Two former Politico journalists, Marc Caputo and Tara Palmeri, have come forward with allegations of their reporting on the Biden family being stifled during their tenure at the news organization. Speaking on Palmeri's podcast, "Somebody's Gotta Win," they recounted instances where stories related to Hunter Biden were either significantly delayed or entirely quashed by higher-ups.

Caputo specifically mentioned an instance where he proposed an article about the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, only to be instructed not to pursue the story. He recalled Politico ultimately publishing a piece labeling the laptop as disinformation, a characterization he now believes was, at best, misleading. He also revealed a 2019 story he wrote about a tax lien against Hunter Biden related to his work with Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. This story, Caputo claims, was killed by editors without explanation.

Palmeri shared her own experience of facing resistance when attempting to publish her investigation into Hunter Biden's gun incident, which eventually resulted in a felony charge for lying on a gun form. She described a protracted three-month process, during which she conducted extensive reporting, including visiting the laptop repair shop and gathering police reports. Palmeri expressed her belief that the story's publication was deliberately slowed down and questioned whether a story about a Trump family member would have faced similar delays. She further suggested that her editors insisted on linking the story to a federal agency, specifically the Secret Service, to increase its perceived importance.

In a statement, Politico refuted these claims, highlighting their extensive reporting on the Biden family's business dealings and their verification of the Hunter Biden laptop. The organization defended its editorial standards and dismissed the former reporters' accusations as "false memory." However, they did not respond to further inquiries.

These revelations come amidst growing scrutiny of media coverage surrounding the Biden family, particularly in the wake of recent events that have brought attention to President Biden's cognitive abilities and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fox News contributor Joe Concha drew parallels between journalists now speaking out about the Hunter Biden laptop story and those who waited to address the president's mental state and the lab leak theory. He characterized this as a concerning trend within the media landscape.