The gift that keeps on giving just added another little twist to the Hunter Biden story and the number of Biden staffers that are caught up in this mess.
We have seen in the past how individuals that were involved in some aspect of trying to get the laptop story discredited were rewarded with big positions in Joe Biden's administration.
Biden already has two advisers that reaped the benefits, now he appears to have a third.
Republicans have now implicated Andrew Bates, reports Fox News.
Scratch My Back…
In Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) report from the House Weaponization Subcommittee, Shapiro was the one that was pitching the media to publish Michael Morell's letter to discredit the laptop.
Shapiro wrote, "Giving this to you exclusively first if you guys want to run with it.
"You can also use this on the record from me Nick Shapiro, describing what this is: 'A large group of former career intelligence officers, many specializing in Russia, joined by a group of former intelligence community leaders, are all saying that they believe the Russians were somehow involved here.'
"'The IC leaders who have signed this letter, worked for the past four presidents, including Trump. The real power here, however, is the number of former, working level IC officers, who want the American people to know that once again the Russians are interfering.'"
That letter was then sent to Andrew Bates, who at the time was working for the Biden campaign, but he is now the White House Deputy Press Secretary. The email to Bates stated, "This is what I gave them."
Politico swallowed the bait, published the story, then Bates touted it on his Twitter account…
"Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say" https://t.co/IxbSzPbtSG
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) October 23, 2020
Jen Psaki put it out there…
Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say https://t.co/zRdHxTxVsl
— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) October 20, 2020
And Kate Bedingfield, Biden's deputy campaign manager who later served as White House communications director, was quoted on the matter…
Biden campaign's @KBeds on debate: "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."
— Ken Thomas (@KThomasDC) October 22, 2020
Trump, of course, brought up the laptop during the debate, and Biden responded, "There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he's accusing me of is a Russian plant. 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."
So, this makes it clear the Biden campaign was extremely active in not only planting the seed with Morell but also in getting this letter out to the press, then circulating it on social media.
Also, if you notice the language they all use, they omitted the part where they "thought" it showed all the signs of Russian disinformation. Every member of Biden's staff made a definitive statement that the letter debunked the laptop, so they were the ones spreading misinformation.
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about this… this was the weaponization of government resources for the purpose of election interference.
This should be case closed, but something tells me our media is not buying it, especially since some of the people involved are now part of the media.
