NPR issued a correction Thursday to a book review after it incorrectly claimed that U.S. intelligence discredited the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Ron Elving, NPR’s Washington desk senior editor and correspondent, wrote the lengthy review for Biden’s upcoming memoir “Beautiful Things.” The article pointed out various topics covered in the book, such as Biden’s “relationship with Burisma” and efforts by former President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to “portray Hunter as a liability” amid President Joe Biden’s candidacy.
“The last gasp of Giuliani’s campaign against the Bidens featured a laptop supposedly obtained from sources that would document the younger Biden’s drug use and other offenses,” the NPR review originally declared. “The laptop story was discredited by U.S. intelligence and independent investigations by news organizations.” (RELATED: These Reports Are Essential Reading For Understanding The Hunter Biden Story)
Later on, NPR issued a correction regarding the claim that the laptop story had been “discredited.”
“A previous version of this story said U.S. intelligence had discredited the laptop story. U.S. intelligence officials have not made a statement to that effect,” NPR’s current correction, located at the bottom of the review, reads.
Much of the media dismissed the laptop story in 2020, with some claiming it was Russian disinformation and others doubting the legitimacy of documents found on the hard drive. At the time, NPR even publicly declared that the news was a distraction and announced it wouldn’t “waste” readers’ time by covering it.
Why haven’t you seen any stories from NPR about the NY Post’s Hunter Biden story? Read more in this week’s newsletter➡️ https://t.co/CJesPgmGvo pic.twitter.com/jAi7PnpbZf
— NPR Public Editor (@NPRpubliceditor) October 22, 2020
In December 2020, a few months after the laptop was discovered, the public learned about a federal investigation into Biden’s taxes, potential money laundering and his foreign ties. Suddenly, the laptop story became a far more legitimate topic for some in the media. (RELATED: Both Of The Media’s Reasons For Suppressing The Hunter Biden Story Turned Out To Be ‘False’)
Despite the president’s dismissal regarding his son’s laptop – he’s denied any knowledge of wrongdoing by his son and backed Russian disinformation claims – U.S. intelligence has not “discredited” the story. NPR replaced that line with one noting how “numerous news organizations cast doubt on the credibility of the laptop story.”
“There is no intelligence that supports that, and we have shared no intelligence with Chairman [Adam] Schiff or any other member of Congress that Hunter Biden’s laptop is part of some Russian disinformation campaign,” former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe also pointed out in 2020, according to The Washington Examiner.