by Debra Heine
Top CIA officials signed off on a politically charged public statement issued by 51 former intelligence officials weeks before the 2020 election, according to newly obtained internal CIA emails and testimony evidence.
The signatories, some of whom were on the CIA payroll at the time, asserted that the disgusting and incriminating contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop bore “all the hallmarks” of Russian disinformation. Both the Biden campaign and corporate media seized on the false claim to blunt a potentially explosive scandal that could have ended Biden’s presidential bid if it had been accurately reported.
According to up-to-date report According to information released by the Republican-led Committee on the Judiciary, its Special Subcommittee on Federal Weapons, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, CIA Chief Operating Officer (COO) Andrew Makridis (pictured above) testified that he briefed Director Gina Haspel or Deputy Director Vaughn Frederick Bishop about the upcoming release of a politically charged magazine.
“CIA senior management then had the opportunity to slow down the publication submission process and ensure that such an unusual statement was properly vetted,” the report states.
IN statement On Wednesday, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said the CIA should have known the now-discredited statement lacked credibility.
“This sequence of events suggests that CIA leadership had ample opportunity to assess the validity of the allegations in the statement,” Stefanik said. “Furthermore, the COO’s office apparently signaled approval of the statement in a move that departed from standard Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB) protocols.”
According to the Commission, during the investigation the signatories argued that their claims were based on their experience as intelligence professionals and that they did not have access to classified information.
According to Republicans on the Committee, these claims turned out to be not entirely true.
“Despite claiming that they had no access to classified information at the time, at least two of the signatories — Michael Morell and former CIA Inspector General David Buckley — were actively working for the CIA as contractors,” Stefanik noted. “This disclosure raises concerns that these officials may have abused their positions to rush approval of the declaration and may have made taxpayer money while they did so.”
“Some of the signatories to the statement were on the CIA payroll as contractors at the time, and others had special access to CIA facilities,” the report says. Even Michael Morell—before the Committees learned of his CIA contract—acknowledged that “it is inappropriate for a currently serving official or contractor to engage in the political process.”
GOP lawmakers say Hunter Biden’s “statement was a blatant political operation from the outset.”
“The case began with a call from Biden’s top campaign official — now Secretary of State — Antony Blinken to former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Michael Morell. The committee’s investigation found that Morell would not have written the statement without that call from Blinken.”
Although Morell has denied that the Biden campaign specifically asked him to prepare the statement, former CIA agent Marc Polymeropoulos, who helped draft the initial draft, told the committee last year that Morell “mentioned to me that someone in Biden’s world had asked about doing this.” Asked to elaborate, Polymeropoulos testified: “Morell told me someone in Biden’s world asked for it. And he didn’t tell me who it was or any other details about it.
Polymeropoulos testified that he did not know about Morell’s conversation with Blinken until the committees told him.
At least one employee found it”[i]interesting to see what was submitted and approved” in reference to the media points of Polymeropoulos’ statement in the statement. Another CIA official stated, “It appears that [Polymeropoulos] is actively involved in the pro-Biden campaign and may be disclosing classified information as part of his efforts.”
An internal CIA review board known as the Pre-Publication Classification Review Board (PCRB) determined that Polymeropoulos’ statements contained classified information that should have been redacted before publication.
Some CIA officials reportedly believed Hunter Biden’s statement was political and would harm the agency.
After the report was released on October 19, 2020, CIA officials expressed concerns that the statement was political in nature and “would not be helpful to the Agency in the long term.”
“Hunter Biden’s infamous statement had all the hallmarks of an intelligence community influence operation,” the GOP lawmakers said. “But instead of conducting it against our adversaries on foreign soil, it was directed against the American people and our democratic processes.”
The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday released transcripts of their interviews with the intelligence officials who signed the discredited statement:
🚨 #NEWS: Judiciary Committee releases transcripts of intelligence officials who discredited Hunter Biden story
Transcription by John Brennan: https://t.co/ghmbJ9tW7c
Transcription by James Clapper: https://t.co/qrObFQywvv
Transcription by Andrew Makridis: https://t.co/y8nrg0wKuL
Michael…
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) June 27, 2024
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Debra Heine is a conservative Catholic mother of six and a longtime political commentator who has written for several conservative news outlets over the years, including Breitbart and PJ Media.
Photo “Former CIA Director of Operations Andrew Makridis” by Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs.
