Hunter Biden laptop letter

On October 16, 2020, three days prior to the letter's release, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said on CNN, "Well we know that this whole smear on Joe Biden comes from the Kremlin ... Clearly, the origins of this whole smear are from the Kremlin, and the president is only too happy to have Kremlin help and try to amplify it," though Schiff did not specifically refer to the laptop story.{{cite news |title=The Situation Room |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/sitroom/date/2020-10-16/segment/02 |work=CNN Transcripts |date=October 16, 2020 |access-date=February 14, 2025}}

During an interview with Fox News on October 19, 2020, Trump's Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe disputed Schiff's statement, saying "there is no intelligence that supports that", and accused Schiff of mischaracterizing the views of the intelligence community by describing the alleged emails as part of a smear campaign against Joe Biden.{{cite web |last=Dilanian |first=Ken |date=October 19, 2020 |title=Ratcliffe says no proof, but FBI probing foreign tie to "Biden" laptop |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/ratcliffe-says-no-proof-foreign-actors-tied-biden-laptop-officials-n1243874 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021153101/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/ratcliffe-says-no-proof-foreign-actors-tied-biden-laptop-officials-n1243874 |archive-date=October 21, 2020 |access-date=October 22, 2020 |website=NBC News |language=en}} Schiff's spokesman accused Ratcliffe of "purposefully misrepresenting" the congressman's words.{{cite web |last=Swanson |first=Ian |date=October 19, 2020 |title=Ratcliffe, Schiff battle over Biden emails, politicized intelligence |url=https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/521712-ratcliffe-schiff-battle-over-biden-emails-politicized-intelligence |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022204342/https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/521712-ratcliffe-schiff-battle-over-biden-emails-politicized-intelligence |archive-date=October 22, 2020 |access-date=October 22, 2020 |website=The Hill}} In March 2021, two months after Ratcliffe left as DNI, the intelligence community he had overseen released analysis finding that proxies of Russian intelligence promoted and laundered misleading or unsubstantiated narratives about the Bidens "to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration."{{Cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Zachary |last2=Cohen |first2=Marshall |last3=Polantz |first3=Katelyn |title=US intelligence report says Russia used Trump allies to influence 2020 election with goal of 'denigrating' Biden |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/16/politics/us-election-intel-report/index.html |date=March 16, 2021 |access-date=March 18, 2021 |work=CNN}}

Further dispute over the interpretation of the letter arose when, on the day of its release, Politico published a story with the misleading headline, "Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say," though the body of the story did not support that wording. Instead, the story's lede accurately quoted the letter's words: "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation".{{cite news |last1=Bertrand |first1=Natasha |date=2020-10-19 |title=Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020034222/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276 |archive-date=2020-10-20 |access-date=2025-01-26 |work=Politico}} During the second 2020 presidential debate held on October 22, 2020, Joe Biden repeated the article's misleading claim in stating, "Look, there are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plan".{{Cite web |title=CPD: October 22, 2020 Debate Transcript |url=https://www.debates.org/voter-education/debate-transcripts/october-22-2020-debate-transcript/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119075924/https://www.debates.org/voter-education/debate-transcripts/october-22-2020-debate-transcript/ |archive-date=2021-01-19 |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=www.debates.org}} He would later repeat the claim in a 60 Minutes interview held on October 25, 2020.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSAo_1mJg0g |title=Joe Biden: The 60 Minutes 2020 Election Interview |date=2020-10-26 |last=O'Donnell |first=Norah |type=Television production |access-date=2024-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101074752/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSAo_1mJg0g |archive-date=2020-11-01 |url-status=live |via=YouTube}}

Republican congressmen Jim Jordan and Mike Turner said that Michael Morell, a signatory of the letter and former deputy director of the CIA under President Obama, testified before Congress in April 2023 about events leading up to the publication of the letter. Morell revealed that on or around October 17, 2020, Antony Blinken, then a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, called him to discuss the laptop story. Jordan and Turner highlighted that, according to Morell, the phone call with Blinken "set in motion the events that led to" the publication of the letter.{{Cite web |author=Kylie Atwood, Annie Grayer, Clare Foran |title=GOP lawmakers ask Blinken for information on 2020 public letter from ex-intel officials casting doubt on Hunter Biden laptop story |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/21/politics/hunter-biden-laptop-story-antony-blinken/index.html |website=CNN |date=2023-04-21 |accessdate=2025-02-14}}{{Cite web |author=Graeme Wood |title=Turns Out Signing the Hunter Biden Letter Was a Bad Idea |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/01/john-bolton-security-clearances-trump/681418/ |website=The Atlantic |date=2025-01-23 |accessdate=2025-02-14}} The congressmen said that retired CIA officer David Cariens had informed them via email that the agency's Prepublication Classification Review Board approved the letter and helped recruit signatories.{{cite web |last=Grayer |first=Annie |title=House Republicans say CIA staffer helped seek support for statement from former intel officials questioning Hunter Biden laptop story |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/10/politics/hunter-biden-house-judiciary/index.html |website=CNN |date=May 10, 2023 |access-date=February 15, 2025}}{{cite web |last=Herridge |first=Catherine |title=Republicans say Biden campaign exploited former intel officials to discredit Hunter Biden laptop allegations |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/republicans-hunter-biden-laptop-former-intelligence-officials/ |website=CBS News |date=May 10, 2023 |access-date=February 15, 2025}}

