Notwithstanding presenting no evidence, Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, along with numerous in the media, dismissed the October laptop story as being part of a Russian disinformation operation. Concerns regarding Hunter Biden got a bigger spotlight in late 2020 after many outlets reported that he is being federally investigated in connection with his taxes and possibly related to his overseas business with China and other nations.
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The October letter, reportedly signed by 51 former intelligence officials plus nine anonymous ones, was even cited by now-President Biden in a presidential debate with former President Donald Trump.
Among those to sign their name to the letter were Obama CIA Director John Brennan, Obama Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former George W. Bush CIA Director Michael Hayden, former Obama CIA Director Leon Panetta, and former Obama acting CIA Director Mike Morell, none of whom responded to a request for comment. Glenn Gerstell, former National Security Agency general counsel, likewise refused to comment. The vast majority of the other signatories did not provide on-the-record responses.
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Russ Travers, former acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center, declined to answer any questions but explained that “the general subject of Russian disinformation is hugely important” and provided a short statement that did not mention Hunter Biden or his laptop.
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“As someone who spent 40+ years in intelligence — 20 of which on the Soviet/Russian target — I’ve watched their disinformation efforts and I both was/remain very concerned at how successful they’ve been,” Travers stated. "I’d suggest you do three things: read the letter very closely — the author picked his words carefully; consider the bipartisan conclusions of experts regarding exactly what the Russians were doing at the time; and perhaps talk to some former Intel types that worked Russian disinformation. And then draw your own conclusions.”
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In questions to the former officials, the Washington Examiner said that the allegations in their letter were publicly opposed by then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, that an independent forensic analysis has reportedly discovered no sign the messages and images from the laptop are not real, that the recent intelligence community report on foreign influence in the 2020 election published by Biden’s top spy office made no mention of the laptop story, and that Hunter Biden has never directly opposed the authenticity of a single piece of data from the laptop.
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