On Tuesday, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee released a new report revealing that active Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractors were among those who signed the infamous October 2020 statement claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop story “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information campaign.”
Just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, the New York Post published a bombshell report on emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop, that showed how he used his father’s position as vice president for personal gain in business dealings.
Within a week of the Post’s story, a statement signed by 51 former intelligence officials was released to the public that attempted to discredit the reporting on Hunter Biden’s emails as part of a Russian disinformation operation.
Now, in their joint interim staff report, House Republicans have revealed new information detailing how then-CIA Director Gina Haspel and other top-level CIA staff were aware of the statement prior to its approval and publication, and that some of the signatories were on active contract with the CIA when the statement was released.
“The House Intelligence Committee’s work provided us with solid direct evidence that in the final weeks before the 2020 presidential election, 51 former intelligence officials coordinated with the Biden campaign to falsely cast doubt on an explosive New York Post story and label Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop as ‘Russian disinformation,'” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday.
“The Committee worked to obtain classified documents from the CIA, including emails, and fought to include evidence of these materials in our report,” Rep. Turner said.
Per the report, the “lead architect” of the statement, former Acting CIA Director Michael Morell, as well as former CIA Inspector General David Buckley, were on active contract with the CIA at the time the statement was drafted, reviewed and published.
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“This revelation raises the concern that these officials abused the access of their positions to curate, promote, and receive expedited approval of the statement,” the House GOP report reads, adding that the statement “amounted to a campaign press release” on behalf of Joe Biden.
Morell previously testified before Congress that an explicit goal of the statement was to “help Vice President Biden.”
In an email discussing the impetus for the statement revealed in the House GOP report, Morell expressed his concern that Donald Trump would “attack Biden on the issue” of the Hunter Biden laptop at the presidential debate, and “we want to give the VP [Biden] a talking point to use in response.”
The statement was ultimately reviewed and approved by CIA staff within six hours of it being submitted, without any concern from CIA leadership regarding the politicized nature of the statement.
“It is extremely concerning that signatories of the Hunter Biden statement were on
contract with the CIA at the time of the statement’s drafting, review, and publication,” the report states.
“This revelation shows that Morell, Buckley, and likely other signatories were receiving U.S. taxpayer funds while engaged in a politicized project to mislead American voters on behalf of the Biden campaign,” it continues.
Other revelations included in the report show internal communications between CIA staff that show some officials were concerned at the time of the statement being published that is was overtly political and would damage the CIA.
One email shows a CIA staff member describing on the authors of the statement as engaging in a “pro-Biden campaign and may be disclosing classified information in his
efforts.”
Another CIA staff member email reads “This [statement] frustrates me. I don’t think it helpful to the Agency in the long run. Sigh.”
“We knew that the rushed statement from the 51 former intelligence officials was a political maneuver between the Biden campaign and the intelligence community,” House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Tuesday.
“Now with this interim report, we reveal how officials at the highest levels of the CIA were aware of the statement and CIA employees knew that several of the so-called former officials were on active contract with the CIA,” Rep. Jordan said. “The report underscores the risks posed by a weaponized federal government.
The full House GOP joint interim staff report can be read here.
