TOP LINE: With new allegations this week about the suppression of Hunter Biden's laptop story in the last presidential election, I can't help but reflect on my own experiences at CBS News – what I believe was a missed opportunity to refute false claims. it is Russian disinformation. Dive deep This week, our investigative team uncovered new evidence on X from IRS whistleblowers about alleged IRS and Justice Department double standards in the Hunter Biden investigation. Clerk Joseph Ziegler told us they were prevented from taking any action that could have revealed the existence of the investigation before the 2020 election. “There were a lot of open investigative steps that we weren’t allowed to take because we had an upcoming election,” Ziegler explained. “And they affected the president’s son.” So not even the candidate. And we were not allowed to take certain investigative steps.” (IRS, DOJ and others declined to comment) The results of our investigation They claim Hunter Biden's laptop reporting was suppressed in the run-up to the 2020 election to gain political favor: “Facebook executives discussed adjusting censorship decisions to please their assumption of a new Biden-Harris administration… “ Given these new developments, I can't help but reflect on my own experience with the Hunter Biden laptop in the fall of 2020, after the New York Post broke the story (and bravely stuck with it). This is the question I am asked most often. “What happened to the Hunter Biden story on CBS before the 2020 election?” I believe it is best if the account comes directly from me. On October 23, 2020, about 10 days after the story surfaced, I was contacted by CBS News senior executive Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews about “confirmed reporting” on the Hunter Biden story. She said the confirmed reporting was for Evening News anchor and editor-in-chief Norah O'Donnell. Days earlier, I had been tasked with reviewing the laptop and its contents after multiple platforms suppressed the story. Due diligence included operating the phones, contacting the people in Hunter Biden's emails for confirmation and comparing court records. From the reviewed documents I collected, it also appeared that the laptop belonged to Hunter Biden.

Million-dollar withholding from Chinese energy company

Signature page

I told Ciprian-Matthews that the materials reviewed included a multi-million dollar advance from a Chinese energy company, emails with Hunter Biden's former business partner Tony Bobulinski, and text messages from Hunter Biden. When Ciprian-Matthews asked if there was a “Hunter connection,” I replied, “Yes, all of them.” I then forwarded some of the checked documents directly to Ciprian-Matthews. We spoke briefly on the phone. I don't know what happened next at this point. QUESTIONS FOR CBS NEWS/I'm looking for an answer This weekend, on Saturday, I contacted CBS News PR with questions for Ciprian-Matthews and Norah O'Donnell. I followed up by voicemail and text message to confirm that CBS had received our questions and that the deadline was at noon on Sunday. When there was no response Sunday morning, I forwarded our questions and added CBS's public relations chief and O'Donnell's agent, who wrote: “We are taking the extra step this morning of asking you for comment and, as a courtesy, extending the deadline to 2 p.m. East Coast. We copied Ingrid and Norah. If the email addresses are incorrect, we ask that inquiries be forwarded to them so that they have every opportunity to respond. Thank you in advance for your consideration and acknowledging receipt of our questions.” At this point there has been neither a response nor the courtesy to acknowledge receipt of our questions. For the sake of transparency, you can read the questions here.

Questions for CBS News

Based on my reporting and as the network's senior investigative correspondent, CBS News' investigative unit was not tasked with developing more reporting on the laptop in October 2020. That would have been common practice. In the 60 Minutes interview with then-President Trump, correspondent Lesley Stahl said of Hunter Biden's laptop, “It can't be verified.” When I watched the broadcast, I felt sick. I knew the laptop records could be checked and confirmed. I was puzzled by the apparent discrepancy between the CBS News division and 60 Minutes. OUR FORENSIC REVIEW OF HUNTER BIDEN'S LAPTOP DATA It took another two years for the network to air a forensic review of Hunter Biden's laptop data. I advocated for the report that found the data belonged to Hunter Biden and had not been manipulated. Our report aired in November 2022, after the midterm elections. I may be able to say more about the delay in the future.

Analyzed laptop data

In contrast, in October 2020 there appeared to be little resistance to claims by 51 former intelligence officials that the laptop had “classic characteristics” of a Russian information operation. According to the published transcript of the edited 60 Minutes interview with then-candidate Joe Biden, Norah O'Donnell asked, “Do you believe the recent leak of material purportedly from Hunter's computer is part of a Russian disinformation campaign?” Candidate Biden responded: “…So when you put the combination of Russia, Giuliani – the president – together, that's exactly what it is.” It's a smear campaign because he has nothing he wants to talk about. What is he running on? What is he running with?” CBS News executives meet the final newsroom. I believe that preliminary reporting in October 2020 to CBS News senior executive Ciprian-Matthews showed that the laptop was worth looking into and that more facts should be gathered. I saw this as an opportunity for CBS News to tell an important story and refute disinformation claims. Eventually I was assigned to the Hunter Biden case. I was encouraged that top corporate executives told me privately that they wanted reporting that spoke truth to power on both sides of the aisle. They even provided additional resources, but in my experience it seemed as if their corporate goals were being thwarted by CBS News executives and other employees who were reluctant to deal with a story about the president's son. IInterest is decreasing In 2023, the CBS investigative unit exclusively interviewed the same IRS whistleblowers, Shapley and Ziegler. But I found that the network's interest waned after Hunter Biden's plea deal fell through in July 2023 and he was indicted on gun and tax charges. As a senior investigative correspondent at CBS News for more than four years, our award-winning reporting was a catalyst for legislative changes that impacted one million military members and their families. We helped secure 50 Purple Hearts for soldiers who were unfairly denied the award under the Trump administration following an Iranian missile attack on their base in January 2020. We obtained the tape of former President Trump apparently bragging and discussing classified documents about Iran at his golf club in New Jersey. CNN was the first to report the footage. We helped right a decades-old injustice so that retired Col. Paris Davis, one of the first black officers in the elite Green Berets, could be awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in Vietnam. Two weeks before my position was terminated in February, Army whistleblower Nick Nicholls presented new evidence that service members were exposed to toxic substances at their overseas base after 9/11. Since then, Nicholls' courage, with the help of veterans' advocates, has opened the door to long-overdue VA benefits and recognition. While I remain proud of these projects, I also believe that Hunter Biden's laptop was a missed opportunity for CBS News before the 2020 election.