Columbia Standard

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has reached out to 51 former intelligence officials regarding their previous statements about Hunter Biden's laptop. The officials, including James Clapper, Michael Hayden, and Leon Panetta, had signed a statement suggesting the New York Post's story on the laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

The New York Post reported that the laptop contained emails showing how Hunter Biden allegedly used his father's position for personal gain. At the time, these intelligence officials cited their experience with "Russian behavior" to label the report as having "all the classic earmarks of a Russian influence operation."

Graham now questions whether these former officials would still stand by their initial assessment. He asked them: “In your letter, you claimed that the laptop story was ‘Russia trying to influence how Americans vote.’ I ask you to respond publicly to one simple question: if you knew then what you know now about the laptop, would you still have signed the October 19, 2020 letter?”

The development comes more than four years after it was confirmed that both the laptop and its contents belonged to Hunter Biden and were not part of any Russian influence effort.

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