Shortly after being sworn in, President Donald Trump signed an executive order revoking the security clearances of about four dozen former national security officials. Their crime was that, in 2020, they signed an open letter suggesting that emails found on a laptop purportedly belonging to Joe Biden's son Hunter might have been part of a Russian government effort to "influence Americans in this election." way of voting”. ".
You may remember the letter, but if not, you should reacquaint yourself with the incident, which remains a focus for the president and many of his supporters. Hunter Biden's laptop letters inspired Trump to issue an executive order, the first shot in his long-promised fight against the "deep state." The "deep state" was a group of CIA officers, FBI agents and other career bureaucrats who he viewed as bordering on a conspiracy against him. ten years. The order names 51 former officials and accuses them of "electoral interference," which could constitute a serious crime.
Here's why this is so disturbing: If these people are being targeted simply for exercising their right to free speech, then conceivably if you put a political sign in your front yard and a bumper sticker on your car, Or try to convince you that you too may be targeted. People vote for the candidate of your choice on social media.
The emails first came to public attention in an article published in the journal Science. new york post October 2020, weeks before the presidential election. The story implicated Joe Biden in his son's business dealings in Ukraine, a topic of intense interest to Trump's allies, including the president's personal attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The former mayor gave postal He obtained a copy of a laptop hard drive from a repair shop owner that allegedly contained Hunter Biden's emails, the newspaper reported.
In response, 51 former officials signed a letter claiming that "emails purportedly belonging to Vice President Biden's son Hunter have emerged in American politics... bearing all the classic hallmarks of a Russian information operation." Note that the signatories did not provide There is no evidence that Russia is involved in any of this. They provided no digital trail leading to Russian spies and no confidential sources claimed connections. They’re candid about it: “We want to stress that we don’t know whether these emails… are authentic, and we have no evidence of Russian involvement — it’s just that our experience leaves us with deep suspicion that the Russian government played a significant role in this case. "
That's it. They were suspicious. Maybe there's a good reason. then, current Officials with classified information believe Russian intelligence agents were trying to feed Giuliani misinformation about the Biden family, as I wrote in washington post I reported it then. The signatories believe that their suspicions should be taken seriously based on their long experience fighting Russia in the field of international espionage.
If this all sounds like what columnists or self-proclaimed experts on social media or talking heads on TV do on a daily basis, that’s because it is. In fact, some of the signers are regular commentators on cable talk shows, political podcasts and "Never Trump" on Twitter. The letter contained no classified information; the CIA ensured that when it reviewed the text, as the agency typically does when former officials write books, articles or give speeches. The letter more or less represents the collective opinion of people who know Russia better than the average person, alerting the public to what they consider legitimate concerns.
But they were wrong. Embarrassingly wrong. The emails do belong to Hunter Biden, and they raise legitimate concerns that he was trying to profit from his father's political position. There is no evidence that Russia played a role in exposing the emails. Intelligence experts sometimes make bad decisions. This is one of those times.
Trump's order used language he used on the campaign trail, saying the signatories were trying to "suppress information vital to the American people," which he called a "serious breach of trust reminiscent of a third world country." While the signers clearly wanted to refute the accusations made by Trump allies against Biden and his son, there was no evidence they were trying to suppress anything. They seemed to sincerely believe that Russia might be behind it.
Some signatories still defend their work, pointing out, correctly, that the emails possible to be part of some Russian ploy, but that's not to say they definitely are yes. This overly cutesy defense does not absolve them of poor judgment.
But the Constitution protects their right to make mistakes. Signatories are free to represent themselves as experts, but must suffer the reputational consequences when their analysis proves to be wrong. Television producers may not ask them to appear on their shows. The public may not take them seriously the next time they yell "Russia!" But they shouldn't expect to end up being charged with potential criminal conduct in a presidential order.
Mark S. Zaid, an attorney representing some of the signatories, said: “Suspending an individual’s security clearance would violate dozens of laws if they were simply exercising their protected First Amendment rights as private citizens. National Security Regulations in the Years,” I said in a written statement. "It is also ironic that in issuing this executive order, the White House claims to support restoring free speech and seeks to end federal censorship."
At this point, I have to reveal some relevant facts. I read the letter before it was published because someone involved in writing it provided it specifically to me in the course of my coverage of Russian intelligence activities. washington post. Later, as a result of the congressional investigation, I learned that the Biden campaign wanted me to receive the letter before other reporters, for reasons I still don’t fully understand but may have to do with my long history of covering intelligence issues. I decided not to write this letter because I didn’t feel it was newsworthy. The authors have no evidence to support their claims. They just thought Russia might be up to some mischief. In 2020, this perspective is not new. The person who coordinated the letter eventually found another publication that wanted to write about it.
I also know many of the signers. I have quoted several of them in news articles over the course of my twenty-year career. But I had never seen the letter before these people signed it, and none of them asked me to write it or forced me to do so. Some of them wanted me to forget about the whole incident and not revisit it.
The punitive measures Trump has taken are not inconsequential. A positive security clearance is a requirement for employment with certain companies or organizations, and abolishing it could have a significant impact on the livelihoods of some signatories. The order also damages their reputation beyond any hit they might suffer after publishing the letter. This would compromise their safety. Since Trump issued the order on Tuesday, one of the signatories told me he has received online threats. A retired Green Beret calling himself Trump's "retribution secretary" posted on X calling for "livestream strikes" against signatories, referring to the illegal practice of falsely reporting emergencies in order to summon armed law enforcement officers. Someone is home. You don’t have to feel sorry for these people to understand the broader impact of Trump’s order and what he might inspire his followers to do.
Maybe you can blame it all on naked politics. Trump’s order is a predictable form of retaliation. Claims former official wrote the letter "in coordination with the Biden campaign" in an effort to discredit Biden new york postThere is some truth to the report. A congressional investigation into the letter, based on emails, text messages and interviews with the people who masterminded the letter's writing and publishing, confirms that the idea came about after then-Biden campaign adviser Antony Blinken questioned former senior CIA officials Implemented after Michael Morell. An official on the shortlist to run spy agencies in the Biden administration, on postal Report. Morell testified to congressional investigators that the letter was intended to provide a "talking point" for Biden if Trump tried to use the laptop story to attack the vice president. The signers certainly knew this, or should have known, as it was detailed in the email asking them to put their names on the document.
But what does “election interference” look like? The executive order doesn't say. You could argue that former intelligence officers should stay away from politics because they spent their careers in a profession that prided itself on being apolitical. But writing letters is not illegal or even inappropriate. Motivation by a desire to help one's preferred candidate win does not preclude genuine suspicion that a hostile government might be trying to stop him.
Long before Trump issued his order, some signatories told me privately that they wished they had not been involved in the first place. They supported the narrow content of the document, but they recognized that it would do more harm than good and give Trump an easy cudgel to use against opponents, real or imagined.
The order isn't just for the signatories. It directed the director of national intelligence, in consultation with the CIA director, to report to the president "any other inappropriate activity occurring within the intelligence community, by anyone contracted by the intelligence community, or by anyone holding a security clearance" at the time of the letter's writing and publication in process.
This probably involves more people and the story is longer. But for now, just know that Trump remembers who dared to speak out against him, even mildly.