The Hunter Biden laptop controversy presents a test for American democracy.  The laptop resides at the intersection of two First Amendment rights: freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

At the heart of the controversy is the criminal conspiracy in which Hunter Biden sold access to Joe Biden to co-conspirators all over the world.  Hunter's laptop serves as evidence of this conspiracy.  How this story was squashed by the FBI and covered up by the mainstream media (MSM) might be more important than the criminal behavior of a corrupt politician.  The FBI is part of a government bureaucracy that abridges free speech and a free press and subverts politicians it differs with.

The MSM have long had a love/hate relationship with America's two major political parties.  They love Democrats and hate Republicans.  Dan Rather rose to prominence at CBS by hounding Richard Nixon and was fired from the network for lying about the National Guard service record of President G.W. Bush.  The liberal media hated President Reagan.  The MSM are determined to destroy Donald Trump.  Democrats are treated differently.  The New York Times "checks with" Democrats before it runs a story.   

Social media came on to the scene following the advent of the internet.  Most notable of these new arrivals are Facebook and Twitter.  Facebook "empowers you to express yourself and communicate about what matters to you."  Twitter's "purpose is to serve the public conversation."  This is the fantasy social media offer.  What they deliver is censorship of conservative speech.  Social media run algorithms in the background of their digital platforms to emphasize points of view that the liberal elite treasures.  In fairness, Twitter was recently purchased by Elon Musk, who is working to reform the business.  We wish him well.  Much of this story is corroborated by information released by Mr. Musk.

The New York Post (NYPost)  broke a story on October 14, 2020 reporting that it had accessed Hunter Biden's laptop, containing evidence of Biden family corruption.  The FBI was working to undermine the NYPost's story before the ink on the newsprint had dried.  This abridged the freedom of speech of writers at the NYPost, and Americans' right to a free press.

Before the NYPost ran the story, the FBI contacted the Junior G-Men at Twitter and Facebook, telling them that a story involving Hunter Biden and his laptop might be run on their platforms.  They said the story was part of a Russian disinformation campaign and that responsible social media platforms should consider censoring any story that contained these elements.  The FBI paid Twitter $3.4 million  in the same time frame.  On October 19, a letter from 51 former intelligence officials was published by the MSM stating the laptop story was "a Russian information operation ... trying to influence how Americans vote."

Two years later, CBS, the New York Times, and the Washington Post all confirmed that the laptop was Hunter Biden's.  These outlets had reported the claims that the story was part of a Russian disinformation campaign during and after the 2020 presidential campaign.

The federal bureaucracy has long worked behind the scenes to destroy Republican politicians and conservative activists.

• In 1972, FBI deputy director Mark Felt (AKA Deep Throat) met secretly with WaPo reporters Woodward and Bernstein to bring down President Nixon.
• The IRS undermined conservative activists before the 2012 presidential election. 
• The FBI used the Steele Dossier, which gave birth to the Russian collusion hoax, as a pretext to investigate Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, which evolved into the Mueller investigation.  The FBI knew that the Steele dossier was a hoax.
• Today, Attorney General Merrick Garland is determined to minimize free speech by investigating conservatives who assemble and voice their opinions in school board meetings.

The purpose of the federal bureaucracy is to serve the American people, not abridge their freedom of speech, freedom of the press, or select the government of their choice.

Many Americans view Richard Nixon as a corrupt politician.  This may be true or a contorted portrait the MSM have painted.  Much of the portrait sprang from the palate of Woodward and Bernstein.  The colors on the palate were provided by Mark Felt, deputy director of the FBI.  If the FBI had evidence of political  corruption, the agency should have reported it through proper channels, not at meetings in a parking garage with ambitious young writers determined to publish a sensational story.

When the IRS harasses conservative activists, the government is abridging free speech.  When the FBI contacted the media and advised them that a story regarding Hunter Biden's laptop is part of a Russian plot, the free speech of Miranda Divine and other writers was abridged.  Silencing the NYPost abridged the American people's right to a free press.  The FBI possessed the laptop for months prior to contacting the media with a fake story regarding a Russian plot.  The only reason the FBI would provide a false narrative to the media was to support the election of Joe Biden, a man they knew was corrupt. 

The Congress must get to the bottom of this.  What did the FBI know, and when did it know it?  If the FBI paid Twitter millions of dollars, what was the money for?  Does the FBI pay the MSM to provide information about their customers or for favors?  How many media outlets does the FBI communicate with?  For what purpose?  To what end? 

Congress funds a federal bureaucracy that is violating the First Amendment rights of the American people.  This is criminal behavior.  It is the obligation of the Legislative and Executive Branches to assure that proper punishment is meted out to criminals who violate the law.  Government agencies that violate the Constitution should lose funding and corresponding staff.  The House of Representatives provides the ways and means to support the government.  The House must now find a way to discipline an out-of-control bureaucracy.

Image via Picryl.