Category: fox-news/politics/justice-department

DOJ reviewing Biden, Hur interview to ID potential classified information in response to House GOP demands

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The Justice Department on Friday said it will consult with various intelligence agencies and law enforcement to identify any classified information during a discussion between President Biden and Special Counsel Robert Hur in response to a request from House Republicans demanding the transcript, and any recordings of the interview. 

"Several of the materials listed in your February 12 letter require review for classification and protection of national defense information," Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote in a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith.

SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN 'SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,' BRINGS NO CHARGES

The GOP lawmakers have requested Attorney General Merrick Garland turn over the transcript and any recordings of Biden's October 2023 interview with Hur and the special counsel team. The three committee leaders are leading the impeachment inquiry against Biden.

"We have already begun this process. The Department is committed to responding to the Committees’ requests expeditiously, consistent with the law, longstanding Department policies and principles, and available resources," Uriarte wrote. 

The Justice Department will release the transcript to Congress if the White House gives the OK. The White House could invoke executive privilege, which could bar the release. 

Hur, who released his report to the public last week after months of investigating, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents, and stated that he wouldn't bring charges against Biden, even if he were not in the Oval Office.

The report revealed Biden's significant memory issues, as concerns about the president's age and mental capacity continue to surface amid his re-election campaign. 

Hur said Biden came off "as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" and that "it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him-by then a former president well into his eighties-of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."

He is expected to testify before Congress about his findings, according to reports.  

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

FBI informant charged with giving false information about Hunter Biden in 2020

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Special Counsel David Weiss has charged an FBI informant with giving false information after he alleged that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were paid millions in exchange for their help firing the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings, according to court documents unsealed Thursday. 

Alexander Smirnov, 43, is charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record during FBI interviews. 

Prosecutors say Smirnov was arrested at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada Wednesday after a federal grand jury returned an indictment. He was scheduled to appear in federal court in the District of Nevada later Thursday. 

According to the indictment, Smirnov gave "false derogatory information" to the FBI despite "repeated admonishments that he must provide truthful information and that he must not fabricate evidence." 

The indictment says Smirnov told an FBI agent in March 2017 that he had a phone call with Burisma’s owner concerning the firm potentially acquiring a U.S. company and making an initial public offering (IPO) on a U.S.-based stock exchange. 

In reporting this conversation to the FBI agent, Smirnov said Hunter Biden was a board member of Burisma, though this was publicly known. 

BIDEN, NOT SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR, BROUGHT UP SON'S DEATH IN QUESTIONING

In June 2020, Smirnov is accused of having told the FBI, for the first time, about two meetings he had four to five years prior, in which executives associated with Burisma supposedly admitted that they hired Hunter Biden to "protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems." 

During this meeting, the indictment alleges that Smirnov said the executives paid $5 million to each of the Bidens while Joe Biden was still in office. The indictment alleges that Smirnov falsely claimed the Bidens were paid so that Hunter Biden, with his dad’s help, could take care of a criminal investigation being conducted by the then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General, Viktor Shokin, into Burisma. 

The indictment alleges that this information given by Smirnov in June 2020 was a fabrication. Prosecutors say Smirnov did have contact with Burisma executives in 2017, but when Joe Biden was out of public office and had no ability to influence U.S. policy and after the Ukrainian Prosecutor General had been fired in February 2016. 

The indictment alleges that Smirnov transformed his "routine and unextraordinary" business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later bribery allegations against Joe Biden after expressing bias against him and his presidential candidacy. 

FBI DIRECTOR SAYS CHINESE HACKERS ARE ‘POISED TO ATTACK’ AS INFILTRATIONS REACH ‘FEVER PITCH’

Smirnov is accused of repeating some of his false claims during an interview with FBI agents in September 2023, while changing other bits of information, and promoting a new false narrative after claiming to have met with Russian officials. 

If convicted, Smirnov faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.   

