Former CIA deputy director Michael Morell was prompted by the Biden campaign to dismiss the Hunter Biden laptop story as Russian disinformation in the letter signed by 50 of his colleagues, according to testimony revealed on Thursday.
Mr. Morell told the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees that Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who served at the time as a senior advisor to the Biden campaign, contacted him days after the New York Post reported on emails from the discarded laptop computer.
The former CIA official told the lawmakers that he had no intention of publicly rebutting the Post’s story, but that his conversation with Mr. Blinken “triggered” the now-infamous letter.
The Post report, published on Oct. 14, 2020, weeks before the presidential election uncovered an avalanche of embarrassing emails, photos and text messages about Hunter Biden’s drug addiction, sexual behavior and his hugely profitable foreign business dealings.
The laptop also refuted Joe Biden’s claims that he never spoke with his son about overseas business deals.
The newspaper’s report also contained embarrassing photos of Hunter Biden, including one of him passed out with a crack pipe in his mouth.
Mr. Biden’s campaign branded the now-authenticated laptop as Russian disinformation, citing the open letter by more than 50 former U.S. senior intelligence officials.
Mr. Morell told lawmakers that Mr. Blinken contacted him “on or around” Oct. 17, ostensibly to garner his reaction to The Post’s story, but that conversation set in motion the letter that was released to Politico on Oct. 19.
Portions of Mr. Morell’s testimony were unveiled in a letter in a letter on Thursday to Mr. Blinken from Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Michael Turner, both of Ohio and the respective chairmen of the House Judiciary and intelligence committees.
Mr. Morell said he had two goals for organizing the letter, one of them being to boost Mr. Biden’s chances of winning the election.
“One intent was to share our concern with the American people that the Russians were playing on this issue; and, two, it was [to] help Vice President Biden,” Mr. Morell testified, according to the lawmakers.
The letter was carefully couched.
The officials noted that the leaked laptop “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” but never directly said in so many words that it was. It added that while they had no “evidence of Russian involvement,” their experience “makes us deeply suspicious.”
These distinctions have been leaned on heavily by some of the signatories defending their letter in the months since the laptop has been authenticated as belonging to Hunter Biden.
News outlets, the Biden campaign and Democratic lawmakers weren’t so intellectually fastidious at the time.
Based on the intelligence officials’ letter, Politico ran a story with the headline: “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinformation, dozens of former officials say.”
The letter generated similar headlines dismissing the Post’s story and further details gleaned from the laptop. Social media platforms also began censoring online discussions of the laptop ahead of the presidential election.
Mr. Morell told lawmakers that the Biden campaign helped him strategize about the public release of the statement.
He also said that Biden campaign chairman Steve Ricchetti called to thank him personally for the letter following the Oct. 22 presidential debate. In that debate, Mr. Biden cited the intelligence officials’ claims as refuting President Trump’s criticism of the Biden family’s business dealings.
Mr. Jordan and Mr. Turner said Mr. Morell’s testimony shows “that the Biden campaign played an active role in the origins of the public statement, which had the effect of helping to suppress the Hunter Biden story and preventing American citizens from making a fully informed decision during the 2020 presidential election.”
“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 lawmakers 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,” they wrote.
Hunter Biden‘s far-flung money-making schemes have raised eyebrows for years about potential influence peddling and possible crimes.
He served on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company, pursued deals with Chinese Communist Party-linked energy tycoons, and reportedly pocketed more than $3 million from a Russian businesswoman who is the widow of a former mayor of Moscow.
Republicans, now in the majority in the House, have pledged to probe whether the elder Mr. Biden had any involvement in his son’s international business deals and possible influence-peddling.
Based on Mr. Morell’s testimony, the lawmakers say they believe Mr. Blinken possesses “material that would advance our oversight and inform potential legislative reforms.”
They are demanding that Mr. Blinken hand over documents related to the intelligence officials’ statement dismissing the Post’s story.
“Because these events occurred prior to your nomination and confirmation as Secretary of State, we seek your cooperation with our requests in your personal, and not your official, capacity,” the lawmakers wrote.
They are requesting the material no later than May 4.
Source:Washington Times
