The Biden disinformation operation and those who facilitated it

 Washington Examiner:

The former intelligence officials who signed an October 2020 letter baselessly claiming Russian involvement in the Hunter Biden laptop stories are largely remaining silent, though some have continued to defend their signatures, while a few recently returned to government service.

The laptop saga has burst back into public view a year and a half after the New York Post published emails belonging to now-President Joe Biden's son, with the New York Times and the Washington Post finally joining a number of right-leaning outlets that had confirmed the authenticity of emails on the laptop.

Despite offering no proof, Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, along with many in the media, dismissed the laptop story as being a Russian disinformation operation. The president called the story a Russian operation during one of the 2020 presidential debates 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.”

The future president 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 it Russian “disinformation.”

The letter hedged a bit at various times, noting, “We do not have evidence of Russian involvement.” But it added, "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.”

The signatories included Obama CIA Director John Brennan, former George W. Bush CIA Director Michael Hayden, former Obama CIA Director Leon Panetta, and former Obama acting CIA Director Mike Morell.

Politico said Nick Shapiro, a longtime aide to Brennan, provided them with the letter and said: “The real power here ... is the number of former, working-level IC officers who want the American people to know that once again the Russians are interfering.”

The outlet did not respond to a request for comment, and article author Natasha Bertrand, now at CNN, did not comment.

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This is one of the more damaging political frauds in history.  The consequences of it are actually worse than the Russian collusion hoax that Democrats used against Trump.  What is clear from this episode is that Democrats cannot be trusted to tell the truth when running for office and the media is not honest enough to call them on it when it matters the most.  The consequences of this fraud have been serial disasters by one of the most incompetent Presidents in history.  Those who were responsible for the letter from the former intel operatives should lose their clearance.  They have clearly demonstrated their incompetence as intel analysts.