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley were approached by a whistleblower last summer who alleged that the FBI was in possession of a document — an FD-1023 form, dated June 30, 2020 — which explicitly detailed information provided by a confidential human source alleging Biden, while serving as vice president, was involved in a multi-million-dollar scheme with a foreign national in exchange for influence over policy decisions.

The source told Fox News Digital that the confidential human source was used by the FBI for "at least several years" before the FD-1023 form, and was "found to be highly credible" by the FBI. 

Comer said Thursday that FBI Director Christopher Wray refused a request from him and Grassley last summer for the public release of the form because the bureau "claimed it would jeopardize the safety of a confidential human source who they claimed was invaluable to the FBI." 

Comer said the bureau informed him that the source was "credible and trusted, had worked with the FBI for over a decade, and have been paid six figures." 

"The FBI's actions in this matter are very concerning. The FBI had this form for years and it appears they did nothing to verify the troubling claims contained within the record until Congress became aware of and demanded access to them," Comer said. 

Comer said the FBI's FD-1023 form is not being used in an impeachment inquiry against the president. 

The impeachment inquiry, he said, "is based on a large record of evidence, including bank records and witness testimony, revealing that Joe Biden knew of and participated in his family’s business dealings." 

"Just this week, we had another witness confirm Joe Biden was the brand being sold by the Bidens around the world. President Biden continues to lie to the American people about this matter and the American people demand the truth and accountability for any wrongdoing. We will continue to follow the facts to propose legislation to reform federal ethics laws and to determine whether articles of impeachment are warranted."

The FBI declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

House Republicans demand transcript of Biden’s interview with special counsel as part of impeachment inquiry

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FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden are demanding the Justice Department turn over the transcript and any recordings of Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur in his investigation into Biden's mishandling of classified documents.

Hur, who released his report to the public last week after months of investigating, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents and stated that he wouldn't bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office.

BIDEN RETAINED RECORDS RELATED TO UKRAINE, CHINA; COMER DEMANDS 'UNFETTERED ACCESS' AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other records related to national security and foreign policy, which Hur said implicated "sensitive intelligence sources and methods."

Hur did not recommend any charges against the president but did describe him as a "well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory" — a description that has raised significant concerns for his 2024 reelection campaign.

On Monday, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland to request that he turn over the transcript and any recordings of Biden's October 2023 interview with Hur and the special counsel team. The three committee leaders are leading the impeachment inquiry against Biden.

SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN 'SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,' BRINGS NO CHARGES

Comer had asked Hur if any of the classified records that Biden held were related to the countries with which his family allegedly conducted business.

Comer told Fox News Digital last week that he wants "unfettered access to these documents to determine if President Biden’s retention of sensitive materials were used to help the Bidens’ influence peddling."

The letter sent to Garland and obtained by Fox News Digital on Monday detailed the concerns that "Biden may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family’s foreign business dealings."

"Further, we seek to understand whether the White House or President Biden’s personal attorneys placed any limitations or scoping restrictions during the interview that would have precluded a line of inquiry regarding evidence (emails, text messages, or witness statements) directly linking the President to troublesome foreign payments," they wrote. 

COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS

"Additionally, the Committee on the Judiciary requires these documents for its ongoing oversight of the Department’s commitment to impartial justice and its handling of the investigation and prosecution of President Biden’s presumptive opponent, Donald J. Trump, in the November 2024 presidential election," they continued. 

"Despite clear evidence the President willfully retained and transmitted classified materials willfully, Mr. Hur recommended 'that no criminal charges are warranted in this matter,'" they wrote. "Although Mr. Hur reasoned that President Biden’s presentation ‘as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory’ who ‘did not remember when he was vice president’ or ‘when his son Beau died’ posed challenges to proving the President’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the report concluded that the Department’s principles of prosecution weighed against prosecution because the Department has not prosecuted ‘a former president or vice president for mishandling classified documents from his own administration.’"

They added, "The one ‘exception’ to the Department’s principles of prosecution, as Mr. Hur noted, ‘is former President Trump.’ This speaks volumes about the Department’s commitment to evenhanded justice."

