According to a new report, former acting CIA Director Michael Morell received fast-tracked approval from the CIA to publish the infamous letter falsely claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation — a letter that was signed by 51 former intelligence community members.
Morell recently testified before Congress admitting that he had organized the letter on behalf of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was serving as a Biden campaign adviser at the time. In the testimony, Morell stated that Blinken had called just days after the New York Post’s bombshell report on Hunter Biden’s laptop to “set in motion” the false claims that the report was “Russian disinformation.”
He went on to acknowledge that he had used his influence to encourage his allies to endorse the false claims, saying that he did so in order to “help Vice President Biden” because he “wanted him to win the election.”
Morell emphasized the fact that he had not planned to organize the letter until after Blinken contacted him, noting that the conversation with him had “triggered… that intent.”
According to the latest report on the matter from the New York Post, Morell actually got approval from the CIA to publish the letter — noting in an email to the signatories that he would “clear the statement with the Publication Review Board at CIA.”
In an email to all 51 former intelligence community members who signed on to the letter, Morell wrote that he “drafted the attached because we believe the Russians were involved in some way in the Hunter Biden email issue and because we think Trump will attack Biden on the issue at this week’s debate and we want to give the VP a talking point to use in response.”
Morell did end up sending the letter to the CIA’s Publication Review Board — and according to the New York Post, “the CIA’s Prepublication Classification Review Board fast-tracked approval in 5.5 hours.”
“The board determined it contains no classified information and can be published,” the CIA response to Morell stated. “Agency approval for publication of this material does not represent Agency endorsement or verification of this work.”
While the PCRB included the disclaimer that clearing the letter does not mean the CIA is endorsing or verifying the claims, Morell failed to include that disclaimer in his final draft of the letter — which was first published by Politico, then picked up by the rest of the mainstream media.
The letter was ultimately revealed to be false, though its impacts on the results of the 2020 election are still concerning. Critics are also concerned and outraged over the prospect of the Biden campaign being involved in the letter, as it shows that the supposed credibility of the intelligence community was weaponized by the campaign to cover up a story that would have hurt President Joe Biden’s chances in the election. As American Greatness notes in their report, the “revelation last month of Blinken’s involvement has brought renewed scrutiny to the letter, its origins, and its consequences, with some speculating that Blinken was subsequently given his current position of Secretary of State as a reward for his efforts.”
We now know that the Hunter Biden "intel" officials letter was drafted to help give Joe Biden a "talking point" in his debate against President Trump.
But during the debate, Biden acted like the letter was completely organic.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) May 5, 2023
