How the Hunter Biden Laptop Story was Squashed

Ousted CBS reporter reveals how network squashed Hunter Biden story

An ousted veteran CBS reporter has written a lengthy expose revealing details about how the network squashed a Hunter Biden story. 

Writing on her newsletter, Catherine Herridge described the broadcaster's investigation into the laptop as a 'missed opportunity for CBS News', saying the broadcaster failed to properly report her findings. 

Herridge told company executives the laptop contained material about 'a million dollar retainer from a Chinese energy firm' along with Hunter's business texts and emails in early October 2020, before the election. 

But later that month, during a 60 Minutes interview with then-President Trump, correspondent Lesley Stahl said the laptop 'couldn't be verified'. 'As I watched the broadcast, I felt sick,' Herridge wrote. 

It comes after two IRS whistleblowers sat down with Herridge for an interview and told her they were banned from investigating Joe Biden amid the government's probe into his son. 

Herridge told company executives the laptop contained material about 'a million dollar retainer from a Chinese energy firm' along with Hunter's business texts and emails 

Now, Herridge says that CBS failed to properly report on what she found on the laptop.

'I had been tasked with vetting the laptop and its contents after multiple platforms had suppressed the story,' Herridge wrote, adding that she was commissioned by CBS News executive Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews to get 'confirmed reporting' on Hunter Biden for Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell in October 2020.

'Due diligence included working the phones, reaching out to people on the Hunter Biden emails for corroboration and cross-referencing court records. 

'The vetted documents I collected also indicated the laptop belonged to Hunter Biden.

'I told Ciprian-Matthews the vetted materials included a million dollar retainer from a Chinese energy firm, emails with Hunter Biden’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski as well as Hunter Biden text messages.

'Asked by Ciprian-Matthews if there was a “Hunter connection,” I responded, “Yes, all of them.”

'I then provided some of the vetted records directly to Ciprian-Matthews. We spoke on the phone. I don’t know at this point what happened next.

'Based on my reporting, and as the network’s senior investigative correspondent, standard practice would have been for the CBS News investigative unit  to develop more reporting on the laptop, before the 2020 election. But they didn't.

Herridge said that a 60 Minutes interview with then-President Trump later that month made her 'feel sick' as CBS anchors told him the laptop 'can't be verified'. 

'I knew the laptop records could be vetted and confirmed,' she said.

'I was confused by what seemed a disconnect between the CBS News division and 60 Minutes.

'It took an additional two years for the network to broadcast a forensic review of the Hunter Biden laptop data. 

'I advocated for the report which determined that both the data belonged to Hunter Biden and it had not been tampered with. 

'Our report was only broadcast in November 2022, too late, after the midterm elections.'

IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley And Joseph Ziegler, who were banned from investigating Biden, sat down with veteran journalist Catherine Herridge for an interview where they said the IRS looks the other way when it comes to the country's powerful elite, which they call 'sensitive persons'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14038833/cbs-reporter-hunter-biden-story-catherine-herridge.html

Ziegler said prosecutors specifically told IRS investigators 'that they didn't want to ask about the big guy, because they knew it was Joe Biden.'

The whistleblowers said the IRS, FBI and DOJ knew Hunter Biden's laptop was real but they were not allowed to look into it.

'There were a lot of overt investigative steps that we were not allowed to take because we had an upcoming election,' Ziegler added.

The whistleblowers said they have been punished for speaking out about the IRS' treatment of Hunter Biden. 

'The IRS just has a smothering blanket on me hoping that I quit, that they find some way to terminate me or commit suicide or something,' Shapley claimed.

Ziegler, on his part, said he is up against 'a machine that has millions of dollars that has the ability to fight me.'

Still, Shapley and Ziegler said they feel vindicated that Hunter Biden in the end pleaded guilty to the tax crimes outlined in the indictment against him. 

The two shared an email they received from their IRS supervisor after Hunter's conviction thanking them for their work.

'Those are words that are not supported by the actions of the agency,' Shapley said.

He added: 'This to me was someone who knows the IRS watchdog is looking into the way that they've handled this and they see the writing on the wall.

'This really is an example of them just covering their backside like a true bureaucracy.'

