Secretary of State Antony Blinken is silent on whether he regrets his alleged efforts to help discredit Hunter Biden’s discarded laptop, which was later used as evidence in Biden’s federal trial, resulting in his conviction.
A Fox News Digital review found that the connection between Blinken and Biden surfaced last year when former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell testified before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees.
Morell testified that Blinken, as a senior adviser to President Biden’s then-campaign, “played a role in initiating” the public statement signed by intelligence officials that claimed Hunter Biden’s discarded laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
“In his written interview, Morell testified that around October 17, 2020, you contacted him to discuss the Hunter Biden laptop story,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said in a letter to Blinken last year as the committee was investigating the origins of a letter from 51 former intel officials, published in Politico, warning that the laptop, first reported by the New York Post, had “all the classic hallmarks” of Russian disinformation.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Hunter Biden. (Getty Images)
“According to Morrell, although your outreach was intended solely to obtain Morrell’s response to the Post’s story, it set in motion the events that led to the issuance of the public statement.”
“Morrell further explained that one of his two goals in issuing the statement was to help then-Vice President Biden win the debate and assist him in winning the election,” he wrote. “Based on Morrell’s testimony, it is clear that the Biden campaign played an active role in the origination of the public statement, which had the effect of suppressing the Hunter Biden story and helping prevent American citizens from making fully informed decisions during the 2020 presidential election.”
Three days after the former intelligence officials’ letter was made public, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden used the letter as a topic of discussion in the final 2020 presidential debate to rebut criticisms made by then-President Trump.
In the ensuing years, multiple media outlets confirmed the New York Post’s reporting that the laptop was authentic, and it was used as evidence by the federal government in the recent gun crimes trial against Biden, where he was convicted on all charges.
Fox News Digital recently contacted each of the former intelligence officials who signed the letter and most signatories declined to comment, while several declined to comment at all. Doubled Up on their involvement.
Additionally, emails recovered from the infamous abandoned laptop that Blinken tried to discredit showed that Biden has a friendly personal relationship with Blinken and his wife Evan Ryan that dates back more than a decade, having scheduled meetings with him while he was on the board of Burisma and while Blinken was deputy secretary of state.
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Social media users are reacting to Hunter Biden being found guilty on gun-related charges. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
In an email dated May 22, 2015, Biden tried to schedule a meeting with Blinken so he could get the deputy secretary of state’s “advice” on a few things. However, the death of Biden’s brother, Beau, in late May 2015 caused the meeting to be rescheduled for July 2015.
On May 22, 2015, Antony Blinken sent an email to Hunter Biden. (Fox News)
Hunter Biden’s email with Antony Blinken’s assistant at the State Department, May 22, 2015. (Fox News)
Biden’s assistant, Joan Mayer, emailed Biden his weekly schedule months later on July 21, with a meeting scheduled with Blinken the next day.
“12:00pm-1:30pm – Lunch with Tony Blinken (State Department),” Hunter’s schedule read. “Enter through the main entrance (‘Diplomatic Entrance’), 22nd and C Streets, Northwest. Proceed to the receptionist area, where Kenny Matthews will be waiting to escort you to Tony’s office.”
“12:00-1:30 pm – Lunch with Tony Blinken (State Department),” according to Hunter Biden’s schedule for July 22, 2015. “Enter from the main entrance (‘Diplomatic Entrance’), 22nd and C Streets, Northwest. Proceed to the receptionist area, where Kenny Matthews will be waiting to escort you to Tony’s office.” (Fox News)
In another email after the meeting, Blinken told Biden it was “great to meet” him and “had a great conversation.” He also joked to Biden about how a woman in his office found Biden “nice to look at.”
“You’ll love this,” Antony Blinken wrote to Hunter Biden on July 22, 2015. “After you left, Marjorie, that wonderful African American woman who sits in my outer office (and used to be Colin Powell’s assistant) said to me: ‘He sure is pleasant to the eye.’ Tell that to your wife. Tony.” (Fox News)
“Tell that to your wife,” Blinken joked.
Fox News Digital could not confirm what the meeting was about. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Blinken had previously denied having any role in the creation of the letter from former intelligence officials, and the emphasis is on He said he “doesn’t do politics” despite spending decades making political donations and holding campaign positions. Blinken and his wife have donated about $70,000 to Democrats over the past few decades.
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Blinken has also said that the letter was not his idea, and that he “neither asked for it” nor “demanded it.”
Several profile pieces over the past few years have noted that Blinken has advised Biden on more than just foreign policy, building on his decades-long friendship with the president and serving as a confidante. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a co-chair of President Biden’s re-election campaign, told CNN in 2021 that Blinken “has been part of Joe’s growth, learning and changes as he’s tackled challenges over the decades” and that he is “an irreplaceable part of Joe Biden’s inner core team.”
“President Biden is personally close to both Tony Blinken and Evan Ryan, and Tony has been an incredibly loyal, capable, and effective adviser, staffer, and personal friend, which is rare in Washington,” Coons said.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report