Comer, Jordan and Smith demanded the materials by Feb. 19.

No charges for Biden after Special Counsel probe into improper handling of classified documents

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Special Counsel Robert Hur will not recommend criminal charges against President Biden for mishandling classified documents, according to his report after a months-long investigation into the president's alleged improper retention of classified records. 

Hur has been investigating Biden’s improper retention of classified records since last year. Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, among other records related to national security and foreign policy which Hur said implicated "sensitive intelligence sources and methods." 

"We conclude that no criminal charges are warranted in this matter," the report states. "We would reach the same conclusion even if the Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president."

The special counsel also described Biden as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." 

"We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," Hur wrote in the report. "Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone from whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him—by then a former president well into his eighties—of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."

GARLAND SAYS SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBING BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS HAS SUBMITTED REPORT, UNDER WHITE HOUSE REVIEW

But Hur said his investigation "uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen."

The materials included "marked classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, and notebooks containing Mr. Biden’s handwritten entries about issues of national security and foreign policy implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods." 

Hur said FBI agents recovered the materials from "the garages, offices, and basement den in Mr. Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home." 

But Hur said that the evidence "does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." :

"Prosecution of Mr. Biden is also unwarranted based on our consideration of the aggravating and mitigating factors set forth in the Department of Justice’s Principles of Federal Prosecution," the report states. "For these reasons, we decline prosecution of Mr. Biden."

The White House was given the opportunity to review the report for privilege after Hur initially submitted his report on Feb. 5, and did not seek any redaction to the report. The report was transmitted to Congress Thursday afternoon. 

Damning photos were included in the report — photos that the Biden campaign reportedly feared could have a negative impact on his 2024 re-election bid. 

Classified records were first found inside the Washington, D.C., offices of the Penn Biden Center think tank on Nov. 2, 2022, but only disclosed to the public in early January 2023.

BIDEN CAMP REPORTEDLY FEARS PHOTOS FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL CLASSIFIED DOCS PROBE COULD DEVASTATE REELECTION BID

A second stash of classified documents was also found inside the garage of the president’s home in Wilmington in December, but revealed to the public earlier this month, prompting Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint former U.S. Attorney Rob Hur to serve as special counsel.

Days later, additional classified documents were found in the president’s home in Delaware. The FBI conducted a more than 12-hour search of Biden’s Delaware home Friday, seizing additional classified records.

Biden has defended the storing of classified documents in the past.

"By the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage, so it's not like they're sitting out on the street," he once said.

In a statement after Special Counsel released the report, Biden said he was "pleased to see they reached the conclusion I believed all along they would reach – that there would be no charges brought in this case and the matter is now closed."

"This was an exhaustive investigation going back more than 40 years, even into the 1970s when I was a young Senator. I cooperated completely, threw up no roadblocks, and sought no delays. In fact, I was so determined to give the Special Counsel what they needed that I went forward with five hours of in-person interviews over two days on October 8th and 9th of last year, even though Israel had just been attacked on October 7th and I was in the middle of handling an international crisis. I just believed that’s what I owed the American people so they could know no charges would be brought and the matter closed," Biden's statement continued.

"Over my career in public service, I have always worked to protect America’s security. I take these issues seriously and no one has ever questioned that," he added.

But Garland, on Nov. 18, 2022, appointed former DOJ official Jack Smith to serve as special counsel to investigate whether Trump was improperly retaining classified records at Mar-a-Lago.

When Smith was appointed to investigate Trump, Garland and top DOJ officials were simultaneously conducting an internal review of President Biden’s mishandling of classified records. That review, and the discovery of classified records at Biden’s office, was not disclosed to the public until January.

BIDEN INTERVIEWED BY SPECIAL COUNSEL ABOUT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

Republicans and allies of former President Trump were outraged, blasting the Justice Department for a double standard.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of Smith's probe. The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.

Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner, was then charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of Smith’s investigation – an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty.

