Name: Journalists Join Dem Operatives in Attacking Fellow Reporters over Biden-Burisma Story | National Review
Brand: nationalreview.com
SKU: nationalreview-com-383
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Journalists Join Dem Operatives in Attacking Fellow Reporters over Biden-Burisma Story | National Review

preview

Michael Carpenter was as clear as he could be last week, the day the&nbsp;New York Post exposed emails allegedly found on Hunter Biden’s laptop tying his father to his Ukrainian business dealings: The story was nothing more than “a Russian disinformation operation.”“I’m very comfortable saying that,” Carpenter, a senior aide with former vice president Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, told Politico.In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Democratic congressman Adam Schiff said it was clear “the origins of this whole smear are from the Kremlin.”In the days after the&nbsp;Post’s&nbsp;report, Democratic operatives and many of their allies in the mainstream media arrived at the same conclusion: the Hunter Biden email story was the product of a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at boosting President Donald Trump’s flagging reelection chances. It shouldn’t be believed, and even discussing it was playing into the hands of nefarious foreign actors.The&nbsp;Post’s&nbsp;story was so toxic that Twitter and Facebook prohibited people from sharing it.On Monday, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe blew that talking point to shreds, that there is no intelligence supporting the claim that “Hunter Biden’s laptop and emails on it are part of some Russian disinformation campaign.”But by then, the Russian-disinformation allegation was already well developed. People who wanted to believe it treated it as fact, and reporters who dared to address the story were slammed as being useful tools in a Russian smear campaign.The New York Times’&nbsp;Maggie Haberman and&nbsp;Politico’s&nbsp;Jake Sherman were excoriated on Twitter for even acknowledging the story, even as they questioned the reporting behind it.Bo Erickson, a reporter with&nbsp;CBS News, was taken to task by partisans — and fellow journalists — for simply asking Joe Biden about the report. Biden called it “another smear campaign” and said it was right up Erickson’s alley.Ben Rhodes, former deputy national-security adviser under former President Barack Obama, said Erickson “is acting as the far end of a Russian disinformation operation.”ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd replied to Erickson’s report on Twitter, saying, “Lordy, you ask someone about an article that has already been proven false and having Russia propaganda as its basis? I would suggest taking a look in the mirror.”When Politico’s Marc Caputo defended Erickson for asking Biden about the report, he was blasted on Twitter by Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress.“This stance means you are perfectly happy being a tool of a Russian campaign to hurt one candidate and help another,” she wrote. “You’ve learned zero since 2016.”The Post’s story was based on emails leaked to the paper by Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer. The emails were allegedly obtained from a laptop computer dropped off and abandoned by Hunter Biden at a Delaware computer repair shop. The FBI has confirmed in a letter to Congress that it is in possession of Hunter Biden’s laptop and said that it “had nothing to add” to Ratcliffe’s assessment about the lack of evidence to support the “disinformation” claim.In one of the emails from April 2015 obtained by the Post, an advisor to the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings thanked Hunter Biden for inviting him to Washington, D.C., and “giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together.”Hunter Biden served on Burisma’s board from 2014 to 2019, while his father headed the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy. Joe Biden has said he had no involvement in his son’s overseas business dealings and never even discussed them with him.Biden’s camp has denied that the meeting discussed in the April 2015 email ever occurred, but has not disputed the authenticity of any of the emails.The emails also indicated that Hunter Biden was offered $10 million annually by a Chinese energy firm “for introductions alone,” according to one of the leaked emails, the authenticity of which was confirmed to Fox News by another Biden business partner copied on the thread.The emails turned over to the Post by Giuliani also contained sexually explicit photos and depictions of drug use, according to reports.And openly partisan operatives weren’t alone in trying to pour cold water on the story, they were helped along by sympathetic journalists who quickly converged around the “disinformation” narrative despite the lack of any supporting evidence and the Biden campaign’s conspicuous reluctance to question the authenticity of the emails.On the day the Post broke its story, David Corn, the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for Mother Jones, penned a piece with the headline “Giuliani and the New York Post are pushing Russian disinformation. It’s a big test for the media.”Corn accused the Post of being “a useful idiot for Vladimir Putin.”In 2016, Corn was one of the first to report on what became known as the “Steele dossier,” an unverified opposition research report by a former British spy that alleged the Russian government had been trying to co-opt and assist Trump. The FBI later revealed that the primary source behind the dossier, Ukrainian national Igor Danchenko, in 2009 on suspicions that he was a Russian spy.Corn isn’t the only reporter to run with the Russian-disinformation allegation.John Harwood,&nbsp;CNN’s&nbsp;White House correspondent, tweeted that a recent Fox News phone-in interview with Trump “makes clear disinformation by Russian intelligence on Biden isn’t enough to carry him across the finish line on its own.”Aaron Rupar, an associate editor at&nbsp;Vox, wrote on Twitter that Trump has “made amplifying a Russian disinformation campaign against the Bidens a centerpiece of his re-election rallies.”And Seth Abramson, a columnist for Newsweek, tweeted that it “should beggar belief, with all we know about Kremlin attacks on the United States, an American media outlet of any political persuasion would willingly act as a conduit for Russian disinformation.”The Russian-disinformation allegations aren’t limited to Democrats and partisans on the left.Bill Kristol, the neoconservative political analyst and founder of the&nbsp;Weekly Standard&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Bulwark, tweeted that Senate Republicans “hustle to defend Russian disinformation.” Kristol is supporting Biden in the presidential election.David Frum, a senior editor at&nbsp;The Atlantic&nbsp;and a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, joked, “What’s even the point of working with the Russians to fabricate a hoax if Big Tech won’t allow you to propagate it? Takes both the sport&nbsp;and&nbsp;the profit out of the game.”As so often happens in the Trump era, journalists and commentators also found themselves in league with