Intelligence Community Called Hunter Laptop Story a Hoax To Give Biden 'a Talking Point'
Former officials who signed the letter will be testifying to Congress this month.
Hudson Crozier
May 08, 2023
By Hudson Crozier
What’s new: Former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell encouraged former intelligence officials to sign the highly publicized 2020 letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop story might be Russian disinformation in order to give President Joe Biden “a talking point” in a presidential debate, according to an email confirmed by sources for the Washington Examiner.
Why it matters: Morell recently told Congress that Biden’s campaign adviser called him to express concern that the laptop scandal might be a Russian hoax, citing a USA Today article. He admitted that the phone call “triggered” his desire to write the now-debunked statements in the letter because he wanted to “help” Biden “win the election.” Morell’s newly discovered email offers an even deeper look into the collusion between the intelligence community and the Biden campaign.
What the email said: Morell said that he and another CIA official believed Russia was behind the laptop story. Suspecting that former President Donald Trump would use the story to attack Biden in the final presidential debate, Morell said, “We want to give the VP a talking point to use in response.” Dozens of former intelligence officials then signed the letter, which cited the same USA Today piece that the Biden campaign sent to Morell. Sure enough, Biden referenced the letter in the debate as evidence that the story was “garbage.”
“There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plan. They have said that this has all the characteristics—four, five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what [Trump’s] saying is a bunch of garbage,” Biden said in the televised presidential debate.
Big picture: The laptop scandal, which revealed Joe Biden’s role in his son’s foreign influence peddling, has sparked national security concerns and inspired the House to investigate the Biden family. Evidence continues to emerge that the federal government conspired to influence the 2020 election by suppressing that story. Two of the former officials who signed Morell’s letter will testify to Congress this month, which may reveal more about this collusion.