That trial is set to begin on May 20, 2024. 

Biden's aides told Axios earlier this week that they are fearful former President Trump's campaign could use the photos against the Democrat incumbent ahead of their likely 2024 rematch.

COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS

Anthony Coley, a former senior adviser to Garland, accused the Biden team of slow-walking discovery in the president’s classified records case, versus the handling of the Trump probe.

"Against the backdrop of former President Trump's indictment on charges of willful and deliberate retention of classified documents, the Biden team's drip, drip, drip of information made the discoveries seem even worse," he wrote in an op-ed.

Before Hur’s findings were released, reports suggested the Biden campaign was concerned about potentially embarrassing photos included in Hur's expected report that could be released as soon as this week.

The campaign was concerned that the images would show how Biden stored classified materials. The classified documents were carried over from Biden's time as former President Obama's vice president.

Hur interviewed Biden at the White House – an interview that lasted two days. The White House said the president’s interview with Hur was "voluntary."

Last year, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is co-leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden, began investigating whether the sensitive, classified documents Biden retained involved specific countries or individuals that had financial dealings with Biden family members or their related companies. 

Comer questioned why Biden would have kept certain classified materials and asked Hur to provide his committee with a list of the countries named in any documents with classification markings recovered from Penn Biden Center, Biden’s residence, including the garage, in Wilmington, Delaware, or elsewhere; and a list of all individuals named in those documents with classification markings; and all documents found with classified markings.

It is unclear if Hur cooperated with Comer's request. 

Garland says special counsel probing Biden classified records has submitted report, under White House review

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Attorney General Merrick Garland notified congressional lawmakers that Special Counsel Robert Hur has submitted his final report after months of investigating President Biden’s alleged improper retention of classified records.

Garland, in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ranking Member Jerry Nadler, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, Garland said Hur submitted the final report on Feb. 5 to the Justice Department.

BIDEN CAMP REPORTEDLY FEARS PHOTOS FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL CLASSIFIED DOCS PROBE COULD DEVASTATE REELECTION BID

"Prior to submitting his report to me, Special Counsel Hur engaged with the White House Counsel’s Office and President’s personal counsel to allow comments on the report," Garland wrote. "That included review by the White House Counsel’s Office for executive privilege consistent with the President’s constitutional prerogatives."

Garland, though, said the White House’s privilege review "has not yet concluded." 

"As I have made clear regarding each Special Counsel who has served since I have taken office, I am committed to making as much of the Special Counsel’s report public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and Department policy," Garland wrote.

Garland vowed to "produce to Congress the report, its appendices, and the letter from counsel following completion of the White House’s privilege review." 

Hur has been investigating Biden’s improper retention of classified records since last year. Reports suggest there will be no charges filed against the president. 

Classified records were first found inside the Washington, D.C., offices of the Penn Biden Center think tank on Nov. 2, 2022, but only disclosed to the public in early January 2023.

A second stash of classified documents was also found inside the garage of the president’s home in Wilmington in December but revealed to the public earlier this month, prompting Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint former U.S. Attorney Rob Hur to serve as special counsel.

Days later, additional classified documents were found in the president’s home in Delaware. The FBI conducted a more than 12-hour search of Biden’s Delaware home Friday, seizing additional classified records.

Biden has defended the storing of classified documents in the past.

"By the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage, so it's not like they're sitting out on the street," he once said.

But Garland, on Nov. 18, 2022, appointed former DOJ official Jack Smith to serve as special counsel to investigate whether Trump was improperly retaining classified records at Mar-a-Lago.

When Smith was appointed to investigate Trump, Garland and top DOJ officials were simultaneously conducting an internal review of President Biden’s mishandling of classified records. That review, and the discovery of classified records at Biden’s office, was not disclosed to the public until January.

BIDEN INTERVIEWED BY SPECIAL COUNSEL ABOUT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

Republicans and allies of former President Trump were outraged, blasting the Justice Department for a double standard.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of Smith's probe. The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.

Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner, was then charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of Smith’s investigation – an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty.

That trial is set to begin on May 20, 2024. 

Biden's aides told Axios earlier this week that they are fearful former President Trump's campaign could use the photos against the Democrat incumbent ahead of their likely 2024 rematch.

COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS

Anthony Coley, a former senior adviser to Garland, accused the Biden team of slow-walking discovery in the president’s classified records case, versus the handling of the Trump probe.

"Against the backdrop of former President Trump's indictment on charges of willful and deliberate retention of classified documents, the Biden team's drip, drip, drip of information made the discoveries seem even worse," he wrote in an op-ed.

Reports this week suggested the Biden campaign was concerned about potentially embarrassing photos included in Hur's expected report. 

The campaign was concerned that the images would show how Biden stored classified materials. The classified documents were carried over from Biden's time as former President Obama's vice president.

Hur interviewed Biden at the White House – an interview that lasted two days. The White House said the president’s interview with Hur was "voluntary."

Last year, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is co-leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden, began investigating whether the sensitive, classified documents Biden retained involved specific countries or individuals that had financial dealings with Biden family members or their related companies. 

Comer questioned why Biden would have kept certain classified materials and asked Hur to provide his committee with a list of the countries named in any documents with classification markings recovered from Penn Biden Center, Biden’s residence, including the garage, in Wilmington, Delaware, or elsewhere; and a list of all individuals named in those documents with classification markings; and all documents found with classified markings.

It is unclear if Hur cooperated with Comer's request. 

Graham grills DOJ, DHS over illegal migrants’ ‘brazen’ NYC police attack: ‘will they be deported?’

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FIRST ON FOX: Senate Judiciary ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is demanding answers from the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security on the agencies’ actions on the illegal migrants, who attacked New York City police officers, freed without bail. 

"I was saddened but not surprised to hear about the latest consequences of President Biden's illegal immigration crisis - a violent beat-down near Times Square in New York of several NYPD officers by a dozen migrants," Graham wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, asking what their respective agencies will do in response to the "brazen attack." 

"Will the aliens who perpetrated this attack be deported?" Graham asked. "If so, when? If not, why not?"

ILLEGAL MIGRANT FLIPS MIDDLE FINGERS AFTER BEING CHARGED WITH ATTACKING NYPD IN TIMES SQUARE

The Justice Department and DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment on the letter. Makorkas faces a possible impeachment vote in the House after the House Homeland Security Committee cleared a resolution for his impeachment this week. 

Over the weekend, a pair of New York City police officers were attacked by at least seven illegal migrants near Times Square. The suspects were later released without bail following their arrest. 

Surveillance footage released by the New York Police Department shows an NYPD officer and lieutenant telling the group to move along about 8:30 p.m. Saturday on West 42nd Street in Manhattan, the New York Post reported. A scuffle ensues as the officers are seen apparently trying to subdue someone on the ground. 

NYC MIGRANTS ARRESTED FOR ASSAULTING POLICE FLEE TO CALIFORNIA UPON RELEASE: REPORT

The suspects are then seen kicking the officers before running off before being arrested a short time later. The NYPD identified the suspects to Fox News Digital as Darwin Andres Gomez Izquiel, 19, Kelvin Servat Arocha, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21, Jhoan Boada, 22, and Yorman Reveron, 24.

They were all charged with assault and released without bail, sources said. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office told Fox News Digital that an investigation into the incident is ongoing. 

SUSPECTED ILLEGAL MIGRANTS LAND BOAT ON SAN DIEGO BEACH AND FLEE INTO WEALTHY VILLAGE

Leaving police custody on Thursday, Boada gave the news cameras a double-handed middle finger as he walked past and smirked at reporters and photographers outside the Midtown South Precinct in Manhattan. He was wearing a black Los Angeles Lakers shirt and khakis leaving the precinct station. He has a tattoo on his left forearm.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.  

