America First Legal (AFL) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Tuesday, requesting an investigation into the discredited 2020 letter from former intelligence officials that cast doubt on the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop archive.
AFL filed the complaint against Biden for President, the Biden Victory Fund, Biden Action Fund and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for failing to disclose the Biden campaign’s apparent role in developing the letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials that portrayed Hunter Biden’s laptop as Russian disinformation. (RELATED: FBI Knew New York Post’s Hunter Biden Laptop Story Was Real Ahead Of 2020 Election, FBI Form Shows)
We’re holding the Biden Campaign, DNC, and deep state accountable for the now debunked “letter of 51,” discrediting the Hunter Biden laptop story. https://t.co/P4yVqQndBc pic.twitter.com/Ud5ToHbDBU
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) October 24, 2023
“As detailed herein, the evidence suggests that the Respondents failed to disclose coordinated expenditures constituting in-kind donations with respect to the infamous ‘Letter of 51’ former intelligence officials claiming that the Hunter Biden 2 laptop story had ‘all the classic earmarks’ of Russian disinformation,” the complaint reads. “There are reasons to believe that the public statement by 51 former intelligence officials was a coordinated political operation to help elect Vice President Biden in the 2020 presidential election, as set forth below.”
The complaint also cites political donations by signatories to Democrats and testimony from former CIA official Michael Morrell before the House Judiciary Committee.
Morrell told the committee about his correspondence with then-Biden campaign advisor Antony Blinken, who orchestrated the letter after the New York Post reported on the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop. Morrell also said he signed the letter because he wanted Joe Biden to defeat incumbent President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
The letter was reported on by Politico ahead of the Oct. 2020 presidential debate, during which Joe Biden cited it to counter Trump’s attacks based on the Post’s reporting. The outlet’s reporting was censored by Twitter and Facebook prior to the letter’s publication. (RELATED: Ex-NY Post Editor Who Broke Hunter Biden Story Laughs About Falsehoods From Ex-Intel Officials)
The contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop have been verified by the Daily Caller News Foundation, New York Times, Washington Post and other news outlets. IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley testified to the House Ways and Means Committee in May that the FBI knew the laptop contents were authentic as early as Nov. 2019.
“In October 2019, the FBI became aware that a repair shop had a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden and that the laptop might contain evidence of a crime. The FBI verified its authenticity in November of 2019 by matching the device number against Hunter Biden’s Apple iCloud ID,” Shapley testified. (RELATED: Joe Biden’s Vice Presidential Office Exchanged Nearly 20,000 Emails With Hunter Biden’s Investment Firm, AFL Says)
In addition, Hunter Biden’s former business associate Tony Bobulinski told the FBI in an Oct. 2020 interview that the laptop contents were authentic, according to a newly released FBI FD-302 form summarizing the interview.
Bobulinski was included on an infamous email thread first reported on by the New York Post in which former Hunter Biden business associate James Gilliar asked about giving “the big guy” a 10 percent stake in a potential business venture.
“10 held by H for the big guy?” Gilliar’s May 2017 email reads. He also texted Bobulinski about Joe Biden’s potential involvement in the deal, according to the House Oversight Committee. IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler testified in July that he understood the “big guy” to refer to Joe Biden.
Hunter Biden is suing Delaware computer repairman John Mac Isaac, former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler in connection to the laptop’s dissemination. He is also suing the IRS for what his legal team believes to be illegal disclosures by IRS whistleblowers Shapley and Joseph Ziegler.
“In 2016, high ranking federal intelligence officials interfered in a Presidential election, lying about Russia collusion in a failed effort to elect Hilary Clinton,” AFL Senior Counselor and Director of Oversight and Investigations Reed D. Rubenstein said in a press release. “In 2020, many of these same officials again interfered in a Presidential election, lying about Hunter Biden. The Federal Election’s Commission’s charge includes election integrity — Americans have the right to know who is coordinating with federal candidates. But this right is only as effective as the agency that enforces it. The FEC must act here.”