Whistleblower claims FBI agents were told not to probe Hunter Biden laptop
"The Big Sunday Show" panelists react to claims FBI officials told agents not to investigate the Hunter Biden laptop due to concerns over influencing the 2020 elections.
President Biden on Friday announced his intent to appoint MSNBC analyst Jeremy Bash, who insisted Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop was Russian disinformation, to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
The authenticity of Biden's laptop has since been verified by numerous news organizations, but Bash was among more than 50 former intelligence officials who previously signed a letter dismissing it as Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The letter was widely spread in the media despite there being no evidence to substantiate their claims.
Bash, who is a former Central Intelligence Agency chief of staff in addition to his role as an MSNBC pundit, signed the October 2020 letter that attempted to downplay the scandal before Election Day.
MSNBC analyst Jeremy Bash insisted Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop was Russian disinformation. (MSNBC)
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"Perhaps most important, each of us believes deeply that American citizens should determine the outcome of elections, not foreign governments," Bash and the other officials wrote in the letter. "All of us agree with the founding fathers’ concern about the damage that foreign interference in our politics can do to our democracy."
"It is for all these reasons that we write to say that the arrival on the US political scene of emails purportedly belonging to Vice President Biden’s son Hunter, much of it related to his time serving on the Board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation," they continued.
Bash and the other former officials conceded that they did "not know if the emails… are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement" but still said that they were "deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case."
The letter caught on like wildfire online, with several members of the Biden administration amplifying it, including Biden’s eventual first press secretary, Jen Psaki. Joe Biden himself even worked to discredit reports swirling about his son's laptop.
Hunter Biden's laptop has made headlines since it was first reported on in late 2020. (Randy Holmes via Getty Images)
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Bash also dismissed the laptop as Russian disinformation on a variety of MSNBC programs, including "The Rachel Maddow Show."
Now Bash has been awarded with a spot on Biden’s Intelligence Advisory Board, in news that was flagged by the Washington Examiner.
MSNBC did not immediately respond when asked if his role at the network will continue.
President Joe Biden, center, waves as he is joined by, from left, son Hunter Biden, grandson Beau Biden, first lady Jill Biden and daughter-in-law Melissa Cohen as they board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Aug. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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The White House press release notes Bash served as chief of staff at the CIA and the U.S. Department of Defense, in both roles for Secretary Leon Panetta — who also signed the letter falsely suggesting the laptop was bogus.
Fox News’ Houston Keene contributed to this report.