‘Distorted’ Clapper clapback
Critics: Why the wait?
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has been slammed for claiming that Politico “deliberately distorted” the open letter he signed that characterized The Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop as part of a “Russian information operation.”
Clapper and 50 other notable members of the intelligence community approved the letter questioning the veracity of The Post’s exclusives published in October 2020 about the first son’s overseas business relationships.
The letter was leaked to Politico, widely picked up by other national media outlets and eventually used as campaign fodder by then-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Clapper told The Washington Post on Monday that “there was message distortion” in the initial reporting on the letter. “All we were doing was raising a yellow flag that this could be Russian disinformation. Politico deliberately distorted what we said. It was clear in paragraph five,” he said.
Journalists who have long criticized the letter weren’t buying the explanation. “If James Clapper knew Politico and [reporter] Natasha Bertrand were lying about what their letter said, why didn’t he say so then?” Pulitzer Prize winner Glenn Greenwald posted on Twitter on Monday.
Bertrand, whose byline appeared on the story with the headline “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say,” has since joined CNN, where she covers the White House with a focus on national security.
“Reality,” Greenwald continued, “the CIA/[intelligence community] people lying wanted the media to spread this. Only now that someone has to take the hit is Clapper saying Politico lied.”
Dodgy on Biden
Clapper’s claim that he was unaware that Biden brought up the letter in his final debate with thenPresident Donald Trump when he called The Post’s story “a bunch of garbage” also elicited skepticism.
“Clapper of course didn’t complain about the Politico headline . . . at the time, even tho Biden cited the ‘distorted’ article during a debate w/ Trump (which Clapper laughably claimed he didn’t know about),” Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy tweeted.
Earlier this month, the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees demanded interviews with Clapper and 11 other letter signers, a fact noted by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.).