Screenshot: Fox News YouTube Video
Fox News anchor Bret Baier repeatedly questioned one of the individuals who signed a letter suggesting the Hunter Biden laptop story was ‘Russian disinformation,’ but the former intelligence official refused to apologize for taking part in the ruse.
In fact, the entire exchange is emblematic of the problem currently permeating the intel community – biased, cocky officials who, when backed into a corner, point to semantics and wording as they squirm their way out of any accountability.
Baier’s interview with former CIA officer David Priess is a legitimate embarrassment for intelligence officials everywhere.
Priess was one of over 50 intelligence officials who claimed just before the 2020 presidential election that a New York Post bombshell regarding the President’s son’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
David Priess, author of the book titled – I kid you not – “How to Get Rid of a President,” proceeded to weasel his way through the interview by pointing to another section of the letter in which the authors admitted they “do not know if the emails [on Hunter Biden’s laptop] … are genuine” and that they “do not have evidence of Russian involvement.”
They published the letter regardless, knowing exactly what sections would get press – “disinformation” – and what wouldn’t “Oh, maybe we’re wrong!” And that latter section was what Priess used to justify his actions.
Baier read back the “classic earmarks” segment of the letter and asked, “Why did you sign onto that?”
Rather than admit to disseminating his own misinformation, Priess argued that people tend to leave out that “elsewhere in the letter – if you read it – that it also says we don’t know if this is a Russian operation at all.”
“That has been dramatically changed in the retelling of the story,” he added.
Watch:
Not everybody is the kind of rube Priess is hoping for in convincing himself that he did nothing wrong.
What he is ‘dramatically changing’ himself is another line from the letter – a line that suggests that even if the intelligence officials are wrong about their hunch, they’re signing on to the letter anyway.
“If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this,” they said of the story regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop at the time.
They weren’t right. And recent revelations from whistleblowers at the FBI and DOJ indicate they could have known they weren’t right prior to publishing the letter.
While Baier continued to press, Priess continued to dig his heels in, as one would expect from the CIA.
“The New York Times found that these are authenticated,” Baier pointed out before playing a clip of President Biden using the letter from these intelligence officials to deflect and defend himself from pointed attacks by Donald Trump during the first presidential debate.
“I’ll let President Biden speak for himself,” Priess fired back. “He’s capable of doing that.”
That Bidein is capable of speaking for himself is also debatable. But I digress.
Priess added, “What I’ll do is say is that it has all the classic earmarks of a Russian campaign in the way it was disseminated and propagated through media.”
Just keep repeating the lie and somebody will eventually believe you eh, Mr. Priess?
With that line of reasoning, any news story could be justified by saying it has “all the classic earmarks” of a misinformation campaign.
“Do you regret signing on to the letter?” Baier asked Priess.
“Absolutely not. Because those words are still true,” a defiant and shameless Priess responded.
Baier scoffed, “It had the classic earmarks, but it wasn’t true.”
The intelligence community at large wasn’t interested in the truth. They were single-mindedly focused on a mission.
One they achieved.
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He knew that it was not Russian disinformation right from the beginning. But they also knew if they confirmed the laptop Biden might not have won the election and that was too great a risk for politicized agencies like the CIA and FBI to allow. So they sat on it, squelched anything being said about it and began the Russian disinformation campaign against all Americans. These two agencies have gone way too far to be fixed, both are a total disaster and need to be shuttered. Now something new can replace them, but the current status quo needs to go.
Baier is just as much as slease bag as the pretend patriot for disseminating false and inaccurate information.
are we now expected to believe that the folks You listen to are less of sleazebags than Baier? did any of THEM complain about how supposedly reliable Americans signed on to these LIES?
The whole set up from the FBI, DOJ. Media, And intelligence, has been to get Trump out of office and keep him out. The purposeful story of the laptop being " Russian Mis information" was just part of the Plot to sway the voters ( By Fraudulent means ):into not voting for Trump ( or not at all, so their mail in ballots could Be Marked for Biden ) It still gets me how fast the FBI concluded that there was not fraud, but still to this date have not identified or Charged then person's responsible for theb2 pipe bombs ( On Jan 6th, 2022 ) or the Men dressed in Black that broke the windows of the Capital ( With the Police standing there watching, then shooting Ashley Babbitt when she tried to crawl through those same windows ). Do they only move fast if it's in the interest of the DNC ?
CIA...FBI...NIH...CDC...all liars...all have the same globalist, Marxist agenda as the Democratic party..not just wrong...evil!
David Preiss is a Marxist liar. How can you explain the video clips of Hunter having sex with hookers and him doing drugs? Is the American public to believe that didn't happen to be on the laptop along with all the other information there? Sort of proves just whose laptop it was, doesn't it. I expected more from government officials, but the political bias and malfeasance is glaringly obvious. No wonder trust in government agencies is virtually zero.
As I have stated all departments have been corrupted during the Hussein Obama regime and continue to be so. The CIA, like the DOJ and FBI have been corrupted and weaponized to go after President Donald trump his supporters and Conservatives. As Upchuck Chucky Schumer has said about Trump draining the swamp, that includes the Intelligence Departments "they have six ways to Sunday to come after you."
It should have become obvious to a blind person that the leadership and much of the rank and file of both the DOJ, CIA and the FBI have become so biased and corrupted that all three agencies need to be totally dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up with honest, trustworthy, patriotic Americans who have an actual love of country and Constitution instead of these scum who have infested those agencies now. It will probably take the American people themselves physically removing them from those buildings and executing their own sentences upon them.
The entire episode was a classic CIA disinformation smear to get Brandon elected.
The entire DOJ, FBI and CIA needs to hang.
Bottom line is: ZERO accountability for those perjurers.
Biden crooks everywhere.... the most criminal admin ever in the USA.