In a significant development, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has, for the first time, recognized the validity of the data contained on Hunter Biden's notorious laptop in a recent court filing.
The acknowledgment came on Tuesday in response to Biden's plea to dismiss his federal firearm charges.
The court documents detail how investigators from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtained a search warrant for tax violations against Biden. This led them to "various" backup data accounts. The filing also mentions that investigators later acquired the laptop that Biden had previously "left at a computer store," underlining that a significant portion of the data had already been obtained from Apple.
The court documents read, "In August 2019, IRS and FBI investigators obtained a search warrant for tax violations for the defendants Apple iCloud account. In response to that warrant, in September 2019, Apple produced backups of data from various of the defendants electronic devices that he had backed up to his iCloud account." The document further states, "Investigators also later came into possession of the defendants Apple MacBook Pro, which he had left at a computer store. A search warrant was also obtained for his laptop and the results of the search were largely duplicative of information investigators had already obtained from Apple."
The initial report on Biden's laptop by the New York Post sparked a backlash from Democratic officials, various media outlets, and social media platforms. Democratic operatives and their allies attempted to dismiss the laptop findings as "Russian disinformation" and claimed that reporting on it amounted to pro-Trump election interference.
Subsequently, a letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials was released, falsely asserting that the content on Biden's laptop was part of a "Russian information operation." This narrative of "Russian disinformation" led Facebook and Twitter to censor the NY Post's reporting, with outlets like Politico declaring the story false based on the former intelligence officials' letter. During his 2020 campaign, President Joe Biden referred to the laptop contents as "Russia disinformation," citing the intelligence officials' letter as evidence.
However, while rumors of Russian interference circulated, the FBI reportedly knew the contents of Biden's laptop were authentic, thanks to an interview with Biden's former business associate, Tony Bobulinski. The agency had previously interviewed Bobulinski on October 23, 2020, after the report broke, during which he confirmed the authenticity of the laptop's contents, stating that he had additional records on multiple cell phones.
The DOJ and FBI have since refrained from discussing the contents of Biden's laptop. IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley confirmed the laptop's authenticity during his testimony to Congress in June 2023, as reported by the New York Post.
These new filings are a response to Biden's ongoing investigation for gun charges, which his legal team argued in December should be dismissed. Biden was indicted in September 2023 on three federal gun charges after allegedly illegally purchasing a revolver while battling drug addiction.
Despite pleading not guilty to the charges in October 2023, Hunter Biden could potentially face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Login