Graham asks 51 intel officials on Hunter laptop letter if they'd still sign it now amid threats to clearances

FIRST ON FOX: South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham sent a missive to each of the 51 erstwhile quality officials who signed a memo suggesting the Hunter Biden laptop had the hallmarks of Russian disinformation. 

"In your letter, you claimed that the laptop communicative was ‘Russia trying to power however Americans vote,’" Graham’s missive work to erstwhile CIA directors Leon Panetta and Michael Hayden, erstwhile Director of National Intelligence [DNI] James Clapper and 48 others. 

"I inquire you to respond publically to 1 elemental question: if you knew past what you cognize present astir the laptop, would you inactive person signed the October 19, 2020 letter?" 

Graham, a Republican, has antecedently suggested yanking the information clearances of officials who signed the letter. 

Vice President-elect JD Vance pledged during the run that the incoming Trump medication would portion the clearances of each 51 signatories. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham sent a missive to each of the 51 erstwhile quality officials who signed a memo suggesting the Hunter Biden laptop had the hallmarks of Russian disinformation. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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Over the summer, Fox News Digital asked each 51 officials whether they regretted signing connected to the now-debunked letter. 

"No," Obama-era DNI James Clapper responded. 

Mark Zaid, an lawyer representing 7 of the signatories, said it was "patriotic" for his clients to motion connected to the letter. 

"There continues to beryllium by galore a calculated oregon woefully ignorant mentation of the October 2020 missive signed by fifty-one erstwhile quality officials concerning Hunter Biden's laptop," Zaid said. 

Greg Treverton, a signatory who antecedently served arsenic seat of the National Intelligence Council, defended the missive successful a connection to Fox News Digital. 

Over the summer, Fox News Digital asked each 51 officials whether they regretted signing connected to the now-debunked missive claiming Hunter Biden's laptop appeared to beryllium Russian disinformation. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

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"This is precise aged news," Treverton said. "What we said was true, we were inferring from our experience, and it did look similar a Russian operation. We didn't, and couldn't, of course, accidental it was a Russian operation. Enough said."

The now-infamous missive had said their nationalist information acquisition had made them "deeply suspicious that the Russian authorities played a important relation successful this case."

"If we are right," they added, "this is Russia trying to power however Americans ballot successful this election, and we judge powerfully that Americans request to beryllium alert of this."

Despite claims from erstwhile officials that the laptop had the hallmarks of Russian disinformation, Fox News Digital reported that national investigators with the Department of Justice knew successful December 2019 that Hunter Biden’s laptop was "not manipulated successful immoderate way" and contained "reliable evidence," but were "obstructed" from seeing each disposable information, according to an IRS whistleblower progressive successful the probe – astir a twelvemonth earlier the erstwhile quality officials and President Joe Biden declared it was portion of a Russian disinformation campaign.

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The laptop was introduced into grounds successful a Delaware courtroom past week by prosecutor Derek Hines and handed to FBI cause Erika Jensen, who had earlier explained however the FBI authenticated the laptop and extracted data. In the weapon trial, she testified astir dozens of substance messages, metadata, photos and abbreviated videos recovered connected phones and iCloud accounts belonging to Hunter Biden.