remember back when, when this story first broke, and a bunch of former intelligence people wrote a letter warning that it smelled of Russian interference?
and they were lambasted for Russian paranoia, disinformation, deep state yada yada?
well, with the arrest of Alexander Smirnov, who apparently has ties to Russian intelligence, for lying about Hunter, does it look like that letter was perhaps more true than not?
I'm expecting GOP Rep; James Comer, who has been leading the investigation based on what Smirnov was saying, to be paraphrasing Warren Zevon soon: "How was I to know/He was with the Russians too"
You would think the FBI would know given he was their asset. WTF are they doing?
You could read the available reporting on this to find out when that was learned and by whom.
Well the Jan 6, 2017 ICA says 3 Intelligence Agencies thought Russia tried to "influence" the election. That didn't stop the story from being 17 Intelligence Agencies Interfered, attacked, meddled in our elections. I mean, read the thing. It couldn't be more benign. I'd also note that the NSA had medium confidence.
The point was to kill the story. How many people pay attention to the details? The letter got the job done. This was the part the corporate press ran with:
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 me serving on the Board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.
And
If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this elec on, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this.
As for Russia and the 2016 election I am not going to relitigate it, other than to say the Trump defenders have completely ignored the report from the Senate Intelligence Community. As well they should, as it's inconvenient, to say the least.
btw: It was extremely effective at killing the story until after the election.
nope, not true. also, what exactly was there to report on anyway?
Well the Jan 6, 2017 ICA says 3 Intelligence Agencies thought Russia tried to "influence" the election. That didn't stop the story from being 17 Intelligence Agencies Interfered, attacked, meddled in our elections. I mean, read the thing. It couldn't be more benign. I'd also note that the NSA had medium confidence.
The point was to kill the story. How many people pay attention to the details? The letter got the job done. This was the part the corporate press ran with:
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 me serving on the Board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.
And
If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this elec on, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this.
As for Russia and the 2016 election I am not going to relitigate it, other than to say the Trump defenders have completely ignored the report from the Senate Intelligence Community. As well they should, as it's inconvenient, to say the least.
btw: It was extremely effective at killing the story until after the election.
nope, not true. also, what exactly was there to report on anyway?
Hunter testified under oath yesterday, and talked about the laptop. He said he never dropped it off at that Delaware shop.
Here's the link to the tweet, but I pasted it below also.
It's taken awhile, but the whole story is just falling apart.
WOW!
Hunter Biden was asked under oath about the laptop. He said he did not drop it off at the independently run repair shop, that much of the information on it was fabricated, and he has sworn statements from the Secret Service to show that!
Hunter Biden was asked under oath about the laptop. He said he did not drop it off at the independently run repair shop, that much of the information on it was fabricated, and he has sworn statements from the Secret Service to show that!
Matt Gaetz: “In 2019 did you drop your laptop off at a repair shop?
Hunter Biden: “Not that I remember, no.”
Matt Gaetz: “Did you ever drop a laptop off at a repair shop?”
Hunter Biden: “I dropped a laptop off at the Apple repair shop that was literally three blocks from my office in Washington, D.C. If I was ever going to repair one, I would have walked up the street and dropped it there.”
Matt Gaetz: “My question is about Delaware. Did you ever drop off a laptop in Delaware?”
Hunter Biden: “The largest Apple store in America is the — the highest grossing and largest Apple store in America is at the Christiana Mall. If I was going to drop off a laptop — I don’t ever remember doing that, but if I was going to drop off a laptop, I would have gone to the Apple store, which was 7 minutes from my parents’ home there.
Matt Gaetz: “Have you seen — you’ve seen coverage of this laptop that purports to be yours that was dropped off in Delaware, right?… In any of that coverage, have you seen any correspondence or other material that you know to be fabricated or false?”
Hunter Biden: “Yes, I do… And I can tell you, in particular, there is a fabricated conversation between me and a supposed Secret Service agent in a hotel room in Los Angeles. That Secret Service agent was — has sworn an affidavit and attempted to sue The Daily Mail and The New York Post over the fact that he has never met me, he has never had any conversation with me, that he had never involvement with me, that we have never had any association whatsoever. And he swears.
Matt Gaetz: “Other than that conversation, are there any others that you recall?”
Hunter Biden: “ Yeah, There are many others. I can’t go through them all right now. But, yes, there are many different things in there that are either fabricated, hacked, stolen, or manipulated 100 percent.
Ms. Hageman: “Well, I would also say that we are familiar with the laptop, and you’ve indicated that you believe that there are some things on there that are not accurate.”
