James Clapper Accuses Politico of ‘Distorting’ Letter On Hunter Biden Laptop Being Possible Russian Disinformation
AP Photo/Cliff Owen
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper accused Politico of deliberately distorting a letter his name was signed to that suggested Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop could be Russian disinformation.
Materials from Biden’s laptop were first reported by the New York Post and though details were questioned, multiple outlets have since run reports authenticating data from the laptop. The letter Clapper and other intelligence officials signed was used by critics to dismiss the Post’s report.
“There was message distortion,” Clapper told The Washington Post in a report published on Monday. Politico’s report on the letter that Clapper was referring to was headlined, “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say,” and it was published weeks before the 2020 presidential election. President Joe Biden even referenced the letter and referred to his son’s laptop as part of a “Russian plan” during a debate at the time.
According to Clapper, Politico “deliberately distorted” the letter and sensationalized what the letter actually suggested.
“All we were doing was raising a yellow flag that this could be Russian disinformation. Politico deliberately distorted what we said,” he said.
Clapper accused people of ignoring that the “emphasis” of the letter was that the laptop could be disinformation, not that it actually was.
“The intent of the letter was that this could be Russian disinformation — emphasis on could. It’s a very important nuance,” he said.
John Paul Mac Isaac, the repairman who was in possession of the abandoned laptop, sued Politico for defamation over their description of the letter. Politico, however, is standing by their story.
The outlet released a statement to The Post’s Glenn Kessler for his report.
Politico said:
The article fairly and accurately reported on — and summarized — the intelligence officials’ letter. More specifically, the headline is a fair summary of their allegations, the subhead offers additional context, and the first paragraph of the article hyperlinks to the letter itself, allowing readers to draw their own conclusion.
