Does the seized laptop belong to Hunter Biden?
Hunter Biden was interviewed by "CBS This Morning" co-host Anthony Mason. Biden discussed some of the problems he had in his past and he talked about his new book "Beautiful Things." The interview aired on April 5, 2021 and was shown in two parts.
In 2019, the FBI took possession of a laptop purported to belong to Hunter Biden. The laptop was in a computer shop for repairs. It is believed the laptop may contain information on Biden's foreign business dealings with China as well as information on whether Biden violated tax laws and money laundering laws. Mason brought up the laptop.
"You make one reference to it in the book. Is that laptop yours?"
"Ah, it's a, you don't need a laptop. You got a book. It's all in the book. And I don't know. I, I truly"—
"You don't know?"
"The serious answer is that I truly do not know the answer to that."
After being asked, "Is that laptop yours?" Biden pauses and then stumbles on his words.
He then makes the odd comment, "You don't need a laptop." He goes on to say, "You got a book. It's all in the book." It sounds as if he doesn't want to answer the question but wants the viewers to read his new book to find the answer. That's acceptable but what does he mean when he said, "You don't need a laptop"?
Biden then twice used the word "truly" to add emphasis to the idea he doesn't know if the laptop in question belongs to him. Fifty percent of the time when people use a word like "truly," they are being deceptive.
There is a very good chance Biden knows the laptop in question belongs to him.
Biden is under investigations for potential tax law violations. Mason asked him about this.
"Is your legal team working on any kind of a plea deal?"
"Oh no. I am absolutely certain that what we're doing is, is being completely cooperative with whoever is asking from any authority whatsoever."
The uses of the word "certain" always means a person considered other possibilities. After considering these other options, the person can then state with certainty what he knows or what happened. If a person is certain about something, he won't use the word "certain." He will simply state what he knows to be true.
Biden may be giving a truthful statement but we would like to know what other possibilities he was considering. He may have been thinking, "There are some things I haven't told the investigators."
The word "whatsoever" is not needed. He added this word to convince us he is completely cooperating.
Hunter Biden had a gun that his brother's wife threw into a trash can allegedly to protect Hunter from harming himself. It was reported the Secret Service looked into the matter by trying to find a receipt for the purchase of the gun. Mason questioned Biden about the Secret Service's involvement.
"According to the reporting, at one point the Secret Service went looking for the record of sale. Do you know anything about that?"
"Nothing. No. No. No idea."
Four times Biden denies knowing if the Secret Service had any involvement associated with this gun. The repetition is suspicious.
Rarely can a person honestly say, "I have no idea." Most people have an opinion on just about everything.
Biden talked about how he knew the gun was lost. It was reported to have been thrown into a trash can. The police retrieved the gun within hours.
"But you don't know about the Secret Service being involved in that."
"No, I have no idea."
Saying, "No" is a good answer. Adding, "I have no idea" weakens his denial. Biden may not know if the Secret Service was involved. However, if it was reported they were involved, one would think he would have heard of these reports. That is why it is hard to believe him when he said, "I have no idea."
The second part of the interview, Biden talked about his drug addiction. He didn't use any deceptive language and sounded very truthful. However, during the first part of his interview, he did show signs of deception.