Columns, Media

Trust Us, We’re the Media: The Biden Laptop is Proven Authentic as Past Deniers Double Down on Media Controls

Below is my column on Fox.com on the recent filing of the Justice Department confirming the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop. The filing comes at a time when the media seems to be resuming practices from 2020 in censoring news and characterizing opposing views as disinformation.

Here is the column:

After years of suppressing the story and casting doubts over its authenticity, many in the media in the last year have belatedly and reluctantly acknowledged that the Hunter Biden laptop is real. Some of us reached that conclusion years ago due to the self-authenticating emails confirmed by third parties. However, the denials and doubts have continued, including most recently by Rep. Dan Goldman (D., N.Y.) in hearings. The Justice Department has now again confirmed the authenticity and added details on why these denials are unsupported.

This week, the Justice Department confirmed that the laptop was authenticated through forensic examination and a search warrant on Hunter’s Apple iCloud. Hunter’s electronic devices were backed up on the Cloud and “the results of the search were largely duplicative of information investigators had already obtained from Apple.”

That is only the latest such confirmation, but some have continued to desperately cast doubts the laptop, which Hunter himself said might be the product of Russian intelligence. Once again, the last dogs in this fruitless fight are the most partisan among us.  Rep. Goldman, for example, recently lambasted witnesses who referenced the laptop and challenged the credibility of a journalist who cited the laptop.

Goldman attacked Journalist Michael Shellenberger and declared “You have no idea, you know hard drives can be manipulated. Hard drives can be manipulated by Rudy Giuliani or Russia. There is actual evidence of it, but the point is it’s not the same thing.”

Goldman has never revealed the “actual evidence” showing that the laptop is fake or why the Justice Department and FBI are making the same false claim in court if such evidence exists.

The same week that the Biden Administration again confirmed the authenticity of the laptop, one of the loudest laptop deniers wrote a telling column on why the public should avoid researching such questions on their own.

The Washington Post’s Philip Bump has repeatedly pushed false stories from Lafayette Park to Russian collusion to the laptop. Even after many in the media admitted that the laptop was authentic, Bump was still declaring that it was a “conspiracy theory.” Recently, in response to a column on these false claims, the Post remarkably declared that Bump’s original claims on Lafayette Park, the Hunter Biden laptop, and Russian collusion were true and they stand by them.

This week, Bump warned citizens that they needed to continue to get their news from the media and not try to learn the truth on their own. In a column titled “Doing your own research is a good way to end up being wrong,” Bump states without an sense of self-awareness that citizens will often “embrace dubious information supporting their belief than information that corroborates the allegations” — precisely what critics have accused Bump of doing for years on the laptop and other false stories.

 Bump’s column is a must read for understanding the sense of entitlement of columnists in today’s age of “advocacy journalism.” It is consistent with what Bump said in an interview last year before he walked out after being confronted about false stories. 

In a podcast interview with Noam Dworman, Bump became exasperated and said “I’m gonna lose my mind” when Dworman offered facts contradicting his view. Ironically, when Dworman noted that half of the country does not believe his positions, Bump shot back “I know, because half the country doesn’t actually dig into the issues.”

However, Bump does not believe that they should actually dig into the issues but accept his view.

He chastised Dworman and the public “because you don’t listen to the press. I’m sitting here and I’m telling you, you’re wrong about these things, and you don’t listen … you refuse to listen to what I’m saying to you. You asked me on to present evidence. I keep telling you.”

Indeed, Bump and others kept telling people that the laptop was a “conspiracy theory” and possible Russian disinformation. Now, he is reminding people not to do their own research as the Post expressly declared that the prior false claims in his columns were actually true.

This is why, at the start of our Republic, alternative media sprang up with pamphleteers like Thomas Paine. Citizens rejected the state-supporting media and searched for their own sources. Today citizen journalists can be found on the Internet in blogs and other sites that carry opposing views or accounts.

The media is already moving to be sure that the public is limited in what they are allowed to see or hear. After Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow explained to viewers that the network had decided that they should not hear Trump’s victory speech because he would only tell them “untrue things.”

