In recent testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell revealed that now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, then a senior advisor to Joe Biden’s campaign, played a role in initiating a public statement signed by former intelligence officials in October 2020 that suggested the Hunter Biden laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, sent a letter to Blinken on Thursday, notifying him of their ongoing oversight of federal law-enforcement and intelligence matters within their respective jurisdictions.
The letter states that they are investigating the public statement signed by 51 former intelligence officials, which falsely discredited a New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop as purported Russian disinformation.
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In October 2020, just weeks before the presidential election, numerous former national security officials, including former Obama CIA Director John Brennan, former Obama DNI James Clapper, and former CIA director and then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, signed a letter claiming that Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
The lawmakers said that Morrell’s testimony made it apparent that the Biden campaign was actively involved in the origins of the public statement, which suppressed the Hunter Biden story and prevented American citizens from making fully informed decisions during the 2020 presidential election.
They argued that although the statement’s signatories have the right to free speech and free association, their national security credentials lent weight to the story and suggested access to specialized information unavailable to other Americans.
Jordan and Turner informed Blinken that they conducted a transcribed interview with Morrell, who also signed onto the letter. Morrell testified that Blinken reached out to him on or around October 17, 2020, to discuss the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Although Blinken’s outreach was framed as simply gathering Morrell’s reaction to the Post story, it set in motion the events that led to the issuance of the public statement.
Morrell testified that the Biden campaign helped strategize the public release of the statement, and that one of his two goals in releasing it was to aid then-Vice President Biden in the debate and ultimately help him win the election.
Morrell explained that his other intent was to share his concern with the American people about the Russians exploiting this issue.
Jordan and Turner are demanding that Blinken provide material to help them advance their oversight, including identifying the people he communicated with about drafting the statement and producing all documents referring to the statement.
They have given Blinken until 5:00 p.m. ET on May 4 to comply.
The investigation into Hunter Biden’s laptop is led by Trump-appointed Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, and Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation since 2018.
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This revelation about Blinken’s involvement in discrediting the laptop story highlights the ongoing political debate surrounding the Biden family and the role of intelligence officials in shaping public perception during election campaigns.