President-elect Donald Trump is expected to punish more than 50 national security officials who claimed news of Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
The incoming president plans to suspend the security clearances of the 51 pro-Biden officials who signed a now-infamous memo claiming that damning photos and messages on the First Son's laptop bore “all the classic hallmarks” of a Russian disinformation campaign , Fox News reports, citing a senior official familiar with the matter.
Among the coordinators of the infamous memo were Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
The memo allowed the elder Biden to discredit the laptop and its damning evidence during presidential debates, town halls and other media appearances leading up to the election.
But an FBI agent announced that the agency confirmed the authenticity of materials found on the device during Hunter's federal weapons trial.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also admitted that his company had done so 'downgraded' stories about Hunter's laptop.
Still, several former intelligence officials have doubled down on their 2020 memo, saying it was a “patriotic move” that they do not regret.
“It served as nothing more than a warning letter to what we have known for decades: certain foreign governments – including Russia – continue to attempt to actively interfere in our domestic affairs, and our guardians must remain vigilant,” said attorney Mark S. Zaid. represented seven signatories, the New York Post reported.
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to punish more than 50 national security officials who claimed news of Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
The 51 pro-Biden officials who signed a now-infamous memo claiming that damning photos and messages on the First Son's laptop showed “all the classic hallmarks” of a Russian disinformation campaign will have their security clearances revoked
“Every patriotic American should have signed that letter.”
The destructive laptop was originally discovered at a tech repair shop in Delaware.
DailyMail.com led reporting on the laptop since its discovery and had independently verified it by 2021.
Among the evidence found on the abandoned laptop were emails showing that Hunter had introduced his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy company where Hunter, 54, sat on the board.
Documents also showed Hunter was paid a $1 million retainer in 2017 representing his business partner Patrick Ho, who was prosecuted by the US government, and that CEFC transferred the Biden family a total of $5 million.
One startling email even indicated that the president may 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 are dated between 2008 and 2019. Some have geographic coordinates attached, showing that Hunter took photos in Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Kosovo, the Dominican Republic, Western China, London, Paris, Rome, Belgrade and in the entire US.
Nearly 9,000 photos from Hunter's laptop showed the First Son taking drugs and having sex with prostitutes
The images are dated between 2008 and 2019. Some have geographic coordinates attached, showing that Hunter took photos in Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Kosovo, the Dominican Republic, Western China, London, Paris, Rome, Belgrade and in the entire US.
Some former intelligence officials who signed the memo have since claimed that they were actively being paid by the CIA on a contract basis when they signed the letter.
According to one report, senior CIA officials were informed of the letter before it was published, and some expressed concerns about the political nature of the letter.
Biden also claimed there was an attempt to “break” Hunter and destroy what he said was five and a half years of sobriety when he announced last month that he would pardon his son.
He railed against “several of my political opponents in Congress,” who he claimed had turned the allegations into a public spectacle “to attack me and oppose my election.”
The outgoing president added that the plea deal that Hunter, who has since vowed to “make amends” for his crimes, reached with the Justice Department was a “fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter's cases.” But that deal fell through at the last minute due to political pressure.
Biden announced last month that he would pardon his son
“No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter's cases could come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was singled out solely because he is my son – and that is wrong,” he continued.
“By breaking Hunter, they tried to break me too, and there's no reason to think it will stop here. Enough is enough.'
The president did not shy away from pointing out that his son's love guided his decision-making, but emphasized that he was “fair.”
“Here's the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I've struggled with this, I also believe that raw politics has infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice — and when I made this decision this weekend, there was no feel like postponing it further.'
Biden's pardon for his son included all crimes he may have committed 'from January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024'.
Trump said he saw Biden's decision to pardon Hunter as a symptom of a broken justice system that was being politicized by the liberal left.
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 Democratic-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told DailyMail.com.
“That justice system must be restored and due process must be restored for all Americans, and that is exactly what President Trump will do when he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people.”
