CNN commentator Scott Jennings confronted journalist Kara Swisher on Thursday, November 20, 2025, over her assertion that lying to the American public about Hunter Biden’s laptop was merely “politics.”

The exchange highlighted ongoing debates about the handling of the story when it first broke in October 2020 by the New York Post.

The New York Post’s report detailed contents of a laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden, which included over 10,000 photos and documents.

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These materials allegedly showed Hunter Biden with prostitutes, passed out with a crack pipe, and other compromising situations. At the time, social media platforms Facebook and Twitter restricted the story’s spread.

A letter signed by 50 former government officials claimed the laptop’s contents were Russian disinformation.

National Public Radio (NPR) also chose not to cover the story, citing it as a distraction.Jennings argued against Swisher’s perspective during the broadcast.

“The story was true,” he said.

“There wasn’t really any dispute of that, other than from these 50 people who come from government, who are in and out of government when Democrats are in power.”

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Swisher interjected, saying, “That’s politics to me, Scott. You’re not naive. They were making their case just like you would say Trump just did with whatever issue he has.”

Jennings countered, “Well, I don’t agree that it is a simple matter of making your case. When you use your government title and your intelligence bona fides and you use all of your credentials to flat-out lie to the American people. They didn’t know that that was a political argument, but they were saying, ‘This is Russian disinformation. What you’re reading is directly out of the Kremlin. It was one of the biggest lies that was told to try to get Joe Biden over the finish line.”

The controversy surrounding the laptop emerged as a key issue during the 2020 presidential election, with critics suggesting the suppression was designed to protect Joe Biden’s campaign.

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Despite the initial denials, evidence later confirmed the laptop’s authenticity.

Then-NPR managing editor Terence Samuel explained the network’s decision, stating, “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.”

He added, “And quite frankly, that’s where we ended up, this was … a politically driven event, and we decided to treat it that way.”

The Biden-Harris administration’s response evolved over time.

In December 2024, President Joe Biden pardoned his son for drug and gun offenses, a move that reignited discussions about the laptop’s contents.

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Democrats had maintained for years that the story was unfounded, despite growing evidence to the contrary.

The pardon covered a range of charges related to Hunter Biden’s personal conduct, which had been documented in part by the laptop data.

Close

The confrontation between Jennings and Swisher aired on CNN, drawing attention to the differing narratives around the laptop story.

Jennings emphasized the use of government credentials to mislead the public, while Swisher framed it as a standard political tactic.

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