As noted by Bump, citizens are much safer to just accept what they are given and avoid the temptation to do their own research.  Censorship is now actually proclaimed as a form of virtue signaling, assuring viewers that they will not have to hear certain opposing views or figures.

There is little tolerance for those who insist on seeking out such news. After all, as the Post’s Bump explained, “I’m telling you, you’re wrong about these things, and you don’t listen.”

 

107 thoughts on “Trust Us, We’re the Media: The Biden Laptop is Proven Authentic as Past Deniers Double Down on Media Controls”

  1. Now Prof Turley when will you start looking into how the CIA/FBI/Biden admin are communicating with the journalists? Are the journalists on the establishment/deep state govt payroll like social media outlets were.

    Surely you have seen the Mockingbird videos, how are they able to communicate simultaneously so quickly? There is breaking news and within tens minutes they all have the same script? After a mass shooting they all are in lockstep pushing the same lies to get the narrative out first.

    1. Surely you have seen the Mockingbird videos, how are they able to communicate simultaneously so quickly?

      Good catch.
      This has been going on for a long time.
      The Great Rush Limbaugh documented this on his radio show every single week He went National in 1984. I listened to his very first show. Because he replaced the 1pm radio show on WHO radio (Ronald Reagan worked there) in Des Moines.
      The most memorable clip that Rush did was when G W Bush was running for president and needed a VP. Rush had the clips of dozens of different media types explaining that GWB needed a VP the bring GRAVITAS to the ticket.

      Somehow 2 dozen talking heads and dozens more in the print media, used exactly the same word GRAVITAS.

      Mocking bird media indeed.

  2. Dear Prof Turley!

    O’ what a happy day. As you may, or may not, know I’ve been asking the question “Do You Know Where The Laptop Is (or not), since 2019. To no avail. I’ve asked it here, there and Everywhere. [I’ve asked you personally more than once; do you know where the laptop is, or not?]

    Afaict, this is the FIRST time the government has ever acknowledged it has possession of the laptop. Nor do they comment about ‘ongoing investigations’, assuming one is going on. So, this is huge. .. and will have far-reaching consequences, imo.

    Presumably, at the very least it should no longer be possible for Rep. Goldman, WaPo and ‘over 50 top intel officials, including the past 5 CIA directors’, to claim the laptop is Russian disinformation. One must assume, after almost five years, at last the gov.’s forensic experts have determined whether or not the laptop belongs to Hunter Biden or Vlad Putin.

    Whew, close call. Huge relief. Can you imagine the U.S. national security threat if the ‘president son’s laptop’ Had belonged to Vlad Putin!?

    *those crazy Russians will say and do anything!

    1. “Afaict, this is the FIRST time the government has ever acknowledged it has possession of the laptop.”

      Not at all. It’s well-known that they took possession of it in late 2019. Here’s a 2020 article that has a copy of the warrant: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/laptop-hunter-biden-linked-fbi-money-laundering-probe

      “Nor do they comment about ‘ongoing investigations’, assuming one is going on”

      Of course one is going on. The court docket is public: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67511701/68/united-states-v-biden/ And JT has written about it more than once.

      You don’t seem particularly well-informed about this case.

      1. While I fully concur with U.S. v Biden legal challenge to Biden’s claim the prosecution is ‘vindictive’ and/or ‘politically motivated’, it neither confirms, nor denies, any ‘ongoing investigations’.

        On the contrary, it is my contention the prosecution of Hunter Biden has clearly not been as aggressive or timely as it should have been.

        *I’ll know it when I see it.

        1. I am speculating – but I think things are shifting.

          The “deep state” appears to be trying to nudge Biden out of the race.
          Either That or Biden has pushed Garland a bridge too far and he is done covering for Hunter.
          Or alternately Garland is concerned about being the first US AG to be impeached.
          An ignomious end to someone who was a supreme court contender.

          Regardless, for SOME reason there are HINTS that DOJ is done protecting Hunter.

