Are Biden's Afghanistan & Ukraine Blunders Behind NYT's Change of Heart About Hunter's Laptop?
© AP Photo / Patrick Semansky
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On 16 March, The New York Times finally admitted that Hunter Biden's abandoned "laptop from hell" is worth a story and that emails recovered from it were "authenticated", despite previously overlooking and casting doubt on the New York Post's laptop bombshell in October 2020.
"The NYT piece on Hunter Biden's laptop comes as Joe Biden's presidency is mired in messes of his own making", says Wall Street analyst and investigative journalist Charles Ortel. "Decisions early on to attack fossil fuel production while spending trillions more dollars on fantasy programmes have fuelled historically high inflation rates that threaten a vast majority of Americans who have little savings, mounting debts, and live paycheck to paycheck. Abroad, American errors in foreign policies have been compounded by the arrogant, insolent incompetence of Biden, Harris, and their Cabinet who botched the withdrawal from Afghanistan, opened up our now violent southern border and incite mayhem at many flashpoints, especially in Ukraine now and perhaps soon over Taiwan".
It seems the NYT has finally had enough and now will be amenable to housecleaning well before the looming midterm elections this November, according to the Wall Street analyst.
5 February 2022, 18:13 GMT
The NYT's latest article about Hunter, titled "Hunter Biden Paid Tax Bill, But Broad Federal Investigation Continues", was penned by Katie Benner, Kenneth P. Vogel, and Michael S. Schmidt.
On 31 January 2022, Politico revealed that the NYT had sued the State Department under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain emails that were sent or received by officials at the US Embassy in Romania between 2015 and 2019 mentioning Hunter Biden. The lawsuit stems from a 2019 report by the newspaper concerning Hunter's dealings with a Romanian real estate tycoon facing corruption charges, who "hired" the then-vice president's son in 2015.
According to Politico, the NYT's inquiry into Hunter was spearheaded by investigative journalist Kenneth P. Vogel, who had been at odds with Team Biden throughout 2020. It did not prevent the NYT from attacking the New York Post's inquiry into Hunter's laptop shortly before the 2020 presidential election. At that time, the US legacy media denounced the New York Post story as "Russian disinformation".
Yet, judging from the January 2022 FOIA, the NYT's 16 March piece is just one of a potential series of reports concerning the president's son.
"For many decades the NYT has pushed out drivel and/or buried important reporting, in theory, to support or blunt attacks against political allies chiefly in the Democratic Party", says Ortel. "For that reason, the paper is far less relevant outside the NY to DC beltway than it once was. Still, there are some actual investigative journalists who must now consider and explain why this important story on the Biden family was spiked in and after 2020, and what its release and fuller inquiry might have meant had voters known key facts and claims before picking Biden over Trump, if that is what they did".
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at the New York Democratic Party 2022 State Nominating Convention in Manhattan in New York
© REUTERS / DAVID DEE DELGADO / Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at the New York Democratic Party 2022 State Nominating Convention in Manhattan in New York
The Wall Street analyst does not rule out that the NYT reporting could be part of an internal political struggle within the Democratic Party. According to him, the NYT harbours ardent supporters of Bernie Sanders and of Hillary Clinton who are seen by some Democrats as more effective than Joe Biden.
Furthermore, both Republican and Democratic insiders have been recently speculating about Hillary Clinton possibly running in the 2024 elections, even though she has denied this so far. American observers refer to the revival of the Clinton Global Initiative, which used to be active when the Clintons' participated in politics.
"Senior writers and editors at the NYT are also well connected with donors and with prosecutors so they may have a sense that required donations will not support a Democratic Party helmed by Biden and Harris and they may have an inkling that Hunter Biden's troubles may also soon touch Joe and other Biden family members", Ortel says.
The Wall Street analyst believes that Americans who think for themselves are "thirsty for profound change in a system that encourages criminal behaviour in the political overclass who seem sure they are above all laws".
"Let us hope the focus finally widens beyond Hunter and Joe Biden to the Clinton and Bush families, among others, that somehow have become much richer in the guise of public 'service' and in false-front philanthropy", Ortel notes.
Meanwhile, Fox News has drawn attention to the NYT's Hunter Biden story being completely ignored by the established media in the country, including CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC.
"It was once routine that damning reports about the president published by The New York Times would lead nearly every news programme", Fox News wrote on 18 March. "That is no longer the case, at least under President Biden… Since Wednesday evening, the Times' report has received zero attention on the five major networks".
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