Hunter whodunnit: Biden’s son denies giving laptop to repair shop

Hunter Biden told Congress he had never been to the Delaware repair shop, where his laptop had been left. This bizarre turn of events added a new twist to the sordid story behind the computer.

In closed-door testimony Mr. Biden said that he did not remember dropping the laptop off at the Mac Shop, and he cast doubt on this idea. He said that if the computer needed to be repaired, he would take it to either the Apple Store, located three blocks away from his office at Georgetown, or the Christiana Mall, in Newark.

“I would have dropped off a computer at the Apple Store,” Biden said to lawmakers.

Hunter Biden insisted on casting doubt on his laptop, even though he had admitted some damning details of his father’s intrusion into business meetings. This confirmed some aspects of the Republicans’ impeachment investigation against President Biden.

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Harriet Hageman (a Wyoming Republican) who had asked about the laptop during the February 28th congressional interview was asked by Mr. Biden, “Have You Seen That Laptop?” Does anyone have any idea about the existence of a laptop?

Biden’s performance in front of lawmakers was a stunning one.

Hageman stated that “no one seriously doubts the existence and authenticity of the Hunter Biden Laptop.”

Mr. Biden testified as part of an impeachment investigation by the House into his father. The investigation’s theory is that Mr. Biden took advantage of his father’s position and name to secure business deals with foreign companies, often closely linked with foreign governments. Republicans are looking into how much President Biden was aware of his son’s business dealings, whether he helped them and if he profited.

Hunter Biden is accused of federal tax evasion, gun crimes and using his father’s surname to make money. Investigators from Congress have questioned him about the laptop.

According to the public, Mr. Biden left the laptop in the Mac Shop Wilmington, Delaware run by John Paul Mac Isaac. Mac Isaac, after concluding Mr. Biden abandoned the laptop in late 2019, shared the data with the FBI.

He kept a copy and shared it to Rudolph W. Giuliani who worked with President Trump. The former New York Mayor shared a copy with the New York Post. They ran a story that was explosive about the contents of this laptop.

The Biden campaign had former officials of national security write an open note denouncing the reporting as Russian misinformation.

Social media giants responded by limiting the story’s exposure. In a debate between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, Mr. Biden used the report to dismiss the entire matter.

I don’t recall ever doing that

Hunter Biden now casts doubt on the entire thing.

When challenged by Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz Mr. Biden admitted to having several laptops, but doubted that he’d ever given one of them to the Wilmington repair shop.

The Christiana Mall is home to the largest and highest-grossing Apple Store in America. “If I were to drop off my laptop — which I can’t remember ever doing, but if that was the case, I’d have gone to Apple Store in Christiana Mall, located seven minutes away from my parents’ house there,” said he.

Mr. Gaetz retorted: “Does it occur to you that you have ever left a laptop in a repair shop?”

“I do not,” Mr. Biden replied.

It is difficult to reconcile Mr. Biden’s statement with what federal prosecutors, investigators and a judge have said.

Robert Weiss who is prosecuting Mr. Biden’s cases in court documents has stated that it is his son who left the laptop behind at the store.

His confidence comes from the work of FBI and IRS Agents who traced the events leading to Mr. Mac Isaac receiving the laptop, his decision of turning it over to FBI, and the agents’ confirmation that it is real.

According to notes taken at a meeting held on October 22, 2020 and handed over to Congress by IRS Supervisory Agent Gary Shapley (Secretary Special Agent), investigators used financial records as proof that Mr. Biden had been in Wilmington, near the repair shop, the day before the computer was returned.

The store also has a receipt signed by Mr. Biden. They have the phone records that show Mr. Biden made the call to the shop, and the shop called Mr. Biden.

They had a laptop and an external drive that they acquired in December 2019.

Weiss stated that the agents knew the laptop to be authentic because it contained “largely duplicate” information from the search warrant they obtained for Mr. Biden’s iCloud.

Fabricated messages

Mr. Biden waffled in the past regarding his laptop.

He told CBS News in 2021 that he “had no idea” what had happened to the laptop.

He said, “I don’t really know the answer. That’s the truthful response.” He said that if it were, then it could have “been stolen from me”, hacked or produced by “Russian Intelligence.”

In a letter he sent last year, he seemed to admit that the data were his. He asked prosecutors to look into those who leaked the contents of the laptop.

Abbe Lowell, his lawyer, wrote: “This dirty political trick failed directly led to the exposure, exploitation and manipulation of Mr. Biden’s personal and private information.”

He said: Mac Isaac’s reckless, intentional and illegal conduct allowed hundreds of gigabytes worth of Mr. Biden’s personal data to be distributed on the Internet without any discretion.

In a lawsuit that he filed last year against Mr. Giuliani, and Robert Costello, Mr. Biden stated the laptop to be genuine.

In the complaint, Mr. Lowell stated that “Plaintiff is entitled to data stored on a copy or devices that Defendants operate and own. They claim that they have obtained from Plaintiff’s computer.”

Many news outlets and other outfits claim to have obtained a copy from the laptop’s contents. This has fueled stories about Mr. Biden and his activities, as well as potential political issues for his father.

Mr. Biden stated that at least some of the information reported by the laptop was false.

In court documents, Mr. Lowell said that the laptop data had been “altered and tampered” before M. Mac Isaac gave it to Mr. Giuliani.

In his testimony before Congress, Mr. Biden reiterated these claims. He claimed that some news sources reported “fabricated” conversations, including one with an agent of the Secret Service with whom he had never spoken.

He said that “there are many things that are either — that either are fabricated, hacked or stolen 100%,”

The notes of Agent Shapley make it clear that federal investigators felt comfortable concluding the laptop data was the culprit.