some 50 former members of the intelligence community, who signed a suggesting that the emails might be the product of foreign election interference, while stipulating that they “do not have evidence” to support such a claim.ByThe polling aggregator on the website RealClearPolitics shows the margin in polls led by Joe Biden in a blue font and the ones led by Donald Trump in red. For a while, the battleground states have tended to be uniformly blue, except for polls conducted by the Trafalgar Group.If you are a firm believer only in ...ByThe polling aggregator on the website RealClearPolitics shows the margin in polls led by Joe Biden in a blue font and the ones led by Donald Trump in red. For a while, the battleground states have tended to be uniformly blue, except for polls conducted by the Trafalgar Group.If you are a firm believer only in ...ByCNN anchor Brian Stelter on Wednesday chided a reporter after she criticized the media's double standard in reporting on Hunter Biden's controversial emails, telling her that she is "bitter" and harbors "resentment" about the matter.Susan Ferrechio, the Washington Examiner's chief congressional correspondent, ...ByCNN anchor Brian Stelter on Wednesday chided a reporter after she criticized the media's double standard in reporting on Hunter Biden's controversial emails, telling her that she is "bitter" and harbors "resentment" about the matter.Susan Ferrechio, the Washington Examiner's chief congressional correspondent, ...VideoDuring her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Judge Amy Coney Barrett revealed her empty notepad to Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas).VideoDuring her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Judge Amy Coney Barrett revealed her empty notepad to Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas).ByThe recipient of an email that purportedly detailed a business arrangement between a Chinese company and the Biden family confirmed on Thursday that the email is “genuine" and said the family "aggressively leveraged the Biden family name to make millions" from foreign entities.&nbsp;Tony Bobulinski, who is ...ByThe recipient of an email that purportedly detailed a business arrangement between a Chinese company and the Biden family confirmed on Thursday that the email is “genuine" and said the family "aggressively leveraged the Biden family name to make millions" from foreign entities.&nbsp;Tony Bobulinski, who is ...ByThe FBI subpoenaed a laptop and hard drive allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden&nbsp;in connection with a money laundering investigation, according to a new report.Documents obtained by Fox News show the subpoena was linked to a money laundering investigation in late 2019, though it is unknown whether the ...ByThe FBI subpoenaed a laptop and hard drive allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden&nbsp;in connection with a money laundering investigation, according to a new report.Documents obtained by Fox News show the subpoena was linked to a money laundering investigation in late 2019, though it is unknown whether the ...ByWe now have more corroboration of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden reporting than we do for any of the Russiagate pieces that dominated our news coverage for four straight years.Michael Goodwin reports in the New York Post today that Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, has given a ...ByWe now have more corroboration of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden reporting than we do for any of the Russiagate pieces that dominated our news coverage for four straight years.Michael Goodwin reports in the New York Post today that Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, has given a ...ByFirst, Joe Biden’s Praetorian Guard argued that the New York Post’s Hunter Biden scoop was “Russian disinformation.” The DOJ, FBI, and DNI each publicly disagreed. No one in the Biden camp has denied the veracity of a single email thus far. Yet, as of this writing, the Post’s Twitter account is still ...ByFirst, Joe Biden’s Praetorian Guard argued that the New York Post’s Hunter Biden scoop was “Russian disinformation.” The DOJ, FBI, and DNI each publicly disagreed. No one in the Biden camp has denied the veracity of a single email thus far. Yet, as of this writing, the Post’s Twitter account is still ...ByThe FBI is in possession of the laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden which contained emails purportedly showing Joe Biden had involvement in his son’s foreign business dealings, according to a report.Two senior administration officials told Fox News that the FBI has the recovered laptop, and that ...ByThe FBI is in possession of the laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden which contained emails purportedly showing Joe Biden had involvement in his son’s foreign business dealings, according to a report.Two senior administration officials told Fox News that the FBI has the recovered laptop, and that ...ByOh, Jeffrey Toobin — let him among us with a free hand cast the first stone.Toobin, a writer for The New Yorker and fixture on CNN, was participating in a role-playing exercise on a Zoom call with his magazine colleagues, wargaming election-night scenarios. Toobin was standing in for the courts when he ...ByOh, Jeffrey Toobin — let him among us with a free hand cast the first stone.Toobin, a writer for The New Yorker and fixture on CNN, was participating in a role-playing exercise on a Zoom call with his magazine colleagues, wargaming election-night scenarios. Toobin was standing in for the courts when he ...ByI guess our destiny is to have to address this nonsense every few months, no matter which party is in charge of the government. Okay, all together now: There is no good reason to appoint a special counsel.This time, it’s President Trump and his most strident supporters pushing for it -- yes, you heard that ...ByI guess our destiny is to have to address this nonsense every few months, no matter which party is in charge of the government. Okay, all together now: There is no good reason to appoint a special counsel.This time, it’s President Trump and his most strident supporters pushing for it -- yes, you heard that ...

Michael Carpenter was as clear as he could be last week, the day the&nbsp;New York Post exposed emails allegedly found on Hunter Biden’s laptop tying his father to his Ukrainian business dealings: The story was nothing more than “a Russian disinformation operation.”“I’m very comfortable saying that,” Carpenter, a senior aide with former vice president Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, told Politico.In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Democratic congressman Adam Schiff said it was clear “the origins of this whole smear are from the Kremlin.”In the days after...

public

Ryan Mills

Standing athwart history, yelling Stop. A magazine founded by the late William F. Buckley Jr.  To send tips: http://NationalReview.com/tips  Instagram: NationalReview

Journalists Join Dem Operatives in Attacking Fellow Reporters over Biden-Burisma Story | National Review

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS