Hunter Biden investigation: Ex-CIA chief says Blinken ‘triggered’ letter to discredit laptop

Jerry Dunleavy

April 20, 09:13 PM April 20, 09:13 PM

A former top CIA official who helped write and sign the infamous October 2020 Hunter Biden laptop letter baselessly claiming Russian involvement has testified a phone call with now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken “triggered” its creation.

Mike Morell, a former acting CIA director under President Barack Obama, said in a recent transcribed interview with congressional investigators that, prior to his Oct. 17 phone call with Blinken, he had no intention to write the Oct. 19 Hunter Biden laptop letter. He testified “yes” and “absolutely” when asked if the call with Blinken, who was then a top adviser for Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, was what “triggered that intent in you.”

Morell also testified that one of the two reasons he helped put the letter together was to help Biden defeat former President Donald Trump.

These revelations came in a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner that was sent to Blinken on Thursday by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

The news comes one day after an IRS agent alleged that the Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden has been infected by “politics” and “preferential treatment.”

The October 2020 laptop letter contributed to the baseless narrative that the Hunter Biden laptop stories were nothing but a product of Russian disinformation. This line was happily seized upon by Biden’s 2020 campaign and spread by some of the laptop letter signers. Hunter Biden himself later tried to falsely claim the intelligence community concluded his laptop was some sort of Kremlin smear campaign.

Jordan and Turner told Blinken that Morell revealed the secretary of state had “played a role in the inception of this statement while serving as a Biden campaign advisor” and that “according to Morell, although your outreach was couched as simply gathering Morell’s reaction to the New York Post story, it set in motion the events that led to the issuance of the public statement.”

The congressmen wrote that, the same day of the Blinken-Morell call, Blinken “also emailed Morell an article” published in USA Today the same day which alleged that the FBI was examining whether the Hunter Biden laptop was part of a “disinformation campaign.” Jordan and Turner told Blinken that “the very bottom of the email you sent to Morell included the signature block of Andrew Bates, then-director of rapid response for the Biden campaign.” Bates is now a deputy press secretary in the Biden White House.

Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign quickly dismissed the laptop story as a Russian disinformation operation. After the New York Post published emails belonging to his son, Joe Biden called the story “garbage” and part of a “Russian plan” during an October 2020 debate with Trump.

Former senior CIA operations officer Marc Polymeropoulos said in 2020 that he and Morell helped put the letter together.

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The congressional letter said Morell received a call from then-Biden campaign chairman Steve Ricchetti after the Oct. 22 presidential debate to thank him for writing the statement. Richetti is now a counselor to President Biden. Morell said that “Steve thanked me for putting the statement out.”

The phone call to Morell had come from Jeremy Bash, another Hunter Biden laptop letter signer, who then got Richetti on the line. Bash, a former chief of staff at the CIA and Pentagon, was picked by Biden to be part of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board last year. Bash himself had suggested on TV in October 2020 that the laptop story was “Russian disinformation.”

Biden said during the October 2020 debate with Trump: “There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plan. They have said this is, has all the — four, five former heads of the CIA. Both parties say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage.”

He was referring to a Politico report about the letter in an article titled “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.” The title was a bit misleading because the letter never directly called the story Russian “disinformation.”

Although the October 2020 letter hedged a bit at various times, it did repeatedly contend there was Russian involvement with the laptop stories, arguing that “if we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election” and expressing “our view that the Russians are involved in the Hunter Biden email issue.” The letter claimed the laptop saga “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation” and that “our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case.”

Another key letter signatory was Nick Shapiro, a former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to Obama CIA Director John Brennan, who also signed the letter. Politico has said Shapiro provided them with the letter, and Shapiro said at the time: “The real power here ... is the number of former, working-level IC officers who want the American people to know that once again the Russians are interfering.”

Jordan and Turner said that “Morell also explained that the Biden campaign helped to strategize about the public release of the statement.” Morell “testified that he sent an email telling Nick Shapiro… that the Biden campaign wanted the statement to go to a particular reporter at the Washington Post first and that he should send the statement to the campaign when he sent the letter to the reporter.”

Jordan originally sent letters to many of the 51 former intelligence officials in April last year, but those requests were largely ignored. He followed up with demands for information from a dozen of the ex-spy officials in February and March of this year.

Jordan and Turner told the signatories this year that the letter “falsely implied the New York Post’s reporting about Hunter Biden was the product of Russian disinformation.”

Morell also testified that there were “two intents” behind writing the laptop letter.

“One intent was to share our concern with the American people that the Russians were playing on this issue,” Morell said. “And, two, it was help Vice President Biden.”

Jordan asked Morell, “You wanted to help the vice president why?” Morell replied, “Because I wanted him to win the election.”

Konstantinos "Gus" Dimitrelos, a cyber forensics expert and former Secret Service agent, conducted an examination of the laptop for the Washington Examiner last year, concluding that “there is a 100% certainty that Robert Hunter Biden was the only person responsible for the activity on this hard drive and all of its stored data” and that “the hard drive is authentic.”

Blinken demands release of US journalist in call with Russian foreign minister

Brady Knox

April 02, 12:38 PM April 02, 12:38 PM

State Secretary Antony Blinken demanded the immediate release of a United States journalist detained in Russia during a personal phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In a rare personal communication between the two statesmen, Blinken “conveyed the United States’ grave concern over Russia’s unacceptable detention of a U.S. citizen journalist,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement, according to Politico. He then urged the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, who was one of the few remaining U.S. reporters on the ground in Russia.

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Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement obtained by the Wall Street Journal that “attention was drawn to the need to respect the decisions of the Russian authorities, taken in accordance with the law and international obligations of the Russian Federation.”

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It added that “it is unacceptable for officials in Washington and the Western media to whip up a stir with the clear intention of giving this case a political coloring.”

