Republicans slam Big Tech 'censors' over 'authenticated' Hunter Biden laptop
Several prominent Republicans criticized Big Tech after a New York Times report published Wednesday said emails recovered from a laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a repair shop in Delaware have been "authenticated."
In September 2020, The New York Post published the contents of that laptop, which purportedly showed that Hunter Biden and his father, then-candidate Joe Biden, had engaged in corrupt activities involving Ukrainian and Chinese corporations.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Due to questions about the laptop's provenance, social media sites suppressed the story in the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election, according to The Washington Post. Fox News declined to run the story, and even at The New York Post, the decision to publish material from the laptop was contentious.
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) told The New York Post on Saturday that Congress must "rein in Big Tech censors," while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said "Big Tech leaders who participated in censoring the truth should answer to Congress and the American people in sworn testimony."
Former President Donald Trump released a statement Friday claiming the Times had "admitted that it participated in an effort to rig the election for Joe Biden." In 2020, the Times cast doubt on the veracity of the laptop story but played no direct role in suppressing it.
-
Crisis in Cuba: a ‘golden opportunity’ for Washington?Talking Point The Trump administration is applying the pressure, and with Latin America swinging to the right, Havana is becoming more ‘politically isolated’
-
5 thoroughly redacted cartoons about Pam Bondi protecting predatorsCartoons Artists take on the real victim, types of protection, and more
-
Palestine Action and the trouble with defining terrorismIn the Spotlight The issues with proscribing the group ‘became apparent as soon as the police began putting it into practice’
-
Labor secretary’s husband barred amid assault probeSpeed Read Shawn DeRemer, the husband of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, has been accused of sexual assault
-
Trump touts pledges at 1st Board of Peace meetingSpeed Read At the inaugural meeting, the president announced nine countries have agreed to pledge a combined $7 billion for a Gaza relief package
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC headSpeed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
