CNN 'Looked Partisan' by Not Covering Hunter Biden Laptop Saga, Ex-Boss Admits

Jeff Zucker, who had been at the helm of CNN Worldwide since 2013, stepped down on February 2 after he acknowledged that he violated the company's Standards of Business Conduct when he failed to disclose a “consensual relationship” with a female colleague.

CNN host Michael Smerconish has accused the network’s former boss Jeff Zucker of turning the broadcaster into a “partisan” news outlet by not sufficiently covering the Hunter Biden laptop saga.

The showdown came as Smerconish sat down with Zucker and ex-MSNBC head Phil Griffin for a talk on the state of the media during a Un-convention in Philadelphia.

The CNN anchor said that he thought that “the Hunter laptop was worthy of more airing than it received right before the [2020 US presidential] election”.

The remarks were followed by Zucker arguing that CNN “didn’t know enough about it”, adding that the station “did deal with it […] to the degree that you would have thought appropriate”. He went on to say that he didn’t think it was a “legitimate criticism”, before wondering whether Smerconish covered the story.

The CNN host responded by claiming that he “talked about it extensively” and agreed that Zucker was right that he didn’t pay attention to the issue himself.

“I think I look bad for not talking about it at all. I should have said something about the damn issue,” Smerconish said. According to him, irrespective of not knowing all the facts, “I think that we [CNN] looked partisan by not giving it [the Biden laptop story] some air”. Zucker replied by saying “I don't disagree with that”.

Hunter Biden Laptop Story

Hunter Biden is in hot water and remains under a federal investigation into whether the POTUS’ son violated US laws when he engaged in financial and business dealings in foreign countries during his father’s vice presidency between 2009 and 2017.

The probe in particular looks into the contents of the so-called “laptop from Hell,” including Hunter Biden’s naked photos and graphic videos that have been released since 2020, when the New York Post was the first to make several emails from the device public. The computer was allegedly abandoned by Hunter at a repair shop in Delaware.

President Joe Biden has repeatedly dismissed any knowledge of his son’s business activities, with most US news outlets and social media companies successfully shielding him from the laptop-related revelations ahead of the 2020 presidential election campaign, when they were coined as part of a “Russian disinformation operation”.

Earlier this year, however, the New York Times and The Washington Post made a U-turn, confirming that the laptop was authentic and that the damning information contained within the device was genuine.

In addition, federal agents are probing Hunter Biden for reportedly obtaining what they claim is “sufficient evidence” to charge the 52-year-old with tax crimes and lying about his drug abuse to buy a gun.