          No matter what the reason this is bad for Joe Biden and horrible for Hunter.

  3. The Reporters at the Times and the Post are all fanatical partisans now, like Jake Tapper or Rachel Maddow. These type of reporters have zero credibility with me. Reporters in the old days bent over backwards not to be partisan, they would get both sides of the story – report both sides of the story – so the reader could make up their mind. Reporters would make an effort to be fair. That’s good journalism. Today we have these “fake journalists” (Trump is just spot on when he says this) who try and tell readers what to think. They put a left wing spin on the news. Often what they are saying is just nonsense. Jake Tapper the other day called people who question 10 million migrants being waved in to cross the border “immigrant bashers” – we border hawks are all racists is the claim. That’s left wing nonsense. We have an immigration system in the US, so many immigrants from each country are allowed in (which is a fair way to do it). The prospective immigrants apply, wait their turn, they get vetted and at some point they my be allowed to immigrate. Simple common sense tells you to admit people with job skills, people that are healthy, people that have money (so they don’t go on the dole). Yet Jake Tapper and other irresponsible journalists – and their irresponsible Democratic pals – think it’s a good idea to wave in 10 million immigrants, most of whom have no job skills, people that need health care, people that have no housing, no savings, etc. etc. That’s just plain idiotic! If you question this you are a racist! We have a fair immigration system, the Democrats are gutting it for political reasons, which is totally irresponsible. Thanks God we have people like Professor Turley who are not afraid to take on irresponsible reporters who lie to viewers and readers, or cover up what is really happening.

  4. OT.
    Judge Scot McAfee on Thursday ordered GA Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to answer to accusations that she hired her romantic partner, Nathan Wade, to respond to the allegations in writing by Feb. 2 and has scheduled a hearing on Feb. 15.

    1. That was going to happen regardless. The allegations made MUST be addressed.

      None of this is proven yet, but if this was false – Wade and Willis would be publicly screaming.

      Of all the judges on the Trump cases McAffee is the most rational – aside from Cannon.
      While he is not a friend of Trump he appears to take the rule of law seriously and is NOT going to allow his actions to be driven by politics.

  5. “Below is my column on Fox.com on the recent filing of the Justice Department confirming the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop.”

    Yet with all of the links in the column, JT doesn’t link to this DOJ filing for us to see whether he’s truthfully representing what the DOJ actually said.

    1. Here’s a link: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67511701/68/united-states-v-biden/

      Note that it says “In August 2019, IRS and FBI investigators obtained a search warrant for tax violations for the defendant’s Apple iCloud account. In response to that warrant, in September 2019, Apple produced backups of data from various of the defendant’s electronic devices that he had backed up to his iCloud account. Investigators also later came into possession of the defendant’s Apple MacBook Pro, which he had left at a computer store. A search warrant was also obtained for his laptop and the results of the search were largely duplicative of information investigators had already obtained from Apple.”

      But his iCloud account was hacked. So, contrary to JT’s claim that “the recent filing of the Justice Department confirming the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop,” all it shows is a correspondence between the hacked account and the laptop. It says NOTHING about “authenticity.” Neither “authentic” nor “authenticity” appear anywhere in the DOJ’s actual filing, nor is that a legitimate conclusion given the hacked iCloud account.

      1. It’s not even clear that they searched the laptop for anything beyond what was allowed by “a search warrant for tax violations.”

        1. Correction, they later state “Law enforcement also later obtained a search warrant to search the defendant’s electronic evidence [including, but not limited to, the laptop and iCloud account] for evidence of federal firearms violations and to seize such data.” Either way, they did NOT read everything on the laptop to confirm that it was “authentic.”

          1. “[S]ome have continued to *desperately* cast doubts the laptop . . .” (JT, emphasis added)

            Exhibit A: “Either way, they did NOT read everything on the laptop to confirm that it was ‘authentic.’”

            1. What on earth do you think it means for the laptop to be authentic??

              Among other things, it means that ALL of the data was put there by HB, and that the laptop data was altered in any way after it was dropped off at the repair store.

