Many Republicans have complained that federal agencies helped former President Joe Biden win the White House by suppressing coverage of his son's laptop.

However, two journalists recently said that blame didn't just lie with government officials, as "cowardly editors" also helped bury the story.

Politico published "terrible" letter from intelligence officials

According to the New York Post, that allegation was put forward this past week by Axios senior politics reporter Marc Caputo and Puck News contributor Tara Palmeri, both of whom previously worked for Politico.

During an episode of Palmeri's "Somebody’s Gotta Win" podcast, the pair recalled how Politico published a letter written by 51 intelligence figures who suggested that Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation.

"Don’t write about the laptop, don’t talk about the laptop, don’t tweet about the laptop." A former reporter at Politico explained how the outlet buried stories about Hunter Biden’s laptop https://t.co/K7juv3lrII pic.twitter.com/04ltONMStT

— New York Post (@nypost) January 23, 2025

"Politico did that terrible, ill-fated headline: 51 intelligence agents, or former intelligence agents, say that the Hunter Biden laptop was disinformation, or bore the hallmarks of disinformation," Caputo recalled.

"Turns out that story was closer to disinformation because the Hunter Biden laptop appeared to be true," he went on to point out.

Social media companies also played a role

Palmeri then noted that Facebook and the social media platform then known as Twitter subsequently prevented users from sharing laptop-related articles published by the Post.

Following Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, journalist Matt Taibbi published internal communications showing that behind-the-scenes pressure to block reporting on the laptop came from the FBI.

"But then Facebook also pulled all stories down about the Hunter Biden laptop, and I think Twitter did at the same time, too," she said.

"Correct, they punished the New York Post, that didn’t help," Caputo acknowledged before adding, "I was covering Biden at the time.

Politico claims that its journalists "lead the way" on covering the Bidens

"And I was told this came from on high at Politico: Don’t write about the laptop, don’t talk about the laptop, don’t tweet about the laptop," he asserted.

However, the Post noted that Politico was quick to dispute Caputo and Palmeri's allegations, saying, "Politico journalists lead the way on wide-ranging reporting on the business dealings of Joe Biden’s closest relatives."

"Ben Schreckinger was probably the top reporter in the country reporting on these matters—he literally wrote the book on it," the publication continued.