Bates: interactions with reporters and authors, and limited knowledge of Hunter Biden laptop authenticity
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Summary
Bates told the committee he spoke with reporters and authors about coverage and disputed major claims in at least one book; he said he did not verify the authenticity of material on Hunter Biden's laptop and was not aware of some investigative details until after the campaign.
Andrew Bates told the Oversight Committee that during and after his White House service he spoke with several reporters and authors about coverage of the president and the administration, including journalists who worked on books about the 2024 campaign. Bates said he disagreed with the overall thesis of the book Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson and discussed portions of the book with Alex Thompson.
On the Hunter Biden laptop, the committee read filings and prior testimony (including by special counsel filings describing forensic steps). Bates said he was not aware of those details at the time and would need to review the filings. "I was not aware of that information at the time. To be clear, I would need to review what you just walked through," he said when asked whether the laptop evidence described in the committee's exhibits was familiar to him.
Bates said he had contact with Hunter Biden on roughly a small number of occasions after podcast interviews and that their exchanges were mainly political observations. He denied coordinating or verifying laptop material with Hunter Biden and said he had not spoken with Hunter Biden's legal team about congressional or DOJ investigations. Bates also described conversations with reporters about the validity and framing of stories and said congressional and Hill staff sometimes offered him audio or transcripts when they believed reporters had not represented interviews fairly.
Bates' account does not resolve forensic or legal questions about the laptop; he presented his understanding that some investigative facts reflected in public filings were new to him.
