Richard Grenell, former Acting Director of National Intelligence, is calling for a Senate investigation into former senior intelligence officials who signed a letter prior to the 2020 election stating the Hunter Biden laptop story was ‘Russian disinformation.’
Grenell called for hearings should Republicans win back control of the Senate in the midterm election.
“A Republican Senate MUST hold hearings with all 50 of the people who signed that letter 3 weeks before the 2020 campaign,” he tweeted.
“They all said Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation. And they didn’t have a single piece of intel to suggest it,” he added.
He posted a follow-up message demanding: “Hold people accountable for manipulating intelligence for political gain!”
A Republican Senate MUST hold hearings with all 50 of the people who signed that letter 3 weeks before the 2020 campaign. They all said Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation. And they didn’t have a single piece of intel to suggest it.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) March 17, 2022
Intelligence Officials Politicized ‘Laptop From Hell’
Grenell’s call for Senate hearings into the intelligence officials who portrayed Hunter Biden’s laptop and associated emails as Russian disinformation comes following a New York Times report that finally acknowledges their authenticity.
As the Political Insider wrote, the admission came Thursday in a story on Hunter Biden’s tax bill and the federal investigation into his business dealings.
The Times buried the lede well into the article where they discussed having “obtained” emails from “files that appear to have come from a laptop abandoned by [Hunter] Biden.”
“The email and others in the cache were authenticated by people familiar with them and with the investigation,” the Times revealed.
In the category of – didn’t see this coming : The @nytimes confirms the authenticity of Hunter Biden emails derived from his laptop that had been previously dismissed as Russian disinformation. pic.twitter.com/nK7xnD0fP2
— Michael Isikoff (@Isikoff) March 17, 2022
Grenell, who was named Acting Director of National Intelligence in February of 2020 by then-President Donald Trump, is referencing a letter signed by over 50 intelligence officials stating the Hunter Biden laptop story had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
The letter, published just weeks before the election, includes an admission that these officials “do not know if the emails … are genuine” and that they “do not have evidence of Russian involvement.”
They destroyed their reputations by signing this letter and then not recanting for 16 months and counting. Some of these people appear to this day on CNN and MSNBC as esteemed experts on the war in Ukraine. The least they should do is declare a conflict of interest. pic.twitter.com/36ituz51MU
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) March 17, 2022
Still, they felt compelled to publish the letter to sway public opinion and dissuade voters from taking the story seriously.
“If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this,” the letter reads.
They weren’t right.
The letter was signed by some very prominent officials so as to lend credence to the claims.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former CIA Directors Mike Hayden, John Brennan, and Leon Panetta, all signed the letter.
Here’s a letter signed by over 50 top IC officials claiming the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation.
Includes Clapper, Brennan, Morrell, etc. Joe Biden & Psaki said it too.
Imagine taking any of these people remotely seriously today. https://t.co/rbHZEvBOyW
— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.substack.com (@JordanSchachtel) March 17, 2022
Manipulating Public Opinion
Former Acting DNI Richard Grenell, in subsequent tweets, accused each of the over 50 officials of manipulating their position to aid Joe Biden in winning the election.
“I will tell you this – every single one of those 50 intel officials who signed that letter saying that Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation did NOT have a single piece of raw intel indicating it was,” he accused.
“They made it up the last weeks of the campaign to help Joe Biden.”
Everyone who said that the laptop was NOT Russian disinformation was blocked or banned from @twitter & social media.
Is there a single DC reporter who isn’t asking how this happened? And why did Leon Panetta sign a letter saying it was Russian disinformation?! https://t.co/qfPw7FKupj
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) March 17, 2022
“These 50 people manipulated intelligence for political gain,” added Grenell. “And it’s outrageous.”
Radio host Clay Travis suggested there needs to be “a full congressional investigation” into Big Tech ‘collusion’ in trying to hide the Hunter Biden laptop story.
The efforts to censor the story at the time and the seemingly coordinated effort to bury it as ‘Russian disinformation’ sure seem to suggest some level of coordination between the Biden campaign, the intelligence community, and the media.
Senator Tom Cotton chimed in calling Big Tech’s efforts to hide the story “a disgrace.”
The New York Times admits what we’ve known for years: the Hunter Biden laptop story was true.
Big tech’s censorship of this story was a disgrace.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) March 17, 2022
“Everyone who said that the laptop was NOT Russian disinformation was blocked or banned from [Twitter and] social media,” Grenell said. “Is there a single DC reporter who isn’t asking how this happened?”
This article was originally published by the Political Insider. Read the original article.
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