Most Voters, Harvard Poll Finds, Think Hunter Biden Was Involved in ‘Influence Peddling,’ FBI ‘Not Really Investigating’

A Harvard Harris survey found that a large majority of Americans believe that Hunter Biden’s laptop is real, not ‘disinformation.’

AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta
President Biden and Hunter Biden at Johns Island, South Carolina, August 13, 2022. AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta

According to a new survey, voters think that the president’s son, Hunter Biden, was involved in “influence peddling” and that the FBI and Department of Justice are “not really investigating” alleged misconduct.

According to a sprawling Harvard Harris poll, 59 percent of voters think that “the Hunter Biden laptop is real,” while 41 percent think that the laptop is “disinformation.”

By party, 79 percent of Republicans think the laptop is real as do 41 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of independents, according to the poll. The proportion of respondents who think the laptop is disinformation is 21 percent, 59 percent, and 42 percent, respectively.

The story about Mr. Biden’s laptop first began appearing in October 2020, after the New York Post reported on its contents but saw its reporting suppressed by social media outlets and dismissed by a now-discredited letter from former intelligence officials saying it appeared to be “Russian disinformation.” After the 2020 election, much of the laptop’s contents were authenticated and the story gained credibility.

Twitter has come under fire for having suppressed the story before the election, and the intelligence community grandees who signed the “Russian disinformation” letter have been pursued by congressional investigators seeking to divine the letter’s origin.

Although years of investigation into the contents of the laptop as well as other records obtained by congressional Republicans have turned up some unsavory and potentially criminal behavior by the president’s son, congressional Republicans have not yet presented hard evidence of criminal behavior by the president himself.

Investigators from the House Oversight Committee have been probing whether Hunter Biden’s business entanglements may have led to improper behavior by President Biden, who was vice president at the time, but have not yet provided concrete evidence.

The poll also found that most Americans, 55 percent, do not think that the FBI and justice department are “really fully investigating these issues”; 45 percent report feeling that they are “fully investigating these issues.”

Another question asked by pollsters was whether respondents “think Hunter Biden was involved in illegal influence peddling and tax evasion, or do you think he was not involved in such crimes?”

A majority, 63 percent of respondents, reported thinking that Mr. Biden was involved in “influence peddling,” while 37 percent did not.

The final question the poll asked on the topic of potential illicit activities by Mr. Biden was wether voters “think Joe Biden was involved with his son in an illegal influence peddling scheme while he was Vice President, or do you think
that is not the case?”

To this question, 53 percent of respondents reported feeling like the president was involved with his son’s alleged “influence peddling” while he was vice president, and 47 percent said they did not think that he was.

In terms of the 2024 horse race, the poll found that 47 percent of respondents would vote for President Trump if the election were held today, and 40 percent would vote for Mr. Biden. Another 13 percent were unsure of who they would vote for.

The poll surveyed 2,004 registered voters. Of these voters, 37 percent reported being Democrats, 36 percent reported being Republicans, and 23 percent reported being independents. Four percent said they did not belong to any of these groups.


The New York Sun

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