A Politico story that cited numerous former intelligence officials that warned that the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop could be ‘Russian disinformation’ has been widely discredited.

Since the story broke in the runup to the 2020 election, it has been repeatedly proven that the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop were authentic by both government officials and members of the media who originally refused to report on the story.

The New York Post, one of the few news outlets to report on the story before the election, was censored by Twitter.

The incident has been a major contributing factor to conservatives and moderates alike distrusting the media.

Now, the former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Cliff Sims, publicly stated that he told reporters that the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop was not Russian disinformation.

Politico reporter Natasha Bertrand ran with the story anyways.

Breitbart Reports–

Want to know what it's like to deal with some journalists who "cover" the Intel and NatSec communities at the highest level, but actually serve more like mouthpieces of the permanent security state?

Here's a story about how wrong they can be without consequences.

Thread…

— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) December 15, 2022

Bertrand, a reporter for Politico at the time, approached then-deputy DNI Sims on October 19, 2020, regarding an article she was writing about 50 former information officials claiming Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation. Breitbart News’s Emma-Jo Morris had a few days earlier broken the “Laptop from Hell” story, which big tech censored, in the New York Post.

Sims told Bertrand before the publication of the Politico story that the “Laptop from Hell” was not Russian disinformation, citing then-Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe. Despite Sims’ warning, Bertrand wrote the story anyway and gave the Democrats the headline they wanted, Sims stated.

On October 16, a few days before Bertrand approached Sims, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) falsely claimed the New York Post’s “Laptop from Hell” story was a part of a Russian attempt to “smear” then-candidate Joe Biden. Ratcliffe had condemned Schiff’s false claim, and Sims relayed that to Bertrand as background for her now-debunked Politico story.