Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Congress on Wednesday that he didn’t know that three people he appointed to a new intelligence experts panel had spread disinformation about Hunter Biden’s laptop just ahead of the 2020 election.
James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence; John Brennan, the former CIA chief in the Obama administration, and Paul Kolbe, a long-time CIA official, were among dozens who signed the letter calling a New York Post report on the laptop Russian disinformation. In fact, the laptop was authentic — something the FBI knew at the time.
Mr. Mayorkas in September named them to his intelligence experts board, drawing fierce pushback, given their role in the laptop letter.
Rep. Kat Cammack, at a hearing, challenged Mr. Mayorkas on whether he was aware that they signed the letter.
“I don’t know the answer to that,” he replied.
“They did,” she retorted.
She then asked if he was aware of the role that the letter played in censoring the Biden laptop story.
“I am not tracking that,” Mr. Mayorkas replied.
Ms. Cammack, Florida Republican, called that “shocking.”
Mr. Mayorkas went on to defend his decision to appoint the three, calling them “distinguished former members of the intelligence community.”
The experts group is intended to give advice to Mr. Mayorkas on national security matters facing the country. It will meet four times a year.
The department said the full group is bipartisan. It pointed to members such as John Bellinger and Michael Leiter, who served in senior national security roles in the George W. Bush administration.
The department said it wanted a wide range of views from the panel.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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