One of the infamous 51 intelligence officials, who signed a letter suggesting that Hunter Biden’s laptop was a “Russian disinformation” campaign, has admitted to knowing that the information was legitimate at the time.
Reports on Hunter’s notorious “Laptop from Hell” first emerged in the run-up to the 2020 election.
The damaging story, which exposed then-Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden’s links to his family’s shady foreign business deals, could have likely changed the outcome of the general election.
However, the Democrats’ allies in Big Tech and the corporate media used the letter from the intelligence community as justification to shut down reports on the laptop in the days leading up to Election Day.
The successful censorship effort ensured that most voters were unaware of the scandal when they cast their ballots.
More than two years later, Douglas Wise, a former Defense Intelligence Agency deputy director, told The Australian in a new interview that himself, and other who signed the letter, knew the information on the laptop was genuine.
“All of us figured that a significant portion of that content had to be real to make any Russian disinformation credible,” Wise told the outlet.
The signees, which included former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, warned in the letter that the October 2020 arrival of reporting about the laptop “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
Biden’s allies in the media used the letter to protect the now-president’s campaign.
Going further than what the letter said, Politico upped the ante by declaring that said the former intelligence officials were claiming the laptop story was “Russian disinfo.”
Hunter Biden’s father also used the letter to cast doubt on the laptop story during one of his debates with then-President Donald Trump.
“The letter said it had the earmarks of Russian deceit and we should consider that as a possibility,” Wise stressed.
“It did not say Hunter Biden was a good guy, it didn’t say what he did was right and it wasn’t exculpatory, it was just a cautionary letter.”
Wise also said he does not regret signing the letter “because context is important” and noted that the laptop’s “chain of custody” left open the possibility that “Russians or even ill-intended conservative elements could have planted stuff in there.”
The laptop, which allegedly was abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop before the FBI obtained it, contains details about Hunter Biden’s personal life and financial affairs.
The president’s son is now under federal investigation, including over his foreign business dealings and tax affairs.
Nevertheless, the existence of that years-long inquiry was not revealed to the public until after the 2020 election.
Hunter Biden has said he expects to be cleared of wrongdoing.
Before he became House speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) vowed that Republicans would subpoena the dozens of intelligence veterans who signed the letter in the new session of Congress.
