Last night, many of us responded to the statement of Leon Panetta, former CIA Director in the Obama Administration, that he “has no regrets” about signing the now infamous letter of 51 former intelligence officials suggesting that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. Even more unsettling were his comments that he believes it could still be Russian disinformation. It turns out that even with American intelligence, the media, and Hunter Biden himself acknowledging authenticity, it can still be Russian disinformation. Panetta has become the personification of the economic theory of path dependence. No matter how much countervailing evidence is presented to Panetta, he still refuses to accept the authenticity of the laptop.
In his interview on “Special Report,” Panetta was asked by Bret Baier if he had any regrets about signing the letter, which was then used by Joe Biden in the debate to avoid answering questions about influence peddling by his family (and a virtual blackout of coverage before the election).
Panetta insisted that he had no regrets and then added that he has seen no intelligence that would make him change his mind.
“You don’t think it was real?” Baier asked him.
Panetta responded “I think disinformation is involved here.”
This was the man in charge of our CIA.
Panetta simply refused to acknowledge (1) American intelligence quickly debunked the claim and said that there was no evidence of Russian disinformation behind the laptop, (2) the emails contained in the laptop were quickly authenticated by the other parties, (3) the FBI authenticated the laptop, (4) Hunter Biden has since sued over the use of his laptop, and (5) the media has independently authenticated the laptop.
It has also been shown that the Biden campaign and associates coordinated the letter.
It was then used by an enabling media as an excuse not to investigate or report on the contents. What is striking is that Panetta can not cite any basis to believe that it was Russian disinformation. The laptop details an influence peddling scheme by a family that has long been known for such corruption. More importantly, there was not a single fact cited in the letter (or now years later) that supported this claim. It was simply embarrassing to the Bidens before a close presidential election.
However, in order to admit to these facts, Panetta would have had to admit that he was a willing or unwitting dupe of the campaign. It is easier to simply continue to claim that this could all be the invention of the Russians. Yet, Panetta is still sought for his advice on other intelligence matters as he continues to repeat disproven claims because the truth is simply too costly on a personal level to acknowledge.
What do we call false claims that are repeated despite being repeatedly debunked and disproven? Oh, yea, disinformation.
Panetta is quite justified in holding his opinion. See, for example, https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/07/08/the-laptop-everyone-knows-as-hunter-bidens-appears-to-have-been-deleted-starting-february-15-2019/ (also see other columns about the laptop, analyzing in detail what’s known and not known).
Notice that in the paragraph “Panetta simply refused to acknowledge (1) American intelligence quickly debunked the claim and said that there was no evidence of Russian disinformation behind the laptop, (2) the emails contained in the laptop were quickly authenticated by the other parties, (3) the FBI authenticated the laptop, (4) Hunter Biden has since sued over the use of his laptop, and (5) the media has independently authenticated the laptop,” the sole claim that Turley backs up with evidence is #5, and even there, Turley gives a false description, since the laptop is in FBI possession and the NYT cannot “authenticate” it.
The fact is that it appears that a laptop that at one time belonged to HB was turned in to Mac Isaac’s shop — perhaps the laptop that HB said had been stolen from him — and appears to contain hacked content, and we have no idea what combination of legit content and falsified content is there.
We the ordinary citizen have no real standing it seems — how can we live with one set of laws for us, another set for Democrat politicians (and family) and another for the Republicans,? We are climbing the tree to find the bunch of 10 bananas. The situation has become so disheartening. The saying ‘when good men do nothing’ means little when good men (and women) are trying to do something, but the powers in charge are too powerful to overcome. Here is the real problem, when the press becomes one-sided, justice is only for those that control it.
Incorrect we have hunter bidens signature and forensics determined no hacking, and the apple cloud backup.
Sorry, liar.
“. . . Panetta can not cite any basis . . .”
The Left does not need a “basis” (evidence, facts, arguments) for its decrees. They are the Higher Authorities. And when they issue an edict: Yours is not to question why. Your is but to do or die. (See Covid, “insurrection,” the economy is fine, the border is closed, Iran is not involved, etc., etc.)
Of course not, he’s a Dem
Sad part is a good number of people in the country will continue to believe the Russian Disinformation laptop conspiracy theory despite all the evidence.
Then again, there is a good number of people who still believe in the Russian Hoax, there was an insurrection, and no Israeli babies were killed.
Years ago, I used to think that Leon Panetta was a fairly reasonable guy. His continued defense of the Hunter Biden laptop as Russian disinformation however is astounding and removes all doubt of him being objective. Pretty pathetic for an 85-year-old veteran Democrat as this one singular position will define his legacy IMHO. Thank you, Jonathan, for an excellent article.
Perhaps Congress should call all 51 to testify under Oath about the matter and require all 51 to detail exactly how they got enlisted to do what they did, upon what classified information they based their statements upon and when proven to be lying under Oath by comparing their collective statements and every classified document they cite as the basis…..then send criminal referrals to the DOJ. The Republicans can take action IF they have the cojones to do so.
The only way to end the radical Leftist Agenda is by sheer weight of evidence and showering the American People with that evidence.
