Clapper insists Politico ‘misrepresented’ infamous letter about Hunter Biden’s laptop

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is trying to clear things up regarding the 2020 letter he signed.

Following the discovery of the laptop, now confirmed to be Hunter Biden’s, more than 50 former intelligence officials signed a letter suggesting it could be the product of Russian disinformation. And Politico, which received the letter, published a 2020 article about him titled “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinformation, dozens of former intelligence officials say.”

However, Clapper, who signed the letter, now says the publication “misrepresented” its purpose.

“There was a distortion of the message,” he told Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post.

Clapper added: “All we did was raise the yellow flag, saying that this could be Russian disinformation. Politico deliberately misrepresented what we said. It was clear in the fifth paragraph.”

Hunter Biden’s laptop and claims of “Russian disinformation”

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) February 13, 2023

For its part, Politico disputed Clapper’s claim, saying in a statement to The Post, “The article honestly and accurately recounts – and summarized – the intelligence officials’ letter.”

“Specifically, the title is an accurate summary of their claims, the subtitle offers additional context, and the first paragraph of the article contains hyperlinks to the letter itself, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions,” the post reads.

The letter noted that the signatories “understand the wide range of overt and covert Russian activities that undermine US national security, and some of us are well aware of Russia’s behavior.”

In addition, the letter said: “We are writing to inform you that the appearance in the US political arena of emails allegedly belonging to the son of Vice President Biden Hunter, most of which are related to his work on the board of directors of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, is justified. classic signs of a Russian information operation.”

Kessler noted: “The letter refers to a Russian ‘information operation’, not disinformation. There is a difference in the national security community.” But Clapper told The Post that he thought it was “difference without difference.”

The fifth paragraph of the letter reads: “We want to emphasize that we do not know whether the emails provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani are genuine or not, and that we have no evidence of Russian involvement. “It’s just that our experience makes us deeply suspect that the Russian government played a significant role in this case.”

“The fifth paragraph – the ‘get out of jail free’ card – is intended to provide a plausible rebuttal if Russian involvement is not proven,” Kessler added.

He pointed out that the letter “does not clearly indicate that Hunter Biden’s laptop was a ‘Russian disinformation’ program, despite the Politico headline.”

However, he argued, “It was to Joe Biden’s advantage to mistake the message conveyed in the headline, just as for political reasons the Republicans also continued to make that statement.”

The letter boiled down to someone saying, “We think [insert person here] may have committed a crime. We don’t say they did it. We have no proof that they did. But judging by what we’ve seen on the news, it’s entirely possible that this was the case. And it’s probably worth checking out.”

As it turns out, the laptop was not Russian disinformation. If Clapper and the other signatories felt that the letter was being misrepresented, they might have spoken out to clarify the intent of the letter. Instead, they essentially signed it and disappeared as the laptop was dismissed as Russian disinformation.

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