CBS criticized after authenticating Hunter Biden’s laptop years after initial report was dismissed

769 days after The New York Post released a story about sensitive information contained on the laptop of Hunter Biden, CBS has confirmed that the story is authentic.

The Post broke the story after Hunter Biden took his laptop to be repaired and the technician came across the sensitive information. The laptop links President Biden to his son Hunter and brother Jim Biden’s foreign business deals.

However, when the Post initially published the story, officials claimed – prior to the 2020 election – that it was most likely Russian disinformation and as a result of this, and social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook followed this guidance in removing it.

President Biden also dismissed the laptop as a “smear campaign” two weeks before the 2020 election, saying on CBS’ “60 Minutes”:

“From what I’ve read and know the intelligence community warned the president that Giuliani was being fed disinformation from the Russians. And we also know that Putin is trying very hard to spread disinformation about Joe Biden. And so when you put the combination of Russia, Giuliani– the president, together– it’s just what it is. It’s a smear campaign because he has nothing he wants to talk about.”

In March, both the Washington Post and New York Times published reports authenticating the story.

As reported by the New York Post, CBS correspondent Catherine Herridge confirmed she had received a copy of Hunter Biden’s hard drive from former Delaware computer repairman John Paul Mac Isaac, and that Minnesota computer scientists confirmed that the files were legitimate and showed no evidence that any of the documents had been edited.

Herridge also confirmed that two sources confirmed to her that Joe Biden was the person identified as the “big guy” in a May 2017 email that described a 10% side-aside as part of a deal with a Chinese government-linked company.

“Two of Hunter Biden’s former business partners, including Tony Bobulinski, who received the email, told CBS News that the 10% ‘held by H for the big guy’ was shorthand for 10% held by Hunter for his father,” Herridge said in her report. “The author [of the email, James Gilliar] has not responded to CBS News’s questions.”