JD Vance tells skeptical Tapper there must be investigation of Big Tech-media 'collusion' on Biden laptop

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, joined CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday and argued "collusion between members of the press and big technology companies" needed to be looked at with regard to the Hunter Biden laptop story, adding, "that's not journalism."

"We know in 2020 that there were massive pieces of evidence that were suppressed by collusion between the national security state in this country," Vance told Tapper. "The Hunter Biden laptop story." 

Responding to remarks made recently by Trump aide Kash Patel that a second Trump administration would go after media members who helped Joe Biden "rig" the 2020 election, Vance said the Biden laptop story was suppressed by social media platforms in the waning days of that presidential campaign. Tapper retorted it was only suppressed for "a day or two on Twitter." 

"Jake, millions of Americans, and there have been studies on this, didn’t see that story that would have seen it, if there hadn’t been that collusion between these technology companies and members of the media, who had security clearances and these people were using the trust acquired over a lifetime of public service, and lying to the American people," he said. 

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"We need to look at seriously how there was collusion between members of the press and big technology companies and members of the national security state. Jake, that's not journalism, it's not journalism to take your security clearance, lie to the American people, and then persuade the big technology companies to censor anti-Joe Biden stories. That’s not journalism. That is cooperation between the government and journalism, it’s the opposite," Vance said. 

Tapper countered and said, "Rudy Giuliani wouldn’t let us see the laptop." 

"I am much less concerned about what you were reporting on and much more concerned about the fact that millions of Americans get their news through social media, and we know the FBI was working with the social media companies to censor a troubling story," Vance said. "If we're going to talk about threats to democracy, that’s crazy. The FBI encouraging private companies to censor journalists? That should really p--s a lot of people off. You included."

Twitter, now known as X under the ownership of Elon Musk, previously prevented the sharing of a report on Hunter Biden's laptop by the New York Post in 2020, which delved into his overseas business dealings and included salacious personal material. It was ultimately verified as authentic by numerous news outlets that openly questioned its authenticity in the closing weeks of the 2020 race.

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Hunter Biden was indicted on nine charges in California related to his alleged failure to pay taxes. 

According to the indictment, filed by DOJ Special Counsel David Weiss in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Biden spent hundreds of thousands of dollars specifically on "adult entertainment" and "women," including a sex club membership and strippers.

From 2016 to 2019, Biden allegedly spent $683,212 paying what the indictment described as "various women," including people he had romantic or sexual relationships with, and $188,960 on adult entertainment, including a sex club membership, exotic dancers and strip clubs.

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Fox News' Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.