Hunter Biden declined to challenge the authenticity of the laptop that prompted news reports and a subsequent blackout by big tech companies on Biden’s overseas business dealings and other affairs.
Biden told CBS News’ Tracy Smith in an interview set to air on April 4 that he does not know if the laptop at the center of reports on emails between him and his business associates is his or not. The laptop also allegedly contained images of Biden using illicit drugs and engaging in sexual acts with an unidentified woman.
“For real, I don’t know. I really don’t know what the answer is. That’s the truthful answer,” Biden told Smith in a clip of the interview released Friday by CBS News. “Of course, certainly [it could have been my laptop]. There could be a laptop out there that was stolen from me. It could be I was hacked. It could be that it was Russian intelligence.”
Months after it was alleged that a laptop revealed Hunter Biden's business interests in China and Ukraine, the president's son tells Tracy Smith that the laptop "could be" his
Watch the full interview this weekend on #CBSSunday pic.twitter.com/DhtY5IcPeg
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) April 2, 2021
Social media giants Facebook and Twitter took action in October to limit the spread of stories on Biden’s overseas business dealings while his father was running for the White House. Pundits, journalists, and experts dismissed the Biden laptop stories as Russian disinformation. Facebook limited the stories’ reach in order to fact check the claims. Twitter claimed that the stories violated the platform’s rules against hacked materials, which CEO Jack Dorsey later said was “wrong.”
In response to the CBS interview, Daily Wire cofounder and editor emeritus Ben Shapiro pointed out the absurdity of snuffing the story when Hunter Biden, the central figure in the stories, never denied the authenticity of his alleged laptop.
“Remember, the laptop was Russian disinformation and thus the story had to be downplayed on Facebook and removed from Twitter entirely,” Shapiro said.
Remember, the laptop was Russian disinformation and thus the story had to be downplayed on Facebook and removed from Twitter entirely https://t.co/PZtbwSz3YW
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 2, 2021
Biden allegedly left three laptops at a computer repair store in Delaware in April 2019. The store’s owner, John Paul Mac Isaac, believed that Biden was the one to drop the laptops off, and Biden’s signature appeared on documents outlining the work order and totaling the cost at $85. As The Daily Wire reported:
“The document allegedly signed by Biden details repair work that was to be performed on three MacBook Pro laptops at ‘The Mac Shop’ in Wilmington, Delaware. Aside from the signature, the paperwork notes Biden’s name in the ‘bill to’ section for a cost of $85,” Fox News reported, adding that the signature had not yet been verified to be Hunter Biden’s.
Other documents reveal that the FBI had communicated with the owner of the computer repair store, John Paul Mac Isaac. He had received a subpoena to testify before U.S. District Court in Delaware on Dec. 9, 2019. “One page shows what appears to be serial numbers for a laptop and hard drive taken into possession,” Fox News stated.
The hard drive, later handed over to reporters, sparked a series of stories on emails and other data gathered from it. A laptop was reportedly handed over to the FBI for further investigation. Biden announced in December that his “tax affairs” were under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware.