Rep. Gaetz takes media to task on Swalwell Chinese spy report, Hunter Biden probe
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., reacts to the mainstream media coverage of news that Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., was targeted by a Chinese spy and Hunter Biden revealing he is under federal investigation.
Following reports of Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., being targeted by a Chinese spy and Hunter Biden revealing his business dealings with China are under federal investigation, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is calling out the mainstream media's unfair spin.
"I'm old enough to remember when Lev Parnas showed up and made a few donations at Republican events. That was wall-to-wall coverage from the media," Gaetz told "Fox & Friends" Thursday, "but when Eric Swalwell engages in a very close relationship with clearly an agent of Communist China, well, that's deemed as something we can just accept and move on."
CNN covered the Swalwell report for a little over three minutes, while MSNBC, ABC, NBC and CBS didn't give address the year-long Axios investigative report at all.
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"If I was dating a waitress at a Chinese restaurant, they would be burning a hole through my front door with the mainstream media's lights and cameras," Gaetz said.
"It really shows a desire to go after Republicans at every cause and then to protect Democrats and sadly, often, you get the same double standard from the media reflected in the activities of the FBI and the Department of Justice," he said.
"When Democrats are targeted by foreign intelligence, they get a defensive briefing. When Republicans are targeted, they get impeachment, investigations," Gaetz added, "and threats of jail time, so there really is a double standard."
MEDIA FINALLY COVERS HUNTER BIDEN STORY AFTER AVOIDING CONTROVERSY BEFORE ELECTION
Hunter Biden, the son of President-elect Joe Biden, confirmed Wednesday that his finances in overseas business dealings with places like China are under federal investigation since 2018.
"I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors," Hunter Biden said in a statement.
The Biden-Harris transition team put out a statement shortly after, saying, "President-elect Biden is deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger."
Pointing to Project Veritas' audio of CNN President Jeff Zucker, Gaetz said the network used the Hunter Biden laptop story as "a way to smear Fox News, smear the New York Post...anyone telling the truth about the Bidens."
"We deserve, in this country, a media that is honest to report the facts, not to try to categorize them as a crazy conspiracy theory," he said.
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The Florida congressman said the FBI and DOJ were willing to leak information with the Steele dossier against Trump only when it "will achieve their political purposes."
"The foreign interference isn't even as bad as the domestic interference that occurs when the media tries to frame the discussion and the debate in such a way as to exclude certain subjects, as just unavailable for inquiry," Gaetz said.
"What they're going to try to do in the next few weeks and months is try to silo this and categorize it as Hunter Biden only and sort of administrative tax issues only, when we know the corruption and foreign interference goes much deeper," he added.
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