MSNBC says indicted FBI informant vindicates ex-intel officials' claim Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinfo

MSNBC made a leap on Thursday to declare that the ex-intel officials who peddled the Russian disinformation narrative about Hunter Biden's laptop were actually "right" following the DOJ's recent indictment of Alexander Smirnov.

Smirnov, an ex-informant for the FBI, was charged last week by Special Counsel David Weiss of making false statements alleging both President Biden and his son pocketed millions in bribes for the ousting of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings, on which Hunter sat as a board member. 

It has since been revealed by the DOJ that Smirnov had ties to Russian intelligence officials, who allegedly fed the Burisma narrative to him. 

FROM 'SMEAR CAMPAIGN' TO 'RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION,' LIBERAL MEDIA TEAMED UP TO DISMISS HUNTER BIDEN STORY

Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings have been at the center of corruption allegations against his father. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

In light of the recent developments, MSNBC revisited the infamous open letter signed by 51 ex-intel officials in October 2020 responding to the bombshell reporting from The New York Post about Hunter Biden's laptop, insisting the published emails had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."

"The revelation of a Russia-linked informant here. It comes nearly four years after many in the American intelligence community warned Moscow was behind many of the allegations being levied at the Biden family," Wllie Geist of "Morning Joe" began. "In a 2020 letter, 51 former US intel officials expressed concern about the source of a much-discussed story on the right: Hunter Biden's laptop."  

2022: THE YEAR THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP WAS FINALLY VERIFIED BY THE MEDIA

NBC News correspondent Ken Dilanian told Geist that those former intel officials "paid a steep price" for signing that letter. 

"House Republicans conducted an investigation. They brought some of them in to testify under oath. The Republicans said this was election interference, this was a bogus attempt to suppress a legitimate story. And as it turns out, they were right," Dilanian said. "Not in the sense - they said that the laptop was part of a Russian information operation or had all the hallmarks of a Russian information operations. They didn't say that the contents of the laptop were made up- and obviously we know that they weren't. Many of them have been now corroborated. What they said was they were suspicious about why that story was emerging in the middle of an election campaign and whether Russian intelligence was flogging it or was somehow amplifying it." 

"And now, they've been proven correct in the sense that we now know that Russian intelligence, at least according to the statements of this informant bolstered somewhat by this indictment, were feeding him information, false information," Dilanian added. 

While he acknowledged that the ex-intel officials were "trying to help Joe Biden" with the open letter, Dilanian insisted the point they were making "holds up over time."

MSNBC's Willie Geist and NBC News correspondent Ken Dilanian claim that the former intel officials who called the Hunter Biden laptop Russian disinformation were "right." (Screenshot/MSNBC)

MSNBC rejected the legitimacy of Hunter Biden's laptop right out of the gate, with the same narrative. 

"Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough declared the story "false" and later claimed it was "so obviously" Russian disinformation, asking, "Why are we spreading the lies here?"

Co-host Mika Brzezinski cited multiple reports about intelligence agencies investigating former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani's dealings with "alleged Russian agents," as well as whether emails from Hunter Biden's laptop are "linked to a foreign intel operation."

"Deadline: White House" host Nicolle Wallace was more confident in dismissing Hunter Biden's laptop, telling viewers, "We shouldn't look at it as anything other than a Russian disinformation operation." MSNBC anchor Katy Tur mocked the Post's story, saying it "dropped like a bomb," but to "wither under scrutiny, not really dropping like a bomb."

MSNBC BURIES NBC NEWS REPORT ON HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP, OFFERS LESS THAN 4 MINUTES OF COVERAGE

MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle criticized those who were covering the Hunter Biden controversy, referring to it as a "so-called story" with "unverified claims."

"We are now four days away from the election and the truth is more important than ever," Ruhle told her viewers at the time. "The truth is that we're in the middle of a pandemic. The truth is that millions of Americans are out of work. The truth is we have to listen to science. And in these final days, instead of debating crowd size or unverified claims or conspiracy theories, we should be talking about policy, values and ideas."

Fifty-one ex-intel officials said Hunter Biden's emails published by the New York Post in October 2020 had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation." (Getty images  |  New York Post)

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But in May 2022, NBC News joined several news organizations in their stunning reversals in verifying the laptop.

"NBC News obtained a copy of Biden’s laptop hard drive from a representative of Rudy Giuliani and examined Biden’s business dealings from 2013 to 2018 based on the information available on the hard drive and the scope of the documents released by the Senate," NBC News said in a report about Hunter Biden's lavish spending.