Shapley and Ziegler previously told congress there was a pattern of 'slow-walking investigative steps' into Hunter Biden, including during the Trump administration in the months before the 2020 election that Joe Biden won.

In testimony, Shapley alleged the DOJ dragged its feet in the probe into the president's son's taxes and Ziegler said Hunter 'received preferential treatment' during the process.

One of Shapley’s most detailed claims was that U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware, the federal prosecutor who led the investigation, asked for special counsel status in order to bring the tax cases against Hunter Biden in jurisdictions outside Delaware, including the District of Columbia and California, but was denied. 

Shapley said the Justice Department 'slow-walked' its probe into Hunter's taxes during his testimony in congress last year

Hunter Biden eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor and felony tax charges.

Prosecutors said that Hunter Biden lived lavishly while flouting the tax law, spending his cash on things like strippers and luxury hotels — 'in short, everything but his taxes.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14015105/IRS-whistleblowers-say-banned-investigating-Joe-Biden-specifically-told-not-ask-big-guy.html

Hours after being released from federal prison, the ex president's former chief strategist Steve Bannon said he had a warning for the Biden family: Pardon Hunter before he has to serve a sentence that could destroy him. 'I don't think Hunter Biden would last 48 hours in a federal prison,' he told DailyMail.com.

He left Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut , in the early hours of Tuesday morning. After broadcasting his War Room livestream show from a Manhattan hotel suite he sat down with DailyMail.com to talk about the lowest point of his incarceration, what he learned from the inmates and how life in the U.S. Navy had prepared him for being cooped up with so many men.

'I'm 70 years old. I can tell you, there's not many 70-year-olds I know on Wall Street or in the political class that could go to a federal prison for four months,' he said. 'It's extremely difficult. 'These places are violent places. There's lots of drugs. This drug, K2 is all over these prisons.' K2 is synthetic marijuana, also known as 'spice', that can be sprayed onto paper and smuggled into jails.

Bannon was straight back into the swing of the campaign on Tuesday morning. He returned to the airwaves at 10 am and used his show to accuse former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of trying to silence him. ' She sent me to a federal prison as a political prisoner, to do two things, to make sure that she tried to tamp down the power of this show, right, tamp down the power of the show, and also to break me,' he said.

He urged supporters to ensure Democrats 'cannot steal [November 5th],' showing that the prison sentence had not dimmed his fire. Later in the day it was on to a press conference, where dozens of journalists crammed into an upscale hotel suite to hear him repeat the claim that the 2020 presidential results had been stolen.

Peanut the Squirrel Executed by the State of New York

Social media star Peanut the Squirrel euthanized by the state of New York

The heartbreaking death of Peanut, the beloved Instagram-famous squirrel, has called into question the legality of squirrel ownership in New York.

Peanut and his racoon friend Fred were both euthanized by the state on Friday after Department of Environmental Conservation officials raided their owner's Pine City home.

Mark Longo, 34, is the founder of P´Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary.

In New York, people licensed as wildlife rehabilitators can care for squirrels or other wild animals as long as they intend to set them back out into the wild.

Mark Longo showed his pet squirrel Peanut that was seized by officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, at Longo's home in rural Pine City, New York

Fred the raccoon was also euthanized by officials from New York State on Friday

'It is with profound sorrow that we share the heartbreaking news: on October 30th, the DEC made the devastating decision to euthanize our beloved Peanut the squirrel and Fred the raccoon,' he wrote on Instagram.

Longo said: 'The DEC came to my house and raided my house without a search warrant to find a squirrel!

Peanut could perform tricks including jumping through hoops

Peanut had more than half a million followers on Instagram, TikTok and other platforms during the seven years since Longo took him in after seeing his mother get hit by a car in New York City.

Longo brought Peanut home and cared for him for eight months before trying to release the squirrel into the great outdoors.

'A day and a half later I found him sitting on my porch missing half of his tail with his bone sticking out,' Longo said.

Peanut the squirrel had over 540,000 followers online and appeared to have spread joy

He quickly determined that Peanut lacked the survival skills to live in the wild and would remain an indoor squirrel.

Soon after Longo posted videos of Peanut playing with his cat, internet fame followed.

A scroll through Peanut's Instagram account confirms he was no ordinary squirrel.

