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Catherine Herridge

CBS News insider says the network knew the Hunter Biden Laptop was verified

Published

3 months ago

11 minute read

How Hunter Biden Laptop Got The CBS News Treatment

In the 60 Minutes interview with then President Trump, correspondent Lesley Stahl said of the Hunter Biden laptop, “It can’t be verified.”  As I watched the broadcast, I felt sick.

I knew the laptop records could be vetted and confirmed. I was confused by what seemed a disconnect between the CBS News division and 60 Minutes.

TOP LINE:
With new allegations this week about suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story in the last Presidential election, I can’t help but reflect on my own experience at CBS News — what I believe was a missed opportunity to rebut false claims it was Russian disinformation.
DEEP DIVE
This week, our investigative team revealed new evidence on X from IRS whistleblowers about alleged double standards at the IRS and Justice Department in the Hunter Biden probe.
Case agent Joseph Ziegler told us they were blocked from taking actions that could have revealed the investigation’s existence prior to the 2020 election.
“There were a lot of overt investigative steps that we were not allowed to take because we had an upcoming election,” Ziegler explained  “And related to the President’s son. So not even the candidate. And we weren’t allowed to do certain investigative steps.” (IRS,DOJ and others declined to comment)
The findings from our investigation on X, called “Bucking the Bureaucracy: The Cost of Coming Forward in the Hunter Biden Tax Case,” were amplified by new reporting from the republican-led House Judiciary committee.
They allege the Hunter Biden laptop reporting was suppressed leading up to the 2020 election to curry political favor, “Facebook executives discussed calibrating censorship decisions to please what they assumed would be an incoming Biden-Harris administration…”
With 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 stayed with it.)
It’s the question I get asked the most.
“What happened with the Hunter Biden story at CBS before the 2020 election?”
I believe it’s best that the account comes directly from me.
On October 23rd, 2020 about 10 days after the story surfaced, I was contacted by senior CBS News executive Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews for “confirmed reporting” on the Hunter Biden story.  She said the confirmed reporting was for Evening News Anchor and Managing Editor Norah O’Donnell.
Days earlier, I had been tasked with vetting the laptop and its contents after multiple platforms had suppressed the story. Due diligence included working the phones, reaching out to people on the Hunter Biden emails for corroboration and cross-referencing court records.  The vetted documents I collected also indicated the laptop belonged to Hunter Biden.
Million Dollar Retainer from Chinese Energy Firm
Signature Page
I told Ciprian-Matthews the vetted materials included a million dollar retainer from a Chinese energy firm, emails with Hunter Biden’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski as well as Hunter Biden text messages.
Asked by Ciprian-Matthews if there was a “Hunter connection,”  I responded, “Yes, all of them.”
I then provided some of the vetted records directly to Ciprian-Matthews.  We did speak briefly on the phone. I don’t know at this point what happened next.
QUESTIONS FOR CBS NEWS/SEEKING A RESPONSE
This weekend, on Saturday, I reached out to CBS News PR with questions for Ciprian-Matthews and Norah O’Donnell. I followed up with a voice mail, and text message to confirm CBS had received our questions as well as the Sunday noon deadline.
When there was no response, Sunday morning, I forwarded our questions, adding the head of CBS PR and O’Donnell’s agent, writing:
“We are taking the extra step this morning of reaching out to you for comment and as a courtesy, extending the deadline until 2pm eastern.
We have copied Ingrid and Norah.  If the email addresses are not accurate, we ask that the queries be shared with them so there is full opportunity to respond.
