JULY 26 UPDATE: ABC finally arrived on the whistleblower testimony in a 57 second mention by correspondent Terry Moran in a preview of Hunter Biden’s plea charge, as aired on the July 26 edition of ABC's Good Morning America. CBS’s Catherine Herridge, in her preview of Hunter plea, spent 63 seconds on the whistleblower testimony. Correspondent Ryan Nobles spent 30 seconds on the whistleblowers in his preview of Hunter's plea on the July 26 edition of NBC’s Today show.
That brings the total amount of network coverage of the whistleblower testimony (July 19 evening to July 26 morning) up to 13 minutes, 43 seconds.
On July 19 two IRS whistleblowers in devastating testimony exposed how the Department of Justice and Delaware U.S. attorney’s office meddled in their investigation of the Biden family scandals.
On their July 19 evening shows and July 20 morning shows CBS and NBC actually covered the congressional testimony for a total of 11 minutes, 13 seconds — and then immediately dropped it. The last mention came on their July 20 morning shows.
Even more shameful? ABC has yet to utter a second on the IRS whistleblower testimony.
CBS spent the most amount of time on the testimony of IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler with a total of 6 minutes and 18 seconds. NBC devoted 4 minutes and 55 seconds to their testimony. ABC completely censored the story, devoting 0 seconds to it.
So CBS and NBC covered just enough of the IRS whistleblower testimony to technically say they did the story. But 11 minutes over one night and a morning is pathetic and doesn’t do justice to the seriousness of the charges and the risk these agents took in coming forward.
The tiny amount of coverage from CBS and NBC and ABC’s complete censorship of the testimony is just another example of the Big Three broadcast networks running interference for the Bidens.
The following July 19 CBS Evening News segment is a sample of the all-too-limited network coverage of the whistleblower hearings:
CBS Evening News
July 19, 2023NORAH O’DONNELL: Now to Capitol Hill, where two agents from the Internal Revenue Service testified about their role in the federal investigation of Hunter Biden. The President's son is expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax crimes next week, but in an exclusive interview with CBS's Catherine Herridge, the lead case agent said the evidence supported more serious charges.
[Cuts to video]
CATHERINE HERRIDGE: The special agent, Joseph Ziegler is a 13 year veteran of the IRS, a registered Democrat, and until now, a confidential whistle-blower. Today, he publicly testified about his role investigating the President's son, Hunter, for tax crimes.
JOSEPH ZIEGLER: I am the main case agent. I worked 95 percent of this tax investigation.
HERRIDGE: In an exclusive interview with CBS News, Ziegler told us he believed the evidence he gathered during the five-year probe supported multiple felony and misdemeanor counts, including allegations Hunter Biden wrote off personal expenses as business payments.
ZIEGLER: Hotels he was blacklisted from, payments that were made to escorts, payments that are made to no-show employees.
HERRIDGE: Ziegler said he drafted this memo recommending Justice Department prosecutors charge Hunter Biden accordingly but said the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss told him there was resistance to pursuing some of these charges by other officials at the Justice Department.
ZIEGLER: It’s a matter of, are we treating all taxpayers the same?
HERRIDGE: And in this case?
ZIEGLER: And in this case, no, I don't think so.
HERRIDGE: Today, Democrats pushed backs on claims of preferential treatment.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): There is no evidence Hunter Biden has received any kind of official favoritism in this prosecution for being Joe Biden’s son.
HERRIDGE: But Ziegler described to CBS News a series of roadblocks that included his efforts to interview Hunter Biden's adult children about the legitimacy of his tax deductions.
What did the assistant U.S. attorney tell you?
ZIEGLER: That that is going to get us into hot water.
HERRIDGE: Ziegler also told us prosecutors would not sign off on pursuing leads that might involve President Biden.
ZIEGLER: Anytime we potentially wanted to go down the road of asking questions related to the President, it was, that's going to take too much approvals, we can't ask those questions.
HERRIDGE: Is a politically sensitive case. Wouldn't it require additional approvals?
ZIEGLER: Yes, I do understand that. It would be like, let's think about it, let's put it on the back burner, and it would now move down to item number 50.
[Cuts back to live]
HERRIDGE: This probe was ongoing during the 2020 election when Justice Department policy limited some investigative steps. The U.S. attorney in Delaware has told Congress twice he had the ultimate decision-making authority. Resident Biden denies involvement in his son's business deals. And Norah, Hunter Biden's legal claim that any claim the probe wasn't thorough is, quote, "preposterous."
O’DONNELL: Interesting new details. Catherine Herridge, thank you very much.
