Thread by @JMichaelWaller

@davereaboi Some of the people on this list are so publicly politicized that they can't be taken seriously as neutral intelligence professionals any more. Some never were true professionals in the first place. Others were indeed professionals, but were noted soft-liners toward Moscow.

@davereaboi I agree with the first three paragraphs of the letter. It's good that the letter admit the limitations the signers have in the field of Russian disinformation, saying, "A few of us worked against Russian information operations in the United States in the last several years."

@davereaboi It is irresponsible for them to state, as fact, that the Hunter Biden-related email cache "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."

Not one of them says that they have seen the emails. They don't even say that they conferred with people who studied them.

@davereaboi So it's irresponsible and unprofessional for the letter signatories to dismiss the Hunter Biden emails as Russian disinformation.

Could the emails be part of a Russian disinformation campaign? Of course - Just like the Steele Dossier, which several of the signatories promoted.

@davereaboi That's why it's imperative to study the actual emails and other information themselves, as well as their provenance.

But the signers of the letter only offer conjecture to leap to a political conclusion. They offer no critical analysis. This is unprofessional behavior.

@davereaboi The signatories also ignore the public fact that many of the emails came not via Mayor Giuliani, but directly from a former partner of Hunter Biden, who granted private researchers total access into his password-protected email account. They ignore the second primary source.

@davereaboi They letter signers do not acknowledge that documented evidence exists, with specific names, dates & signatures, showing that the FBI has been in possession of much of the material for almost a year.

The FBI has made no public assessment - or criticism - of the laptop contents.

@davereaboi Indeed, the signers show no interest at all in establishing whether the Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, and Communist Chinese business deals with Hunter Biden were the actual influence operation aimed at the US.

They just want to kill the messenger. That isn't analysis. It's an op.

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