DOJ further acknowledges Hunter Biden’s laptop is real, contents match Apple iCloud backups

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Federal prosecutors further acknowledged in court documents filed Tuesday that the laptop Hunter Biden dropped off at a computer store is in fact real, adding that the contents on the laptop matched what had previously been obtained through a search warrant on the president’s son’s Apple iCloud.

In the court documents, the Department of Justice said the IRS and FBI obtained a search warrant for tax violations in August 2019 and were able to get access to Hunter’s Apple iCloud account.

By September 2021, Apple produced backups of data from various electronic devices Hunter backed up to his iCloud account.

"Investigators also later came into possession of the defendant's Apple MacBook Pro, which he left at a computer store," the court filing reads. "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."

HUNTER BIDEN'S GUN POUCH HAD COCAINE RESIDUE ON IT, PROSECUTORS SAY

In 2020, John Paul Mac Isaac, a computer repair shop owner who turned over the laptop belonging to the president’s son to authorities and members of the press, said a man he believed to be Hunter dropped off three laptops in his store in April 2019. Only one of the laptops was salvageable, and while repairing the laptop, Mac Isaac said he discovered disturbing material.

Mac Isaac could not get in touch with the customer, and said he first searched the emails by keyword in June or July 2019.

The laptop saga began in October 2020, when the New York Post reported about a 2015 email from a Ukrainian energy executive to Hunter, thanking him for introducing him to his father, that it obtained from the hard drive of Hunter's laptop. Joe Biden was vice president at the time of the message, and his son then enjoyed a lucrative position on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm, raising concerns of attempted influence-peddling with his powerful father. 

The laptop's content included a peek into Hunter's overseas business dealings, as well as more sordid material like homemade sex tapes and videos showing him using illegal drugs. 

The laptop was widely dismissed by print and television outlets, especially The New York Times, The Washington Post, MSNBC and CNN. 

Twitter and Facebook blocked or limited sharing of the New York Post's article about Biden. Twitter even locked the New York Post out of its account for weeks.

But in February 2023, the first son admitted that the laptop at the center of a federal investigation belonged to him in a letter from his lawyers.

HOUSE COMMITTEES APPROVE RESOLUTION TO HOLD HUNTER BIDEN IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS, MOVES TO FLOOR

At the time, journalist Miranda Devine, who authored the book "Laptop from Hell," tweeted about Hunter’s admission, saying it was not Russian disinformation or a "plant," as the president and 51 dishonest former intel officials pretended. The 51 intel officials she referred to were the 51 intelligence experts who signed a letter casting doubt on the scandal.

HUNTER BIDEN INDICTED ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES

In June 2023, the DOJ said it knew in December 2019 that the laptop was "not manipulated in any way" and contained "reliable evidence," but was "obstructed" from seeing all available information, according to an IRS whistleblower involved in the probe.

The admission revealed the DOJ knew the laptop was not manipulated nearly a year before the intelligence officials and President Biden declared it was planted as part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

IF BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY IS VALID, WHY HAS THE PRESIDENT LIED ABOUT HIS COMPLICITY?

Court records allege that the searches revealed incriminating evidence, like the first son’s addiction to controlled substances and his possession of a firearm.

For example, the court documents say prior to Oct. 12, 2018, when Hunter obtained a firearm, he took photos of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia on his phone. He also sent messages "routinely" about purchasing drugs.

During the two days after Hunter purchased the firearm, he messaged his girlfriend about meeting a drug dealer and smoking crack, court documents say.

The documents also show Hunter messaged about sleeping on a car and smoking crack, efforts by his then-girlfriend to discard the firearm, and how his devices contained photos and videos of "apparent cocaine, crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia."

Federal appeals court rejects Trump petition over Special Counsel Jack Smith access to Twitter feed

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A federal appeals court has rejected former President Trump’s request to block Special Counsel Jack Smith from accessing his then-Twitter feed as part of his election interference case.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., ruled on the matter and denied further review. The decision comes after an appellate panel had rejected the original request.

