CNN’s Brian Stelter on Sunday spent exactly zero seconds on his show Reliable Sources discussing the New York Times’ bombshell admission that the New York Post’s October 2020 reporting on Hunter Biden’s “Laptop from Hell” was accurate — or his false claims from the time that Hunter Biden’s laptop emails were “Russian disinformation.”
Instead of coming clean about his role in spreading misinformation, Stelter totally ignored his false claims on his show, speaking for zero seconds about his role in pushing the false “Russian disinformation” narrative, after the New York Times admitted Wednesday the Hunter Biden laptop is authentic.
Alternatively, Stelter indulged in self-praise for a full block of his show about how “media criticism can improve media diets,” and suggested his “value add” is “to really inform people how the media works.”
Stelter also conversed about internet restrictions and propaganda in Eastern Europe while making no mention of his involvement in spreading propaganda. As a substitute, his show ran the banner, “Blurry Lines Between Truth And Disinformation in Russia.”
Reliable Sources banner sez “BLURRY LINE BETWEEN TRUTH AND DISINFORMATION IN RUSSIA” … Media analyst wonderkid must see the elephant in the room!
— Emma-Jo Morris (@EmmaJoNYC) March 20, 2022
FLASHBACK: Media pundits lied to you, falsely claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop story was “Russian disinformation.” pic.twitter.com/fSmQgfIq0N
— MediaResearchCenter (@theMRC) March 18, 2022
Stelter dodged his role in pushing untruths after sending a direct Twitter message on Friday to this reporter, a reference to a Thursday Breitbart News article in which he was listed along with 14 others in establishment media for falsely suggesting the laptop was Russian propaganda and disinformation.
“Hey, just curious, when did I claim ‘Hunter Biden’s laptop emails were likely Russian propaganda? Can you send me the quote?” he demanded.
In response, Stelter was asked if he stood by his inaccurate claims of suggesting the Hunter Biden emails may have been “made up” and could have been “Russian disinformation,” or if he was planning to retract the inaccurate comments. Stelter was also given a video that clearly shows the anchor using the phrase “Russian disinformation” to refer to the emails and suggested they may have been “made up.”
When Stelter was pressed on his claims by Breitbart News, Stelter refused to retract the false statements and insinuations. Instead, Stelter falsely accused Breitbart News of not standing by its reporting.
“So… you clearly can’t back up your assertion that I claimed ‘Hunter Biden’s laptop emails were likely Russian propaganda’ — thanks for confirming that what you wrote is false,” he responded.
So I guess @brianstelter will be covering the NYT/Hunter scandal on his media show this weekend. Looking forward to seeing the framing after this scorched earth @WendellHusebo lead on Breitbart. pic.twitter.com/cwh8HqyUqO
— Emma-Jo Morris (@EmmaJoNYC) March 19, 2022
In reply, Breitbart News had further questions, such as if he is cooperating with the ongoing internal investigation at CNN in the wake of now-former network president Jeff Zucker’s resignation. Zucker recently resigned as president of CNN after questions arose about his relationship with longtime CNN executive Allison Gollust in connection with the broader Cuomo investigation which showed that former Chris Cuomo had aided his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as he navigated a sexual harassment scandal.
A former CNN employee confirmed to Breitbart News that Stelter is “freaking out” about taking part in pushing the false narrative of “Russian disinformation” because he is worried he “will be swept up in the internal investigation given his closeness to Jeff Zucker.”
Stelter did not reply about any of these comments from the former CNN employee, to whom Breitbart News granted anonymity to protect this person’s ability to speak freely. Nor has he replied to any questions about the scandal engulfing CNN’s top brass.
NYT casually admitted this week that my reporting on the Laptop From Hell was authentic, as if we all forgot they called it “baroque mythology” at the time.
But ink stains, and their role in one of the most elaborate hoaxes will live on.
My column: https://t.co/mTzr6WHbsJ
— Emma-Jo Morris (@EmmaJoNYC) March 19, 2022
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø