US intel veterans lied about ‘Russian plot’ — and the media bought it hook, line and sinker
“…If there is one thing that the Hunter Biden laptop episode has proved, it is that former directors of the CIA aren’t as adept at evaluating evidence as advertised.
Five former directors or acting directors of the CIA signed a letter asserting that the laptop, first reported by this newspaper in the weeks before the election, “has all the hallmarks of Russian information operation.”
More than 50 former senior intel officials, including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, signed the letter, which was used by the Biden campaign and the media to discredit the damning e-mails about Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
The signatories should have thought better of their missive when they felt compelled to include the line, “We want to emphasize that we do not know if the e-mails, provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal attorney, are genuine or not, and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement.”
That also should have tipped off reporters to the fact that the letter was rank speculation masquerading as informed analysis. But true to form, they happily ran with it instead.
In a complete reversal from the Cold War era, journalists in the Trump years have not only reflexively believed representations from national-security professionals about nefarious Russian plots, they have actively sought them out and promoted them…”