FEBRUARY 16, 2024 UPDATE: On Feb. 15 the New York Post reported the following: “Special counsel David Weiss on Thursday charged the FBI informant who alleged President Biden and first son Hunter Biden were involved in a $10 million bribery scheme with providing false information to the bureau. Alexander Smirnov, 43, was indicted by a California grand jury on two felony counts of making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record for statements he made to the FBI referenced in a June 2020 FD-1023 form that House Republicans have used as evidence in Joe Biden’s impeachment inquiry.”
UPDATED THROUGH THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 7:
On June 8, a bombshell landed as Fox News reported that President Joe Biden had allegedly received $5 million dollars from an executive of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, the same company in which his son Hunter was involved.
It’s been 181 days since that stunning development in the Biden family scandal case broke. So how much time did the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) networks devote to it, in that span?
Zero seconds.
The Burisma scandal story and its ties to Joe “Big Guy” Biden has legs. On June 12, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer claimed the FBI has additional informant documents that link then-Vice President Biden to an alleged multimillion-dollar bribery scheme.
On June 15, Comer “teased that new bank records his panel expects to obtain will reveal that the Biden family has accepted as much as $30 million from foreign nationals.”
The censorship of these bombshells is blatant. It’s 2020 all over again, as the networks continue to be in the “Protect Biden” business.
JULY 25 UPDATE: On July 23 the New York Post's Miranda Devine reported: “Hunter Biden would dial in his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, on speakerphone into meetings with his overseas business partners, according to testimony expected before Congress this week from Devon Archer, the first son’s former best friend. Archer, 48, who is facing jail for his role in a $60 million bond fraud, is scheduled to testify to the House Oversight Committee about meetings he witnessed that were attended by Joe Biden either in person or via speakerphone when Hunter would call his father and introduce him to foreign business partners or prospective investors....One such meeting was in Dubai late in the evening of Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, after a board meeting of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, which was paying Hunter $83,000 a month as a director.”
So far there has been zero coverage of this development on the broadcast networks.
JULY 21 UPDATE: On July 20, Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) office released a rumored form from an FBI confidential source alleging the Biden family coerced the Burisma CEO to shovel them millions if then-Vice President Biden could have Ukraine’s top prosecutor fired (which he did). ABC, CBS, NBC devoted 0 seconds to this development on their July 20 evening and July 21 morning shows.
JULY 20 UPDATE: NBC and CBS (but not ABC) covered the whistleblower hearings on their July 19 evening and July 20 morning shows for a total of 11 minutes, 13 seconds. However, there was no mention of Burisma.
JULY 18 UPDATE: On July 12, Fox News reported that GOP lawmakers “erupted” after “learning about about a 2015 email chain” with a Burisma executive from Hunter’s laptop that so far ABC, CBS, NBC have yet to report on.
Republican lawmakers erupted Tuesday after learning about a 2015 email chain that predated President Biden’s infamous 2015 trip to Ukraine, when a Burisma Holdings executive revealed the “ultimate purpose” of Hunter Biden’s involvement with the Ukrainian energy company.
One month before then-Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Ukraine, where he threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid if Ukrainian leaders did not fire their top prosecutor, Hunter Biden and Burisma executives were discussing executing a contract for counter-messaging against any federal investigations into Burisma’s founder and then-president, Mykola Zlochevsky.
“The sequence of events that led to the firing of Viktor Shokin, and the subsequent comments by then-Vice President Biden, raise serious concerns as to what machinations were really at play — and were purposefully concealed from the American people,” Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who sits on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, told Fox News Digital. “No matter how you slice Hunter Biden’s involvement, it screams public corruption at the highest levels and must be fully investigated.”
JULY 12 UPDATE: On July 11 the New York Post reported:
The White House refused to comment Tuesday on the potential legal exposure for President Biden, first son Hunter and first brother James Biden after a US citizen was criminally charged for working as an unregistered agent of the same Chinese firm that paid the Biden family. “What’s the White House’s take on potential [Foreign Agents Registration Act] liability for the first family and the president?” The Post asked White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan at a NATO summit in Lithuania. “I’ve not seen that and cannot comment on it,” Sullivan deflected during a briefing. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who took reporter questions after Sullivan, did not provide additional comment or immediately respond to an emailed inquiry.
