President Joe Biden’s White House deputy press secretary, Andrew Bates, has been implicated in the coverup related to First Son Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop, according to reports.
On Wednesday, a report by the House Weaponization Subcommittee revealed that former CIA senior adviser Nick Shapiro drafted a press release for the now-discredited letter signed by 51 former intelligence officers that attempted to portray the laptop at the core of the explosive New York Post article as a Russian operation in October 2020.
“Giving this to you exclusively first if you guys want to run with it,” Shapiro wrote in his pitch to the media outlets, according to the email dated Oct. 19, 2020. “You can also use this on the record from me Nick Shapiro, describing what this is: ‘A large group of former career intelligence officers, many specializing in Russia, joined by a group of former intelligence community leaders, are all saying that they believe the Russians were somehow involved here.’”
“’The IC leaders who have signed this letter, worked for the past four presidents, including Trump,’” the email continued. “’The real power here, however, is the number of former, working level IC officers, who want the American people to know that once again the Russians are interfering.’”
Politico then published the letter two weeks before the election, with many from Biden’s camp sharing the report through social media.
Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say https://t.co/zRdHxTxVsl
— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) October 20, 2020
“Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say,” wrote Jen Psaki, who later became Biden’s White House press secretary, in a tweet.
“If we see tonight from Donald Trump these attacks on Vice President Biden’s family, I think we need to be very, very clear that what he’s doing here is amplifying Russian misinformation,” said Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager who eventually served as White House communications director.
Biden brought up the letter during the final presidential debate, where he told former President Donald Trump that his son’s laptop was a “Russian plant” and a “bunch of garbage.”
“There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plant,” he said at the time. “… Five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except his good friend Rudy Giuliani.”
