I have written frequently, here on 19FortyFive, to express skepticism about the GOP’s ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden and the Biden family business dealings. I’m just not compelled to believe anything worth investing taxpayer dollars into investigating occurred; to me, the investigation has the flavor of a petulant, partisan vendetta.
Yet, one element of the whole Hunter Biden scandal does concern me and does grab my attention as a legitimate grievance: efforts to silence stories related to Hunter Biden’s laptop in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
Now, to be clear, I’m not necessarily concerned with the content that was on Hunter Biden’s laptop – I doubt it was of much real consequence – but the fact that powerful government and political entities mobilized to squash the story is a significant and deeply concerning story in and of itself.
I bring all this up now because of news that “a former CIA official testified that then-Biden campaign senior adviser, now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken “played a role in the inception” of the public statement signed by current and past intelligence officials that claimed the Hunter Biden laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign,” Fox reported.
That’s not good.
CIA testimony indicates elaborate efforts
The testimony comes from former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell, speaking before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. Morrell testified that Blinken was “the impetus” of an October 2020 public statement (signed by over-50 intelligence officers) that “implied the laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was disinformation.”
Only the laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was not disinformation; the laptop was very real – meaning the signed statement saying otherwise was either intentionally misleading (i.e., dishonest) or unintentionally misleading (i.e., 51 intelligence officers provided bad intelligence).
Now, the House Judiciary and intelligence Committee is taking a closer look at the signed statement itself.
“We are examining that public statement signed by 51 former intelligence officials that falsely discredited a New York Post story regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop as supposed Russian disinformation,” the committee wrote. “As part of our oversight, we have learned that you played a role in the inception of this statement while serving as a Biden campaign advisor, and we therefore request your assistance with our oversight.”
The signed statement is a bad look for the intelligence community
The statement in question is a bad look for several reasons. First is the timing; the letter was dropped in October 2020, just a few weeks before the 2020 election, at a time when fears of Russian disinformation were in crescendo. Remember, Democrats had spent years blaming Hillary’s defeat on Russian disinformation (it had more to do with perceived Democratic abandonment of the Rust Belt and the middle class but easier to blame a foreign entity than to self-reflect). Then, in the months leading up to the 2020 election, Democrats rolled out a familiar warning: beware Russian disinformation; the Russians want Trump elected! It was amidst this environment that the signed public statement, attributing the Hunter Biden laptop story to Russian disinformation, was released.
And the signatories? Heavy hitters. Former Obama CIA Director John Brennan, former Obama DNI James Clapper, former Clinton CIA Director Leon Panetta. The biggest names in the business, really.
“Although the statement’s signatories have an unquestioned right to free speech and free association – which we do not dispute – their reference to their national security credentials lent weight to the story and suggested access to specialized information unavailable to other Americans,” the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committee wrote. “This concerted effort to minimize and suppress public dissemination of the serious allegations about the Biden family was a grave disservice to all American citizens’ informed participation in our democracy.”
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Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