Thank you in advance for the consideration and confirming receipt of our questions.”
As of this writing, there has been no response, nor the courtesy of acknowledging receipt of our questions.  For transparency, you can read the questions here.
Questions provided to CBS News
Based on my reporting, and as the network’s senior investigative correspondent,  the CBS News investigative unit was not tasked in October 2020 to develop more reporting on the laptop.  That would have been standard practice.
In the 60 Minutes interview with then President Trump, correspondent Lesley Stahl said of the Hunter Biden laptop, “It can’t be verified.”  As I watched the broadcast, I felt sick.
I knew the laptop records could be vetted and confirmed. I was confused by what seemed a disconnect between the CBS News division and 60 Minutes.
OUR FORENSIC REVIEW OF HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP DATA
It took an additional two years for the network to broadcast a forensic review of the Hunter Biden laptop data.  I advocated for the report which determined that both the data belonged to Hunter Biden and it had not been tampered with.  Our report was broadcast in November 2022, after the midterm elections.  I may have more to say about the delay in the future.
Analyzed Laptop Data
By contrast, in October 2020, there seemed little push back to claims from 51 former intelligence officials that the laptop had “classic earmarks” 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 allegedly from Hunter’s computer is part of a Russian disinformation campaign?”
Candidate Biden responded, “… And so when you put the combination of Russia, Giuliani– the president, together– it’s just 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 on?”
CBS News executives make the final call on editorial. In October 2020, I believe the preliminary reporting provided to senior CBS News executive Ciprian-Matthews showed the laptop was worth digging into, and more facts should be gathered. I saw it as an opportunity for CBS News to lead on a major story and to rebut disinformation claims.
I was eventually assigned to the Hunter Biden case.   I was encouraged that the most senior corporate executives told me privately they wanted reporting that spoke truth to power on both sides of the aisle.  They even provided additional resources, but based on my experience, it seemed their corporate objectives were frustrated by CBS News executives and other employees who were reluctant to take on a story about the President’s son.
INTEREST WANES
In 2023, the CBS investigative unit did exclusively interview the same IRS whistleblowers, Shapley and Ziegler. But I found, after the July 2023 plea deal for Hunter Biden fell apart and he faced felony gun and tax charges, that the network’s interest waned.
As a senior investigative correspondent at CBS News for more than 4 years, our award winning reports were a catalyst for legislative change, impacting a million service members and their families.
We helped secure 50 Purple Hearts for soldiers who were wrongly denied the award under the Trump administration after an Iranian ballistic missile attack on their base in January 2020.
We obtained the audio tape of former President Trump seeming to brag and discuss secret documents about Iran at his New Jersey golf club.  CNN was first to report the recordings.
We helped right a decades’ old wrong so that retired Col. Paris Davis, one of the first Black officers in the elite Green Berets, could be recognized with the Medal of Honor for his heroism in Vietnam.
Two weeks before my position was terminated in February,  army whistleblower Nick Nicholls came forward with new evidence that service members were exposed to toxic agents at their overseas base after 9/11.
Since, with the help of veterans’ advocates, Nicholls’ courage has opened the door to long overdue VA benefits and recognition.
While I remain proud of these projects, I also believe that prior to the 2020 election, the Hunter Biden laptop was a missed opportunity for CBS News.
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Catherine Herridge

