A bombshell Biden story — and the media dutifully ignore it
By: Joe Concha, Opinion Contributor (The Hill)
Biden is so irrelevant that he can't even get his own controversy. The press simply ignores Biden; Biden just ain't newsworthy.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Unlike many "bombshells" during the Trump administration, the latest potential bombshell story out of Washington, which may involve President Biden, was based not on "sources close to the White House" or "an unnamed administration official" but, rather, on receipts.
Bank record receipts, to be precise.
Here's what House Republicans uncovered recently, according to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.):
"Over the course of several years, members of the Biden family and their companies received over $1.3 million in payments from accounts related to their associate, Rob Walker," the March 16 statement reads. "Most of this money came as a result of a wire from a Chinese energy company and went not only to Hunter and James Biden, but also to Hallie Biden and an unknown 'Biden.' It is unclear what services were provided to obtain this exorbitant amount of money."
To unpack this, Hunter Biden, the president's son, is already under federal investigation over his financial dealings. But this is a fresh and potentially scandalous story.
What services did Hunter Biden provide to a Chinese energy company that warranted him getting paid more than $500,000 between March and May 2017? What services did the president's brother, James Biden, provide to warrant $360,000 between March and May 2017?
Most eyebrow-raising of all, what services did Hallie Biden, the president's daughter-in-law, a private-school guidance counselor, provide that warranted her earning $25,000 during that period?
And finally, there was a payment of $80,000 to what bank records show only as an "unknown Biden." Hunter Biden's former business associate Tony Bobulinski has gone on record alleging that 10 percent of profits in the past went to "the big guy." Bobulinski also has alleged that Joe Biden was that guy, although he has not been connected by Rep. Comer to the newly discovered payments.
When finally asked about the payments, President Biden said they never happened. Reporters asked no follow-up questions and did not point out that House Republicans say they have bank records that seem to suggest a different story. And when White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the Biden family's alleged Chinese payments, she refused to answer, implying to a White House reporter that the accusations are a lie.
So, is there a potential story here, perhaps even a huge one? Let's just say that if this story were about the Trump family instead of the Biden family, nearly every reporter in Washington would be chasing it — considering the paper trails, the Chinese source of millions of dollars in fees paid and the ambiguity of services provided.
But that's not happening.
The Biden bank records story broke on Thursday, March 16. One would think it would have warranted a segment or two on the Sunday morning political talk shows. The lead story was, of course, the potential indictment of former President Trump. But these programs each run one hour; both stories could have been covered.
A review of ABC's "This Week," CBS's "Face the Nation," NBC's "Meet the Press" and CNN's "State of the Union" found that those shows dedicated more than 46 minutes to the potential Trump indictment. Contrast that with the Biden bank records story, which received no coverage on those shows — a complete blackout.
That's what media observers call the bias of omission — when news organizations ignore a newsworthy story.
The Biden-China story matters for several reasons, not least because China is increasingly viewed by both Republicans and Democrats as America's number one adversary. Our approach to China has never been more important — whether on national security, human rights, trade, the economy or technology. And on some of these issues, President Biden hasn't seemed as tough as he needs to be — most recently, appearing on a TikTok video at a time when the social media company is under investigation for its reported ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Perhaps only after the release of more evidence, which Rep. Comer insists is coming, will most major media organizations give the Biden-China bank record story even some of the attention it deserves.
But based on what we've seen over the past two years, or even just the past two weeks, don't hold your breath.
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The Biden Presidency has become nothing more than filler material -- a 'man bites dog' story. When a Biden controversy isn't newsworthy then it's difficult to believe that Biden is an important public figure. Obviously the press views Biden as inconsequential.
When finally asked about the payments, President Biden said they never happened. Reporters asked no follow-up questions and did not point out that House Republicans say they have bank records that seem to suggest a different story. And when White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the Biden family's alleged Chinese payments, she refused to answer, implying to a White House reporter that the accusations are a lie.
This perfectly encapsulates Joe Biden and the lapdog media.
If the Republican House committees (Jordan and Comer) had actual evidence of Biden wrongdoing, as opposed to the speculative rumor mongering they are doing now, they would be having a press conference at this minute laying this evidence out.
There is hilarity involved in the concept pushed by right wingers , that there is no evidence of trump wrong doing related to the 2020 election or Jan 6th (where there is thousands of hours of testimony and a half dozen televised hearings on the matter) but somehow we KNOW Biden and his family are crooks without a single piece of actual evidence having been presented by the Republican congressional committees investigating this.
Does it strike you as odd a Chinese Energy Company gave the Biden family money while Biden was in office?
There are WAY more than enough conservative media to get to the truth of this, if there is any. Complaining that the NY Times or Washington Post arent covering it is nothing but sour grapes.
It reminds me of the right wing claim that Biden tried to get a Ukrainian prosecutor fired to protect his corrupt son. The mainstream media did look into that allegation and found it to be baseless, but all these years later the right still repeats it as if it were true.
Why should the mainstream media feed conspiracy theories?
If the Bidens are guilty of something Fox News or the Wall St. Journal can find it.
How is this a conspiracy theory? The payments aren't in dispute, despite Biden's lies.
Bidens are guilty of something Fox News or the Wall St. Journal can find it.
I'm glad we can agree that the other media outlets are just PR outlets for the Democratic Party, and have no interest in doing any work that might hurt the cause.
Right wing gossip is well known for producing misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Fine, lets see someone lay out the criminal aspects. We have two congressional committees dedicated to the matter and they have done nothing but flap their lips so far.
Ahem. Didn't Clinton light that smudge pot? And the smoke still hasn't cleared.
Biden can't even get his own controversy from rumor and innuendo. Drag Queen story hours get more press coverage than Biden. Biden is so unimportant, the press can't be bothered.
Biden simply doesn't matter.
Ditto with Trump. But...................
The Jan 6th committee presented hundreds of pages of testimony and evidence of trumps wrongdoing.
Show us what the Jordan and Comer committees have. Dont shuck and jive, show us what they have.
I believe it's thousands of pages, not hundreds. And still no indictment...
The Special Prosecutor needs to look at all of the documentation (unless they are a partisan TDS driven moron); not just what Pelosi's hand picked shill Jan 6th committee chooses to release.
That could take quite a while if Democrats and the records keepers try to block him the way they did Republicans.
Seems you don't understand how the system works.
The House can investigate; but they cannot prosecute anyone. That takes the AG/DOJ. Think Garland and the DOJ are going to do anything no matter what evidence is presented? Garland still hasn't assigned a Special Prosecutor to the Hunter Biden case- despite a direct conflict of interest. The DOJ/FBI are also slow walking that case into oblivion (And leftists bitched about how slow John Durham was).
The "Trump Indictment" is nothing more than another failed "smoking gun" the left was betting on and lost. But it served as the distraction from the Biden corruption being exposed. And naturally the Democrat Propaganda Media won't cover it.
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A few is an understatement.
"... those shows dedicated more than 46 minutes to the potential Trump indictment.'
Sounds ominous but that averages out to 11.5 minutes per show. How many minutes did FOX and its copycats spend on Trump's troubles? Alas newsbusters had but one target in mind:
"The time breakdown that each show spent on the Trump news was no less stunning with This Week , Face the Nation , Meet the Press , and State of the Union dedicating 13 minutes 14 seconds , 7 minutes , 6 minutes 10 seconds , and 22 minutes 22 seconds respectively."