A former CIA official testified that then-Biden campaign adviser and now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken played a role in the creation of a debunked letter from 51 former intelligence officials that falsely claimed the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation.
On Thursday, Ohio Reps. Jim Jordan and Michael Turner, chairmen of the Judiciary and Intel Committees, respectively, sent a letter to Blinken informing him that their committees are “conducting oversight of federal law-enforcement and intelligence matters within [their] respective jurisdictions.”
“We are examining that public statement signed by 51 former intelligence officials that falsely discredited a New York Post story regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop as supposed Russian disinformation,” they wrote. “As part of our oversight, we have learned that you played a role in the inception of this statement while serving as a Biden campaign advisor, and we therefore request your assistance with our oversight.”
During his recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Michael Morell, a former deputy director of the CIA who signed onto the letter, revealed that “on or around October 17, 2020, [Blinken] reached out to him to discuss the Hunter Biden laptop story,” which had been published in the New York Post on Oct. 14. According to Morell, Blinken’s outreach “set in motion the events that led to the issuance of the public statement” that baselessly asserted the laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
When asked if he had any intent to write the statement prior to Blinken’s call, Morell said he