Return of the Diet Coke Button

Published on January 19, 2025

By

On the eve of Inauguration Day, the time is right to share my personal story about the “Diet Coke” button.
DEEP DIVE
It is a privilege and a tremendous opportunity for a reporter to interview the Commander in Chief.   Any journalist who tells you otherwise is bitter because they can’t land the big interview.
I have sat down with President Trump twice.  First at Fox News, after the Special Counsel Robert Mueller report was released.  The second time, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a senior investigative correspondent for CBS News.
In advance of interviewing President Trump, I was invited to an informal meeting at the White House. The Oval Office appointment had the tone of a “get to know you session.”
While the meeting was “off the record,” I can tell you that it wasn’t about setting limits on an interview or providing questions which would cross a journalistic redline.  I understood from President Trump’s press team that he made the final call on which reporter would conduct the interview.
Sitting across from President Trump, I noticed a red button on the Resolute Desk and my imagination ran wild.  “What was it, a nuclear button, a panic button, or a get this reporter out of here button?”’
Source: X realDonaldTrump
I was not the first person to fall into this trap.  In his book, “The Chief’s Chief,”  former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows described his encounter with the Diet Coke button, writing it “seemed like something you might use to launch a nuclear missile, or maybe to order SEAL Team Six into action.”
“I braced for whatever sonic boom, breaking glass, or cloud of smoke I assumed was coming,” Meadows added.
With a keen eye, President Trump saw my curiosity, and leveraged it. He leaned across the desk, and in what seemed a very deliberate manner, he pressed the red button. I nearly jumped out of my seat.
Then to my right, I recall that a butler entered the Oval Office with a silver tray and several tall glasses of Diet Coke.   I can’t recall exactly, and it may have been the shock of the red button, but the butler seemed to appear out of nowhere from behind the bookcases.
Commemorative Bottle of Diet Coke
I recall President Trump put his hand next to his mouth, and whispered, “It’s one of the best parts of the job!”
Out of respect for the ground rules, I am not going to say much more about the meeting because it was off the record. As we concluded,  President Trump asked if I had ever seen the Lincoln bedroom which, of course, I had not.  Then he made some quip about the Clintons and you can fill in the rest.
The CBS interview went ahead in July 2020 in the Rose Garden because of COVID-19 restrictions.  The questions were direct. One in particular he described as “a terrible question to ask,” but President Trump still answered each query. With my urging, CBS News released the full, unedited transcript.
Bear that precedent in mind as you consider the lingering controversy over the 60 Minutes Kamala Harris edit.

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Catherine Herridge

Four years later the FBI releases new footage of Jan 6 Pipe Bomber

Published on January 6, 2025

By

TOP LINE:
A seasoned law enforcement contact believes the FBI’s pipe bomber probe is “absolutely a cold case,” and the newly released video footage and details about the suspect are part of the bureau’s “tickle the wire” approach to generate new leads.
The story of January 6th will never be fully understood until the pipe bomber is identified and their motive revealed.
DEEP DIVE:
This week, the FBI released new details and previously unseen video footage of its high priority suspect.  I write ‘high priority’ because the reward, of up to $500k, is the kind of reward typically associated with global terrorist networks.
Pipe Bomb /DNC Office
Pipe Bomb / RNC
The timeline is well documented.
On the evening of January 5th 2021, sometime between 7:30 and 8:30 pm, the suspect planted two viable pipe bombs.  One device was left near a bench outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) office and a second device was planted in an alleyway behind the Republican National Committee (RNC) office.  Both locations are a few short blocks from the U.S. Capitol building.
“When investigators lack leads or want to ‘tickle the wire,’ they may use things like crime anniversaries..to help get them fresh leads,”  Scott Sweetow, a retired ATF and former acting Director of the FBI’s Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center, explained.

