Former Politico reporters say the outlet removed negative stories about Biden

Two former Politico reporters have spoken out about efforts by their bosses to slow down or completely withdraw their coverage of the Biden family during their time in the newsroom.

Marc Caputo and Tara Palmeri, now reporters for Axios and Puck respectively, reflected on their time at Politico on Palmeri’s “Somebody’s Gotta Win” podcast.

Caputo called Politico’s “disgusting article” downplaying Hunter Biden’s scandal during the 2020 election.

“I mean, Politico, my former employer, and I knew at the time, they didn’t do anything for themselves,” Caputo said in the interview, which was shared Thursday on YouTube. “I was talking about Biden at the time, and I remember coming to my editor and saying, ‘Hey, we need to write about Hunter Biden’s laptop.’ And I was told this came from the top of Politico: Don’t write on a laptop, don’t talk on a laptop, don’t post on a laptop And the only thing Politico ended up writing was that piece that we called disinformation, which could be called misinformation, at least.”

Caputo was referring to a Politico report, titled “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of ex-intel officials say,” in an open letter signed by 51 intelligence officials declaring that materials from Hunter Biden’s laptop “have all the hallmarks of a Russian intelligence operation.” .” The report comes days after the New York Post published its bombshell report on the laptop in October 2020.

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Caputo also shed light on a report he wrote in 2019 that stemmed from a rebuttal investigation from then-candidate Joe Biden’s Democratic campaign about Hunter’s “tax spree” related to his work at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

“And I wrote what would have been a classic story saying, you know, ‘The vice president’s son got hit with a big tax slap while working on this Ukraine oil controversy, or natural gas concern, which is troubling his father on the campaign trail.’ That story was killed by the editors,’ Caputo said, “And they didn’t give an explanation for that. To have a normal experience – obviously the public doesn’t know about those things.”

When contacted by Fox News Digital, Caputo provided a video showing the original Word document created on May 8, 2019 for his tax return report on Hunter Biden.

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Former Politico reporter Marc Caputo says his administration “killed” a story about Hunter Biden’s finances involving Bursima as his father, Joe Biden, ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in May 2019. (William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images)

Palmeri similarly shared an experience with Politico about a “sensitive report” he had done on then-President Biden’s son. He had broken the story of the shooting of Hunter Biden which led to him being charged with a felony for lying about his drug use in the form of a gun.

“I spent three months on it, I went to a laptop store, and I did all the reporting in Delaware, and I did all that. But yes, it was there, it should have been more – it should have been 100%. He was nailed down,” Palmeri told Caputo. I had everything, you know, the police report … I’m a serious reporter. But I wonder if it would have happened, if it had been published sooner if it had been a different kind of story.”

Speaking to Fox News Digital, Palmeri expanded on how his managers dragged their feet before running his story.

“I really had to push hard to get that report published. Like, it was always, ‘Hey, when are we going to do this? Hey, when are we going to get this out? Hey, when are you going to do this?’ Because it was very difficult. As if it was a well-known feeling, it’s going to be difficult to report on the Biden administration. It’s like a culture. And I think that if the culture is that it should be pushed so hard that there’s no interest in that kind of reporting. And finally, you know, we’re working on getting published and getting our editors talking. support our work.”

Palmeri said he first received the police report shortly after Biden’s inauguration in late January 2021, but his story was not published until late March 2021.

“I think if it was Trump’s baby, it would have been published sooner,” Palmeri said. “I had to work really hard to like- you’re like ‘Hey, what’s up with the story? Hey, what’s up with the story? Like, what’s up with the story?’ We gave the White House a lot of time, like a week or so to respond, I don’t know if that would have been the case with Trump.

The former Politico reporter went on to cite the “honeymoon phase” of the Biden administration as the reason for the slowdown in his story.

“I think a lot of people there, including journalists, wanted to be on the good side of the new administration,” Palmeri said. “And so I could understand the reluctance to release such a piece in the first few months.”

Former Politico reporter Tara Palmeri told Fox News Digital her story about Hunter Biden would have been published sooner if it were Trump’s child. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Palmeri also suggested that his administration would not pursue the matter unless he was able to link it to the federal government.

“It had to be true that the Secret Service was involved,” Palmeri told Fox News Digital. “I just think that, you know, the president’s son getting involved in a domestic dispute involving the dumping of a gun near a school is very shocking. And it should have involved the police.”

“I think they prefer that angle because I think it increases the gravity of the situation. The fact that the Secret Service may have been misused to cover up what would have been a crime if the gun was found and used by someone else. The truth of the dress that you are lying on the gun form, which I had. I was holding a gun form and I pointed out that he slept on it. But in the episode, we underestimated it and said, ‘Although many people lie on the gun form and not be prosecuted for it’ which is true, in the same way. But it’s not the same as the headline ‘Hunter Biden is sleeping in gun form,’ which is a serious crime. It was not a news story even though I had the type of gun he was lying about,” he continued.

“They felt it had to be published, it had to come out at a time when the state department was involved and they abused their power. Like the crime itself it wasn’t important – it wasn’t worth running the story. That’s all,” Palmeri continued. “Honestly, they wanted to make sure the story was buttoned up, but they felt it needed to be elevated above the crime, the obvious crime we had from the form. We had to dial down that Secret Service aspect. part.”

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Palmeri suggested that Politico’s coverage was influenced by the “honeymoon” period that occurred in the early months of the Biden administration. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A Politico spokesperson previously issued a statement disputing Caputo and Palmeri’s comments on the podcast, noting how their reporters “led to extensive reporting on the business dealings of close relatives of Joe Biden” and its confirmation. Hunter Biden’s laptop, suggesting that former staffers have a “false memory.”

“Our editors uphold strict standards, ensuring that every story is carefully vetted and ‘buttoned up’ before publication. This approach reflects our unwavering commitment to accuracy and accountability—the principles that have guided us and will continue to do so,” reads the statement.

Politico did not immediately respond to follow-up questions sent by Fox News Digital.

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Several members of the media have revealed their past stories about Biden in recent months, especially after his poor CNN debate performance exposed his mental decline.

Fox News contributor Joe Concha compared reporters covering Hunter Biden’s laptop scandal to those waiting to confront the former president’s mental decline and the validity of the COVId lab leak theory.

“It puts an end to what has become the norm in the media,” he said.