Active Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractors allegedly collaborated with the Biden campaign to dismiss Hunter Biden's laptop as Russian disinformation before the 2020 election, as per a recent report. The report, titled 'The Intelligence Community 51: How CIA Contractors Colluded with The Biden Campaign to Mislead American Voters,' was released by the House Judiciary Committee, its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The report revealed that active CIA contractors worked with the Biden campaign to discredit allegations of Biden family influence peddling related to Hunter's laptop. The statement from 51 former intelligence officials on October 19, 2020, labeled the laptop as a Russian information operation, aiming to undermine the credibility of the laptop's contents.
The report indicated that top CIA officials, including then-CIA Director Gina Haspel, were aware of the statement before its release. CIA's chief operating officer informed Haspel or Deputy Director Vaughn Frederick Bishop about the statement, giving them the opportunity to vet its validity. Internal CIA emails also showed intelligence officers expressing frustration over the political nature of the statement.
Signatories of the statement included former CIA directors John Brennan and Leon Panetta, former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper, former CIA acting director Michael Morell, and former CIA inspector general David Buckley. Morell and Buckley were CIA contractors at the time of the statement's issuance.
The report raised concerns about the politicization of the CIA contractors' actions, suggesting that such activities could violate the Hatch Act, a federal law prohibiting federal employees from engaging in partisan political activities. The report also highlighted how President Biden used the statement during a 2020 debate to discredit the laptop's contents.
In 2022, media outlets authenticated thousands of Hunter's emails from the laptop, contradicting the initial dismissal of the laptop as Russian disinformation. The laptop resurfaced during Hunter's recent criminal trial in Delaware, where he was found guilty on all counts related to a firearm purchase in 2018. The FBI confirmed the laptop's authenticity during the trial.
The House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Mike Turner, emphasized the importance of the report's findings in exposing the collaboration between former intelligence officials and the Biden campaign to discredit the laptop story before the 2020 election.