YouTube video by FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation
Seeking Information on Capitol Hill Pipe Bomb Suspect
Over the years, I have discussed the case with Sweetow and others.  Some of the newly released information struck both of us as probably not ‘new’ to investigators.
The FBI estimates the pipe bomber’s height at 5’7”.  Having convered the FBI since 9/11, it’s the kind of basic information I would expect investigators to immediately release. Asked if the FBI sat on the details, Sweetow said it also struck him as odd.
“Typically, in any investigation, you want to get maximum information out to the public to spur leads as opposed to waiting,”  Sweetow said. “If there is particularly sensitive information which cannot be released, sometimes it is a tactical decision to withhold that, but given the length of time that has passed since the attempted bombings, it really made little investigative sense to hold back information like this for as long as they did.”
National Explosives Task Force “Quick Look” Report – January 7, 2021
I was among the first journalists to report on the pipe bombs. Three days after the pipe bombs were discovered, I obtained this law enforcement bulletin that raised questions about the bomber’s timing and motive.
The choice of the RNC and DNC had obvious political overtones. According to the law enforcement records, the RNC device was reported at approximately 12:45 pm eastern on January 6th in the alley, wedged next to a garbage bin.  The DNC device was found a half hour later, at approximately 13:15 pm eastern, in the bushes outside the building.
Both devices were planted in lightly trafficked areas, suggesting the pipe bomber’s goal was to attract attention and not to inflict the greatest number of casualties.
In March 2021, I reviewed a second law enforcement report that summarized the FBI lab’s forensic report.  A key finding: both devices relied on mechanical kitchen timers.
March 2021 National Explosives Task Force Report
“both devices’ switches consisted of a generic kitchen timer”
The Task Force report read, “…the forensic examination of a pipe bomb (device 1) indicated the device contained a powdery substance consistent with the oxidizer potassium nitrate, the fuel sulfur, and a fuel consistent with charcoal.  A second pipe bomb (device 2) contained the low explosive black powder which consisted of the oxidizer potassium nitrate, the fuel sulphur and a fuel consistent with charcoal….Both devices’ switches consisted of a generic kitchen timer.”
“A wire ran from the zero side of the timer to the positive side of the 9-volt snap connector on device 1. The igniters on both devices consisted of one piece of steel wool with two alligator clips.”
Mechanical Kitchen Timers
The pipe bombs had some sophistication, combining a mechanical timer and electrical ignition system. There was no secondary means of detonating the devices.  My contacts report most pipe bombs recovered in the US have a simpler design.
When you are investigating a story, there is no substitute for going to the scene, and getting as close to the evidence as possible.  With some research, and the help of long time contacts, I purchased a similar kitchen timer (above.)
I was struck by a flaw that is apparently well known to bomb techs. The 60 minute timers depend on the mechanical energy of a spring. If they are not properly wound, the electrical circuit will not be completed and the device will malfunction.
While the photos are grainy, it appears at least one timer may have stopped short of “zero,” but it’s hard to say for sure.
All of this suggests the pipe bombs may have been designed to explode on January 5th. An explosion that night, hours before the Certification of Electoral Votes, would have fundamentally changed Capitol Hill’s security posture.
“Washington DC would have been locked down in a way few people have encountered, and substantial resources would have been marshaled due to the concern of additional attacks. Had this occurred, it is highly unlikely the subsequent events of January 6th could have occurred, as the capital would likely have been severely locked down,” Sweetow explained.
While the bomb maker(s) may not have understood the potential flaw inherent in the use of kitchen timers, the apparent lack of DNA evidence suggests the bomb maker was not an amateur.
“This is absolutely a cold case. In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, the FBI threw massive resources at the case, which is certainly understandable given the political nature of the targets and the location being Washington DC,”  Sweetow emphasized. “The lack of forensic evidence in this case is highly unusual, and one of the most problematic things facing investigators.”
Aside from the newly released details from the FBI about the bomber’s height and distinctive sneakers, security videos from the street reveal another clue.  Almost as unique as DNA, it’s called “gait analysis”.
Gait analysis is the way a person walks, their mannerisms, how they carry themselves. It can be a very powerful investigative tool.  Military and law enforcement sources tell me they use gait analysis to help identify targets in the field.
“I have long felt that the mannerisms of the suspect, to include their gait, the way they bent over multiple times, and generally carried themselves was highly suggestive of a female,” Sweetow said.  His analysis was backed up by a second contact, a retired Special Forces officer.
It is hard to reconcile the known facts in the pipe bomber case.   Massive resources were expended by the FBI, but no suspect(s) have been publicly identified.  The suspect seen in the videos may not be the bomb maker and, in fact, investigators maybe looking for a small cell.
While the bomb maker may have been tripped up by the kitchen timers, they were expert enough to apparently avoid leaving significant DNA evidence.
And lastly, the motive may have been distraction after a contentious election, not an explosion with significant casualties.
“Sometimes you never actually discover what the intent is of a bomber,” Sweetow said in closing. “The choice of political targets, following a very contentious election and impending congressional certification implies a political motive for the bomber.  Because of that, it is possible the suspect wanted to cause general chaos in the National Capital Region in the hopes of eliciting some sort of action, although what that action was is difficult to say.”
This is a worthy case for the next FBI Director.
For its part, according to the AP, the FBI “has assessed over 600 tips, reviewed about 39,000 video files and conducted more than 1,000 interviews over the past four years.”

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Best, Catherine
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