Gal Luft was charged Monday by the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office for allegedly violating FARA by accepting from CEFC China Energy at least $700,000 to his Maryland-based think tank, the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, in exchange for co-hosting conferences and attempting to influence a 2016 Donald Trump campaign adviser.
There was zero network coverage of this development.
There was also still no new coverage on the WhatsApp message.
JULY 7 UPDATE: An eyewitness with stunning claims about the Biden family scandals has come forward on a video, yet so far ABC, CBS and NBC have yet to report on them. Israeli professor and former Israeli army officer Dr. Gal Luft in a 14-minute long video (released by the New York Post on late Wednesday night) claimed he was about to testify to the House Oversight Committee on the Biden family receiving payments from Chinese officials but was arrested in Cyprus, before he could deliver that testimony.
There was also still no new coverage on the WhatsApp message.
JUNE 29 UPDATE: From June 22 through the morning of June 29 ABC, CBS and NBC spent a grand total of 23 minutes, 6 seconds on the whistleblower revelations. Of that total time, 6 minutes, 58 seconds was devoted to coverage of the 2017 WhatsApp message. Still no coverage of Burisma bribery.
JUNE 26 UPDATE:
While there was still no coverage on the Biden Burisma bribery allegation, the networks did report on the whistleblower revelations about DOJ interference in the Hunter Biden case and a shady Hunter Biden WhatsApp text to a Chinese businessman.
From June 22 through the morning of June 24 ABC, CBS and NBC spent a grand total of 11 minutes, 34 seconds on the whistleblower revelations. Of that total time, 5 minutes, 3 seconds was devoted to coverage of the 2017 WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to a Chinese businessman where he made the following demand: “I am sitting here with my father. We would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled, I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand. And now means tonight.”
JUNE 23 UPDATE:
It should be noted that while the networks have yet to report on the Burisma bribery allegation NBC and CBS (but not ABC) did find time to squeeze in 262 seconds on a report that IRS whistleblowers charged the Department of Justice with interfering in the Hunter Biden investigation and a report that Hunter leveraged his dad in negotiating a six-figure business deal with a Chinese business associate.
On June 22, NBC Nightly News ran an 82 second report by Garrett Haake and there was also a quick 54 second mention during correspondent Kelly O’Donnell’s report on the June 23 Today show. The June 23 CBS Mornings devoted 126 seconds to the following report by correspondent Catherine Herridge:
HOST GAYLE KING: And as Ed just pointed out, Hunter Biden attended last night’s state dinner ahead of his expected guilty plea to tax charges. House Republicans have just revealed testimony from two IRS officials who claimed there was sweeping misconduct in the Biden investigation. Senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge has more on that part of the story.
CORRESPONDENT CATHRINE HERRIDGE: IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley spoke to congressional investigators in May. He said IRS investigators recommended charges for tax evasion, filing a false tax return, for the tax years 2014, 2018, and 2019, all felonies. Plus, charges for failure to file or pay several years. Those are misdemeanors. A conviction on these charges could bring hefty fines and up to five years in prison. But the plea deal filed this week by the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, David Weiss, said the President’s son agreed to enter guilty pleas for two misdemeanor tax charges. As part of the deal, Biden will avoid full prosecution on a separate gun charge. A source familiar with the terms told CBS news his legal team expects probation, not jail time.
Shapley also alleged there was a recovered 2017 WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to a Chinese businessman over an outstanding payment stating, quote, “I am sitting here with my father. We would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter Biden allegedly texted, according to the transcript, “I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand. And now means tonight.” CBS news has not independently verified the message.
The U.S. attorney in Delaware declined to comment on the whistleblower allegations. But in a recent letter to Congress said he has been granted ultimate authority over this matter. The congressional committee’s senior Democrat said the release of the transcripts is premature, not fully vetted, and he scolded Republicans for not waiting for the investigators to release their findings. Hunter Biden’s legal team did not respond to CBS News’ questions. The Justice Department and White House reiterate that the matter is being handled independently by the Delaware U.S. attorney. Vlad
HOST VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: All right, Catherine. Thank you very much.
