Victor Davis Hanson argued that three controversies stand out among the biggest political scandals of the 21st century, pointing to the Russia investigation surrounding Donald Trump, the handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election, and questions over former President Joe Biden’s ability to continue serving in office.
Hanson opened by describing the investigation into possible connections between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia as the first of the three controversies.
“There’s been three great scandals in the 21st century. The first was the Russian collusion hoax that was prompted by Hillary Clinton and facilitated by the Obama administration on its way out, that almost destroyed the Trump campaign, sabotaged his transition, and ate up 22 months of his first two years,” Hanson said.
The official record surrounding the Russia investigation is more complicated than Hanson’s characterization.
A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee investigation concluded that Russia conducted an extensive campaign to interfere in the 2016 election and sought to damage Hillary Clinton while helping Trump politically.
The committee also found significant flaws in the FBI’s treatment of the Steele dossier, saying the bureau gave it unjustified credibility before validating important elements of the material.
Separate congressional investigations also documented serious problems with the FBI’s handling of surveillance applications connected to the investigation.
Senate Judiciary Committee records highlighted the FBI’s continued reliance on Steele-related material even after questions had emerged about one of his primary sources.
Hanson then turned to the Hunter Biden laptop controversy during the final weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign.
“The second was the Biden, FBI, and CIA, but especially the CIA and the intelligence agencies got 51 people, former intelligence authorities, to lie to the American people on the eve of the second debate to affect the 2020 election and claim falsely that Donald Trump was lying about the laptop of Biden, Hunter Biden, that it was fake, that it was a Russian production, and Donald Trump then was colluding again with the Russians,” Hanson said.
The controversy centered on a public letter signed by former intelligence officials who said the laptop story had characteristics resembling a Russian information operation.
The letter did not establish that the material was Russian disinformation, and subsequent reporting and federal court proceedings confirmed that significant portions of data associated with Hunter Biden’s laptop were authentic.
Hanson argued that the public was misled about the laptop’s provenance.
“That was a complete lie. It was Hunter’s laptop. We know because the FBI had it in its possession and authenticated it,” Hanson said.
His final example focused on Biden’s condition while serving as president and the extent to which Democratic officials and news organizations understood concerns about his performance before they became a dominant public issue.
“And finally, the great scandal that the Democratic Party and the obsequious media knew that Joe Biden was non compos mentis,” Hanson said.
Questions about Biden’s age and performance became particularly prominent following his June 27, 2024 debate against Trump.
His showing triggered widespread concern among Democrats and intensified scrutiny of whether he should remain the party’s nominee. Biden ultimately ended his reelection campaign the following month.
Hanson went further, arguing that Biden had been unable to adequately fulfill the responsibilities of the presidency and that people around him had concealed the extent of the problem.
“He was not cognitively able to fulfill the office of president, the presidency, and they kept that from the American people until they could no longer keep it when he finally challenged Donald Trump to a debate and melted before our very eyes, sort of like the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz,” Hanson said.
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