Maroc - RAWSTORY.COM - Raw Story - 03/Jul 16:37

'One of dumber things I’ve ever read’: Ex-CIA attorney bashes Jim Jordan conspiracy theory

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) continued focus on a letter written four years ago in which members of the intelligence community dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop conspiracy as Russian disinformation is drawing the ire of a former CIA attorney who was there during part of Donald Trump's administration.Jordan published a report last month from the House Judiciary Committee claiming, "CIA contractors colluded with the Biden campaign to discredit Hunter Biden laptop story."But legal analyst Allison Gill and former FBI agent Peter Strzok reported on the "Cleanup on Aisle 45" podcast that an ex-CIA lawyer named Brian Greer, who served in the counsel's office from 2010 to 2018, is calling Jordan's efforts absurd. Strzok joked that it is 2024, and Jordan is still looking for the Lindbergh baby kidnappers.Less than a day before the first presidential debate, Jordan, a Trump-ally, released eight transcripts from former intelligence officials involved in creating the letter that was signed by more than 50 agents. The timing of the release was criticized as an attempt to give Trump an assist in the debate."Jim Jordan's report on the letter from the former Intel officers is one of the dumber things I've ever read," said Greer. "It doesn't appear to even have a good theory about what the CIA did wrong. But it assumes that randomly quoting some internal emails will give Fox News what it needs."Jordan says at one point that the CIA should have stopped the letter from being published, even if it didn't have classified information in it. Greer explained that's not how the CIA works, as it would violate the First Amendment rights of those who spoke out. "If it does not contain classified information, the CIA cannot stop its publication," Greer pointed out. Greer also pointed to Jordan's assessment, saying, "it suggests it was somehow wrong that the senior officials were aware of the letter."According to Greer, "Their awareness is not improper unless it was for the purpose of interfering with the review process. The report's authors are actually mad that these officials did not interfere.""The one legitimate question raised by the report," Greer continued, "is that some of the signatories were on contracts with the CIA at the time. There's a fair question of whether they should be held to a higher standard. "The report acknowledges they're not subject to the same Hatch Act restrictions as employees. Even here, the report distorts. It rails about these contractors receiving dollars, but it doesn't mention that four of the six were on no-fee contracts. They were working for free, and their contractor status was not publicly known."Greer closed by saying, "Jim Jordan can criticize the letter all he wants. That's fair game, and it should be debated and the signatories can defend themselves, but this report is a pretty pathetic attempt to blame the CIA for not preventing the publication of a letter that no one believes is classified."Jordan has spent nearly four years on the letter about the Hunter Biden laptop. As Washington Post columnist Philip Bump wrote, right-wing hosts like Sean Hannity continue to conflate the laptop issue with Hunter Biden's other legal issues. "When The Washington Post finally got access to the material in 2022, we were able to verify some of it as authentic," wrote Bump. "There was also evidence, though, that the material on the hard drive that went from Giuliani to the New York Post was moved around with some information added. Even Mac Isaac warned that material being attributed to 'the laptop' was not on the laptop when he undertook the file recovery process."Isaac was the owner of the computer shop where Biden's equipment was brought for repair.