ABC completely avoids on-air coverage of IRS whistleblowers in explosive hearing on Hunter Biden probe
The Disney-owned network skipped coverage on 'World News Tonight,' 'GMA,' 'The View' according to transcripts
Whistleblower’s attorney says Hunter Biden got special treatment
IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley’s attorney Tristan Leavitt details his client’s claims about the Hunter Biden investigation on ‘The Story with Martha MacCallum.’
ABC News made zero mention of Wednesday's explosive House Oversight hearing involving the two IRS whistleblowers who are alleging misconduct in the DOJ's handling of the Hunter Biden probe.
IRS special agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who revealed his identity for the first time this week, doubled down on their allegations that investigators were repeatedly blocked and stonewalled from seeking further information that could implicate President Biden and that requests by U.S. Attorney David Weiss to bring more serious charges against his son were denied.
According to Grabien transcripts, ABC News completely avoided any coverage of the hearing on Wednesday's "World News Tonight" as well as "Good Morning America" and "The View" on Thursday. Both CBS and NBC offered coverage during their newscasts.
CNN, MSNBC SKIP LIVE COVERAGE OF IRS WHISTLEBLOWER HEARING ON EXPLOSIVE HUNTER BIDEN PROBE CLAIMS
ABC News made no mention of the IRS whistleblowers who testified about misconduct in the Hunter Biden probe during any of its televised broadcasts, transcripts show. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
"The View," which takes every opportunity to discuss the latest developments in Trump-related scandals, instead discussed the uproar surrounding Jason Aldean's new song "Try That in a Small Town," Wesleyan University's decision to end legacy admissions and debated whether the term "wifey" is complimentary for women.
The only coverage ABC News dedicated to the hearing was an article on its website as well as mentions on the network's little-watched streaming channel.
ABC News did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
While Fox News covered the hearing live, CNN and MSNBC did not. The two liberal networks that carried every hearing involving Russiagate, the Ukraine scandal, Jan. 6 and both impeachments of former President Trump aired limited segments recapping the testimony.
Gary Shapley, left, supervisory special agent at the Internal Revenue Service, and Joseph Ziegler, IRS Whistleblower X, arrive to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability during a hearing regarding the criminal investigation into the Bidens, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 2023. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
NBC News correspondent Ken Dilanian appeared on MSNBC to downplay the whistleblower claims, echoing talking points from Democrat lawmakers at the hearing chalking up the testimony as being mere routine disagreements between investigators and prosecutors and invoked Shapley's legal team having ties to Republicans.
Meanwhile, CNN correspondent Zachary Cohen was invited on air to highlight comments made by Rep. Jamie Raskin. D-Md., stressing GOP lawmakers have "failed to connect any of those investigations to the president himself."
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The decisions by MSNBC and CNN not to carry the hearing live is not a total shock. While MSNBC has long been a booster for the Biden presidency, CNN has quickly reverted to its partisan ways since last month's ousting of its president Chris Licht, who was given the mandate by his corporate bosses at Warner Bros. Discovery to restore CNN's journalistic credibility by eliminating the network's perception of having a liberal bias, a mission his rank and file vehemently opposed.
The liberal cable networks icing out live coverage of the hearing was perhaps foreshadowed by the softball interviews he granted to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace and CNN's Fareed Zakaria, who both avoided mentioning Hunter Biden's plea agreement with the DOJ and the claims made by the IRS whistleblowers.
In the weeks leading up to Wednesday's hearing, the legacy media made efforts to shrug off the severity of the allegations leveled by the IRS whistleblowers, many news organizations even using scare quotes around the term whistleblower to suggest they only received the title from GOP lawmakers.
Questions continue swirling around President Biden and his son Hunter over corruption allegations involving foreign business dealings. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The IRS whistleblowers came forward after Hunter Biden reached what critics call a "sweetheart deal" with the DOJ involving him pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax crimes and entered a pretrial diversion agreement regarding the felony gun registration charge.
A separate FBI whistleblower claimed the DOJ was informed about a potential bribery scheme involving Biden himself and a foreign entity as vice president.
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House Republicans previously released findings alleging a web of financial ties between several Biden family members and countries like China and Romania through different bank accounts and shell companies.
The latest developments have fueled questions over whether President Biden allowed his family to profit off the family name during his vice presidency and after leaving office, as well as whether Biden himself received any kickbacks, as one email suggested that a deal would give "10% for the big guy."
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