Fact check: False claim video shows Sen. Johnson announcing Hunter Biden 'jailtime'

Kate S. Petersen, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The claim: Video shows Sen. Ron Johnson talking about 'jailtime' for Hunter Biden

A Jan. 6 Facebook post features a video that purportedly shows Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, discussing the president's son, Hunter Biden.

"Watch Ron Johnson BREAKS Biden's heart with 'Hunter' JAILTIME after mid-term...shows 'the laptop,'" reads the video's caption.

Text overlaid on the video claims it was filmed on Jan. 6.

The video was viewed more than 250,000 times in less than two weeks.

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Our rating: False

The video is miscaptioned. It shows Johnson speaking on the Senate floor in April 2022, not January 2023. Johnson does not show any laptop in the clip nor does he mention "jailtime" for Hunter Biden.

Video doesn't show Hunter Biden laptop

"The laptop" referenced in the caption refers to a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden that was abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop in 2019. Information from the laptop was later obtained and published by the New York Post, which alleged emails on the laptop tie President Joe Biden to questionable business dealings involving his son.

The president has said he had no knowledge of or involvement in his son's businesses.

And the scenario presented in the Facebook video never happened. The video shows Johnson speaking on the Senate floor on April 5, 2022, not Jan. 6, 2023.

During his speech, the senator mentioned Hunter Biden's laptop when he criticized former U.S. intelligence officials for writing a letter saying the laptop story had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation." He also mentioned the laptop when chastising media outlets for their coverage of the laptop story.

However, Johnson's speech dealt primarily with the Biden family's purported foreign business dealings. At no point in the video does Johnson suggest that Hunter Biden will soon be imprisoned or show any materials from a laptop.

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The social media user who posted the video could not be reached.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: No, video doesn't show senator talking Hunter Biden, jail