When the 2020 presidential campaign was winding down, 51 intelligence officials signed a letter claiming that the New York Post’s report regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop had all the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation operation. Some of these officials were contractors for the CIA and had unique access to CIA facilities.
This new information suggests that the signatories were probably receiving public funds for their work with the Trump administration’s intelligence agency while also assisting Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Joint interim staff reports from the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Judiciary Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, showed how CIA contractors conspired with the Biden campaign to deceive American voters.
The signatories were ex-intelligence officers who did not have access to secret material when the declaration was made on October 19, 2020.
On October 20, 2020, a CIA employee emailed a coworker, saying that at least some of the random participants were working for the CIA on contracts. This statement was highlighted in the report. The coworker wrote in response that it frustrated him and that the Agency would not benefit from it in the end.
According to the report, the statement was known to the highest levels of the CIA prior to its publication. April testimony from then-CIA COO Andrew Makridis indicated that he had communicated its imminent publication to then-Deputy Director Vaughn Frederick Bishop or then-Director Gina Haspel, giving top CIA brass plenty of time to evaluate the statement’s veracity. In addition, going against procedure, Makridis’s office approved the letter.
The 51 ex-intelligence officers’ statement on Hunter Biden was clearly a political effort.
Morell and David Buckley, who had previously served as CIA Inspector General, were contractors for the agency when the statement was published, according to a report. Despite Morell’s denials, internal CIA records revealed that he and Buckley were engaged in contract work for the agency. In fact, Buckley had a green badge that granted him entry to restricted CIA sites. Unlike contractors, most CIA personnel are not allowed to participate in partisan operations according to the Hatch Act.
According to Makridis’ testimony, a contractor or staff officer should not be active in politics. He said that before approving the statement, he would have considered the pertinent ethical considerations.
