According to a Thursday report from Business Insider, they obtained e-mail evidence that Hunter Biden had tried to “shakedown” the government of Libya for millions of dollars as they tried to get him to help release money frozen when his dad was vice president. It was yet another scandal in recent weeks set to rock the Joe Biden administration, but instead of trying to baselessly claim it was “Russian” “disinformation” (as they did with the Hunter laptop story) the broadcast networks simply ignored it.
Of course, Fox News Channel’s Special Report was not beholden to nor did they have an interest in protecting the Biden administration from any scandal. And ahead of their panel discussion on the story, anchor Bret Baier quipped it was “another Hunter Biden scandal, this one may actually get covered beyond Fox News and The New York Post.”
But his humor was for naught as ABC’s World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News all chose to mill about and chat about the weather forecast instead.
“We are learning new information tonight about a report alleging President Biden's son Hunter attempted to shake down the Libyan government for millions of dollars,” Baier announced in contrast at the top of the segment.
Speaking on the individuals Hunter was conspiring with, chief Washington correspondent Mike Emanuel said: “They were reportedly seeking to help recover billions in Libyan assets frozen by the Obama administration when Joe Biden was vice president.”
This alleged plot began coming together in 2015 and was carried over into 2016, as they made references to Joe Biden pondering a run for president:
Jauhari lays out Hunter's demands in a January 28, 2015 email, writing, “per phone conversation, I met with number two son. He wants $2 million per year retainer plus success fees. He wants to hire his own people. It can be close circle of people for confidentiality. His dad is deciding to run or not.”
A second email dated February 26, 2016, Jauhari and Al-Rahbani receive an update from attorney John Sandweg, who had reportedly reached out to Hunter's team about the Libya deal:
“I spoke with HB's team yesterday. They are interested in the project but emphasized for them to get involved, the team (lobbyists, lawyers, and PR) would need to be a small group of folks they have a tight relationship with. They do not want a large group involved and they only want people with whom they have a close relationship with due to the sensitivity surrounding their involvement.”
“At the end of today's White House briefing, a reporter fired a question at Press Secretary Jen Psaki about Hunter Biden,” Emanuel noted. “She ignored the question. A White House spokesman later responded ‘no comment’ when reached by Fox.”
He also noted that “It's unclear if any laws were broken.” Although, it was further evidence of the pattern of Hunter trying to get richer off his family name and the access he could give people to his father. And if this story was about President Trump and his children, the networks would be all over it.
This bias by omission to protect President Biden from his dubious son was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Ensure on ABC, SimpliSafe on CBS, and Ford Motor Company on NBC. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
Fox News Channel’s Special Report
September 23, 2021
6:19:09 p.m. EasternBRET BAIER: We are learning new information tonight about a report alleging President Biden's son Hunter attempted to shake down the Libyan government for millions of dollars. Chief Washington correspondent Mike Emanuel tells us what he’s hearing tonight. Good evening, Mike.
MIKE EMANUEL: Bret, good evening. These emails were obtained from Business Insider. The first email from January 28, 2015, a Democratic donor named Sam Jauhari to Sheikh Mohammed Al-Rahbani, an Obama campaign donor. They were reportedly seeking to help recover billions in Libyan assets frozen by the Obama administration when Joe Biden was vice president.
Jauhari lays out Hunter's demands in a January 28, 2015 email, writing, “per phone conversation, I met with number two son. He wants $2 million per year retainer plus success fees. He wants to hire his own people. It can be close circle of people for confidentiality. His dad is deciding to run or not.”
A second email dated February 26, 2016, Jauhari and Al-Rahbani receive an update from attorney John Sandweg, who had reportedly reached out to Hunter's team about the Libya deal:
“I spoke with HB's team yesterday. They are interested in the project but emphasized for them to get involved, the team (lobbyists, lawyers, and PR) would need to be a small group of folks they have a tight relationship with. They do not want a large group involved and they only want people with whom they have a close relationship with due to the sensitivity surrounding their involvement.”
At the end of today's White House briefing, a reporter fired a question at Press Secretary Jen Psaki about Hunter Biden. She ignored the question. A White House spokesman later responded “no comment” when reached by Fox.
Today, the top Republican on House oversight called these latest revelations troubling.
REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): Hunter Biden has a pattern of abuse, a pattern of trying to sell influence to his family. So, I think this just vindicates a lot of people like myself and a lot of my colleagues in Congress, who have always said Hunter Biden is someone we should be suspicious of and someone who we should be having access for oversight.
EMANUEL: This is not related to the emails from Hunter's purported laptop. Fox has reached out to Hunter Biden but no response so far. It's unclear if any laws were broken. Bret?
BAIER: Okay. Mike.
