Trump to suspend security clearances of nat sec officials who wrote Hunter Biden portable open letter

President-elect Donald Trump vowed to revoke the security clearances of the 51 national security officials who infamously claimed Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian intelligence 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 that 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 article from October 2020.

Soon after, 51 former national security officials issued a public letter saying the laptop was a “Russian intelligence operation” despite having “no evidence of Russian involvement.”

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Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop wrongly dismissed as Russian disinformation.

Although the allegations suggested in this letter were never verified, many of its signatories went on to become frequent contributors to cable news networks, often using their positions of authority to further bash Trump.

The former signatory of the letter, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, became a national security analyst at CNN. In his 2019 book “Facts and Fears,” Clapper said Russia “influenced the outcome” of the 2016 election, writing that “to conclude otherwise stretches logic, common sense and credulity to 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 February 2024 appearance on the network, Brennan claimed that Russia uses Republican politicians “as a tool.”

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Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (left) and Hunter Biden (right). (Getty Images)

“It is so appalling that there is growing sympathy within the Republican Party and among the MAGA base for Mr. Putin and Russia, I’m sure Ronald Reagan is rolling in his grave right now,” Brennan said.

Brennan went on to claim that Trump is “sympathetic” and “trimmed” by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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During the summer, Fox News Digital asked all 51 officials whether they regretted signing the now-revealed letter.

“No,” replied Obama-era DNI James Clapper.

Despite claims by former officials that the laptop had the hallmarks of Russian disinformation, It was reported by Fox News Digital that federal investigators with the Department of Justice knew by December 2019 that Hunter Biden’s laptop “was not tampered with in any way” and contained “reliable evidence.” But they were “prevented” from seeing all available information, according to an IRS whistleblower involved in the investigation nearly a year before the former intelligence officers and President Biden declared it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.