Politics

Two Townhalls And Not A Single Question About Hunter Biden Email Allegations

REUTERS/Mike Blake

Anders Hagstrom White House Correspondent
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Neither former Vice President Joe Biden nor President Donald Trump got a single question about recent allegations of corruption against the Democratic nominee at their respective town halls Thursday evening.

The events came two days after the New York Post originally reported Biden had both been aware of and participated in his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and China, contradicting the nominee’s earlier denials. Twitter and Facebook censored the Post articles throughout Wednesday and Thursday, with Twitter going so far as to ban users from sharing the link, even through direct messages.

ABC News Host George Stephanopoulos avoided the topic entirely throughout his 90-minute town hall with Biden, and NBC News Anchor Savannah Guthrie did the same with Trump throughout is 60-minute town hall.

President Donald Trump speaks to undecided voters during ABC's Tuesday Townhall event in Pennsylvania (Screenshot/ABC News Politics)

President Donald Trump speaks to undecided voters during an ABC’ News Townhall event in Pennsylvania in September. (Screenshot/ABC News Politics)

Twitter locked down the official Trump campaign twitter account and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany’s personal account for sharing aspects of the New York Post stories on Wednesday. Republicans argue Twitter’s actions crossed a line, with party leaders across the government searching for ways to hold the platform accountable.

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Tuesday to subpoena Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to testify on his company’s actions. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai also announced rule changes to “clarify” the meaning of Section 230, the portion of law that governs social media platforms and makes them immune to many lawsuits.

Trump campaign Senior Advisor Steve Cortez also told the Daily Caller the Departments of Justice and Commerce may also be looking into potential action. Trump has not announced whether he will make an executive order on the issue.

The first NYP article reports on a copy of an email allegedly showing both Hunter and Joe Biden met with a representative of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma in 2015, among other things. Biden said that he “had never spoken to [his] son about his overseas business dealings.” (RELATED: Biden Says He Never Discussed Hunter Biden’s Ukraine Deal. Hunter Says He Did)

The email in question allegedly shows a communication from Burisma executive Vadym Pozharsky to Hunter Biden.

“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent some time together. It’s really an honor and pleasure,” Pozharskyi allegedly wrote to Hunter Biden in the April 2015 email.

The Post published a second article Thursday morning based on other apparent emails from the same source. They allegedly show Hunter negotiating with a Chinese firm regarding payments to him and his father.

The Daily Caller has not independently confirmed the authenticity of the emails.

The emails reportedly come from a laptop dropped off at a computer repair shop in Delaware. The computer’s hard drive allegedly contains lewd images and video of Hunter, as well as the emails. The computer’s owner never returned to pick up the device after dropping it off, according to the NYP. The store owner later made a copy of the hard drive and reported the device to the FBI, which took custody of it, according to the same report.

The store owner then shared the hard drive copy with the lawyer for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, according to the NYP.