- An FBI analyst confirmed Hunter Biden’s laptop was authentic in 2020, but bureau leadership imposed a gag order to silence discussion.
- The laptop contained emails implicating Joe Biden in pressuring Ukraine to fire a prosecutor investigating Burisma, where Hunter was paid $50,000/month.
- FBI officials scrambled to suppress the story, with internal messages showing efforts to avoid discussing the "Biden matter."
- Big Tech censored the New York Post’s reporting, citing dubious "hacked materials" policies, despite FBI knowledge of the laptop’s authenticity.
- The FBI’s silence allowed false "Russian disinformation" claims to flourish, potentially altering the 2020 election outcome.
Just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, an FBI analyst inadvertently confirmed the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop — only for bureau leadership to immediately impose a "gag order" silencing further discussion, according to newly released internal messages.
The explosive revelations, first reported by independent journalists Catherine Herridge and Michael Shellenberger, expose how the FBI allowed false narratives about "Russian disinformation" to flourish while suppressing evidence that could have damaged Joe Biden’s campaign. The laptop contained emails suggesting then-Vice President Biden pressured Ukrainian officials to fire a prosecutor investigating Burisma, the firm paying his son $50,000 per month. Critics now argue the FBI’s actions, alongside Big Tech censorship and media complicity, may have altered the election’s outcome.
The accidental admission and immediate cover-up
On October 14, 2020 — the same day the New York Post broke its first story on Hunter Biden’s laptop — an FBI analyst on a call with Twitter (now X) confirmed the device was real. "Yes, the laptop is real," the analyst stated, according to testimony from Laura Dehmlow, then-head of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force. But within moments, an FBI attorney intervened, declaring, "We will not comment further on this topic."
Internal chat logs obtained by House Republicans reveal bureau officials scrambling to contain the fallout. One exchange shows FBI Special Agent Elvis Chan, who liaised with social media companies, asking, "Actually, what kind of case is the laptop thing? Corruption? Campaign financing?" The response — "CLOSE HOLD" — was partially redacted, but Chan’s alarmed reply — "Oh crap. OK. It ends here" — suggests the investigation’s sensitivity. Another message from an FBI attorney bluntly ordered: "Please do not discuss Biden matter."
The FBI had possessed the laptop since December 2019, after a Delaware repair shop owner turned it over, warning of potential crimes. Forensic analysis confirmed it belonged to Hunter Biden, was unaltered, and contained admissible evidence — later used in his 2024 tax and gun trials. Yet bureau leadership chose silence, allowing claims of "Russian disinformation" to dominate headlines.
The laptop’s contents were damning: Emails revealed Hunter’s lucrative dealings with Burisma and Chinese energy firms, as well as a 2015 meeting with a Burisma executive where then-VP Biden was referenced. Most critically, one email appeared to corroborate claims that Joe Biden pressured Ukraine to fire Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma. At the time, Biden bragged about withholding U.S. aid until Shokin was ousted — a move he later defended as U.S. policy, despite Shokin’s insistence he was fired to protect Burisma.
Yet instead of clarifying the facts, the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force — tasked with countering election meddling — effectively enabled disinformation by refusing to correct the record. "The FBI could have set the record straight by confirming the laptop was real and the subject of an ongoing criminal probe," Herridge and Shellenberger noted. "Instead, FBI leadership allowed the false narrative about the laptop to gain momentum."
Big Tech played its part: Twitter and Facebook censored the New York Post’s reporting, citing "hacked materials" policies — policies selectively enforced after FBI warnings about a potential "hack and leak" operation. Internal "Twitter Files" later revealed FBI officials had preemptively briefed social media companies to treat the story as suspect, despite knowing the laptop was genuine.
A pattern of political protection
The FBI’s suppression of the laptop story fits a broader pattern of shielding the Bidens. IRS whistleblowers revealed the Justice Department slow-walked Hunter’s tax investigation, while the FBI allegedly interfered with a 2020 Senate probe into his foreign dealings. Meanwhile, corporate media largely ignored the laptop until after the election, with 51 former intelligence officials falsely labeling it "Russian disinformation" — a narrative the Biden campaign amplified.
Four years later, Hunter Biden’s legal troubles have validated the laptop’s authenticity—but the damage is done. Had the FBI, media, and tech giants acted impartially, voters might have weighed evidence suggesting Joe Biden leveraged his office to benefit his son’s foreign patrons. Instead, the truth was buried under a coordinated effort to protect a presidential campaign.
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