Tucker Carlson says Israel pressured him to push false Hunter Biden claims

Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson alleged in an interview aired on Monday that Israeli agents close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressured him to report false claims about material on Hunter Biden's laptop, while Hunter Biden said he believed several parties were involved in disseminating material from the device.

Carlson said a specific allegation that the laptop contained material involving the abuse of minors originated with Israelis, says the Middle East Eye.

"The claim that there was material involving the abuse of minors on the computer came from the Israelis," Carlson said.

"I'm just telling you that they came to me with it, and that's how I know it," he added.

Carlson said the allegation had been part of an Israeli misinformation campaign rather than solely a Russian operation, as had been suggested by former US intelligence officials.

"They (Israel) were behind it," Carlson said.

"I felt like everybody in Washington knew it, but there was so much pressure not to criticise Israel in any way that they just said, 'It's the Russians, it's the Russians'," he said.

"Maybe the Russians had a hand in it, but it was the Israelis who were pushing that fact," Carlson said. "Fact, I mean literally [pushing it] to me".

Carlson did not provide evidence in the interview to substantiate his allegations about an Israeli operation.

Hunter Biden, who joined Carlson for the interview, said he could not confirm exactly who was responsible for leaking or disseminating material from his laptop. He said he believed several parties were involved, including a "Netanyahu operation centre, the Israeli side".

Hunter Biden also criticised Netanyahu, saying: "If pointing out that Benjamin Netanyahu is evil incarnate is antisemitic, then I don't know what to tell people anymore".

The laptop controversy emerged in 2020, weeks before the US presidential election, after a computer repair shop owner in Delaware turned a device over to the FBI. Material subsequently published from the device included personal emails, photographs and videos involving Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden has acknowledged the authenticity of some leaked material involving drug use and sexual activity. The specific allegation that the laptop contained evidence of the abuse of minors, however, remains unsupported by evidence in the information provided.

Carlson also acknowledged that he did not disclose what he described as the "Israeli angle" when he covered the laptop story in 2020 while he was a presenter at Fox News.

The laptop became the subject of a political dispute after social media companies restricted the distribution of a New York Post report based on material from the device. Former US intelligence officials had said at the time that the release bore the hallmarks of a Russian information operation.

Carlson's and Hunter Biden's allegations about Israeli involvement were not accompanied by evidence in the interview to establish that an Israeli operation was responsible for the laptop material or the claims surrounding it.