Newly-released documents show, in the final weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign, the Central Intelligence Agency raced to approve a letter that falsely claimed the Russian government “planted” the evidence of criminal activity found on a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden.
The letter, pushed by associates of the Biden campaign and cleared by CIA leaders, was used by social media companies to censor news coverage to benefit Biden's election, potentially flipping the result of the 2020 presidential election
The non-profit public interest law firm Judicial Watch reports they “received eight pages of records from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) showing Mike Morell, former acting CIA director under President Obama, requesting CIA permission to publish a letter by former intelligence community leaders stating that they believed the laptop emails exposing Hunter Biden's connections to Ukraine were Russian disinformation. Morrell's request for prepublication review was approved in just six hours by the CIA.”
“These documents are astounding. That the CIA would turn around a campaign document like this for Joe Biden's team in six hours is insane news,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “This seems to be demonstrable campaign interference by the CIA, and that should be alarming to all Americans.”
Judicial Watch forced the release of the documents through a June 23, 2023, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed after the CIA failed to respond to a May 11, 2023, request.”
Judicial Watch had asked for:
Records and communications of the Prepublication Classification Review Board, Central Intelligence Agency, including emails, email chains, email attachments, text messages, cables, voice recordings, correspondence, statements, letters, memoranda, reports, presentations, notes, or other form of record, regarding an October 19, 2020, email request to review and “clear” a letter involving the Hunter Biden laptop story potentially having Russian involvement or being a Russian disinformation plot.
The documents show CIA officials raced to approve the letter, with Morell writing in an email on Monday, October 19, 2020, at 6:36 a.m., to the CIA's Publications Classification Review Board (PCRB) with a copy to Marc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA senior intelligence officer, which read “This is a rush job, as it needs to get out as soon as possible.”
“This was five days after the New York Post published an article on the Hunter Biden emails, three days before a Donald Trump/Joe Biden debate, and 15 days before the presidential election,” JW notes.
The “Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails” is included in the records obtained by JW, which states in part:
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 — just that our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case.
At 8:01 a.m. the same day of Morell's email, JW reports “an unnamed CIA official sent Morell's request to an official whose name is also redacted,” with a note reading:
Below is a high profile/high alert action item for 19 October:
Former DDCIA Michael Morell submitted for review the attached manuscript (“Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails”). Mr. Morell has advised us that this article was co-authored with former DO officer Marc Polymeropoulos and that “many former senior and working-level officials from across the IC will sign and then be made public. PCRB has determined that this manuscript contains no classified information.” [Emphasis in original]
JW reports the records then show “at 11:44 a.m., five hours and eight minutes after Morrell sent his request, a person whose name is redacted sends an email stating:”
You may notify former DDCIA [Deputy Director] Morell.
Just an hour later, at 12:44 p.m., the official whose name is redacted emails Morell:
Dear Michael,
The Prepublication Classification Review Board completed its review of your article titled “Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails.” The Board determined that it contains no classified information and can be published. Agency approval for publication of this material does not represent Agency endorsement or verification of this work.
If you add new material, please resubmit it before sharing, highlighting the new language to expedite our review. The PCRB appreciates your cooperation with prepublication review. You may reach out to us via [redacted] with questions or concerns.
Kind regards, PCRB Staff
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