Academic

CHARLES LIPSON: Recent news about Hunter Biden?s emails puts our country?s institutions in a har?

By Stephen Green

CHARLES LIPSON: Recent news about Hunter Biden?s emails puts our country?s institutions in a harsh spotlight.

Since the New York Post story broke last Wednesday, the Biden campaign has been curiously silent. Reporters expected swift denials that the computer was Hunter?s and that the emails were his. Crickets. Crickets, too, about the Cooney emails.

Instead, the Biden campaign has maintained strict radio silence, like Allied ships traversing the North Atlantic during World War II. Loose lips might sink Biden?s ship of state. So far, the former vice president?s only public comment has been to snarl at a CBS reporter who dared raise the question. It was all a ?smear,? Biden said. Other reporters didn?t even bother to ask or questioned the story?s sources and moved on. George Stephanopoulos of ABC News conducted a 90-minute town hall with Biden after the Post story broke and never raised the issue. Nor did Biden himself raise it so he could swat it down as false. The mainstream media has buried the story, as have the country?s two social media giants. Twitter initially blocked links to the New York Post story before eventually changing tack and allowing it to be shared. The company has still blocked the Post?s Twitter account until it withdraws the links to the story, which it has so far refused to do. Meanwhile, Facebook publicly flagged the Post story for review, which normally reduces readership by 80%. Attempts to smother a major political news story like this, published in a major newspaper, are unprecedented.

One major Biden ally has come forward to defend his party?s candidate. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who chairs the House Select Committee on Intelligence, says flatly that the Delaware emails are a Russian disinformation campaign. Other Democrats have backed him up. Prominent mainstream news outlets haven?t gone that far, although they have dropped hints to support Biden and Schiff, saying the ?FBI is investigating? whether the emails are Russian disinformation. The implication is, ?It?s questionable.?

Is there any basis for these claims of fraud and disinformation? None, so far.

Biden the Elder has called a lid until Thursday night’s debate, which is a long naptime even for him.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on October 20, 2020 (boomark / email).