As the Good Professor tells us….good speech eventually outweighs bad speech.
A fantasy. Not a one will or has paid.
We won’t even get a movie with real justice, we will get the opposite though, the demoncrats lies on the big screen presented as 100% truth.
Swamp dwellers like Leon Panetta and others sold their souls long ago to achieve acceptance and power. They have shown themselves to be anti-American. And even though they have done and will continue to do enormous damage, I am more concerned about what we saw yesterday– huge “protest” against Israel in New York, Chicago and elsewhere, filled with people who believe anything they are told if it supports what they already think. Many of them that were interviewed cited a Los Angeles times story that allegedly debunked the claim that Hamas had murdered babies. The regular news beat of the “reporter” who wrote the story is the pot industry in California; however, writing with his known bias against Israel, he was allowed to claim that there was no proof of any such atrocity. In less than twenty seconds, using Google no less, I found that the pictures of the slaughtered babies had been verified by a French reporter, that they were published by Prime Minister Netanyahu on X and that Secretary of State Blinken had seen them and visibly was shaken by what he saw. This certainly was and is more proof than Panetta has about the laptop or any of the “protesters” have about Hamas’ terrorism. I get it that the LA Times, like the Washington Post and New York Times, is nothing more than a propaganda tool but that so many thousands of people are willing to believe it without any critical thought or inquiry at all is amazing and scary.
Honestlawyermostly,
Well said and I agree.
My sister did not know about the Loudon school district rape case and the scandal of the attempted cover up.
It is amazing to what degree people will only read MSM and not ever question the narrative they are pushing.
Well, that’s an unknown frenchie – a “reporter” so that’s suspect, and two jews – one the titular head of wanting it to be true even if it isn’t, the other almost the same.
I guess you guys don’t have 2 brain cells to rub together, you just can’t understand why deranged lefties don’t believe you.
The next point is of course it’s a war, so both sides deny everything and accuse everything.
Normally, I would agree with your analysis however, Panetta is simply a political hack who would vehemently defend the notion of a westerly sun rise if that”fact” were politically expedient. He has no integrity, no honor, and no class. Lawerence Tribe also comes to mind in this context.
Leon Panetta and the other 50 intelligence agents take the American public for fools. I know Bret Baier had to be gracious with his questioning, but I don’t. “Mr. Panetta. It’s either one of two thing when it comes to Hunter Biden’s laptop and you alleging Russian disinformation. One, you are incompetent. Or two, you intentionally signed onto the letter to influence the election. Which was it?”
He is delusional. As to whether he is psychotic, well that is up in the air. I think it a real possibility but a physician’s ethics prevent us from giving a rock hard diagnosis on simply watching an interview. He is definitely a pretzel in order to twist statements in such a manner as to lose all validity in discussing this issue. Hack at this time would be more appropriate since it is not a medical diagnosis. Remember a delusion is something you see but totally misinterpret what it is or means in comparison to “normal”. He is not hallucinating.
This is exactly the reason so many in the U.S. have lost confidence in the so-called “intelligence” community. When the former leader of the CIA refuses to look at objective facts, but continues in his delusional subjectivity, it makes so many of us question whether that same propensity is shared by many who worked for him.
Panetta is a delusional Clinton lackey, completely devoid of honesty and integrity. Everyone that signed that document should have had their security clearance cancelled years ago. Shameful liars!
Panetta is a strong argument for severely limited government.
He may be using that part of the brain related to the meat: pancetta: small, chopped up & salty!
Of course,coming from the CRT (or was that CIA)…
When Bret asked the question, and before he replied, I said to my wife “this guy is a swamp creature”, and he sure proved it with his lame “reasoning”.
The idiots and liars on the left scream about stolen elections and disinformation and here we have the intelligence agencies throwing an election by using disinformation.
They put Biden in office, they tried to take Trump out of office while he was president, they took Nixon out of office, Deep Throat worked for the FBI, and for the first time in my life I question if they were involved with taking JFK out of office.
Quoting From the Urban Dictionary:
“Panetta”:
“A sexually transmitted disease that erodes the vas deferens by dissemenating bitstrings across all of the victim’s bodily systems….. People who have been diagnosed with Panetta are unfortunate souls whose only option is to be eliminated from existence….
Sounds about right
As I just replied in X. Watching it live – I told my husband – this is an easy answer to why he won’t state anything else/ his close ties to Hilary Clinton mean he will hold to the “Russia Russia narrative” at all costs. No way he will ever throw her under the bus.
I am an MD. The definition of “psychosis” is to be out of touch with reality – generally suffering from delusions and/or hallucinations. Panetta is psychotic.
Psychotic is too respectful. He is just a political hack.
So much for people thinking he was even-handed or bipartisan. Alas, just another political hack. Easy to find on both sides
Whig98,
Well said and I agree.
Anyone who falls out of the “swamp” thinking, they call an extremist.
What do we *call not *can last P typo. Took me a second to decipher that. Also too* not to* in penultimate paragraph.
P…..
P is for pedantic, petulant, prig, prissy, prudish, puritanical, pfffft!