Peanut would leap on to Longo's shoulder, wear a miniature cowboy hat, and eat a waffle while wearing crocheted bunny ears.

Longo penned a sorrowful message to his followers on Friday: 'To the group of people who called DEC, there's a special place in hell for you.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14036707/pet-squirrels-legal-New-York-Peanut-euthanized.html

News anchors from a flagship news station in New York were seen reacting unfavorably to the saga surrounding Peanut the squirrel.

Gus Rosendale and Pat Battle, both co-anchors for NBC 4 New York's 'Weekend Today in New York', expressed disdain over state officials' decision to put the pet down.

Rosendale also made a snide comment about Albany's warped priorities, ahead of election week, as he sniped: 'All right - that's what Albany is focusing on.'

Peanut, who had become a social media sensation, was killed after a raid on owner Mark Longo's home on Wednesday. 

The pet squirrel has since become an election talking point for conservatives, with the Trump campaign slamming the Democrat New York government for 'executing' Peanut - but failing to crackdown on the migrant crisis.

Gus Rosendale, who has manned his network's news desks for more than a decade, couldn't help but deviate from the script and speak negatively about the state government - letting out an incredulous smirk

'Authorities seized Peanut from a home in Pine City, New York- a little town south of Elmira' Rosendale said.

The squirrel's mother was hit by a car and Longo had been taking care of the animal ever since.

'A raccoon taken during the same raid was also put down,' he continued, both he and Battle visibly somber. 

Gus Rosendale and Pat Battle, both co-anchors for NBC 4 New York's 'Weekend Today in New York', expressed disdain over state officials' decision to put the pet down

Peanut

The outrage centered around the New York State government continues to swirl.

'What kind of person do these agencies employ?' one observer wrote of the at least six officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation responsible for the squirrel's death.

'Who has it in them to murder a bloody pet squirrel?'

This earned a response from none other than Elon Musk, who had a blunt assessment of the recent sequence of events.

'The government is a mindless and heartless killing machine,' he said - as an array of memes ensued.

'President Trump will save the squirrels,' Musk wrote. 'RIP P’Nut.'

Even Musk took part, sharing an AI-generated image of a squirrel toting a Star Wars lightsaber and an accompanying Peanut-related play on words

'The government is a mindless and heartless killing machine,' Musk said 

Donald Trump Jr. took to X 

If Peanut could have told them he was from Mexico, they would have sent him on his way and given him a hotel room and $500 gift card.

Peanut the squirrel had over 580,000 followers online

Peanut

'Honestly, this still kind of feels surreal, that the state that I live in actually targeted me and took two of the most beloved animals on this planet away, didn´t even quarantine them. They took them from my house and just killed them,' Longo said.

Longo started caring for Peanut after the animal's mother was hit by a car in New York City seven years ago.

A number of memes popped up following Peanut's death

'The NYS DEC needs a serious reality check on their ridiculously mistaken priorities.' New York Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) wrote in a post. 

'Instead of focusing on critical needs like flood mitigation, where local officials have to struggle just to get permits from the DEC to clear debris-filled waterways, they're out seizing pet squirrels. NY taxpayers deserve better.' 

Others on social media were also incredulous at what had unfolded.

'Peanut the Squirrel's owner speaks about our government kidnapping this squirrel, the raccoon brother, and then just killing them.' one user said.

'Four departments and a judge had to sign off for this kidnapping and this euthanasia to happen.'

'This can't be real,' another user said. 'Is this a joke? Are they joking? They're really sent a S.W.A.T. team to go get a squirrel and a raccoon?'

The orphaned squirrel that became a social media star called Peanut was euthanized after state authorities seized the beloved pet during a raid on his caretaker's home.

At least six officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation raided Mark Longo's home near the Pennsylvania border in rural Pine City.

DEC officials took the squirrel and a raccoon named Fred from Longo's home after they carried out a search warrant signed by four state agencies, all ignoring calls for clemency.

'The DEC came to my house and raided my house without a search warrant to find a squirrel!' said Longo, who is 34. 

The DEC and Chemung County Department of Health confirmed both animals' fate.

'On October 30, DEC seized a raccoon and squirrel sharing a residence with humans. Both animals were euthanized,' the agencies said in a statement. 

Over the years Peanut's story has been featured on TV and newspapers including USA Today.