              Did the FBI even attempt to assess that? They certainly don’t say anything like that in the filing. They said that “A search warrant was also obtained for his laptop and the results of the search were largely duplicative of information investigators had already obtained from Apple,” which is totally normal, since the iCloud account and what’s on the device are supposed to be images of each other. But the search warrants — “for tax violations” and “evidence of federal firearms violations” — did not allow them to look for anything else, much less do a forensic review of when the laptop contents were most recently modified.

      2. But his iCloud account was hacked.

        For a tattle tale complaining about our Host not providing links. You see no need to provide links for you claim.

      1. Thanks, but I had already found it before you posted your reply.

        None of which absolves JT from linking to it himself when he’s making claims about what it says. It does not say what he claims.

        1. JT has an obligation to be truthful.
          Not to give you the links you want.

          YOU have an obligation to provide primary sources, because you have a reputation for lack of candor.

          1. Turley wasn’t truthful. And the text of the filing shows it, which is probably why he omitted it.

      1. He doesn’t. If you look at broadly people’s opinions about him, you’ll find that many find him quite unreliable. You simply don’t value those opinions, while valuing the ones who agree with you.

    4. “JT doesn’t link to this DOJ filing for us to see . . .”

      He also didn’t stir your oatmeal for you this morning.

      The shame!

      1. He made false claims about the filing.

        Nice try, sophist, with the faulty comparison.

  6. Government exists, under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, to provide maximal freedom to individuals while government is severely limited and restricted to merely facilitating the maximal freedom of individuals, through the provision of security and infrastructure only.

    Obama, Biden, Democrats, and various and sundry co-conspirators have acted high-criminally to subvert the constitutional American government, paying particular attention to their wholesale extirpation of the evident limitations and restrictions on government in Article 1, Section 8, and the 5th Amendment right to private property, and engaged in “…adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort,” those enemies being the ubiquitous global collectivists, socialists, and communists.

    “The goal of Socialism is Communism.”

    – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

    Impeach and convict the Justices of the Supreme Court who have no power to legislate, or modify or amend the Constitution, and who have abjectly failed to fulfill their sworn-oath duty to support the clear meaning and intent of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and act, by Judicial Review, to strike down and “declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void.”
    ________

    The Power of Judicial Review

    The Supreme Court can strike down any law or other action by the legislative or executive branch that violates the Constitution. This power of judicial review applies to federal, state, and local legislative and executive actions. The Constitution does not specifically provide for the power of judicial review. It arises instead from an 1803 decision known as Marbury v. Madison.

    Under a clause in Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Supreme Court received original jurisdiction over “writs of mandamus.” These may be issued to order a government official to comply with the law. When the plaintiff in Marbury asked the Court to issue a writ of mandamus, though, the Court refused for reasons unrelated to the facts of the case.

    – Justia https://www.justia.com/constitutional-law/the-us-supreme-court-and-judicial-review/
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    “…courts…must…declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void.”

    “…men…do…what their powers do not authorize, [and] what they forbid.”

    “[A] limited Constitution … can be preserved in practice no other way than through the medium of courts of justice, whose duty it must be to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void. Without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing … To deny this would be to affirm … that men acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.”

    – Alexander Hamilton

  8. Does Philip Bump consider the stories he submits to The Washington Post to be the result of his own research? Or is he so propagandized that he has to have stories just published using his by-line instead of his own research?

    The modern corporatist press is delegitimizing themselves in real time, right in front of our eyes.

  10. Breaking news: Uncle Joe says the Yemen pirates, the “Hootie Cooties” are going to get it. But Lloyd Austin said wait! Let’s talk peace & prosperity.

  11. “Trust Us, We’re the Media: The Biden Laptop is Proven Authentic as Past Deniers Double Down on Media Controls”

    – Professor Turley
    ____________________

    They are not deniers; don’t dismiss them so lightly.

    Their goal is the completion of their unconstitutional acts of “fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”

    They are being assisted by the singular American failure, the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.