Hunter Biden: “Have you actually seen that laptop?”
Ms. Hageman: “No I haven’t, but I don’t think for purposes of my questioning today, I do not need to.”
Hunter Biden: “Does anyone know the existence of an actual laptop?”
So, let's recap. Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon got this laptop from a legally blind repairman's shop over a year after Rudy Giuliani and Lev Parnas tried to get Hunter Biden's laptop form Eastern Europeans in Europe. If you don't think that's fishy, then I don't know what is.
Hunter testified under oath yesterday, and talked about the laptop. He said he never dropped it off at that Delaware shop.
Here's the link to the tweet, but I pasted it below also.
It's taken awhile, but the whole story is just falling apart.
WOW!
Hunter Biden was asked under oath about the laptop. He said he did not drop it off at the independently run repair shop, that much of the information on it was fabricated, and he has sworn statements from the Secret Service to show that!
Matt Gaetz: “In 2019 did you drop your laptop off at a repair shop?
Hunter Biden: “Not that I remember, no.”
Matt Gaetz: “Did you ever drop a laptop off at a repair shop?”
Hunter Biden: “I dropped a laptop off at the Apple repair shop that was literally three blocks from my office in Washington, D.C. If I was ever going to repair one, I would have walked up the street and dropped it there.”
Matt Gaetz: “My question is about Delaware. Did you ever drop off a laptop in Delaware?”
Hunter Biden: “The largest Apple store in America is the — the highest grossing and largest Apple store in America is at the Christiana Mall. If I was going to drop off a laptop — I don’t ever remember doing that, but if I was going to drop off a laptop, I would have gone to the Apple store, which was 7 minutes from my parents’ home there.
Matt Gaetz: “Have you seen — you’ve seen coverage of this laptop that purports to be yours that was dropped off in Delaware, right?… In any of that coverage, have you seen any correspondence or other material that you know to be fabricated or false?”
Hunter Biden: “Yes, I do… And I can tell you, in particular, there is a fabricated conversation between me and a supposed Secret Service agent in a hotel room in Los Angeles. That Secret Service agent was — has sworn an affidavit and attempted to sue The Daily Mail and The New York Post over the fact that he has never met me, he has never had any conversation with me, that he had never involvement with me, that we have never had any association whatsoever. And he swears.
Matt Gaetz: “Other than that conversation, are there any others that you recall?”
Hunter Biden: “ Yeah, There are many others. I can’t go through them all right now. But, yes, there are many different things in there that are either fabricated, hacked, stolen, or manipulated 100 percent.
Ms. Hageman: “Well, I would also say that we are familiar with the laptop, and you’ve indicated that you believe that there are some things on there that are not accurate.”
Hunter Biden: “Have you actually seen that laptop?”
Ms. Hageman: “No I haven’t, but I don’t think for purposes of my questioning today, I do not need to.”
Hunter Biden: “Does anyone know the existence of an actual laptop?”
So, let's recap. Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon got this laptop from a legally blind repairman's shop over a year after Rudy Giuliani and Lev Parnas tried to get Hunter Biden's laptop form Eastern Europeans in Europe. If you don't think that's fishy, then I don't know what is.
the only way to get this information out publicly was to say the laptop had been "abandoned" by Biden.
But Biden has said for some time the data could have come from a laptop he left behind at a rehab center (which someone could not legitimately take possession of), or that the data was stolen by hackers.
Both of which seem more plausible than that he went to some obscure repair shop, left a laptop and never claimed it. A place where conveniently the owner could take legal possession after a certain time passed.
posting this if anyone is interested in reading more about his testimony. some interesting stuff about Hunter. he's not quite the failson that he's been made out to be.
Okay, I’m a third of the way through Hunter Biden’s deposition. It’s as revealing as it is damning. A couple of things were said which debunk a lot of GOP talking points.
Let’s start with the beginning. Hunter Biden entered his credentials into the record. He’s got a better
— Woody412 #CaseyForSenate (@Woody4123) March 1, 2024
yeah, yeah, yeah the direct answer to whether he dropped it off was "Not that I recall".
the response that a competent attorney insists you give.
I've been an expert witness in three fairly major cases. I said "I don't recall" countless times. Most people seem to give that kind of response significance. As if in the case of Joe Biden, they claim signals memory loss. Or in other cases it supposedly indicates lying.
What it really means is that the witness isn't 100% absolutely sure of all the details implied in the question.
Nobody wants to leave themselves open to at best being wrong. At worst committing perjury.
You could read the available reporting on this to find out when that was learned and by whom.