OPINION

Are Walls Closing in on the Bidens?

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Everyone paying attention to the latest revelations about Hunter Biden and his energetically supportive father knows that journalists and Republican officials have opened a vein, or "the walls are closing in." Even so, the leftist media are trying to report as little of this damaging scandal material as they possibly can.

We can scarcely imagine the anxious political chatter inside pro-Biden newsrooms, but let's imagine it sounds something like Jen Psaki's MSNBC show. Psaki brought all her persuasive pressure on former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to recant how he tweeted former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden were both unpopular and "both potentially face very serious legal troubles." It should apparently be unthinkable to compare them. Psaki argued, "Hunter Biden is not in office, he's not serving in government ... not equivalent!"

New scoops are underlining this is a Joe Biden scandal. The New York Post reported Hunter Biden's former business partner and friend, Devon Archer, will be testifying that he put Joe Biden on the phone with his business associates from Burisma at least two dozen times. That's worse than the story of Hunter intimidating foreign clients by claiming his dad is in the room, listening in.

The website Business Insider reported Hunter Biden made $1.3 million for his amateurish watercolor paintings. One unknown buyer spent $875,000 on "artworks." Joe Biden appointed one buyer, Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, to a prestigious commission.

The Washington Free Beacon added that Naftali has visited the White House at least 13 times since December 2021, including a meeting with senior Biden adviser Neera Tanden. All of Naftali's visits occurred after Hunter Biden's first art show opened in New York in November 2021.

The Washington Examiner found a close personal friend and aide to the Biden family appears to have worked for years in the Delaware U.S. Attorney's office under David Weiss, including when the Hunter Biden probe began.

Democrats are clearly telling their journalistic allies that you can't cover stories like this on the Biden scandals because to cover them automatically means that Biden and Trump both face "serious legal troubles." They cover Trump scandals so meticulously, hour after hour after hour, that one screen on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" simply said this: "DC Grand Jury Meets As Possible New Indictment Looms."

This is their business model. "Grand Jury Meets" is worth hours of airtime, and "Possible New Indictment" can be a news hook for weeks. Meanwhile, even those network stars who are tiptoeing on the Biden investigations sound extremely tentative.

On CNN's "State of the Union," host Dana Bash could only ask Rep. Nancy Pelosi about Hunter Biden probes, "Are you confident the politics did not play a role here?" This is like asking, "Are you sure humans are made up of molecules?" This only cued Pelosi to disparage Republican hearings as a "ridiculous clown show."

On CBS's "Face the Nation," host Margaret Brennan told former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie that the Biden Justice Department's sweetheart plea deal with Hunter "infuriated" Republicans, but, "I wonder, after this plea happens, if you would advise your party to move on?"

Christie said no, but what kind of question is this? Would she ask Democrats whether they should just move on from their Trump investigations? This question isn't about holding the Bidens accountable. It's a journalist demanding that the Bidens should be in charge of handling the Bidens.

The media elites did not vet Joe Biden before he won the 2020 election. They spent the 2020 election cycle protecting him like a journalistic Secret Service. Their protection racket continues and should be obvious to anyone who observes the press in action -- or inaction.