sec. Antony Blinken insisted on Monday that he was not behind the infamous letter signed in October 2020 by 51 former intelligence officials seeking to discredit the reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
“One of the great advantages of this job is that I don’t do politics, I don’t deal with it,” said the state secretary. “But regarding that letter — it wasn’t my idea, I didn’t ask for it, I didn’t ask for it,” Blinken said on Fox News.
At that point he would be behind the letter Blinken was not a secretary of state but Biden’s campaign adviser.
Morrell, a former deputy CIA director and acting CIA director, recently testified before the House Judiciary Committee that a phone call with Blinken on Oct. 17 “definitely” piqued his interest in coordinating the letter.
Weeks before the 2020 election, the letter claimed the abandoned laptop had “all the classic hallmarks of a Russian intelligence operation.”
sec. Antony Blinken insisted on Monday that he was not behind the infamous letter signed in October 2020 by 51 former intelligence officials seeking to discredit the reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop
Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop sparked great reports just before the 2020 presidential election
Biden and his campaign at the time cited the letter to discredit the laptop.
Asked if he accepted the laptop’s legitimacy after most major news organizations verified it, Blinken said he would not discuss politics.
‘I don’t do politics. I have a lot on my agenda. Some of the things we just talked about are trying to help Russian aggression against our allies, partners around the world and dealing with some of China’s challenges. We now have a situation in Sudan, which has completely taken up my time.’
Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary, and Mike Turner, chairman of House Intel, sent a letter to Blinken last week telling him they were investigating the letter.
“As part of our oversight, we learned that you played a role in the formation of this statement while serving as Biden campaign adviser, and so we are asking for your assistance with our oversight.”
Jordan and Turner told Blinken that “according to Morell, although your outreach was meant to be simply gathering Morell’s reaction to the story, it set in motion the events leading up to the public statement being issued.”
The chairpersons wrote that on the same day Blinken and Morell called, Blinken emailed the former CIA specter an article saying the FBI was investigating whether the laptop was part of a disinformation campaign.
Morell was also asked about his intent in garnering support for such a statement.
“One of the intents was to share with the American people our concern that the Russians are playing games on this issue,” Morell said. “And second, it was to help Vice President Biden.”
Jordan asked Morell, “Why did you want to help the vice president?” Morell replied, “Because I wanted him to win the election.”
Morell said he was assisted by Marc Polymeropoulos in gathering intelligence heavyweights to question the laptop. Other former CIA directors, including John Brennan and Leon Panettam, eventually signed the document.
“While the statement’s signatories have an undisputed right to freedom of speech and free association — which we do not dispute — their reference to their national security credentials gave weight to the story and suggested access to specialized information not available to other Americans.” wrote Turner and Jordan. .
E-mails from Hunter’s abandoned laptop reveal that Blinken and his wife Evan Ryan have been in contact with the first son for a long time. On multiple occasions, Hunter has forwarded messages about setting up meetings with Blinken to fellow Burisma board members.
The pair even met at the State Department in 2015 when Hunter was on the Burisma board.
The laptop, which was left in a Delaware repair shop, was touted by Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s attorney, as evidence of alleged corruption within the Biden family.
The laptop contained explicit photos of the troubled Hunter Biden naked, prostituting and using drugs, as well as a huge amount of emails and texts between the 53-year-old and his father and the rest of the Biden family, as well as business associates standing eager to meet his former VP and then-future president dad.