed graft, dishonesty, and collusion at the highest levels of government and the media establishment.
Just over two years ago, on October 14, 2020, the New York Post revealed to the world that it had acquired a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden, the son of then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. This laptop contained documents that tied Hunter to a litany of potential criminal activity that also implicated Joe Biden. In the reporting that followed, the Post detailed how Biden’s son used his father’s influence as Vice President to help secure jobs and contracts with foreign state-backed companies. Once in these positions, Hunter allegedly acted as a liaison in securing additional lucrative business opportunities for the entire Biden family.
Normally, the facts of a story like this would send shockwaves throughout the political world. Here was apparently clear evidence of Joe Biden peddling his influence as Vice President so his family could rake in millions. Yet almost every mainstream publication refused to cover the story. Instead, they baselessly and relentlessly asserted that the laptop and all documents contained in it were one giant “Russian disinformation campaign.”
But denying the veracity of the story wasn’t enough. The authors of the Post exposé, Emma-Jo Morris and Gabrielle Fonrouge, faced relentless criticism, accusations of incompetence, and even conspiracies that they were colluding with Russian foreign agents. The Delaware computer repair shop owner who alerted the FBI to the existence of the laptop also faced anonymous death threats and harassment from the IRS and other government agencies.
Next, the New York Post’s entire account was banned on Twitter, as was anyone who shared their reporting. Twitter went so far as to actually lock the White House Press Secretary’s account unless she deleted her tweet sharing the story.
These measures were not simply performative. The relentless campaign threatened the publication’s future and the careers of every journalist at the Post. In addition to the establishment’s attempt to inflict incalculable reputational damage on the Post, being “de-platformed” by a major site like Twitter would also result in a significant financial loss for the 220-year-old newspaper.
In order to justify Big Tech and the mainstream media’s censorship of the Post, a cabal of fifty-one former intelligence officials, whom all happened to be avowed Never-Trumpers, signed an open letter calling the story “likely Russian disinformation.”
Yet, to the enduring credit of the New York Post’s editorial staff, they didn’t budge. They refused to back down and stood by their reporting.
Slowly over the past two years, publication after publication has grudgingly conceded that they were wrong to dismiss the story. Some publications like CNN and the Washington Post even offered quiet mea culpas, acknowledging that the laptop was authentic and the information it contained was legitimate. In March 2021, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey admitted that blocking the story was a “total mistake.”
Of course, all of this was only after Biden had been securely installed in the White House, and Republicans’ calls for an investigation into the Biden family business dealings were still summarily dismissed as a distraction.
But the conspiracy to suppress the story went much deeper than just the media and a few disgruntled former officials. During an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in August, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that the platform had “limited the reach” of the Hunter Biden story due to a warning from the FBI that it was “Russian disinformation.” In the interview, Zuckerburg stated that the FBI informed the Facebook founder that “there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election…there’s about to be some kind of dump that’s similar to that, so just be vigilant.” Shortly after this alert, the New York Post piece ran, and Facebook used its algorithm to suppress the story by a “meaningful” degree. Users could share the story, but how many people would see it was artificially decreased. The FBI has yet to explain on what basis they sent this warning, although it has subsequently emerged that the “analysis” was conducted by some of the very same officials who perpetrated the “Russian Collusion” hoax in 2016.
Such tenacity and courage as that shown in the Post’s coverage of the Biden corruption story has historically earned publications and reporters a Pulitzer Prize. Yet the reporters who worked on this story have only been offered scorn and hostility from the media establishment. Instead, Pulitzers are awarded to “approved” outlets like the New York Times who toe the Democratic Party line, spreading actual false narratives like the aforementioned “Russian collusion” narrative involving the 2016 Trump campaign. Former President Donald Trump demanded that those Pulitzers be rescinded. While the Pulitzer committee did review the awards, they elected to let them stand.
Ultimately, the efforts of the media, Big Tech, Democrats, and activist-minded bureaucrats to snuff out the Hunter Biden story have largely failed. According to a September poll, 63 percent of Americans still believe the information contained on the “laptop from hell” is “important.” With Republicans poised to retake control of the House of Representatives this November, they have promised to make investigating the laptop and all of Hunter Biden’s business dealings a top priority. Whatever results from those inquiries, Americans will largely have the New York Post and their courageous reporting to thank.
Andrew Abbott is the pen name of a writer and public affairs consultant with over a decade of experience in DC at the intersection of politics and culture.