Matt Gaetz enters Hunter Biden laptop into congressional record

Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz entered contents from the laptop believed to belong to Hunter Biden into the congressional record during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.

The move followed a heated exchange between Gaetz and Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, who informed the congressman that he had no information about the status of the copy of the laptop hard drive the FBI has had in its possession since 2019 as the president’s son faces a federal investigation into his financial and foreign business affairs.

“That is astonishing to me. Has the FBI [Cyber Division] assessed whether Hunter Biden’s laptop could be a point of vulnerability, allowing America’s enemies to hurt our country?” Gaetz asked Vorndran.

“Sir, FBI’s cyber program is based off of what’s codified in Title 18, Section 1030, which talks about computer intrusions,” Vorndran responded. “Sir, it’s not in the purview of my investigative responsibilities.”

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The committee was holding a hearing with Vorndran to conduct oversight on the FBI’s Cyber Division. Most of the hearing centered on cyberthreats to the United States and steps law enforcement is taking to stave off such dangers.

Gaetz pressed Vorndran for a follow-up briefing on the laptop matter, and the assistant director agreed to take that request back to FBI headquarters. Appearing frustrated by the response, the congressman attempted to enter a copy of the laptop hard drive into the congressional record.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler initially rebuffed Gaetz’s request but ultimately capitulated after the Florida congressman pressed further and claimed he had a “consultation with majority staff.”

Gaetz highlighted the exchange on Twitter and called for someone to “subpoena Hunter Biden.”

The laptop and hard drive were left at a Delaware repair shop in late 2019. John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of the store, claimed Biden never came to retrieve the hardware. The FBI eventually picked up the hardware, but a copy was given to then-Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, who shared copies of its contents with Republican operatives and conservative news outlets.

The contents from the computer detailed some of Biden’s business dealings and private activities.

Republicans used materials from the laptop, which emerged in the final weeks of the 2020 election, to accuse the Bidens of engaging in corrupt business practices in Ukraine.

The New York Post led the charge in reporting on the contents of the laptop, but other major media outlets sought to cast doubt on its authenticity, and Big Tech companies even took steps to suppress its spread. This effort was boosted by dozens of former intelligence officials signing a letter that said the laptop story had the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation operation.

News outlets such as the New York Times and Politico have since come forth with reports saying at least some of the contents on the laptop have been authenticated.

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Biden himself revealed that he was under federal investigation shortly after the 2020 election.

“I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs,” Biden said in a December 2020 statement. “I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers.”

Gaetz took a jab at the intelligence veterans Tuesday and announced he would introduce a “Spook Who Cried Wolf Resolution” to bar the 51 former officials who signed the October 2020 letter from security clearances.