A forthcoming staff report from the House Judiciary Committee is expected to disclose that the CIA collaborated with ex-acting director Mike Morell and the Biden campaign to generate a letter falsely asserting that the emails from Hunter Biden's laptop were Russian disinformation. At least one former intelligence official was asked to sign the letter.
The report will reveal that Morell requested the CIA's Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB) to expedite the letter's approval on October 19, 2020. This was aimed at providing then-presidential candidate Joe Biden with a tool to discredit The Post's article on the Biden emails, published five days earlier, during the final presidential debate.
On the same day, a CIA employee working for the PCRB asked former CIA analyst David Cariens to sign Morell's letter, as stated in Cariens' written testimony to the Subcommittees on the Weaponization of the Federal Government and Intelligence.
Cariens mentioned that he was discussing the prepublication review of his memoir with the PCRB when the CIA employee inquired about his willingness to sign the draft letter. Cariens agreed to sign, and his wife, Janice Cariens, another ex-CIA officer, also consented to sign the letter.
Morell emphasized to the PCRB the urgency of the situation, stating, "This is a rush job, as it needs to get out as soon as possible."
He informed John Brennan, a former CIA director and fellow signatory, that he aimed to release the letter before Biden's October 22, 2020, presidential debate against Donald Trump. Morell explained, "Trying to give the campaign, particularly during the debate...a talking point to push back on Trump."
On the afternoon of October 19, 2020, Marc Polymeropoulos, former CIA Acting Chief of Operations for Europe and Eurasia, praised Morell for obtaining the PCRB's swift approval of the letter. He texted, "You have some juice."
Morell replied, "Ha is right. They are probably scared I am coming back."
At that time, Morell was considered a likely candidate for CIA director if Biden won the election. However, he was not nominated for the position.
It has previously been disclosed that Antony Blinken, now Secretary of State and then a Biden campaign advisor, urged Morell to draft the letter after discussing The Post's article on the laptop. Morell informed Blinken that he was unfamiliar with the article, and Blinken subsequently forwarded a USA Today story claiming that the FBI was investigating potential Russian disinformation.
Morell testified that he had no plans to draft the statement until Blinken contacted him. He also confirmed that the PCRB comprises CIA officers whose main function is to determine if former or current CIA personnel are releasing classified information in any publicly available materials.