Two left-wing formerly high-ranking U.S. intelligence officials argue an influential media report about their Trump-bashing accusations related to Hunter Biden’s laptop was … wait for it … fake news.
Both James Clapper, former national intelligence director, and Thomas Finger, whose career included a stint as chairman of the National Intelligence Council, trotted out Donald Trump’s favorite trope to distance themselves from their efforts to quash the explosive 2020 story uncovered by the New York Post.
According to Breitbart News on Monday, both men stood their ground against their media allies by whining to The Washington Post that Politico “deliberately distorted,” as Clapper put it, a letter they signed condemning the reporting on Biden’s wayward computer.
In the news: Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley Joins Trump In Vying For The GOP Presidential Nomination
To recap, less than a month before the 2020 election, the New York Post broke the story of the damaging details of Biden’s dubious business dealings on his computer, which had been abandoned in a Delaware repair shop.
The mainstream media and Big Tech sat on the story, asserting the NY Post was spreading misinformation or disinformation.
Immediately after the story broke, Clapper, Finger, and 49 other former spies signed a letter dismissing the allegations. Politico dutifully reported on the letter.
In that now-infamous letter, the authors asserted that the NY Post’s report “has 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.
In the news: Shooter That Killed 3, Critically Injured 5 At Michigan State University Found Dead
Despite the disclaimer, Clapper, Finger, and the other spies went on to cite “a number of factors that make us suspicious of Russian involvement.”
As they wrote, “Such an operation would be consistent with Russian objectives, as outlined publicly and recently by the Intelligence Community, to create political chaos in the United States and to deepen political divisions here but also to undermine the candidacy of former Vice President Biden and thereby help the candidacy of President Trump.”
Multiple top-level media outlets picked up Politico’s story.
On Monday, though, Clapper and Finger sang a different tune.
“There was message distortion,” Clapper told the Washington Post. “All we were doing was raising a yellow flag that this could be Russian disinformation. Politico deliberately distorted what we said. It was clear in paragraph five.”
Clapper somehow believes it’s exonerating to admit that the supposed disclaimer actually indicated they were commenting on something they knew nothing about.
Finger added to the WaPo, “No one who has spent time in Washington should be surprised that journalists and politicians willfully or unintentionally misconstrue oral or written statements.”
“The statement we signed was carefully written to minimize the likelihood that what was said would be misconstrued, and to provide a clear written record that could be used to identify and disprove distortions.”
In the news: Florida Gov. DeSantis Calls Hunter Biden’s Access To Classified Docs “A Security Risk”
Politico, however, refused to back down. In a statement, the outlet said it “fairly and accurately reported on — and summarized — the intelligence officials’ letter.”
Back in December, as The Free Press reported, current GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Clapper, Finger, and the rest either “blatantly lied” to the American people or are “really stupid.”
“They used their reputation to lie to the American public,” said McCarthy, who vowed to investigate the basis for the letter they issued.
Android Users, Click Here To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook Here Or Twitter Here. Signup for our free newsletter by clicking here.