The "Russian information operation" narrative that was pushed by dozens of former intelligence officials and amplified by the Biden campaign a couple weeks before the 2020 election took a major blow this week when the federal government entered Hunter Biden’s laptop into evidence for his gun trial.
After years of the authenticity of the laptop being downplayed by former intel officials, prominent Democrats, and the White House, Hunter’s laptop was officially entered into evidence by Biden's Department of Justice and is being used to attempt to prove that Biden was addicted to drugs at the time he purchased a gun in 2018, a violation of federal law.
The laptop was introduced by prosecutor Derek Hines and handed to FBI agent Erika Jensen, who explained earlier this week how the FBI authenticated the laptop and extracted data. For the gun trial, she testified about dozens of text messages, metadata, photos and short videos found on phones and iCloud accounts belonging to Biden.
One of the most significant denials of the authenticity of the laptop came two weeks before the 2020 presidential election when 51 former intelligence officials claimed in a letter that the laptop may have been fabricated by Russia to influence the presidential election.
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The crafting of that memo, which was ultimately published by Politico, involved coordination between the Biden campaign and the former officials, House Republicans concluded in an investigation.
Fox News Digital previously reported that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, sent a letter to Secretary of State Blinken last year saying, "Based on Morell’s testimony, it is apparent that the Biden campaign played an active role in the origins of the public statement, which had the effect of helping to suppress the Hunter Biden story and preventing American citizens from making a fully informed decision during the 2020 presidential election."
Morell also said that he received a call from Biden's White House counselor Steve Ricchetti, who was serving as the chairman of the 2020 campaign at the time, following the Oct. 22 debate. Morell said the call was to thank him for spearheading the letter.
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According to the GOP’s report, former CIA senior adviser Nick Shapiro drafted a media pitch and shopped the letter to The Associated Press, The Washington Post and Politico. He then forwarded the letter to then-Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates, who is currently the White House deputy senior press secretary, tipping them off before publication and saying, "This is what I gave them."
"Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say," Bates tweeted after the Politico story was published, including a link to the article.
"Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say," tweeted Jen Psaki, who later became Biden’s White House press secretary.
"If we see tonight from Donald Trump these attacks on Vice President Biden's family, I think we need to be very, very clear that what he's doing here is amplifying Russian misinformation," said Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager who later served as White House communications director.
Indeed, Biden brought up the letter during his final debate against former President Donald Trump, saying the laptop was a "Russian plant" and a "bunch of garbage."
"There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he's accusing me of is a Russian plant," Biden said at the time. "… Five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he's saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except his good friend Rudy Giuliani."
Kerri Kupec Urbahn, Fox News Legal editor, posted on social media on Tuesday that the prosecution's introduction of the laptop was a key moment in the case.
"Biggest takeway from court today: the laptop is real, we saw it with our own eyes, it belongs to Hunter Biden, and the FBI/DOJ are using information extracted from it in the gun case," Urbah said. "Curious if the 50+ intel experts plan to put out an updated letter in time for this year's debates."
The White House and Biden campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News Digital's Jessica Chasmar and Emma Colton contributed to this report
