Jazz just wrote about the efforts by Joe Biden’s allies to shoot down the Hunter Biden laptop story launched last week by the New York Post. Unfortunately for them, Team Biden apparently insists on keeping it aloft. The campaign sent Jenna Arnold to battle Fox News host Leland Vittert over it and to change the subject to COVID-19. Instead, Vittert managed to force Arnold into an admission that the Bidens haven’t done the one thing that could sink the story … actually deny it.

Instead, Arnold concedes that no one is disputing the authenticity of the e-mails. That’s certainly news, but not the kind that Team Biden hoped to make:

“It’s unclear to me — I would say that what’s so important right now, from both the American citizen and the media — yourself included, Leland — is to continue to ask clarifying questions about this, why the FBI is investigating —” Arnold said before Vittert interjected. “It’s imperative to note that the NSA told Trump that Giuliani was being played by these emails.”

“But again,” Vittert responded, as the two talked over one another. “Again, Jenna, Jenna, Jenna. The easiest thing in the world to do: Stop with all the obfuscation. The easiest thing in the world to do would be to say, ‘These aren’t Hunter Biden’s emails.’ Nobody, including Hunter Biden, and including the campaign, has said it.” …

“I’m so confused. What’s interesting is I feel like you still haven’t answered the fundamental question, which is: Can anyone say that these emails are inauthentic? And so far, I haven’t heard anybody say that,” Vittert said.

Shockingly, Arnold then admitted, “I think that’s fair. I don’t think anybody is saying they are inauthentic.”

Isn’t that the whole ballgame? If they’re not “inauthentic,” then it means that Hunter Biden actually sent those e-mails. And if he did send those e-mails, then the Bidens lied about Joe’s contacts with Burisma before his intervention in Ukraine to get the chief prosecutor fired. It also means that Hunter has been getting a fortune from China through its regime-linked corporations, which sets up more potential conflicts of interest both in the past while Joe was VP and potentially in a future Biden presidency.

Vittert does a very good job in painting Arnold into this corner. However, Arnold only gets there because Team Biden has been making process arguments all along. They have raised some good questions about the provenance of the laptop and hard drive, as well as pointed out the real risks of outside manipulation. However, they have consistently failed to actually deny the story. That strategy might have made sense for the first 24 hours or so while they checked Hunter’s records. We’re now on Day 7, and Team Biden still hasn’t taken any position on authenticity — and it’s starting to look very much like they’re ducking it.

Why? Presumably because they believe an honest and substantive answer would damage Joe Biden, and that a lie would get discovered and do even more damage. Even with the requisite skepticism of a late bombshell like this in a campaign, it’s tough to avoid the conclusion that Team Biden thinks the e-mails are authentic.