Twitter, now "X," had initiated the appeals, seeking to block special counsel access to the records the company held.

Smith had noted he could have gotten the material from the National Archives, which gained the material after Trump left office, but that would have triggered notice to Trump, so a search warrant was requested through the company under seal and with a non-disclosure notice. That, in turn, prevented Trump from raising any executive privilege claims over the digital communications.

The four conservative judges on the appeals court dissented and would have granted en banc review.

Judge Rao (a Trump bench appointee) wrote a statement, saying the executive privilege claims should have been addressed.

"The absence of a presumptive privilege particularly threatens the Chief Executive when, as here, a third party holds presidential communications. See Mazars, 140 S. Ct. at 2035. And to be sure it aggrandizes the courts, which will have the power to determine whether executive privilege will be considered before its breach. Without a presumption for executive privilege, new questions will invariably arise, particularly because nothing in the panel’s opinion is limited to a former President. What if, in the course of a criminal investigation, a special counsel sought a warrant for the incumbent President’s communications from a private email or phone provider? Under this court’s decision, executive privilege isn’t even on the table, so long as the special counsel makes a showing that a warrant and nondisclosure order are necessary to the prosecution. And following the Special Counsel’s roadmap, what would prevent a state prosecutor from using a search warrant and nondisclosure order to obtain presidential communications from a third-party messaging application? And how might Congress benefit from this precedent when it seeks to subpoena presidential materials from third parties in an investigation or impeachment inquiry?"

"Upon consideration of appellant’s petition for rehearing en banc, the response thereto, the amicus curiae brief filed by Electronic Frontier Foundation in support of rehearing en banc, and the absence of a request by any member of the court for a vote, it is ordered that the petition be denied," the ruling states.

The former president and 2024 GOP presidential front-runner can now ask the Supreme Court to review the matter. 

Smith plans to use data from the cellphone that Trump used in his final weeks in office, including data revealing when Trump’s phone was "unlocked and the Twitter application was open" on Jan. 6, 2021.

Unsealed court filings in August showed that Smith's team obtained location data and draft tweets in addition to the former president's messages.

Attorneys for the company, now named X Corp., attempted to block and delay the effort in January and February, leading one federal judge to speculate that X owner and one-time CEO Elon Musk was attempting to ally himself with Trump.

The social media giant ultimately lost the struggle, however, and was forced to hand over an extensive list of data related to the "@realdonaldtrump" account, including all tweets "created, drafted, favorited/liked, or retweeted."

The handover also included searches on the platform surrounding the 2020 election, devices used to log into the account, IP addresses used to log into the account, and a list of associated accounts.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to tax charges brought by Special Counsel David Weiss

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Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in his initial appearance in federal court Thursday, after being charged with tax crimes out of Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation. 

The first son arrived to court to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Downtown Los Angeles Thursday ahead of the hearing set at 4 p.m. ET, 1 p.m. local time.

HERE'S WHAT'S IN HUNTER BIDEN'S NEW CALIFORNIA INDICTMENT

Judge Mark Scarsi presided over the proceedings. Biden was processed after the hearing by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Weiss charged Biden in December, alleging a "four-year scheme" when the president's son did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports.

Weiss filed the charges in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. 

The charges break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors concerning $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid.

In the indictment, Weiss alleged that Hunter "engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020."

HOUSE COMMITTEES FORMALLY RECOMMEND TO HOLD HUNTER BIDEN IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS

Weiss said that, in "furtherance of that scheme," the younger Biden "subverted the payroll and tax withholding process of his own company, Owasco, PC by withdrawing millions" from the company "outside of the payroll and tax withholding process that it was designed to perform."

The special counsel alleged that Hunter "spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills," and that in 2018, he "stopped paying his outstanding and overdue taxes for tax year 2015."

Weiss alleged that Hunter "willfully failed to pay his 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 taxes on time, despite having access to funds to pay some or all of these taxes," and that he "willfully failed to file his 2017 and 2018 tax returns on time."

