An explosive report released Tuesday afternoon by the Republican House Judiciary Committee alleges that at least two of the 51 “former” intelligence officials who signed a letter discrediting Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” as Russian disinformation were actually on the CIA payroll at the time the letter was signed – despite actively claiming they did not have access to classified information.
Former deputy director Michael Morell and former CIA inspector general David Buckley are the two signatories named in Tuesday’s report as being under contract at the time they signed the statement. However, because the CIA “declined to release all signatories who were under contract,” it is unknown how many signatories were both working with the Biden campaign and on the CIA payroll.
In addition, the report says the statement’s co-author, former senior intelligence officer Marc Polymeropoulos, used classified information in his proposed media topics “that had to be removed before publication.”
Some points from the Summary:
Senior CIA officials, including then-CIA Director Gina Haspel, were informed of Hunter Biden’s statement before it was approved and published. Because several former senior intelligence officials had signed the statement, the PCRB sent the draft statement to then-CIA Chief Operating Officer (COO) Andrew Makridis, who said he subsequently informed then-Director Haspel or then-Deputy Director Vaughn Frederick Bishop that the statement would soon be released. Senior CIA leadership had an opportunity at the time to tardy down the CIA’s release request review process and ensure that such an extraordinary statement was properly vetted.
Some of the signatories of the statement, including Michael Morell, were under lively contracts with the CIA at the time Hunter Biden’s statement was released. Throughout the committees’ investigation, the signers claimed not to have had access to classified information when they claimed that the allegations surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the hallmarks” of Russian disinformation. However, at the time the statement was released, at least two signers – Morell and former CIA Inspector General David Buckley – were on the CIA payroll as contractors. For alleged operational reasons, the CIA declined to release any signers who were on a contract basis. In addition, some signers of the Hunter Biden statement also had special “green card” access to the CIA at the time the statement was released, allowing them access to secure CIA facilities.
Following the release of Hunter Biden’s statement, CIA officials internally expressed concern about the politicized content of the statement and acknowledged that it was “not helpful to the agency in the long run.” At least one employee found it “[i]It is interesting to see what has been submitted and approved,” when discussing the media talking points submitted by the statement’s co-author, former senior intelligence officer Marc Polymeropoulos, in connection with the statement. When discussing Polymeropoulos’ talking points, another CIA official stated, “It seems [Polymeropoulos] is actively involved in a pro-Biden campaign and may be disclosing classified information as part of his efforts.” The CIA’s internal review panel, known as the Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB), found that Polymeropoulos’ arguments contained classified information that had to be removed before publication.
The report includes emails that demonstrate the direct involvement of senior CIA officials, including Haspel, in the rapid approval of the statement for release (approval means it did not contain classified information). The first email was sent by Morell at 6:31 a.m. on Monday, October 19, 2020, and Morell received full approval within six hours. Haspel could have slowed the process or questioned the appropriateness of current CIA contractors participating in such an overtly political move (especially since the CIA likely knew the laptop and its contents were genuine), but she complied with Morell’s request to “hurry up.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan commented:
“We knew that the hasty statement by the 51 former intelligence officials was a political maneuver between the Biden campaign and the intelligence community. With this interim report, we now reveal how officials at the highest levels of the CIA knew about the statement and CIA officials knew that several of the so-called former officials were on active contract with the CIA. The report underscores the risks posed by an armed federal government.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Because this is a developing story, only the committee’s key information is provided here. Additional reporting and analysis will follow. You can read the full report below.)
