Consequences for 51 intelligence officials who alleged Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation under Trump

Donald Trump, the President-elect, is set to take action against more than 50 national security officials. These officials had cast doubt on the authenticity of the news surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop during the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. They alleged that the laptop scandal was a product of Russian disinformation.

Reports from Fox News indicate that the new administration plans to revoke the security clearances of the 51 officials who were vocal in suggesting that the incriminating content discovered on Hunter Biden’s laptop was indicative of Russian involvement. This move comes after a memo was circulated by these officials claiming that the materials on the laptop displayed characteristics typical of a Russian disinformation effort.

Notable figures involved in the circulation of this memo include Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Their involvement in the creation and dissemination of the memo has put them at risk of having their security clearances revoked by the incoming administration.

The memo allowed the elder Biden to discredit the laptop and its damning evidence during presidential debates, town halls and other media appearances prior to the election.

But an FBI agent announced that the agency confirmed the authenticity of the materials found on the device at Hunter’s federal gun trial. 

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also admitted his company had ‘demoted’ stories about Hunter’s laptop.

Still, several of the ex-intel officials doubled down on their 2020 memo, saying it was a ‘patriotic move’ that they don’t regret. 

‘It served as nothing more than a warning letter of what we have known for decades: certain foreign governments – including Russia – continue to try and actively interfere in our domestic affairs and our guard must remain vigilant,’ claimed attorney Mark S Zaid, who was representing seven signatories, the New York Post reports.

‘Every patriotic American should have signed that letter.’ 

The damning laptop was originally discovered at a Delaware tech repair shop. 

DailyMail.com led reporting on the laptop since its discovery and had independently verified it in 2021.

Among the evidence found on the abandoned laptop were emails showing Hunter introduced his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm where Hunter, 54, sat on the board.

Documents also showed Hunter was paid a $1million retainer in 2017 to represent his business partner Patrick Ho, who was being prosecuted by the US government, and that CEFC wired the Biden family a total of $5million.

One startling email even indicated the president could have been involved in Hunter’s business dealings with the Chinese.

Nearly 9,000 photos from the device also showed the First Son taking drugs and having sex with prostitutes. 

The images were dated between 2008 and 2019. Some have geographic coordinates attached, showing Hunter took photos in Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Kosovo, the Dominican Republic, western China, London, Paris, Rome, Belgrade and across the US.

Some of the ex-intelligence officials who signed the memo have since claimed they were actively being paid by the CIA on a contract basis when they signed the letter.

According to a report, high-ranking CIA officials were made aware of the letter before its publishing and some raised concerns about the political nature of the letter.

Biden also claimed there was an effort to ‘break Hunter’ and destroy what he said was five-and-a-half years of sobriety as he announced that he would pardon his son last month.   

He raged against ‘several of my political opponents in Congress’ who he claimed made the charges a public spectacle ‘to attack me and oppose my election.’ 

The outgoing president added that the plea deal Hunter, who has since pledged to ‘make amends’ for his crimes, agreed to with the Department of Justice was a ‘fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.’ But that deal fell through at the last minute under political pressure.

‘No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because is my son – and that is wrong,’ he continued.

‘In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.’

The president didn’t shy away from pointing out that the love of his son guided his decision-making but stressed that he was being ‘fair-minded.’

‘Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further.’

Biden’s pardon for his son included any crimes he may have committed ‘from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024’. 

Trump saw the president’s decision to pardon son Hunter as a symptom of a broken justice system politicized by the liberal left

‘The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system,’ Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told DailyMail.com. 

‘That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people.’