House committee: Blinken got the ball rolling on Hunter Biden 'intel' letter; Biden campaign weighed in on press strategy

The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government has revealed some damning insights into how the Biden campaign coordinated the manufacture and dissemination of the notorious Hunter Biden "intel" letter that impacted the 2020 election.

It appears as though then-senior Biden campaign adviser and now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken got the ball rolling on the bogus letter that sought to discredit the New York Post. Additionally, it is clear the Biden campaign handpicked liberal outlets to parade their handiwork in, just ahead of a critical presidential debate.

Blinken kicks off Biden disinformation campaign

The New York Post published an explosive story on Oct. 14, 2020, about the laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer shop and an email thereon concerning then-Vice President Joe Biden's shady connections with Burisma, a holding company for a group of Ukrainian energy companies.

A few days later, Blinken, working for the Biden campaign, contacted former acting CIA Director Mike Morell to discuss the Post's reporting, intimating it might be Russian disinformation.

Just as Blinken was destined for a big position in Biden's administration in the event that the Hunter Biden story was rendered toothless, Morell was reportedly under consideration to be appointed Biden's CIA director.

In the ensuing exchange between Blinken and Morell, it was clear — from a signature at the base of one of the emails — that there were other Biden campaigners possibly involved.

Blinken forwarded to Morell a USA Today article titled, "A tabloid got a trove of data on Hunter Biden from Rudy Giuliani. Now, the FBI is probing a possible disinformation campaign." At the bottom of Blinken's email was the signature block of Andrew Bates, then-director of rapid response for the Biden campaign.

Bates, noted the Weaponization committee, was at the time tasked with defending Biden "against attacks on the campaign trail, while also employing an aggressive offensive strategy against President Trump and his team."

Morell testified that after and as a result of this exchange with Biden's future secretary of state, he began drafting the letter with the aim to get it out before the Oct. 22 presidential debate, in which Biden used the statement to great effect.

Bad intelligence

The committee indicated that Morell testified that he did not speak to anyone about potential Russian involvement with the laptop, but "rather researched the issue himself following his conversation with [then-Biden campaign adviser Antony] Blinken."

In an Oct. 18, 2020, email requesting signatures, Morell wrote that he had drafted the letter "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."

The signing campaign was a success.

James Clapper, former director of national intelligence; Leon Panetta, former head of the CIA; John Brennan, former head of the CIA; Michael Hayden, former head of the National Security Agency; Nick Rasmussen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center; Mike Vickers, former under secretary of defense for intelligence; and dozens of others signed the letter entitled, "Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails."

The letter Morell drafted declared that the Hunter Biden laptop story and the evidence it discussed were likely all an utter fabrication — that the story had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."

Despite admitting in the letter to not knowing whether the Hunter Biden emails provided to the New York Post were "genuine" and having no "evidence of Russian involvement," Clapper and his peers suggested a "laptop op" designed "to discredit Biden ... would be consistent with some of the key methods Russia has used in its now multi-year operation to interfere in our democracy."

The author of the now-discredited letter added, "Our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case. If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this."

Biden campaign puppets media response

After getting a slew of signatories whom he reportedly "misled" — allegedly with the help of a CIA insider — Morell had Nick Shapiro, his former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser at the CIA, "coordinate dissemination efforts with the media."

Morell told Shapiro what to say on and off the record with reporters.

"On the record from you: What is this? A large group of former career intelligence officers, many specializing in Russia, joined by a group of former IC leaders, all saying that the Russians were somehow involved here," Morell told Shapiro. "The IC leaders who have signed here are diverse in that they worked for the past four Presidents, including Trump. The real power here is the number of former, working-level IC officers who want the American people to know."

Morell further instructed Shapiro to volunteer the following details off the record: "Make sure sure reporters know that we are not making a call on whether the materials are true or not, just that Moscow played a role in getting the information out."

Unearthed emails show that Morell stressed that the Biden campaign preferred that the Washington Post first run the story.

According to the committee, "Morell apprised Shapiro that, '[b]etween us, the campaign would like' a specific reporter with the Washington Post to run the statement first."

After packaging the intended narrative in email form for the media to disseminate, Shapiro ran the content by the Biden campaign, ostensibly for its approval.

Despite its preference that the "Democracy dies in darkness" crew at the Washington Post advance the narrative, the Biden campaign also saw fit to have the letter passed to the Associated Press with its preferred framing.

When neither liberal outlet ran the story right away, Natasha Bertrand at Politico did so dutifully, with an Oct. 19, 2020, piece entitled, "Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say."

While parroting the suggestions made in the letter, Bertrand also advanced claims by Biden's top advisers in the piece, including their rebukes of credible accusations concerning the Bidens' business dealings in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Bertrand appears to have been rewarded with a CNN gig not long thereafter.

Payoff

Then-candidate Joe Biden exploited both the Politico report and the letter, referencing them in the final presidential debate with former President Donald Trump, saying, "Look, there are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plan. They have said that this has all the characteristics — four, five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except him and his good friend Rudy Giuliani."

The Blinken-triggered letter came in handy on at least one other occasion.

Biden cited the discredited letter on "60 Minutes," where he said, "From what I’ve read and know, the intelligence community warned the president that Giuliani was being fed disinformation from the Russians. And we also know that Putin is trying very hard to spread disinformation about Joe Biden. And so when you put the combination of Russia, Giuliani, and the president together, you assess what it is. It’s a smear campaign because he has nothing he wants to talk about in his — what is he running on? What is he running on?"

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