Gershkovich was arrested last week in the Russian city of Ekaterinburg on charges of espionage. The journalist, the Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. have all denied the charges and demanded his immediate release.

Disinformation Inc: 12 Republicans press State Department over grants to Global Disinformation Index

Gabe Kaminsky

March 11, 07:05 AM March 11, 07:05 AM

This is part of a Washington Examiner series on self-styled 'disinformation' tracking groups that are blacklisting and trying to defund conservative media. Here is where you can read other stories in the series.

EXCLUSIVE — A dozen Republican members of Congress are demanding answers from the State Department over it bankrolling a "disinformation" tracking group that the Washington Examiner revealed is blacklisting and trying to shut down conservative websites.

Republicans have continued to press Secretary of State Antony Blinken over two State Department-backed entities, the Global Engagement Center and the National Endowment for Democracy, granting $665,000 between 2020 and 2021 to the Global Disinformation Index. Led by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), 12 lawmakers sent a Saturday letter to Blinken that requested grant information and why the agency funded a "foreign organization that polices and suppresses domestic American information."

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"These grants have real world implications, chilling freedom of expression and speech with impunity," the Republicans wrote. "For example, considering the Energy Department and FBI's new determination that the Coronavirus most likely arose from a Wuhan lab leak, this taxpayer funded British outfit pressured advertising companies to 'punish' websites that dared to report on the entirely legitimate lab leak theory."

GDI, a British organization with two linked U.S. nonprofit groups, compiles a "dynamic exclusion list" with at least 2,000 sites it deems to be the foremost disinformation peddlers. The Washington Examiner learned exclusively that it is on this list, which advertising companies subscribe to in order to choose which sites to defund.

Separately, GDI has said that the 10 "riskiest" news sites are the Federalist, the American Conservative, the Daily Wire, RealClearPolitics, the New York Post, and other right-leaning outlets.

Most of the State Department-linked money handed to GDI came from the National Endowment for Democracy, which is funded almost entirely through congressional appropriations. Between 2020 and 2021, NED granted roughly $545,000 to GDI for it to develop disinformation "risk ratings" in foreign countries.

However, NED announced last month that it will no longer support GDI in order "to avoid the perception" that it's working on "any work domestically, directly or indirectly," since it focuses on foreign matters. Still, the State Department's Global Engagement Center, which granted $100,000 to GDI in 2021 as part of the U.S. Paris Tech Challenge, a program to fight "disinformation" overseas, has not made a similar commitment.

In their Saturday letter, the Republicans asked the State Department whether it finds it "appropriate for a de facto foreign organization or individual to police" U.S. media outlets. They listed a March 30 deadline for all questions.

"How does funding efforts to counter 'disinformation' by a foreign agent in the amount of $665,000, through the two State Department-backed entities named herein, advance America's national security and diplomatic interests?" asked the lawmakers.

The lawmakers also questioned the State Department over whether it was "involved or consulted" in connection to GDI's various analyses of alleged disinformation, including a Dec. 16, 2022, report titled "Disinformation Risk Assessment: The Online News Market in the United States." The December report notably included GDI's lists of the "riskiest" and "least riskiest" news outlets.

In addition, Clyde and the Republicans want to know whether the State Department was directed to fund GDI by President Joe Biden, the White House, ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the Democratic National Committee, or any government official.

Co-signers of the letter were Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV), Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Rep. Bill Posey (FL), Rep. George Santos (R-NY), Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), and Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL).

"Federal agencies should never weaponize taxpayer dollars to fund government-by-proxy censorship efforts," Clyde told the Washington Examiner. "Given the alarming evidence of nefarious activity by this State Department-backed group, Congress must demand answers and fully investigate the matter to provide accountability to the American people."

"It’s time for Secretary Blinken to be transparent about the State Department’s involvement and knowledge of the GDI’s dangerous blacklisting and censorship efforts so we can ensure this violation of Americans' First Amendment freedoms never happens again," he added.

The letter to Blinken comes one day after the State Department missed a deadline request by Rep. James Comer (R-KY) for documents in connection to GDI grants. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee chairman demanded on Feb. 23 that the department turn over information by end-of-day March 9.

A spokesperson for the Oversight Committee told the Washington Examiner that the department is "working on identifying and producing documents." However, the committee will "continue to press" the agency for answers, said the spokesperson.

Blinken helps make unannounced take a look at to Ukraine, pledges more assist

Cami Mondeaux

September 08, 08:37 AM September 08, 08:37 AM

Secretary of Condition Antony Blinken designed an unannounced check out to Ukraine on Thursday, vowing supplemental assistance from the United States as the war-torn region seeks to recapture territory overtaken by Russian forces.

Blinken met with top Ukrainian officials in the capital of Kyiv, marking his next excursion to the state because Russia invaded in late February. The journey was component of the U.S.’s most current endeavours to convey its guidance for Ukraine and its intent to present army support.

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The Biden administration also announced a different $2 billion in help to Ukraine and other neighboring nations as section of the war efforts, although details on that funding are not very clear.

“This support demonstrates nonetheless once again our unwavering dedication to Ukraine’s long run as a democratic, sovereign, and impartial condition, as well as the security of allies and companions across the region,” the Condition Section stated in a statement.

Blinken's shock stop by comes as Ukraine makes an attempt to regain captured territory in the jap and southern parts of the nation occupied by Russian forces. While the Ukrainian military has built some gains in recent months, the region has emphasised the require for far more weapons and assist to triumph over the Russians.

As Blinken manufactured his trip, Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the U.S. would supply Ukraine with a further $675 million in armed forces aid to finance rockets and other weaponry. The hottest pledge delivers the whole in U.S. aid to $13.5 billion considering that the war commenced.