Thread by @normative

The more I think about the Post’s story, the crazier it seems. IF the story is accurate, Rudy Giuliani is approached with a private citizen’s stolen hard drive, containing e-mails about conduct that on face isn’t even inappropriate, let alone criminal, & hands it to a tabloid.

That’s the best case scenario where we assume this incredibly sketchy “abandoned laptop” story is true. At worst Giuliani is participating in a foreign information operation. But even on the OFFICIAL version his conduct is appalling & of dubious legality.

I’m also pretty curious about the claim that the laptop was handed over to the FBI. Again, IF the story is correct this is basically stolen property. Instead of trying to return it to its owner, they just take it and comb through private files?

(I mean, maybe at some point it’s “abandoned” if you’ve made good faith attempts to contact the owner, but it sure doesn’t sound like he tried too hard. And, again: that’s IF this incredibly fishy story is actually true.)

<Light bulb belatedly goes on.> Oh. Taking the laptop would be unconscionable if FBI really thought it was Hunter Biden’s. But it makes sense if they immediately recognized it as an information op.

2016: “It’s an absurd conspiracy theory to speculate that the Trump campaign had anything to do with the theft of private data from our political opponents!”

2020: “Hi, I’m Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. I’ve got a hard drive stolen from Biden’s kid I’d like you to publish.”

Oh. And the sex videos. Someone should really ask Giuliani: Were you aware the hard drive contained supposed nude/sexual images of Biden’s son and unknown women? If so, can you explain why you thought it was appropriate to show these to other people without their consent?

Follow up: “Was the president aware of, and did he approve, your plan to distribute stolen pornographic images of his opponent’s family?”