Some of the letters top signers became notable fixtures on CNN and MSNBC
Snopes CEO says government to blame for censorship of Hunter Biden laptop: 'Facebook complied'
Snopes CEO Chris Richmond told MSNBC on Saturday that the U.S. government was to blame for the censoring of the Hunter Biden laptop story, not fact-checkers.
President-elect Donald Trump vowed to revoke the security clearances of the 51 national security officials who infamously claimed that the Hunter Biden laptop had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation" – many of whom were cable news commentators -- on day one of his second term in the White House.
The New York Post reported that they obtained emails showing Hunter Biden had introduced his father Joe to a top executive at Ukrainian energy company Burisma less than a year before he pressured Ukrainian officials to fire a prosecutor investigating the company in a bombshell Oct. 2020 article.
Shortly thereafter, 51 former national security officials issued a public letter stating that the laptop was like a "Russian information operation" despite the fact that they did not have "any evidence of Russian involvement."
TRUMP TO TAKE MORE THAN 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY ONE
Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop was falsely dismissed as Russian disinformation.
Despite the fact that the claims suggested in this letter were never corroborated, many of its signatories went on to become frequent contributors to cable news networks, oftentimes using their positions of authority to further bash Trump.
Chief signatory of the letter, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper went on to become a national security analyst on CNN. In his 2019 book "Facts and Fears" Clapper said that Russia "affected the outcome" of the 2016 election, writing that "to conclude otherwise stretches logic, common sense, and credulity to the breaking point."
Former CIA Director John Brennan also signed the letter. Brennan appears regularly on MSNBC as a senior national security analyst and has used his platform to attack Trump on more than one occasion. In a Feb. 2024 appearance on the network, Brennan claimed that Russia is using Republican politicians "as tools."
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (left) and Hunter Biden (right). (Getty Images)
"It’s so appalling that there is growing sympathy in the Republican Party and among the MAGA base for Mr. Putin and Russia, I’m sure Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave right now," Brennan said.
Brennan went on to claim that Trump is "sympathetic" and "intimidated" by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Over the summer, Fox News Digital asked all 51 officials whether they regretted signing on to the now-debunked letter.
"No," Obama-era DNI James Clapper responded.
Despite claims from former officials that the laptop had the hallmarks of Russian disinformation, Fox News Digital reported that federal investigators with the Department of Justice knew in December 2019 that Hunter Biden’s laptop was "not manipulated in any way" and contained "reliable evidence." But they were "obstructed" from seeing all available information, according to an IRS whistleblower involved in the probe nearly a year before the former intelligence officials and President Biden declared it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Fox News' Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
David Spector is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
