Vanity Fair would rather not talk about the Justice Department’s investigation of President-elect Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.
It’s a strange change of pace for a news publication that obsessed over possible scandals involving President Trump’s children — most especially his daughter, Ivanka.
“Hunter Biden Prepares for His First Solo Art Show Amid Ongoing DOJ Investigation,” reads the headline to a brief news article published this week by Vanity Fair. The subheading adds, “The president-elect’s son revealed earlier this year that painting ‘is literally keeping me sane.’”
The entire article, which is no longer than 204 words, is just a retelling of Page Six’s original reporting on Hunter Biden’s forthcoming art show.
And that is the closest Vanity Fair has come to reporting in-depth on the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter’s business activities, including that his overseas dealings with Chinese executives may have included tax and money laundering violations.
The federal investigation, which began in 2018, includes federal prosecutors in Delaware, the IRS Criminal Investigation agency, and the FBI.
Vanity Fair’s previous mentions of the investigation include exactly two brief reports. The first is titled “The Hunter Biden Tax Probe Becomes the Latest Front in Trump’s War Against Bill Barr,” and the second is titled “Trump’s Hunter Biden Obsession Is Getting Out of Hand.”
The combined articles dedicate no more than 36 words to reporting on the investigation, the existence of which Hunter confirmed on Dec. 9. As of Wednesday, the totality of Vanity Fair’s reporting on the matter amounts to no more than 36 words.
Anyway, related to the issue of news coverage of the president’s children, here is just a small sampling of Vanity Fair headlines on Ivanka Trump:
– “Where, Oh Where, Will Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Send Their Kids?” Subhead: “Rich Miami locals are speculating on which “good” school the couple’s three children will attend.”
– “Ivanka Trump is Extremely Testy About Accusation the Trump Organization Ripped off Inauguration Funds.” Subhead: “She claims the suit against her family’s business is a politically motivated witch hunt and a waste of taxpayer dollars, the latter of which she knows a little something about.”
– “The Parallel Universe of Ivanka Trump, America’s Dissociated Princess.” Subhead: “It’s a stunning misread of this turbulent moment for one of the most privileged and powerful people in the nation to tell students about how important it is to listen to her, when she should be doing the listening.”
– “Ivanka Trump Credits Herself With Feeding the Hungry After Trump Admin Tried to Kick 700,000 Off Food Stamps.” Subhead: “It must have been an honest mistake not to mention that a judge had to intervene to stop the administration from taking food away from millions of people in the middle of a pandemic.”
– “Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Reportedly Bought a $30 Million “Billionaire’s Bunker” Property, as One Does.” Subhead: “It’s conveniently located very close to Mar-a-Lago, and very far from New York.”
– “Ivanka Trump: How DARE You Investigate My Father for Tax Fraud, Which He Definitely Didn’t Use Me to Commit.” Subhead: “The first daughter is extremely testy about the possibility her father is going to be criminally prosecuted.”
These are all news headlines, by the way, not headlines to opinion articles. They are also pulled from just the past couple of months. And there is much more where this comes from.
As a reminder, Ivanka is not under federal investigation, nor has she been for any of the four years that her father has served as president. Like Hunter Biden, she is also not a member of her father’s administration. Vanity Fair authors simply don’t like her.
Hunter, on the other hand, who is under federal investigation — well, you see, Vanity Fair cannot be bothered to spend too much time talking about him. A genuine, honest-to-goodness federal investigation is probably just some sort of distraction.
You knew this was coming. You knew this flavor of subservient, self-censored journalism would return the moment a Democrat retook the White House.
