Earlier this month, the New York Post ran a story about the contents of a laptop purportedly belonging to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's son, Hunter. President Donald Trump and his allies allege that Hunter Biden used his father's influence to secure lucrative deals with foreign businesses.
The contents were supplied by Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who says he got them from a laptop repair store worker.
Despite initially passing on the story due to its lack of credibility, the conservative Fox News network has eagerly covered the story, even as its own reporters debunk some of the resulting claims.
Far-right Fox host Tucker Carlson continued to push the narrative that Hunter Biden worked with his father to secure corrupt foreign deals. He claimed to have accessed damning documents backing up the claims, but said they got lost in the mail.
Watch below.
Tucker is claiming that his super-secret, extremely damming trove of documents about Hunter Biden was stolen while in the mail. pic.twitter.com/QGl4xS1SJD
— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) October 29, 2020
Carlson told viewers that he'd had a producer in New York send him the documents through a name-brand mail carrier to Los Angeles, but claimed that the box containing the documents had been opened and emptied without being delivered.
He continued:
"The company's security team interviewed every one of its employees who touched the envelope we sent ... they combed the entire cavernous sorting facility. They used pictures of what we had sent, so that searchers would know what to work for. They went far and beyond, but they found nothing. Those documents have vanished. As of tonight, the company has no idea and no working theory even about what happened to this trove of materials, documents that are directly relevant to the presidential campaign just six days from now."
Carlson's conspiratorial implication that someone stole his treasured documents was widely mocked.
It was me. I stole the documents
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) October 29, 2020
I stole Tucker Carlson's trove of documents.
Awww, just kidding. Of course a major news network wouldn't have scanned those documents first right? Or make a copy? Nope. They sent their only copy through the mail. If you believe that, then I have a bridge to sell you. https://t.co/JhTVvvUz5H
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) October 29, 2020
“Look at these emails! Aren't they damning!"
“... No?"
“What if I told you they disappeared? Isn't that damning?" https://t.co/7QwYLYVncA
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) October 29, 2020
It would be impossible to explain to aliens why Tucker Carlson has a show https://t.co/EhBm6CsZ3z
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 29, 2020
What makes this so embarrassing for Tucker is that he is unaware that it is so embarrassing. https://t.co/egG7Sv6w41
— Zac Petkanas (@Zac_Petkanas) October 29, 2020
People invoked the proverbial dog.
We have reached the “dog ate my homework" stage of “Surely there is something-gate..." also, if you had super secret damning documents, why mail them AFTER your boy Dejoy bolloxed the @USPS ?? https://t.co/sa4ZPJjGnm
— Joy VOTE & MASK UP!! Reid 😷) (@JoyAnnReid) October 29, 2020
Tucker coming on strong with the Dog Ate My Disinformation excuse https://t.co/IKPAAHEHCU
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) October 29, 2020
The dog ate my October surprise. https://t.co/2IwEh5sWAq
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) October 29, 2020
The dog ate his disinfo https://t.co/zBK0nfY0uR
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) October 29, 2020
The Trump campaign was likely hoping that the so-called scandal would present to Biden the same vulnerabilities that 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton faced when the FBI announced a development in the investigation of her emails just days before Election Day.
It doesn't seem like the public is buying it.
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