Editor’s Note: One of our sources for this article was Fox News, which can be read here.
In 2020, intelligence officials, Democrats, and media figures widely claimed Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation without evidence.
They said it had hallmarks of Russian operatives, echoed Kremlin efforts to denigrate Biden, and was meant to sway the election for Trump.
“This effort by Rudy Giuliani and the New York Post and Steve Bannon to cook up supposed dirt on Joe Biden looks like a classic, Russian playbook disinformation campaign,” Bash said at the time.
LAPTOP LIES: From intel officials claiming the laptop was Russian disinformation to Twitter blocking the story from being shared on the platform, here are five instances you may have forgotten. https://t.co/NYMQSnAdm9 pic.twitter.com/uiUzg7FZqj
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 8, 2024
“So when the intelligence committee goes in and warns Donald Trump that Rudy Giuliani is being worked over by Russian intelligence, and Rudy Giuliani suddenly comes forward with these mysteriously created emails, probably hacked through a Russian intelligence operations, we have to acknowledge the fact that the President of the United States is supporting, is condoning, is welcoming a Russian intelligence operation in 2020,” he added.
“This is collusion in plain sight,” he said.
Biden himself said it was disinformation during a 2020 debate, citing 50 intel officials’ letter claiming the same.
“There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plant,” Biden said.
“Five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except his good friend Rudy Giuliani,” the president added.
Media hosts on MSNBC and CNN pushed the disinformation narrative and in some cases refused to cover the story.
Now with confirmation the laptop was real, those quick to allege Russian involvement are facing criticism and questions over their statements.
“We do know it is a very active Russian campaign,” CNN’s Alex Marquardt said in 2020.
“The Russians have analyzed the target, they understand that the president and his enablers crave dirt on Vice President Biden, whether its real or contrived, it doesn’t matter to them. And so all of a sudden, two and a half weeks before the election, this laptop appears, somehow, and the emails without any metadata, it’s all very curious,” former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said.
“The Kremlin has an obvious interest in denigrating Joe Biden, they want Donald Trump to win, they recognize he’s a weak president,” Rep. Adam Schiff said. “Clearly they want to help him, so they want to denigrate the vice president, the intelligence community has made that abundantly clear.”
“We start this hour with the tale of international espionage connected to a close confidante of the President of the United States,” MSNBC’s Ali Velshi said in 2020. “The president [Donald Trump] was reportedly warned that his personal attorney, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was the target of a Russian intelligence operation, a story that is unraveling to reveal allegations of disinformation, dirty tricks and a federal probe over Russian efforts to disparage Joe Biden.”
The story’s suppression just before the 2020 election has become a major focus online as its credibility has now been authenticated.
