A new report from the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government reveals that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) solicited cosigners for a letter calling the Hunter Biden laptop story "Russian disinformation" during the lead-up to the 2020 election.
The report, obtained by The Post Millennial, states that former CIA analyst David Cariens disclosed to the Committees that a CIA employee affiliated with the agency's Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB) asked him to sign the statement. The report also notes that Cariens said that the CIA may have helped in the effort to solicit signatures for the statement.
Cariens told Congressional investigators in an email that the person in charge of reviewing his memoir called to say it was approved with no changes. During that conversation, he was asked if he would sign the statement.
After hearing the letter's contents and qualifiers, Cariens agreed to sign. He felt there was enough circumstantial evidence to raise suspicion that Russian intelligence was involved in the Hunter Biden laptop issue. Cariens' wife, a former CIA employee, also signed the statement.
Former CIA acting director Mike Morell drafted the letter with retired CIA employee Marc Polymeropoulos. On October 18, 2020, Morell emailed several former intelligence personnel requesting signatures.
In the email, Morell stated that they drafted the letter because they believed the Russians were involved in some way in the Hunter Biden email issue and that Trump would attack Biden on the subject at that week's debate. They wanted to give the VP a talking point to use in response. Wood used Morell's language in her email to several intelligence personnel the following day.
Some former intelligence officials refused to sign the letter's first draft, with two paragraphs about Biden's relationship with Ukraine being omitted. In an email between Morell and former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Nick Rasmussen, Morell wrote: "The last two paras are gone, as some folks thought them too political. Just Russia and intel now. Better."
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper "offered editorial advice to 'strengthen the verbiage,'" according to the report. "I think it would strengthen the verbiage if you say this has all the classic earmarks of a Soviet/Russian information operation rather than the 'feel' of a Russian operation," he wrote in an email to Morell.
A final version of the letter was sent to the PCRB on October 19, 2020, at 6:34 am, stating, "This is a rush job, as it needs to get out as soon as possible." Morell testified that he wanted the letter out "before the debate." The report notes that the PCRB appeared to have "approved as written" the letter sometime before 5:51 pm.
During Morell's testimony, he said that he did not coordinate with the CIA, referring to Carien's allegations and that such an action by a CIA employee would be "inappropriate."
The report notes that on March 21, 2023, the committee requested documents from the CIA relating to the statement and interactions between the CIA and the cosigners of the statement, with a due date of April 4, 2023. "The CIA has so far failed to comply to this oversight request," the report states.
The PCRB reviews statements, letters, and books published by former intelligence personnel to screen for potential classified information. The report states that the PCRB had had the statement since 6:34 am on October 19, 2020, when Morell sent the letter to the PCRB. The PCRB acknowledged receipt of the note at 7:11 am the same day.
In an email sent by Cariens to Congressional investigators on March 5, 2023, he stated that he was "surprised" when he received the draft letter from the PCRB employee. Cariens said that he did not believe the PCRB employee was acting on behalf of the CIA and that he signed the letter because he agreed with its content.
However, the report suggests that the CIA's involvement in drafting and soliciting signatures for the letter raises questions about the politicization of the intelligence community during the 2020 election.
The report notes that the letter's qualifiers, such as "We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emails provided to the New York Post by President Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement," indicate that the letter was intended to provide cover for the Biden campaign and discredit any potential impact of the Hunter Biden laptop story on the election.
The report also notes that the letter's assertions about Russian involvement in the Hunter Biden laptop story were not supported by any evidence and contradicted statements by the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence.
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