The Lacuna Project

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Exhibit 870

Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails (open letter of 51 former intelligence officials)

Exhibit 870 ยท Open letter

Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails (open letter of 51 former intelligence officials)

we do not know if the emails, provided to the New York Post by President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement

Seven-page statement signed by former officials including a former DNI, three former CIA directors and a former Secretary of Defense. It says the emails 'has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation' and adds that the signers do not know whether the emails are genuine and 'do not have evidence of Russian involvement.' It was issued by private individuals, not an agency.

Source
Signatories (former senior national security and intelligence officials), first published by Politico
Date
19 October 2020
Quoted from
Statement, page 1, paragraph 5
Grade
Primary record
Document
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-4393-d7aa-af77-579f9b330000
Archived
https://web.archive.org/web/2020/https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-4393-d7aa-af77-579f9b330000
Accessed
2026-11-09
Cited by
Findings citing this exhibit
Note
Count of 51 signers is from secondary sources and from Executive Order 14152; not hand-counted.

Cited by

Finding POL-7.15
Primary record A letter published on 19 October 2020 by former senior intelligence officials, counted at 51 in Executive Order 14152, said the Hunter Biden emails had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation" and said the signers "do not have evidence of Russian involvement." On 20 January 2025 the order directed revocation of the signers' security clearances and stated that they "willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions."