Sparks flew on the ABC This Week "Powerhouse Roundtable" during an ongoing debate among those in the media over their sudden realization that Hunter Biden's laptop is real after all and the younger Biden's business dealings in China weren't Russian disinformation. Former Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) did not disappoint when he let his fellow panelists and the leftist media at large have it over their refusal to cover the Hunter Biden scandals while lapping up the Hillary Clinton campaign's phony Russian dossier claims that Trump colluded with Russia.
The Hunter Biden scandal wasn't just fodder for the panel, anchor George Stephanopoulos even asked Biden White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain about the President's son's mounting legal troubles. After asking if President Biden is confident his son Hunter didn't break the law, Klain claimed the President is confident Hunter didn't.
Moving along to the panel, Stephanopoulos mentioned The Washington Post's sudden confirmation of everything conservatives knew about Hunter's criminal activity all along; telling The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus "many on the right have said it's too little too late for the Washington Post to come forward now after dismissing these claims all through the election."
Marcus predictably defended her paper and made excuses for their refusal to look into the story claiming that they "faced a very big dilemma and as they tried to figure out how to deal with the reporting about that laptop in real-time." She even blamed "Russian disinformation" as one of the reasons why The Post didn't even attempt to verify the laptop story.
Stephanopoulos then turned to Astead Herndon of The New York Times, which was another major newspaper that refused to look into the story at the time but has just recently faced reality. "Are there implications for The New York Times," Stephanopoulos asked Herndon. With The New York Times reporter replying that "there's no fear about reporting facts and following where those go."
Then came the moment of truth when Christie jumped in and set the record straight:
The idea that somehow when making the Hunter Biden decision in the midst of an election campaign, you’re saying oh we have to be careful about Russian disinformation, but all through 2016, 2017 we now know that it was the Hillary Clinton campaign that was creating that dossier paying for it. And that became the basis of a New York Times Pulitzer Prize!
"There was a separate FBI investigation based on completely different evidence," Stephanopoulos rebutted. Christie replied: "Operation Crossfire Hurricane was all about the potential infiltration of the Trump campaign by the Russians. The basis of that was the dossier."
Christie then made the case that not only was the left-wing media working to cover up for the Bidens during the 2020 election, but Twitter shut down The New York Post's account for reporting on Hunter's laptop:
Twitter took The New York Post Twitter account down because they reported on the Hunter Biden laptop which now turns out to be completely true. So let’s just call it what it was. (...) The New York Post had it right and The Washington Post" and The New York Times had it wrong. Now you can decide, everyone will decide what the motivation for that was, whether it was simple error, whether it was not sufficient reporting, whether it was bias, everyone’s going to have their opinions on that. But the facts that we know now are, The New York Post had it right during the campaign last year and the other media outlets had it wrong.
Before moving onto another topic, former Democrat National Committee chair Donna Brazile tried to downplay the importance of the Hunter Biden scandal claiming, "Hunter is not going to be a conversation piece this midterm. Hunter is going to be a conversation piece for those of us who like salacious gossip."
To read the relevant transcript click "expand":
ABC’s This Week
4/3/2022
9:46:47 a.m. EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Also facing down, Brazile, a big decision about Hunter Biden.
DONNA BRAZILE: Absolutely. Look, we'll see what happens in Delaware. Because that case is originating there. And you know, based on what I read in the Washington Post and some of the other examination with Hunter's laptop, there's a lot of information that we're learning, new information, in fact, about what may have occurred because he left his laptop at a repair shop and now they have the hard drive.
(...)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Ruth Marcus, the Washington Post reported this week as I mentioned with Ron Klain, more on Hunter Biden's dealings with China, which a lot on the right, many on the right have said it's too little too late for the Washington Post to come forward now after dismissing these claims all through the election.
RUTH MARCUS: I think this is the point where I'm supposed to say I represent the opinion side of the Washington Post and not the newsroom. I think there are a lot of -- I think that all news organizations, not just the Washington Post, faced a very big dilemma and as they tried to figure out how to deal with the reporting about that laptop in real-time. We knew there had been efforts, we the news media, knew there had been efforts of Russian disinformation. You don't want to jump at that and report something that's wrong. On the other hand, you don't want to be putting a finger on the scale. I don't, as a journalist, for one side or the other. So I’m not going to second guess the decisions that were made. Though I think there's a lot of interesting reporting to be done. And I'm really glad that we are looking at this now. Hunter Biden is not the first political relative to take advantage and make money off of his father's access and power, but it's not a very attractive story.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Are there implications for The New York Times?
ASTEAD HERNDON: Oh, I don't think so. I think that there's no fear about reporting facts and following where those go. I want to defer to my colleagues in Washington who have been really doing that type of work. I know that there's full support in the newsroom to follow the facts wherever they go. On the elections side, on the politics side, where we focused, this hasn't really dripped into the real public consciousness yet. But we know it's going to be an effort for Republicans to try to drive that narrative, to try to make the electorate more motivated on this front. We haven’t seen that yet but they’re going to try.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, Merrick Garland is going to have to resist the pressure from Republicans on this issue.
CHRIS CHRISTIE: Well, yeah, that's your job when you're Attorney General. But look, the idea that somehow when making the Hunter Biden decision in the midst of an election campaign, you’re saying oh we have to be careful about Russian disinformation, but all through 2016, 2017 we now know that it was the Hillary Clinton campaign that was creating that dossier, paying for it. And that became the basis of a New York Times Pulitzer Prize!
STEPHANOPOULOS: There was a separate FBI investigation based on completely different evidence.
CHRISTIE: But George, no no George, look. Operation Crossfire Hurricane was all about the potential infiltration of the Trump campaign by the Russians. The basis of that was the dossier.
[Crosstalk]
MARCUS: And most news organizations didn't publish the dossier.
CHRISTIE: They published the dossier, Ruth, but what they did was aggressively pursue that and call it as if it was fact. And with the Hunter Biden case, Twitter took The New York Post Twitter account down because they reported on the Hunter Biden laptop which now turns out to be completely true. So let’s just call it what it was.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Chris, nobody reported on the dossier during the campaign!
CHRISTIE: But George, The New York Post had it right and The Washington Post" and The New York Times had it wrong. Now you can decide, everyone will decide what the motivation for that was, whether it was simple error, whether it was not sufficient reporting, whether it was bias, everyone’s going to have their opinions on that. But the facts that we know now are, The New York Post had it right during the campaign last year and the other media outlets had it wrong.
MARCUS: Is The Washington Post supposed to report on a hard drive that it didn't have at the time that was given to Rudy Giuliani? I mean it’s not an easy call if you’re an editor.
CHRISTIE: They reported on a lot of stuff regarding Russian infiltration of the Trump campaign that turned out to be flat wrong, dead wrong.
BRAZILE: They also failed to report on the Russian infiltration of the democratic national committee and the damage that was done as a result of Mr. Putin trying to basically interfere in our elections. Look, George, I do understand the Hunter Biden situation -- we know Hunter is selling artwork that is valued at a lot of money. Hunter is, we have nude photos.- I don't know what's right and what's wrong. But I’m going to tell you one thing, Hunter is not going to be a conversation piece this midterm. Hunter is going to be a conversation piece for those of us who like salacious gossip. What's going to be a conversation piece, George, is of course, the economy, how the American people are feeling about their own lives and what's in their pocketbooks, and wallets, and also the outcome of this war in Ukraine which will not just impact us at the gas pump, but pretty soon at the grocery store when we go and buy bread and wheat and barley. Because this war is going to take a toll on the American economy.
