A signer of the Hunter Biden laptop letter claims that he joined after a CIA employee asked him to do so.
David Cariens, a former CIA analyst, made the claim over the letter that sought to discredit the laptop's authenticity ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
NEW: David Cariens, a former intel analyst for the CIA, told congressional investigators that he & his wife Janice signed the Hunter Biden laptop letter only after a member of the CIA’s Prepublication Classification Review Board called him & asked him to.https://t.co/ez83JWUjrv
— Jerry Dunleavy 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) May 10, 2023
“My last book, a memoir, entitled Escaping Madness, was before the PCRB in October 2020. When the person in charge of reviewing the book called to say it was approved with no changes, I was told about the draft letter,” Cariens told investigators.
“The person asked me if I would be willing to sign. (I do not recall the person’s name or the exact date of the phone call.) After hearing the letter’s contents, and the qualifiers in it such as, ‘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…’ I agreed to sign," he added.
employee affiliated with the CIA may have assisted in obtaining signatories for the statement," reads a soon-to-be released report from the committees. "One signer of the statement, former CIA analyst David Cariens, disclosed to the Committees that a CIA https://t.co/wf9VpieT6c
— *𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒆𝑮𝒖𝒏♠️™️* (@DonDonMarshall1) May 9, 2023
An upcoming report from the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees also refers to the letter Cariens was pressured to sign.
"The Committees have evidence that an employee affiliated with the CIA may have assisted in obtaining signatories for the statement," reads an upcoming report from the committees.
"One signer of the statement, former CIA analyst David Cariens, disclosed to the Committees that a CIA employee affiliated with the agency’s Prepublication Classification Review Board ('PCRB') informed him of the existence of the statement and asked if he would sign it," it added.
David Cariens recounted that:
1. A CIA employee informed him about the Hunter Biden “intel” statement
2. The CIA employee read him the text of the statement
3. The CIA employee asked Cariens if he’d sign the statement. pic.twitter.com/s8BgBIa0fH
— Weaponization Committee (@Weaponization) May 10, 2023
The new concerns come as attorneys for the IRS whistleblower against Hunter Biden have also met with members of Congress.
“Chairman [Jason] Smith is working to ensure all of the appropriate steps are taken in this particular investigation to receive and evaluate the allegations and information this whistleblower shares with Congress and has publicly pledged that the committee will go where the facts lead,” a House Ways and Means Committee spokesperson told CBS News.
“Each week and day provide a new opportunity to advance this particular whistleblower claim and shed more light and transparency for the American people.”
The new details add to concerns of corruption ahead of the presidential election that could cause problems for president as he runs for a second term.
