Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Monday said the information contained on Hunter Biden’s laptop revealed by The Post last week “is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign.”
During an appearance on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria,” Ratcliffe shot down allegations by Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, that emails showing former Vice President Joe Biden knew about his son’s business dealings in Ukraine are a “smear” created by Moscow.
“Hunter Biden’s laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign,” Ratcliffe said, adding that “this is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign.”
“Let me be clear: the intelligence community doesn’t believe that because there is no intelligence that supports that. And we have shared no intelligence with Adam Schiff, or any member of Congress,” he said.
Ratcliffe then blasted Schiff.
“It’s funny that some of the people who complain the most about intelligence being politicized are the ones politicizing the intelligence,” Ratcliffe said. “Unfortunately, it is Adam Schiff who said the intelligence community believes the Hunter Biden laptop and emails on it are part of a Russian disinformation campaign.”
The Post reported last Wednesday that an email showed Hunter Biden introduced his father, who was at the time President Barack Obama’s vice president, to a top executive at Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm whose board he sat on.
The meeting took place a year before Biden called for the ouster of a top Ukrainian prosecutor. Enlarge Image John Ratcliffe John RatcliffePOOL/AFP via Getty Images
Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the Burisma board, thanked Hunter Biden for the “opportunity” to meet his father in an email sent on April 17, 2015.
The messages were found on the hard drive of a laptop that the son allegedly dropped off at a Delaware computer shop and never returned to pick up.
Ratcliffe said the computer is “in the jurisdiction of the FBI.”
“The FBI has had possession of this,” he said. “Without commenting on any investigation that they may or may not have, their investigation is not centered around Russian disinformation and the intelligence community is not playing any role with respect to that.” Enlarge Image Hunter Biden Hunter BidenGetty Images
He also warned Schiff and others not to “leverage the intelligence community for a political narrative that’s not true.”
“In this case, Adam Schiff saying this is part of a disinformation campaign and that the intelligence community has assessed and believes that – that is simply not true,” Ratcliffe said. “Whether it’s Republicans or Democrats, if they try to leverage the intelligence community for political gain, I won’t allow it.”