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in October to federal gun charges brought by Weiss.

Hunter's defense attorney Abbe Lowell attacked Weiss over the charges last month, accusing the special counsel of "bowing to Republican pressure" when talking to the press.

"Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought," Lowell said in a statement.

HUNTER BIDEN MAKES SHOCKING APPEARANCE AT HIS OWN CONTEMPT HEARING

Hunter’s court appearance in California comes a day after the House Oversight Committee and the House Judiciary Committee passed resolutions to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden, setting up a full vote on the House floor in the coming days that would recommend the first son for prosecution.

Hunter made a surprise appearance on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning, as the House Oversight Committee considered the resolution.

The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees had subpoenaed Hunter Biden to appear for a closed-door deposition, scheduled for Dec. 13, as part of the House GOP impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

Hunter Biden offered to testify publicly, but Republicans rejected the request. Oversight Chairman James Comer and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan cited the setting of other witness interviews, saying Biden would not receive special treatment. The chairmen did, however, vow to release a full transcript of his deposition, as they had for previous witnesses, and agreed to schedule a subsequent public hearing.

On Dec. 13, Hunter Biden appeared on Capitol Hill, but not for his deposition. Instead, he delivered a statement to the press, defying the subpoena.

Hunter Biden to appear in federal court for first appearance in Special Counsel Weiss tax case

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Hunter Biden is expected to make his initial appearance in the federal criminal case stemming from Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation on Thursday in California.

The first son will make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Downtown Los Angeles Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, 1 p.m. local time.

HERE'S WHAT'S IN HUNTER BIDEN'S NEW CALIFORNIA INDICTMENT

Judge Mark Scarsi will preside over the proceedings. Biden is expected to be processed after the hearing by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Weiss charged Biden in December, alleging a "four-year scheme" when the president's son did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports.

Weiss filed the charges in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. 

The charges break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors concerning $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid.

In the indictment, Weiss alleged that Hunter "engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020."

Weiss said that, in "furtherance of that scheme," the younger Biden "subverted the payroll and tax withholding process of his own company, Owasco, PC by withdrawing millions" from the company "outside of the payroll and tax withholding process that it was designed to perform."

IRS WHISTLEBLOWERS: HUNTER BIDEN INDICTMENT IS A 'COMPLETE VINDICATION' OF INVESTIGATION, ALLEGATIONS

The special counsel alleged that Hunter "spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills," and that in 2018, he "stopped paying his outstanding and overdue taxes for tax year 2015."

Weiss alleged that Hunter "willfully failed to pay his 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 taxes on time, despite having access to funds to pay some or all of these taxes," and that he "willfully failed to file his 2017 and 2018 tax returns on time."

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in October to federal gun charges brought by Weiss.

Hunter's defense attorney Abbe Lowell attacked Weiss over the charges last month, accusing the special counsel of "bowing to Republican pressure" when talking to the press.

"Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought," Lowell said in a statement.

HUNTER BIDEN MAKES SHOCKING APPEARANCE AT HIS OWN CONTEMPT HEARING

Hunter’s court appearance in California comes a day after he made a surprise appearance on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning, as the House Oversight Committee considered a resolution on whether to hold him in contempt of Congress.

The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees had subpoenaed Hunter Biden to appear for a closed-door deposition, scheduled for Dec. 13, as part of the House GOP impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

Hunter Biden offered to testify publicly, but Republicans rejected the request. Oversight Chairman James Comer and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan cited the setting of other witness interviews, saying Biden would not receive special treatment. The chairmen did, however, vow to release a full transcript of his deposition, as they had for previous witnesses, and agreed to schedule a subsequent public hearing.

On Dec. 13, Hunter Biden appeared on Capitol Hill, but not for his deposition. Instead, he delivered a statement to the press, defying the subpoena.

If the resolution passes, the House will hold a full vote on whether to hold the first son in contempt.

Fox News' Lee Ross contributed to this report.