Many Republicans and their allies have since cited the Politico headline to insist the intelligence community had lied for the benefit of Joe Biden in the election weeks later and The Wall Street Journal noted in 2022 how failure on the part of several media outlets to thoroughly investigate the Biden campaign's claims played a role in shaping public perception prior to the election.{{Cite web |first= |date=2022-03-18 |title=Hunter Biden's Laptop Is Finally News Fit to Print |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-the-news-thats-finally-fit-to-print-hunter-biden-laptop-new-york-post-new-york-times-joe-biden-11647637814 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318232215/https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-the-news-thats-finally-fit-to-print-hunter-biden-laptop-new-york-post-new-york-times-joe-biden-11647637814 |archive-date=2022-03-18 |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=The Wall Street Journal}}

On February 13, 2023, The Washington Post fact-checker wrote that the Politico headline "likely shaped perceptions of the letter that continue to this day."{{cite news |last1=Kessler |first1=Glenn |date=2023-02-13 |title=The Hunter Biden laptop and claims of 'Russian disinfo' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/13/hunter-biden-laptop-claims-russian-disinfo/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213081329/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/13/hunter-biden-laptop-claims-russian-disinfo/ |archive-date=2023-02-13 |access-date=2025-01-26 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper asserted the letter's message had been distorted, saying "all we were doing was raising a yellow flag that this could be Russian disinformation. Politico deliberately distorted what we said. It was clear in paragraph five."{{cite news |date=2020-10-19 |title=Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails |url=https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-4393-d7aa-af77-579f9b330000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020061505/https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-4393-d7aa-af77-579f9b330000 |archive-date=2020-10-20 |access-date=2025-01-26 |quote=We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emails, provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement -- just that our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case. |agency=via Politico}} Another signer, longtime State Department and intelligence official Thomas Fingar remarked, "No one who has spent time in Washington should be surprised that journalists and politicians willfully or unintentionally misconstrue oral or written statements." Despite the criticism, Politico stood by the story.

Former Politico reporters Marc Caputo and Tara Palmeri said on 23 January 2025 that, because of "dumb decisions of cowardly editors", they were told "Don’t write about the laptop, don’t talk about the laptop, don’t tweet about the laptop". Caputo said the Politico story about the letter had a "terrible, ill-fated headline ... because the Hunter Biden laptop appeared to be true".{{Cite web |last=Schorr |first=Isaac |date=2025-01-23 |title='Don't Write About the Laptop, Don't Talk About the Laptop': Ace Reporters Claim Politico Killed Negative Biden Stories |url=https://www.mediaite.com/news/dont-write-about-the-laptop-dont-talk-about-the-laptop-ace-reporters-claim-politico-killed-negative-biden-stories/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123174158/https://www.mediaite.com/news/dont-write-about-the-laptop-dont-talk-about-the-laptop-ace-reporters-claim-politico-killed-negative-biden-stories/ |archive-date=2025-01-23 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Mediaite |language=en}}

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump issued an executive order revoking the security clearances of all the officials who signed the letter. The executive order states "The signatories willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions". Lawyers including Mark Zaid and Dan Meyer said that the revocation can be challenged in court.{{Cite news |last=Office of the Press Secretary |date=January 20, 2025 |title=Holding Former Government Officials Accountable For Election Interference And Improper Disclosure Of Sensitive Governmental Information |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/holding-former-government-officials-accountablefor-election-interference-and-improper-disclosure-of-sensitive-governmental-information/ |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=whitehouse.gov |via=National Archives}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-21 |title=Trump takes aim at dozens of high-ranking former intel officials |url=https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/01/20/donald-trump-inauguration-day-news-updates-analysis/trumps-revenge-on-intel-officials-00199589 |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-21 |title=Trump moves to suspend clearances of ex-intel officials who signed letter on Hunter Biden laptop |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-intelligence-hunter-biden-laptop-9d49578c70e3de03e628d0d0cf6592f0 |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=AP News |language=en}}

In addition, nine additional former IC officers who could not be named publicly also supported the arguments in this letter.{{Cite web |date=2020-10-19 |title=Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails |url=https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-4393-d7aa-af77-579f9b330000 |access-date=2025-04-17}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-4393-d7aa-af77-579f9b330000 The letter]
• [https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276 The original story published in the Politico]

Category:Controversies of the 2020 United States presidential election

Category:October 2020 in the United States

Category:Mass media-related controversies in the United States

Category:Political controversies in the United States

Category:Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails

Category:Allegations

Category:Laptops

Category:Central Intelligence Agency controversies