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Former CIA chief Michael Morell, who wrote ex-spy letter
dismissing The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop reports,
misled signers by saying he’d ‘clear’ it with agency
By Miranda Devine
May 7, 2023 10:30pm Updated
MORE ON CIA:
The ex-CIA chief who wrote the letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials falsely claiming that emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop published by The Post before the 2020 election were Russian disinformation misled his fellow signatories when he assured them that he would “clear the statement with the Publication Review Board at CIA” the following day.
CIA sabotage Biden-Trump debate
In an October 18, 2020, email obtained by The Post, Michael Morell asks his fellow spooks, including former CIA Directors John Brennan, Leon Panetta and Mike Hayden, to sign the letter, explaining that he and former CIA agent Marc Polymeropoulos had “drafted the attached because we believe the Russians were involved in some way in the Hunter Biden email issue and because we think Trump will attack Biden on the issue at this week’s debate and we want to give the VP a talking point to use in response.”
Morell asks the CIA alumni in the group to “highlight your Russia work” in their affiliations when they sign the letter and assures them that he will secure pre-publication clearance from the CIA “tomorrow.”
But the letter was published by Politico the following day, Oct. 19, 2020, leaving no time for the required pre-publication security review by the CIA, a lifelong obligation for all former agency employees, and a process that could take several months.
It also omitted the boilerplate disclaimer required by the CIA to be included in any such intelligence assessment, which would have declared: “All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the Central Intelligence Agency.”
Morell had no time for the official security review by the CIA, because, as he explained in his email, the imperative was to provide a “talking point” for then-candidate Joe Biden in the final campaign debate against incumbent President Donald Trump in just three days’ time.
“Either he lied or somebody at the CIA violated their own policies,” says lawyer Tim Parlatore, who has spent the past year pursuing the 51 intelligence officials on behalf of Trump.
“When you think about the speed at which the CIA works in their pre-publication process, that would be pretty stunning to get an OK that quickly without the required disclaimers. It would implicate someone within the CIA in the plot against the president [Trump].”
He points out that the CIA and other government agencies have harshly punished other such breaches of the vital security provision.
Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell asked his fellow spooks to sign the letter he and a colleague had “drafted … because we believe the Russians were involved in some way in the Hunter Biden email issue.”
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Former Navy SEAL Matthew Bissonnette was forced to pay the federal government $6.8 million for violating pre-publication and non-disclosure obligations when he published his book “No Easy Day,” about his role in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Parlatore did not receive a reply from John Hoffister Hedley, chairman of the CIA’s Prepublication Classification Review Board, when he wrote last May urging action on the “egregious breach by several former CIA employees that appears to have been overlooked by your agency.”
The CIA did not respond to The Post’s request for comment Friday.
Someone needs to be held accountable for this mess or the CIA's credibility, what's left of it, will take another pathetic hit. The CIA has to get out of politics, but then, what would Deep State do?
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Scottish National Party treasurer quits as crisis over the party's finances deepens
By Paul Godfrey
Scottish National Party Leader Humza Yousaf has assumed the role of treasurer after MP Colin Beattie resigned
following his arrest into a probe into misuse of the party's finances. File Photo by Robert Perry/EPA-EFE
April 20 (UPI) -- The treasurer of Scotland's ruling Scottish National Party has resigned after being arrested by police investigating the party's alleged misuse of $745,000 in independence campaign donations to pay for the party's operating costs.
Colin Beattie, the MSP for Midlothian North, who was questioned and released under investigation said in a statement posted on his Twitter account Wednesday that he was standing down to avoid being a further distraction to new party leader Humza Yousaf's work to get the embattled party back on track.
Right! Taking over the treasurer's portfolio won't be a distraction at all!
"I have also informed the SNP Chief Whip at Holyrood that I will be stepping back from my role on the Public Audit Committee until the police investigation has concluded," said Beattie who also pledged to cooperate fully with Police Scotland.
SNP's Constitution and Electoral Commission rules dictate that the party leader automatically assumes the role of treasurer until a replacement is appointed, which Yousaf said would take place "as soon as possible."
Yousaf also offered thanks to Beattie upon his departure.
"I know that his decision to step back from the role of SNP national treasurer will not have been an easy one but he has done so in the best interest of the party," he said.
Deputy first minister Shona Robison said Yousaf had taken "very swift action to ensure that party members, as well as the public, can be confident in the future governance and transparency of the party.
"We've got to absolutely get our house in order, the public will expect nothing else, but meanwhile we also have to address some of those concerns that the public have about other matters like the cost-of-living crisis," Robison said.
But opposition parties criticized Yousaf for failing to tackle the crisis head-on.
"This is the right decision, made by the wrong man," said Scottish Labor deputy leader Jackie Baillie. "While Humza Yousaf played for time and failed to do the right thing, Colin Beattie at least could see the writing on the wall.
"For too long, a culture of secrecy and cover-up has been allowed to fester at the heart of the SNP," she added. "And while the investigation spreads, the SNP is still refusing to take the basic step of suspending MSPs who are the subject of police inquiries. Humza Yousaf's failure to act has made it clear -- his priority is the cover-up to protect the SNP, not the people of Scotland."
Beattie's arrest on Tuesday came two weeks after party chief executive Peter Murrell, who is the husband of former first minister and party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, was arrested in a raid on the couple's Glasgow home and held in police detention overnight. He was also released without charge.
Scottish Conservative Party Chairman Craig Hoy is also calling on Yousaf to suspend Beattie, Murrell and Sturgeon from the party saying the probe was "consuming" the SNP.
Beattie, 71, was serving a second term as national treasurer having previously held the post from 2004 to 2020, returning to the role in 2021 to replace Douglas Chapman, who quit in a row over accusations the party restricted his access to its financial information.
Earlier this month, the SNP announced its contract with its accountants, Johnston Carmichael, had ended. The firm made the move reportedly months prior to Murrell's arrest following a review of its "client portfolio and existing resources and commitments," a decision that left the party without auditors for six months.
Oh! That sounds like fun!
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