On Feb. 2, two FBI agents were killed while serving a search warrant in Sunrise, Florida, during an investigation in a child pornography case. The slain agents were identified by the FBI as Special Agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger.
In the wake of the incident, social media users started pushing the conspiracy theory that Alfin was the lead investigator in the probe surrounding Hunter Biden's laptop. The meme that was used to push the wild theory also cited the presence of child pornography on the laptop belonging to President Joe Biden's son – a claim that surfaced in the days leading up to the presidential election.
Conspiracy theorists tried to further their claims with a report claiming Alfin "was a veteran agent who investigated one of the country's largest child pornography operations."
The origins of this claim can be traced back to the saga surrounding Hunter Biden's laptop. In October, the New York Post "leaked" email conversations of Hunter's overseas business dealings, as previously reported. According to the Post, the emails were retrieved from Hunter's laptop after it was left at a repair shop in Delaware in April 2019.
The shop's owner, John Paul Mac Issac, later handed over the device to former President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who then provided a copy of the hard drive to the Post.
Fact-Check: False
Although the Post reported in detail on the contents of the laptop, the Post did not mention that they found evidence of child pornography on Hunter's laptop. The claims, which were flagged as false by Politifact, were amplified by various conspiracy websites and social media posts in the run-up to the election and echoes the sentiments of the unfounded QAnon conspiracy theory, which claims that high profile figures including the Bidens, the Clintons, and others, are part of an elite cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles.
According to Fox News, the FBI took possession of the laptop and its hard drive in 2019 by issuing a subpoena. The report included a photograph an FBI "Receipt for Property" form, which details the bureau's interactions with the repair shop's owner. The document was signed by an FBI Special Agent named Joshua Wilson.
According to the FBI, Alfin and Schwartzenberger were assigned to FBI's Miami field office and the formerhad been working cases involving crimes against children out of the Florida city since 2017, which suggests Hunter's laptop investigation would be miles away from his jurisdiction.
There is no real-world evidence to prove these claims that Alfin was working on a purported investigation into a laptop that allegedly belonged to Hunter Biden and it appears that the alleged connection was "invented to stir up a specter of conspiracy where none was present," according to fact-checking website Snopes.
