Maraniss definitely leans to the left, having worked for the WaPo and written a less than scathing biography of Bill Clinton. Therefore, it would be incumbent upon Ben Shapiro to carefully vet Maraniss' material when doing a piece like this.
There have been so many lies and distortions about Obama's background coming from the MSM that a conservative writer like Shapiro risks his own credibility by quoting Maraniss at length on this subject.
Put simply, a person who hides everything about himself is definitely something.