A group of Republican secretaries of state sent a letter to the U.S. Congress Wednesday voicing concerns over increasing evidence that the intelligence community interfered with the 2020 presidential election. The six took particular interest in Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
According to Fox News, they called for his resignation if it is proven that he led the alleged effort to benefit Democrat Joe Biden in his bid for the White House.
According to the letter, “we have great concern in the findings in the Report of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary that former federal intelligence officials and the Biden campaign coordinated efforts to intentionally influence the 2020 presidential election.”
This scheme was carried out, they contended, through the spread of disinformation.
Part of the evidence cited by the AGs was the thoroughly discredited letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials just before the Nov. 2020 election. The document falsely asserted that the Hunter Biden laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Republican Secretaries Of State Say Blinken Should Resign For 2020 Election Interferencehttps://t.co/jT6bpR8Ty7
— The Federalist (@FDRLST) July 13, 2023
Michael Morell, former deputy director of the CIA, gave testimony earlier this year that Blinken reached out to him about the laptop discovery. At that Blinken was a Biden campaign advisor.
That outreach, Morell testified, set in motion the actions that led to the debunked letter benefiting the Biden campaign being released. The former deputy director said it was the call from Blinken that “absolutely” convinced him to sign off on the letter.
The GOP officials said the effort apparently spearheaded by Blinken is in contrast to the intelligence community’s commitment to “free and fair elections.”
This assessment followed the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committee’s determination that Blinken was the driving force in producing the statement and getting others to sign on. It quickly became part of the 2020 presidential campaign.
Merely three days after the letter became public, then-candidate Joe Biden used it as a weapon in a presidential debate. The Democrat offered it as “proof” against allegations made by incumbent President Donald Trump.
The letter and Biden’s use of it in the debate came despite the FBI and then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe rejecting the allegation that the laptop was tied to “Russian misinformation.” This despite it being completely authentic.
