Jen Psaki Dodges Questions on Her Dismissing Hunter Biden Story as ‘Russian Disinformation’

Kipp JonesMar 17th, 2022, 5:39 pm
 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki dodged questions Thursday about a report from the New York Times, which said it had confirmed the authenticity of emails allegedly taken from a hard drive abandoned by Hunter Biden in 2019.

The New York Post first reported on Oct. 14, 2020 it had obtained emails from a computer that Hunter Biden had abandoned at a repair shop in Delaware.

The report declared the emails implied then-candidate Joe Biden was involved in his son’s overseas business deals.

“The blockbuster correspondence — which flies in the face of Joe Biden’s claim that he’s ‘never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings’ — is contained in a massive trove of data recovered from a laptop computer,” the Post reported.

Other reports from the hard drive followed. In essence, the Post had concluded Hunter Biden had been involved in unethical deals from Europe to Asia. The paper also reported emails appeared to show Joe Biden was at least aware his son was profiting from the family name.

On Thursday, the Times reported it had finally authenticated emails from the hard drive. The verification was part of a report into an investigation that Hunter Biden might have intentionally neglected to declare himself as a foreign agent — as is required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

When the notorious hard drive was first reported on, many in the media and on the left wrote the story off as “Russian disinformation.” Psaki was among them.

Days after the Post first reported on the hard drive, Psaki shared a POLITICO article on Twitter, and quoted its headline: “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.”

Psaki was asked two questions about the Times report at her daily press conference Thursday. She dodged both of them.

Rob Crilly with the Daily Mail asked her:

The New York Times has authenticated emails that appear to have come from a laptop abandoned by Hunter Biden in Delaware. The president previously said that the New York Post story about this was a bunch of garbage and that it was a Russian plant. Does he stand by that assessment?

“I would point you to the Department of Justice and also to Hunter Biden’s representatives, he doesn’t work in the government,” said Psaki.

Philip Wegmann of RealClearNews also asked, “You also in October of 2020 dismissed it as Russian disinformation. Do you stand by that assessment?”

“Again, I have pointed to the Department of Justice and Hunter Biden’s representatives. I am a spokesperson for the United States, he doesn’t work for the United States,” Psaki responded.

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