Trump Asks Putin to Release Potentially Damaging Information on Hunter Biden

In an interview released Tuesday, former President Donald Trump called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release potentially damaging information on Hunter Biden. 

“As long as Putin now is, not exactly, a fan of our country,” Trump said, “let him explain…why did the mayor of Moscow's wife give the Bidens, both of them, $3.5 million.” Trump also said that he thought “Putin would know the answer to that” and “you won't get that answer from Ukraine.” White House communications director Kate Bedingfield criticized Trump’s remarks, saying, “What kind of American, let alone an ex-president, thinks that this is the right time to enter into a scheme with Vladimir Putin and brag about his connections to Vladimir Putin?”

Trump was impeached in late 2019 over alleged attempts to persuade Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden by threatening to withhold weapons shipments. An ongoing Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden’s international business dealings has not implicated his father, President Joe Biden. A 2020 Republican-led Senate report said Hunter Biden co-founded Rosemont Seneca Thornton, the investment firm that received the $3.5 million payment, but an attorney for Hunter Biden has denied that claim. 

While sharply critical opinion articles were common in left-rated outlets, no major right-rated outlet published an opinion piece on the story by Thursday. News coverage of the story was also more common and critical in left-rated outlets, often using language like “brazen.”