Biden campaign officials orchestrated a letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials casting doubt on the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 presidential election, a former CIA official testified to the House Judiciary Committee.
The House Judiciary Committee wrote a letter Thursday asking then-Biden Senior Adviser and current Secretary of State Tony Blinken about the role he played in directing 51 former intelligence officials to sign the letter. One of the letter’s signatories, former Deputy Director of the CIA Michael Morrell, told the Judiciary Committee Blinken reached out to him and “triggered” the letter’s creation. (RELATED: REPORT: Hunter Biden Sues Delaware Laptop Repairman For Privacy Violation)
Ex-deputy director of the CIA testifies to @Jim_Jordan that he decided to sign onto a letter with intelligence officers calling the Hunter Biden laptop story “Russian disinformation” after Antony Blinken called him.
“Because I wanted [Biden] to win the election,” he said pic.twitter.com/WYVphOmXWt
— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) April 21, 2023
“But, prior to [Secretary Blinken’s] call, you – you did not have any intent to write this statement?,” the committee asked Morrell.
“I did not,” Morrell responded. “Okay. So his call triggered –,” the committee said. “It did, yes,” Morrell replied, “– that intent in you?,” he was asked. “Yes. Absolutely,” Morrell stated, according to the Judiciary Committee’s letter.
Morrell testified to the committee about receiving a call from Biden campaign Chairman Steve Richetti after the final presidential debate on Oct. 22 2020, when Biden cited the intelligence officials’ letter to discredit the New York Post’s reporting about the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop documenting his business dealings abroad.
“After the debate – I think it was after the debate – in fact, I’m pretty sure it was after the debate – I got a phone call from Jeremy Bash, who I work with at Beacon and who is active politically. And Jeremy said: Do you have a minute to talk to Steve Ricchetti?,” Morrell told the committee.
“I said: Of course. “He was the head of the Biden campaign at the time. And Jeremy got him on the line, and Steve thanked me for putting the statement out. And that was the extent of the conversation,” he continued.
Additionally, Morrell said the Biden campaign provided guidance on how to publicize the statement. He emailed the Biden campaign about which reporters and media outlets the statement should be provided to because he remembered the campaign recommended a Washington Post journalist to him. He could not recall to the House Judiciary Committee why he sent the email to the Biden campaign and admitted to possibly speaking with the campaign on another occasion, the letter to Blinken says.
Morrell stated that one of his goals in signing the letter was to help Joe Biden win the presidential election over Donald Trump. “There were two intents. 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,” he said.
“You wanted to help the Vice President why?,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, asked him. “Because I wanted him to win the election,” Morrell answered. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Oversight Republicans Renew Demand For Hunter Biden’s Art Sale Records)
The “50 former intelligence former intelligence officials” who falsely accused the Hunter Biden laptop of being “Russian disinfo” letter in 2020 was organized by former CIA officials on request of the Biden campaign, according to new testimony. https://t.co/ATpGptLJGo
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) April 21, 2023
“Based on Morell’s testimony, it is apparent 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,” the letter to Blinken reads. “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.”
The contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop were reported by the New York Post on Oct. 14, 2020, and immediately censored by Twitter. Five days later, the letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials became public and described the Hunter Biden laptop story as having “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
The contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop were verified by the Daily Caller News Foundation on Oct. 29, 2020. The New York Times, Washington Post and CBS News have since verified the contents of Biden’s laptop. Biden’s legal team admitted the “computer data” in Biden’s laptop retrieved by a Delaware repair shop owner is authentic in a February letter written to the Justice Department.