    They are direct and mortal enemies of the American thesis of freedom and self-reliance, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, patriotic Americans, and America.

    They are communist propagandists and indoctrinationists endeavoring assiduously to complete and conclude the nullification of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and forcibly and irrevocably impose the principles of the Communist Manifesto – those being central planning, control of the means of production (i.e. unconstitutional regulation), redistribution of wealth, and social engineering – under the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” and fulfilling Karl Marx’s motto:  “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

    They are almost there.

  12. When they make a movie about the fall of the 4th Reich, and they will, it will be impossible to cast. Nobody can be as nerdy and smug and aptly named as Mr. Bump. Nobody can be a wreck like Hunter Biden. Nobody can be as cringe as Kamala. Nobody can be as phony as Fauci, as weird as Gates, as sinister as Jack Smith, as power mad as Pelosi, as unconvincing as “Biden”, or as impotent as the entire GOP. If this mess had a director he would tell them they’re overplaying the roles. Are we secretly in an Austin Powers sequel? Because that would explain a lot.

  13. Pretty sure top US intel officials OPENLY LIED….to the American People…that is TREASON!

  14. weird that the FBI/DOJ ignored all the crimes and Rudy G is being DESTROYED for being involved!
    When do the Uniparty of DC start punishing people?

    1. Rudy is being destroyed for standing up to the left. Worse still – being right.

      Rudy is being destroyed for the same reason that tjhey are attempting to destroy Trump.

      Rudy is being destroyed to send a message to everyone – Do not challege the left, we will destroy you.

  16. On another thought journey, the main stream media has named the right in America, the Alt Right (obviously something nefarious) . Maybe we should label the mainstream media as the Alternative Reality Media (or ARM) since what they profess stretches reality and believability beyond anything recognizable in this universe.

    1. GEB,
      Well said.
      I have notice the verbiage used by MSM to describe anything not left as “far-right.”
      Alternative Reality Media (or ARM).
      I like it.
      I am going to start using it.

      1. I have notice the verbiage used by MSM to describe anything not left as “far-right.”

        Well said UpstateFarmer. What the ARM fails to understand is we are far-right only because they moved far left. Conservatives in this country have been anchored in effectively the same place for a very long time. It’s the liberals in this country that have been unmoored for the last 100+ years. With a slight twist on Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s quote: If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable. any course will do. They are heading anywhere and everywhere but back towards a limited, constitutional republic.

  17. We all know. That this charade continues says everything we need to know. Wake up. If you keep voting for this, the comfort you think you are protecting will evaporate overnight. Just stop it. I don’t know what else to say anymore. There are people dying for the freedom you take for granted everyday. if you do not vote for freedom you are as bad as the people dropping the bombs, spare me/us your virtue signaling. We live in a country where we can still say no, and a whole lot more of us need to to start saying it. This is beyond absurd. Hunter Biden is the same flipping loser idiot you watched when you were in high school. Stop thinking he is any better than you. He isn’t.

  18. Turley: “Some of us reached that conclusion years ago due to the self-authenticating emails confirmed by third parties.”

    +++

    Same here plus I was impressed with the interview of the computer repairman who had the computer.

    Weighing heavily was my presumption that anything said by the government or its minions or its media shills is a lie. That is a presumption that can be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence from an independent source.

    They lie so regularly that now I wonder what ulterior and evil motives lay behind this odd and unusual decision to admit the truth. Certainly honesty isn’t a factor.

    1. Correct. Honesty, trust, and credibility, disappeared from Legacy Media’s rearview mirror long ago. Wholly replaced with thrills up their legs.

    2. You shouldn’t be impressed with JP Mac Isaac, as he admits to incompetence in his book. And emails confirmed by third parties does not imply that the laptop as a whole is “authentic.”

      1. Yes, hang on to that last tiny bit of hope.

        Somehow the Russians managed to raid Issac’s shop, steel the HD’s and secretlyu embed tiny little bits of disinformation.
        Of course it must have been 0.0001% disinformation – because so far EVERYTHING that can be corraborated has been.
        And NO ONE has made a specific denial about any Specific claim.

