James Clapper accuses media of exaggerating Hunter Biden 'Russian disinformation' letter

By 
 February 14, 2023

The dozens of intelligence officials who endorsed a letter baselessly claiming the Hunter Biden scandal was "Russian disinformation" aren't liars -- they were taken out of context, according to President Obama's top spy James Clapper. 

Clapper, who signed the notorious letter on the eve of the 2020 presidential election, now claims the message from the intelligence community was "deliberately distorted" by Politico. 

Clapper's cover-up

Clapper downplayed the impact of the letter in an interview with the Washington Post, in which he claimed that Politico "distorted" the claims of intelligence officials who questioned the authenticity of Hunter Biden's e-mails, which were initially published by the New York Post.

“All we were doing was raising a yellow flag that this could be Russian disinformation. Politico deliberately distorted what we said," he said.

The "Russian disinformation" talking point was widely parroted in the media and by then-candidate Joe Biden, who used it during a televised debate with President Trump to dismiss the New York Post's bombshell reporting as "garbage" planted by Russia.

Incredibly, Clapper asserted to the Washington Post that he wasn't aware Biden had cited the letter.

What took so long?

The infamous letter's signatories supplied zero evidence to support their claim, but the widely publicized letter had the -- doubtless intended -- effect of casting doubt on a legitimate corruption scandal involving Biden and his family.

Many are questioning why Clapper waited more than two years after the election, which Biden narrowly won, to make this "clarification."

Journalist Glenn Greenwald conjectured that Clapper and others in the intelligence community -- which notoriously schemed against President Trump with the "Russian collusion" smear -- knew exactly what they were doing all along.

"Reality: the CIA/IC people lying wanted the media to spread this. Only now that someone has to take the hit is Clapper saying Politico lied," Greenwald said.

Another smear campaign

While it's true that the intelligence officials never claimed to have more than a hunch, they came very close to stating that Biden was the target of a Russian propaganda effort.

Ironically, the "Russian disinformation" claim was itself disinformation. Clapper wants to coyly deny this, but he isn't stupid -- he must have known that the left-wing media would point to the letter as an authoritative opinion to discredit the Hunter Biden story.

While the "Russian disinformation" lie has few defenders left, it served its apparent purpose at the time: to keep Trump out of the White House.

The left deployed the same playbook to kneecap Trump's presidency with the "Russian collusion" smear campaign, in which Clapper was an active participant.

This is what the left calls "democracy": unelected spies spreading innuendo and rumor to influence public opinion and manipulate election outcomes. And they aren't the least bit ashamed, either.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson
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