Top House Republicans sent letters to a dozen ex-intelligence officials who signed the infamous Hunter Biden laptop letter in October 2020 that baselessly claimed Russian involvement in the saga.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), now the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, originally sent letters to many of the 51 former intelligence officials in April last year, but those requests were largely ignored, so he followed up with demands for information from a dozen of the ex-spy officials on Monday now that he holds the gavel. He was joined by Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
“The Judiciary Committee made a prior request to you for documents and information about the public statement you signed in October 2020 that falsely implied the New York Post’s reporting about Hunter Biden was the product of Russian disinformation,” the GOP letters say. “This request, to include a request for a transcribed interview before the Committees, remains outstanding. These documents and your testimony are necessary to further our oversight.”
Jordan’s April 2022 letter had asked the officials to “identify all people with whom you communicated about the inception, drafting, editing, signing, publishing, or promotion” of the letter and directed them to “produce all documents and communications referring or relating to” the public statement. Those information requests have now been re-upped.
Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign dismissed the laptop story as a Russian disinformation operation. After the New York Post published emails belonging to his son, Joe Biden called the story “garbage” and part of a “Russian plan” during an October 2020 debate with then-President Donald Trump.
He claimed, “There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plan. They have said this is, has all the — four, five former heads of the CIA. Both parties say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage.”
HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP DENIERS LEAD INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM
Joe Biden was referring to a Politico report about the letter in an article titled “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.” The title was misleading because the letter never directly called the story Russian “disinformation.”
While the letter somewhat hedged, it claimed, “Our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case.” The letter argued that “if we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election” and expresses “our view that the Russians are involved in the Hunter Biden email issue.”
Among the 12 ex-intelligence official signatories scrutinized by Jordan and Turner is Jeremy Bash, a former chief of staff at the CIA and Pentagon who was picked by Joe Biden to be part of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board in August. Bash himself suggested on TV that the laptop story was “Russian disinformation.” Bash was also appointed by the then-Democratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee last year to join the Afghanistan War Commission.
The GOP letter was also sent to former Obama CIA Director John Brennan and Nick Shapiro, a former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to Brennan. Politico said Shapiro provided them with the letter.
A former national security official who was asked to sign the letter but declined to do so told the Washington Examiner in 2021 that Brennan’s involvement with the letter was problematic because of his anti-Trump commentary and his claims of Trump-Russia collusion, and Brennan’s name on the letter made it look like he was running a “rearguard action” for Joe Biden.
Michael Morell, a former Obama acting CIA director and deputy director of the CIA, also received a GOP letter. He allegedly helped put the 2020 laptop letter together.
The GOP also sent letters to Obama Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, George W. Bush CIA Director Michael Hayden, and John McLaughlin, a former deputy director of the CIA from 2000 at the end of the Clinton administration into 2004 during the Bush administration who was also briefly acting director of the agency.
Facebook and Twitter limited the sharing of the New York Post stories in the weeks leading up to the election.
Konstantinos “Gus” Dimitrelos, a cyber forensics expert and former Secret Service agent, conducted an examination of the laptop for the Washington Examiner in 2022, concluding “there is a 100% certainty that Robert Hunter Biden was the only person responsible for the activity on this hard drive” and that “the hard drive is authentic.”
Hunter Biden revealed he was under federal investigation for his taxes shortly after the 2020 election, and the federal agents who have been investigating him reportedly believe they have unearthed enough evidence to charge him with crimes related to tax fraud and lying during his purchase of a handgun.
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The bigger questions remain whether the Department of Justice has been considering more significant charges tied to money laundering or foreign lobbying.
