James Clapper Says Politico ‘Deliberately Distorted’ Letter That Flagged Hunter Laptop as Russian Disinfo

James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, said Politico “deliberately distorted” He and other intelligence officials signed a letter in which they falsely claimed that emails were obtained from Hunter Biden’s laptop. “classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

“There was message distortion,” Clapper stated in Interview With the Washington Post “All we were doing was raising a yellow flag that this could be Russian disinformation. Politico deliberately distorted what we said. It was clear in paragraph five.”

Clapper, who supported Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, has waited over two years to comment on the October 2020 letter. Since its publication, the letter—which claimed that a New York Post story about the Biden family’s shady business dealings was likely based on Russian disinformation—has been refuted by outlets such as the Washington Post, CBS, and the New York Times.

“If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this,” The intelligence officers wrote.

Politico responded to Clapper’s comments and defended its reporting regarding the letter.

“The article fairly and accurately reported on—and summarized—the intelligence officials’ letter,” A spokesperson for the outlet told The Washington Post. “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.”

Twitter, a social media site, cited intelligence officials’ letters to justify censorship. A 2022 Poll It was found that 4 out 5 Americans who have followed the Hunter Biden laptop story are convinced that “truthful” It would have changed the election results if it was reported on.