The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have both reportedly confirmed that a laptop allegedly belonging to Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is not part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
“A senior federal law enforcement official tells @JakeBGibson 1) FBI & DOJ concur w/ Ratcliffe that Hunter Biden’s laptop & the emails in question weren’t part of a Russian disinformation campaign,” Fox News producer Sean Langille tweeted. “2) The FBI DOES have possession of the Hunter Biden laptop in question.”
#BREAKING: A senior federal law enforcement official tells @JakeBGibson
1) FBI & DOJ concur w/ Ratcliffe that Hunter Biden's laptop & the emails in question weren't part of a Russian disinformation campaign.2) The FBI DOES have possession of the Hunter Biden laptop in question.
— Sean Langille (@SeanLangille) October 20, 2020
Langille added that Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum was told by a federal law enforcement official that the emails were authentic and that “the laptop may have not been looked at right away when it was received.”
MORE: @marthamaccallum is told by a Federal Law Enforcement Official that the emails are “authentic.”
And that the laptop may have not been looked at right away when it was received.— Sean Langille (@SeanLangille) October 20, 2020
The news comes after Director of Intelligence John Ratcliffe announced yesterday that the emails were not part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
“Let me be clear, the intelligence community doesn’t believe that because there is no intelligence that supports that and we shared no intelligence with chairman Schiff or any other member of Congress that Hunter Biden’s laptop is part of some Russian disinformation campaign,” Ratcliffe said. “It’s simply not true.”
Ratcliffe said that Schiff “wants anything against his preferred political candidate to be deemed as not real and is using the intelligence community, or attempting to use the intelligence community, to say there’s nothing to see here.”
“Don’t drag the intelligence community into this,” Ratcliffe continued. “Hunter Biden’s laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign and I think it’s clear the American people know that.”
The news comes after social media companies intervened to stop the spread of the New York Post’s explosive reporting on the email scandal, and journalists immediately tried to claim that the entire thing was a Russian disinformation campaign.
The New York Post’s first report stated:
The never-before-revealed meeting is mentioned in a message of appreciation that Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Burisma, allegedly sent Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015, about a year after Hunter joined the Burisma board at a reported salary of up to $50,000 a month.
“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure,” the e-mail reads.
An earlier e-mail from May 2014 also shows Pozharskyi, reportedly Burisma’s No. 3 exec, asking Hunter for “advice on how you could use your influence” on the company’s behalf.
Late last week, Fox News confirmed the veracity of some of the emails that were published, including ones that appeared “to outline a payout for former Vice President Joe Biden as part of a deal with a Chinese energy firm.”
CBS News confirmed Fox News’ report from late Tuesday afternoon, with Major Garrett writing on Twitter: “The FBI & DOJ concur with DNI Ratcliffe’s assessment that Hunter Biden’s laptop and the emails in question were not part of a Russian disinformation campaign. FBI does has possession of the Hunter Biden laptop in question.”
The FBI & DOJ concur with DNI Ratcliffe’s assessment that Hunter Biden's laptop and the emails in question were not part of a Russian disinformation campaign. FBI does has possession of the Hunter Biden laptop in question.
@DNI_Ratcliffe @FBI
— Major Garrett (@MajorCBS) October 20, 2020
Leftist Politico reporter Natasha Bertrand — who shredded in The Washington Post over her questionable reporting — promoted a letter from “50 former senior intelligence officials” who said that the disclosure of the emails “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
The following leftists and Democrat politicians that pushed the Russian disinformation conspiracy theory include:
We’ve got a lot to get through on this one, so we’ve gotta start doubling up early. Here we’ve got:@washingtonpost @businessinsider @Newsweek (wtf guys) and@USATODAY pic.twitter.com/gamUYSEBdf
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
And of course media’s most consistent Russian truther, @DavidCornDC, checked in on behalf of @MotherJones.
I could do an entire thread just on Corn honestly. pic.twitter.com/CgBU0wqGaa
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
And where could these news outlets be getting their stories?
Well, as it happens, many of them are from elected officials paid by your tax dollars.
You’ll be stunned, but leading the charge on the latest rash of Russian related hysteria was @RepAdamSchiff. pic.twitter.com/YyAsKgRVyy
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
As ever, he wasn’t alone. @ChrisMurphyCT did a whole thread on it. Here’s just a few of them. pic.twitter.com/WW0GMZMyja
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
Space and patience are almost gone. Here we’ve got:@joelockhart (go figure)@mitchellreports @kylegriffin1 @danielsgoldman pic.twitter.com/EZ6DMtmiTP
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
There’s no way to fit all of the NeverTrumpers, so we’re bundling them together. Here we’ve also got @BillKristol, @davidfrum and @WalshFreedom pic.twitter.com/wbVydmMyut
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
I will never forgive myself for once speaking positively of @EvanMcMullin. pic.twitter.com/3gxEpIUU6R
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
As ever, the former Republicans found a way to outdo themselves on this one. Here’s @MaxBoot checking in with the four-boxer, and also bringing @CNNTonight along for the ride. pic.twitter.com/qNSDB7Sp67
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
So many hacks, so little time. We’re combining all the @crookedmedia podcast bros into one tweet to save space. So we’ve got:@jonfavs @TVietor08 @jonlovett pic.twitter.com/PdnW8pRvm9
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
Obligatory mentions of both @SethAbramson and @kurteichenwald. pic.twitter.com/6eAs5n0mVl
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
@neeratanden went full black helicopters on this one. pic.twitter.com/KUlcWQfRjv
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
One of the loudest voices in all of this continues to be @brhodes, which is pretty incredible when you consider that the only reason we know his name is because he duped a media establishment that loved his boss. pic.twitter.com/mOiRHk6eXF
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
Plus we had this bogus from @BillPascrell. pic.twitter.com/LfqqYnRDDd
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
@davidcicilline may fly under the radar on it but he’s been a died in the blood Russian collusion guy, too. pic.twitter.com/DnN896IoZN
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 19, 2020
This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.