Reporters Dish on How Politico Protected Biden: ‘Don’t Write About the Laptop, Don’t Talk About the Laptop’

If you’re wondering why reporters were being told they couldn’t write, talk, or tweet about Hunter Biden’s laptop, the answer is simple.

On a podcast earlier this week, former Politico reporters Marc Caputo, now with Axios, and Tara Palmeri, now with Puck, dished on how their former employer killed negative stories about former President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

During their discussion on Palmeri’s podcast “Somebody’s Gotta Win,” the conversation turned to media credibility after Caputo argued that the press has eroded public trust by wrongly labeling true or plausible information as “misinformation.”

He cited the Hunter Biden laptop story as a prime example.

“Politico ran that terrible, ill-fated headline: ‘51 intelligence agents, or former intelligence agents, say the Hunter Biden laptop was disinformation, or bore the hallmarks of disinformation.’ It turns out that story was closer to disinformation because the Hunter Biden laptop appeared to be true,” Caputo remarked.

Palmeri then interjected.

“But then Facebook also pulled all stories down about the Hunter Biden laptop, and I think Twitter did at the same time, too,” she said.

Caputo agreed.

“Correct, they punished The New York Post, that didn’t help. I mean, Politico, my former employer and I knew at the time, didn’t do itself any favors. I was covering Biden at the time, and I remember coming to my editor and saying, ‘Hey, we need to write about the Hunter Biden laptop,’” Caputo said. “And I was told this came from on high at Politico: Don’t write about the laptop, don’t talk about the laptop, don’t tweet about the laptop.”

Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve been writing about this story for nearly two years now.

As I pointed out in April 2023, the 51 former US intelligence officers story was cooked up by Michael Morell, a former US deputy director of the CIA, who was contacted by Anthony Blinken, who at the time was a senior adviser to the Biden Campaign.

Question: …prior to [Secretary Blinken’s] call, you – you did not have any intent to write this statement?

A: I did not.

Q: Okay. So his call triggered –

A: It did, yes.

Morrell’s testimony occurred during a closed-door congressional committee hearing, according to a letter by Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Morell was then asked why he wrote the statement and organized the letter. His answer is unbelievable.

“There were two intents. One intent was to share our concern with the American people that the Russians were playing on this issue; and, two, it was [to] help Vice President Biden.”

Morrell was then asked by the committee why he wanted to help Biden.

“Because I wanted him to win the election,” Morrell responded.

If you’re wondering why reporters were being told they couldn’t write, talk, or tweet about Hunter Biden’s laptop, there is your answer. It was a lie cooked up by those up high.

Caputo is right that Politico’s story was disinformation. But it was disinformation from the US intelligence community. (This is almost certainly why reporters like Caputo and Palmeri were told the laptop was off-limits.)

This might be shocking to some readers. But the dark reality is that US intelligence agencies (and former US intel officers) have been using media to spread disinformation for decades.

If you doubt this, let me introduce you to Frank Snepp.