Hunter Biden's not important. But covering his gun trial and infamous laptop showed the glaring hypocrisy and lies by dad Joe KNEW about his son's crimes and is suspected of involvement in his shady foreign deals, says JOSH BOSWELL

I was the first journalist to authenticate Hunter Biden's laptop using top cyber forensics experts back in early 2021. I've followed his story ever since then.

Now that he has been convicted of three felonies, the most important thing to know is this: Hunter Biden doesn't matter.

He's not a public servant. He's not running for office. 

But he and his infamous laptop do provide a window into the inner circle of our nation's President. And that is extremely important.

So when I peered through that window, what did I see?

Evidence that Joe Biden was involved in his son's shady foreign dealings, and has been lying about it ever since.

Hunter Biden himself is not important and whether he wriggles out of his conviction of three felonies is not of huge significance to the nation 

As the first journalist to authenticate Hunter's laptop using top cyber forensics experts back in early 2021, all I saw was evidence that Joe Biden was involved in his son's shady foreign dealings, and has been lying about it ever since

An email lists 'the Big Guy' as a potential 10% partner in a deal with CEFC, a company proven by the Justice Department to be part of a Chinese government influence operation.

Text messages between partners in that deal warn not to mention that Joe was indeed involved.

Hunter texted his Chinese business partners that Joe was sitting right next to him and wanted to know why they hadn't wired $10million yet - while geolocation data shows Hunter was at Joe's house that day.

A 2018 voicemail from Joe, after the New York Times wrote a tentative story suggesting Hunter might be involved with CEFC, does not express shock or dismay. 

Instead, Joe read the story and told Hunter: 'I think you're clear'.

Joe repeatedly dined with Hunter's business partners, meeting them at the White House, talking to them on speakerphone with Hunter.

And an anonymous whistleblower told me he was on a conference call with then-Vice President Joe, Hunter, and others discussing 'revenue projections' for a Latin American online gambling firm.

That's why I keep writing about Hunter.

I believe we should chase down evidence of public corruption, even if it leads to one's preferred presidential candidate.

Amid all the shocking messages involving Joe Biden, possibly the most important email of the 154,000 on Hunter's abandoned laptop is the infamous 'big guy' email, written by Hunter's partner James Gilliar, which suggested that the president was secretly involved in, and set to profit from, an alleged Chinese influence operation

Experts concluded there were no indications 'found that would suggest the data was manufactured.' Pictured: A selfie of Joe and Hunter (left) and former Biden associate Tony Bobulinkski (right) 

Hunter's gun felonies can be viewed through the same lens: they are important, insofar as they reflect on Joe Biden.

Were this not the First Family, Joe might have been a prosecution witness last week. 

He had lunch with Hunter five days before his gun purchase, then told him in a voicemail three days afterwards that he needed to 'get some help'.

'What, President Biden, did you see during that lunch that prompted you to tell your son to get some help?' a prosecutor might have asked.

Not only did Joe know that Hunter was an addict; there is good evidence he knew back then that Hunter bought a gun.

According to the gun store owner, Secret Service agents showed up demanding Hunter's purchase form. 

Are we to believe they never briefed former Vice President Joe? Or that Hunter or Hallie never told him?

And yet the President has previously stated his son has 'done nothing wrong'. It now appears he knew that was false.

Hunter, who is known to have battled drug abuse, was convicted of lying about his addiction on a federal form he used to purchase a firearm on October 12, 2018. He is pictured left posing nude with a gun 

Text messages between partners in that deal warn not to mention that Joe was indeed involved

Joe tried to take the moral high ground last week by telling ABC that he won't pardon Hunter (note, however, he said nothing about commuting his son's sentence).

It was a statement designed to elicit a comparison with his political opponent Donald Trump, who complained his own trials were 'rigged', and has been happy to wield the power of the presidential pardon for his own ends.

But Joe's pious acceptance of Hunter's conviction also serves to distance him from his son's actions, when at every level the two are tightly tied.

Even now, Joe says he is supporting his son appealing his conviction on second amendment grounds.

Again, Hunter himself is not important. Whether he wriggles out of his conviction is not of huge significance to the nation.

But if Hunter wins on those grounds, that will set a legal precedent that could prevent the prosecution of drug abusers who buy guns. And that, I would argue, is antithetical to the safety of Americans.

Nobody missed the irony in Joe learning Hunter was convicted for gun crimes while he was at a pro-gun control event in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Emails, texts, photos and documents unearthed by DailyMail.com have added to a still-growing body of evidence suggesting Joe had ties to his son Hunter's shady business dealings 

It brought into sharp relief how supporting his son in his Second Amendment appeal is nothing short of hypocrisy.

Yet still, investigation of the Bidens has been cast as unimportant, morally reprehensible, or slavishly partisan.

This has been the message from Democrats and left-leaning news outlets, who portray themselves as morally superior to their rivals on the right.

Venerable newspapers such as the New York Times and Washington Post turned a blind eye for years to the treasure trove of information in Hunter's laptop pointing to the potential corruption of our current president.

They dismissed the laptop as 'Russian disinformation' - a claim proven false yet again by the FBI's paper trail laid out in Hunter's trial last week.

So, I'll admit, it's a low bar to claim moral superiority to Trump, who lied on his loan applications, falsified records of payments to a porn star to keep quiet about his alleged affair, and pushed baseless election fraud conspiracy theories.

But the best and brightest in American news media have doggedly and adeptly investigated those misdeeds. They should apply the same treatment to 'the Big Guy'.