A former top intel officer has just blown up any argument that the 51 former intelligence officials might have argued for signing the intel letter claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop might be Russian disinformation.
Former National Intelligence Officer for Cyber Chris Porter said that claims from Biden’s supporters “did not reflect” the actual intelligence. He said the CIA had no evidence to support any such claim.
“As the intelligence officer in charge of U.S. intelligence community analysis of foreign threats to U.S. elections in 2020, I was concerned at the time about this letter because it did not reflect our understanding of the threat,” Porter told Fox News Digital. “Yes, it looked like the kind of thing Moscow might do, but as our unclassified report to the public later indicated, despite an extensive influence campaign there was no evidence this particular item was Russian disinformation.”
“Any politically scandalous information from a nebulous source might be consistent with their sponsorship, but that doesn’t make it appropriate for senior officials to throw their weight into domestic politics by insinuation without clear and compelling evidence,” he added.
So nothing to support it and not appropriate to do it without clear and compelling evidence. Yet, they did it anyway and it may have changed the election.
Not only that, as we reported, a CIA employee reportedly solicited at least one person and got two signatures on the letter, David Cariens and his wife. So you had an active CIA employee soliciting this, based on no evidence, yet something that could critically interfere in the election. That’s more than a little inappropriate and probably should get that person fired if nothing else. But how deep did this go?
Indeed, former CIA Director Mike Morrell who was behind spreading the letter admitted he did it to help Biden win and so he could have a talking point in the upcoming debate. The Biden campaign was also linked to the letter. Morrell also solicited CIA approval from their Prepublication Classification Review Board, terming it a “rush job” and they gave it back with approval within hours on the same day they received it — October 19, 2020. Then Joe Biden was able to use it in the debate against Donald Trump on October 22.
One former senior intelligence official told Fox that usually, it can take hours to months for such approval, depending on whether “there are any elements that are questionable.” The possibility that Morrell might be named director if Biden won was also in the mix, probably for Morell and the folks considering the request.
“And if you’re helping get rid of Trump and you’re potentially going to be their boss after that happens, you can get it done the fastest. That’s what it looks like happened here,” [the official] said.
Former U.S. intelligence official Rebekah Koffler said it looked like that “process was weaponized in this case,” with the speed of the review.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan is also dropping some information that former CIA head John Brennan gave during his testimony on Thursday. According to Jordan, he said Brennan’s testimony confirmed it was “all political.”
Jordan’s further confirmation of that? Morrell got a thank you from the Biden campaign after it was used in the debate against Trump.
The House is now working to try to get the information about the communications that went back and forth between folks on the intel letter.