9 Former National Security Chiefs Who Signed Letter of Support for Harris Also Put Their Names on Infamous 2020 Letter
Nine former senior national security and military officials who signed a letter Sunday endorsing Vice President Harris for the Oval Office also signed a letter nearly four years ago labeling Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop as Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 election, Fox News Digital has discovered.
A group called National Security Leaders for America, which bills itself as a bipartisan group of former senior military and national security officials, released a letter Sunday endorsing Harris for the White House. A total of 741 former senior national security officials signed the letter.
Fox News Digital dug through the list of signatories and found that nine of the former national security chiefs who supported Harris also signed a letter in 2020 labeling Hunter Biden’s laptop as Russian disinformation — before media outlets authenticated the laptop after the 2020 election and the FBI ultimately cited the laptop as legitimate in Hunter Biden’s criminal trial earlier this year.
Signatories to the 2020 letter and Harris’ endorsement include: Former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper; Former CIA Director Michael V. Hayden; Former CIA Director Leon E. Panetta; Former CIA Director John Brennan; Former Acting CIA Director John E. McLaughlin; Former CIA Chief of Staff Laurence M. Pfeiffer; Former Defense Department Chief of Staff Jeremy Bash; CIA Station Chief John Sipher; and Former National Intelligence Council Chairman Gregory Frye Treverton.
TRUMP’S CIA CHIEF KNEW ABOUT FAMOUS LETTER DENOUNCING BIDEN’S LAPTOP AS PROPAGANDA BEFORE ITS RELEASE: REPORT
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (Reuters/Joshua Roberts/Archive)
As the 2020 election approaches, the New York Post published a shocking report about the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop.
HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP RE-EMERGES MEDIA EMBARRASSMENT AS IT BECOMES KEY EVIDENCE IN GUN TRIAL
However, shortly thereafter, fifty-one former intelligence officials released a statement on October 19, 2020, claiming that the laptop had “all the classic hallmarks of a Russian information operation,” in an attempt to discredit the New York Post report at the time.
The laptop became public after the first son left it at a Delaware repair shop ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
President Biden hugs his son Hunter during the Democratic National Convention on August 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
The 2020 letter from the former military leaders played a key role in many media outlets dismissing reporting on the laptop as legitimate, and also provided President Biden with political ammunition to downplay the laptop during his debate against former President Trump last election cycle.
The liberal media changed its tune in 2022, however, after newspapers like the Washington Post and the New York Times authenticated thousands of his emails on the laptop. The laptop also resurfaced this year when the eldest son faced a criminal trial in Delaware for purchasing a gun in 2018 while struggling with a crack cocaine addiction. The trial, which found Hunter guilty on all counts, formally admitted the laptop into evidence and was confirmed by the FBI as legitimate.
FLASHBACK: MSNBC, CNN, CBS TOLD VIEWERS HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP STORY WAS RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION
Former CIA Director John Brennan (Reuters/Joshua Roberts/Archive)
VIDEO GOES VIRAL ABOUT DEMOCRATS, MEDIA DOUBTING HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP
The former chiefs’ 2020 letter made headlines again this year when a joint report released by three House committees alleged that active CIA contractors “coordinated” with the Biden 2020 campaign weeks before that year’s election “to discredit serious allegations about influence peddling by the Biden family.” connected to Hunter’s laptop when the 51 former intelligence officials issued a statement denying the laptop’s existence.
President Biden and Vice President Harris (Win McNamee/Getty Images/File)
Sunday and the 2024 election, the letter endorsing Harris and signed by hundreds of former national security leaders, including nine from the 2020 letter, praised her as “prepared and strategic” while lambasting Trump as “impulsive and ill-informed.”
5 VERSIONS OF HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP THAT HAVE AGED POORLY
“We are former public servants who swore an oath to the Constitution. Many of us put our lives on the line for it. We are retired generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security officials. We are Republicans, Democrats, and independents. We are loyal to our nation’s ideals—like freedom, democracy, and the rule of law—not to any particular individual or party,” the letter released Sunday in support of Harris reads.
Vice President Harris, Hunter Biden and President Biden (Getty Images)
“We don’t agree on everything, but we all adhere to two core principles. First, we believe that America’s national security requires a serious and capable Commander-in-Chief. Second, we believe that American democracy is invaluable. Every generation has a responsibility to defend it. That’s why we, the undersigned, proudly support Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States,” he added.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
National Security Leaders for America Chairman Rear Adm. Michael Smith, USN (ret.), defended the nine signatories in a comment to Fox Digital Sunday night, saying the 2020 letter was “well-reasoned but ultimately incorrect.”
“A well-reasoned but ultimately incorrect assessment does not undermine a lifetime of public service. Their assertion that former President Trump is not committed to democracy and is not prepared to be commander in chief is well-founded, as is their assessment of Vice President Harris as a strategic and capable leader.”