        Regardless lets indulge your fantasy, let assume that say 5% of the content is “russian disinformation”

        What does that matter ?

        100% of what has been made public has been authenticated.

        You left wing nuts are clueless.

        Do you honestly think that just because Russians MIGHT have had something to do with stealing DNC emails exposing the corruption of Clinton the media and the DNC, that we should ignore the malfeasance those reveal ?

        Ultimately what matters is what is true.
        Something true does not become false, because Hitler is the one who says it.

        1. “let assume that say 5% of the content is “russian disinformation” What does that matter ?”

          Sure, what does it matter is the Russians added data to a possible stolen laptop, then turned it over to an incompetent legally blind repairman who made the contents public? What does it matter if the 51 national security representatives were right? Do you even listen to yourself?

          “100% of what has been made public has been authenticated.”

          That’s false. The vast majority of what’s been made public has not been authenticated. Perhaps you’re just unaware of the totality of what’s been made public (e.g., via the 4chan dump).

          “Ultimately what matters is what is true.”

          Yup, and for a most of the things related to the laptop, we don’t know whether they’re true or not.

      2. “. . . does not imply that the laptop *as a whole* is ‘authentic.’” (emphasis added)

        Because, after all, if you don’t know everything, you can’t know anything. Said every sophist since forever.

        Note the deceptive one’s attempt at intimidation via scare quotes around every use of the word “authentic.”

        1. “after all, if you don’t know everything, you can’t know anything.”

          Sophist, nice straw man argument you’ve got there. Of course one can know some things without knowing everything, nor did I imply otherwise. In fact, that’s humans’ permanent state: only knowing some things. One of the things we do not know is whether the laptop is “authentic.”

          “Note the deceptive one’s attempt at intimidation via scare quotes around every use of the word ‘authentic.’”

          What utter BS. The quotation marks mean that it’s a quotation, duh. You do know that the word “authentic” is in the title of the article, right?

          1. “One of the things we do not know is whether the laptop is ‘authentic.’”

            If your motivation is *not* to undercut people’s confidence (which is your habit), then why do you keep hammering that point?

            (Spare us your rationalizations.)

  19. Maybe Mr. Bump is the reason the Washington Post is losing 100 million dollars a year and their online readership is shrinking by HUGE amounts. Journalism once was an esteemed profession, now it is down in subterranean depths with college presidents and their administrations. Oh the inhumanity of it all.
    (Sarcasm)

    1. Start with impeachment and conviction of the Justices of the Supreme Court who have abjectly failed in their sworn-oath duty to support the clear meaning and intent of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and act, by Judicial Review, to strike down and “declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void.”
      ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

      The Power of Judicial Review

      The Supreme Court can strike down any law or other action by the legislative or executive branch that violates the Constitution. This power of judicial review applies to federal, state, and local legislative and executive actions. The Constitution does not specifically provide for the power of judicial review. It arises instead from an 1803 decision known as Marbury v. Madison.

      Under a clause in Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Supreme Court received original jurisdiction over “writs of mandamus.” These may be issued to order a government official to comply with the law. When the plaintiff in Marbury asked the Court to issue a writ of mandamus, though, the Court refused for reasons unrelated to the facts of the case.

      – Justia https://www.justia.com/constitutional-law/the-us-supreme-court-and-judicial-review/
      ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

      “…courts…must…declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void.”

      “…men…do…what their powers do not authorize, [and] what they forbid.”

      “[A] limited Constitution … can be preserved in practice no other way than through the medium of courts of justice, whose duty it must be to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void. Without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing … To deny this would be to affirm … that men acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.”

      – Alexander Hamilton

      1. With all due respect I would to Maddow I would rather lissten to Trump’s speech rather than being told by the media what I should or should not hear. In many ways body language play’s an important role in listening and understanfing someon’s thoughts & intent. I often do not agree with Mr Biden but I want the opportunity to hear with my own ears!

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