The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) stands accused of soliciting signatures for the 2020 letter in which it claimed the Hunter Biden laptop scandal was part of a Russian disinformation campaign. That is the word from recent congressional testimony concerning the first son.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released a report last week citing the explosive testimony of several former U.S. intelligence officials under oath.
The infamous letter was ultimately signed by over 50 former senior intelligence officials.
The House report cited former CIA analyst David Cariens. He told the panel that a CIA employee told him of the letter’s contents and asked if he would sign it. At the time, Cariens was addressing the agency about a prepublication review of his memoir.
It was during that phone call that he was “asked” about signing the letter concerning the Hunter Biden laptop. Of course he agreed. “When the person in charge of reviewing my book called to say it was approved with no changes, I was told about the draft letter.”
'FRIGHTENING STUFF': Rep. @Jim_Jordan discusses reports the CIA 'may have assisted in obtaining signatories' for a letter signed by 51 former intel officials that said the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation on @seanhannity. https://t.co/Cx8DKjdxBA pic.twitter.com/dlBApGO1Wg
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 10, 2023
Cariens recalled that he told his wife Janice, who is also a former CIA officer, about the letter and she agreed to sign.
The committee said it has been rebuffed in its attempts to get “additional material from the CIA.”
According to the report, former CIA acting director Mike Morell told the agency’s Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB) that he needed approval for an unusual “rush job.”
The date was Oct. 19, 2020, shortly before the critical November presidential election.
Further, Morell reportedly told signatory John Brennan, a former agency director, that he wanted the letter’s release to be before Biden’s Oct. 22, 2020 debate against incumbent Republican president Donald Trump.
He said he was “trying to give the campaign, particularly during the debate…a talking point to push back at Trump.”
It was also revealed that Morell was urged to draft the letter by Biden campaign advisor and current Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He called Morell on Oct. 17 to discuss the allegations made in the bombshell New York Post story.
At the time, Morell told Blinken that he was not familiar with the write-up. He also testified that he previously had no intention to draft the statement, which obviously carried political weight, until he was encouraged to do so by Blinken.
