Blinken denies involvement in letter linking Hunter Biden laptop story to Russian disinformation.

Secretary of State Denies Involvement in Hunter Biden Laptop Story Discrediting Letter

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has denied playing any part in the letter signed by more than 50 former intelligence officials that sought to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop story as a Russian disinformation campaign.

“One of the great benefits of this job is that I don’t do politics and don’t engage in it,” Blinken told Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall in an interview on May 1 when asked if he had any role in the letter.

“But with regard to that letter, I didn’t—it wasn’t my idea, didn’t ask for it, didn’t solicit it. And I think the testimony that the former deputy director of the CIA, Mike Morrell, put forward confirms that,” Blinken said.

The letter Blinken was referencing was signed by 51 former senior intelligence officials ahead of the 2020 presidential election (pdf).

Signatories of the open letter claimed that the contents of a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

“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—just that our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case,” the letter stated.

Former CIA Senior Official Testifies

Blinken’s comments came shortly after the former deputy director of the CIA, Mike Morrell—who was among the individuals who signed the 2020 letter—told the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees that he had organized the letter after Blinken “reached out to him to discuss the Hunter Biden laptop story.”

Testimony cited by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)—who heads both the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government—states that at the time Blinken allegedly reached out to Morrell, Blinken was serving as a senior adviser to the Biden campaign.

Morrell’s testimony was revealed in an April 20 letter Jordan wrote to Blinken stating that lawmakers had learned that the secretary of state “played a role in the inception” of the 2020 letter while serving as a Biden campaign adviser.

“According to Morell, although your outreach was couched as simply gathering Morell’s reaction to the Post story, it set in motion the events that led to the issuance of the public statement,” the letter reads.

The letter then goes on to share some of Morell’s testimony before lawmakers in which they ask him, “prior to [Secretary Blinken’s] call, you—you did not have any intent to write this statement?” to which Morrell responds, “I did not.”

“Okay. So his call triggered [the letter],” they ask Morell, to which he responds, “It did, yes,” before reiterating that it “absolutely” did.

Blinken ‘Not Engaging in Politics’

Blinken denies any involvement in the letter that sought to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop story as a Russian disinformation campaign. He claims that he doesn’t engage in politics and that the letter wasn’t his idea, nor did he ask for it or solicit it. The former deputy director of the CIA, Mike Morrell, testified that Blinken reached out to him to discuss the Hunter Biden laptop story, which set in motion the events that led to the issuance of the public statement. The letter was signed by 51 former senior intelligence officials ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Signatories of the open letter claimed that the contents of a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden had all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.

Key Points:

• Blinken denies any involvement in the letter that sought to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop story as a Russian disinformation campaign.
• The former deputy director of the CIA, Mike Morrell, testified that Blinken reached out to him to discuss the Hunter Biden laptop story, which set in motion the events that led to the issuance of the public statement.
• The letter was signed by 51 former senior intelligence officials ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
• Signatories of the open letter claimed that the contents of a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden had all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.