Former CIA Director John Brennan said President Donald Trump “misrepresented the facts” about Hunter Biden’s laptop after his security clearance was revoked on Tuesday.
In an executive order, Trump revoked the security clearance of 51 former Intel officials who signed a 2020 letter saying the release of emails from a laptop “had all the hallmarks of Russian intelligence.” Many of them were open supporters during Joe Biden’s presidential campaign against Trump.
The signatories say in the letter that they don’t know whether the emails are “authentic or not and that we have no evidence of Russian involvement — just that our knowledge makes us strongly suspect that the Russian government has a significant role in this case.” “
Brennan, who was among the signatories, called the executive order “strange” and said Trump had misrepresented the letter.
JOHN BRENNAN’S CLOSED-DOOR HEARING ‘CERTAINLY’ HOME LAPTOP BOOK ‘BECOMED ‘ALL POLITICS’: JIM JORDAN
Former CIA director John Brennan called out President Donald Trump’s views on the Hunter Biden laptop affair. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“The signatories of the letter falsely suggested that this matter was part of a Russian campaign of discredit,” a Trump official said of “intelligence officials who have engaged in misleading and improper political dealings with the 2020 Biden presidential campaign.”
“He misrepresented the facts in that executive order because he said we suggested that the issue of Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation,” said Brennan on MSNBC on Tuesday. “No, we said it was all signs of Russian intelligence operations, including the dumping of accurate information, which is what we said in that letter.”
“So, again, this was just an attempt, you know, an attempt by him to try to answer those who have publicly and publicly criticized him in the past, and I think legitimately,” he said.
Other officials named in the EO include former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., former CIA director Michael Hayden, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
BIDEN CAMPAIGN, BLINKEN ORCHESTRATED INTEL LETTER TO DISCREDIT HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY, OFFICIAL CIA END
Three days after the letter was revealed, Biden used it as a talking point in the final presidential debate of 2020 to deflect criticism of Trump.
“There are 50 former national intelligence people who say that this is what you’re accusing me of, it’s a Russian program,” Biden said during the debate.
Shortly after taking office, President Trump revoked Brennan’s permit along with 50 others through an executive order. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
In 2023, it was reported that the Department of Justice knew since December 2019 that Hunter Biden’s laptop contained “credible evidence” and “was not used in any way.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS AND CULTURE
Brennan said Trump had previously announced that he would revoke his security clearance in 2018, but his clearance was not revoked.
“The only reason I still have a security clearance, as I have for many years since I left the government service, was because of the government, so that if the CIA or any other government agency wants to call me and discuss a secret matter, they can do that,” said Brennan.
He added, “So it was really for the benefit of the government. It was for me to continue those classified conversations with myself, and the former directors, and other former members of the intelligence community who had those clearances.”
Former CIA Director John Brennan discussed the executive order on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on Tuesday. (Screenshot by MSNBC)
Brennan has appeared regularly on MSNBC as a senior national security analyst and is one of Trump’s fiercest critics.
In a February 2024 appearance on the network, Brennan said Russia was using Republican politicians as “tools.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE NEWS PROGRAM
David Spector of Fox News contributed to this report.
Source link
