06/02/23
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – On October 19, 2020, 51 former intelligence officials signed an open letter concluding a New York Post article about then-candidate Joe Biden’s son had “all the classic markings” of the Russian disinformation. The letter was used by the press to ignore the story and by social media companies to censor content related to the story. Even the US government used the letter to justify taking certain actions. The Post story has proven accurate.
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) joined Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) and committee colleagues in sending a letter to the Director of Intelligence National Avril Haines demanding answers about the relationship that those 51 officials had at the time. with the US Intelligence Community and whether the Office of the Director of National Intelligence or the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) investigated whether former CIA Acting Director Mike Morrell or other employees, they abused their titles to advance a partisan political effort.
Lankford and Rubio were joined in sending the letter by Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), all members of the select committee of the Senate on Intelligence.
“Former intelligence officials have flexibility in post-employment opportunities and maintain First Amendment protections afforded to all Americans to express political views. We believe, however, that this partisan effort crossed the line of politicizing the intelligence community as a whole, as these former officials abused their influence within the intelligence community to achieve a partisan political outcome. Politicizing intelligence is wrong , dangerous and threatens the public’s faith in institutions that should never be used to attempt to influence the democratic process,” the senators wrote.
Read the full text of the letter HERE and below:
Dear Principal Haines:
Less than four weeks before Election Day 2020, the New York Post published an article detailing how Hunter Biden used his relationship and influence with his father for personal financial gain. Specifically, the New York Post detailed how Hunter Biden allegedly introduced then-Vice President Biden to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy company based on emails found on an abandoned laptop that once belonged to Hunter Biden. Five days later, 51 former senior intelligence officials released a statement concluding that the New York Post article had “all the classic labels” of Russian disinformation. We are deeply concerned that these former senior members of the US intelligence community misused their titles and connections to conduct a coordinated, partisan effort to protect President Biden during the 2020 election.
We now know that this letter was part of a deliberate effort to protect the Biden campaign in the final days of the election.
These 51 former intelligence officials highlighted their former titles and previous experience in the Intelligence Community to bolster the credibility of the statement and increase the effectiveness of this partisan political operation. The October 19, 2020, letter began: “We are all individuals who devoted significant parts of our lives to national security. Some of us held senior positions in policy departments and agencies, and some of us held senior positions in the intelligence community.”
Former intelligence officials have flexibility in post-employment opportunities and retain the First Amendment protections granted to all Americans to express political opinions. We believe, however, that this partisan effort crossed the line into politicizing the intelligence community as a whole, as these former officials abused their influence within the intelligence community to achieve an outcome partisan politician The politicization of intelligence is wrong, dangerous, and threatens public faith in institutions that should never be used to try to influence the democratic process.
Of particular concern is that former acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Michael Morell, requested that the CIA’s Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB) expedite this calculated effort to protect the Biden campaign. It is also inexcusable that a CIA employee, then assigned to the PCRB, solicited additional signatures from former intelligence community officials.
To better understand the connections that these 51 signatories, as detailed in Appendix A, had with the intelligence community both at the time their public statement was released and today, please provide the following information before of June 14, 2023.
How many individuals in Appendix A held an active security clearance at any time between October 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020? How many people in Appendix A currently have a security clearance? How many commercial agreements, contracts, or other consulting arrangements maintained by individuals in Appendix A with any element of the US intelligence community between October 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020? How many Appendix A individuals currently maintain commercial agreements, contracts, or other consulting arrangements with any element of the US intelligence community? Has the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) or the CIA conducted a review of former CIA Acting Director Mike Morrell’s abuse of the CIA’s PCRB process? Has ODNI or the CIA investigated whether other employees of the Intelligence Community in October 2020 participated in or assisted in the creation of the public statement?
All of us in positions of public trust with access to classified information owe it to the American people not to abuse our positions for political purposes. We look forward to your quick response.
Sincerely,
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