On January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump took executive action to revoke the security clearances of 51 former national security officials. These officials had previously signed a letter in 2020 suggesting that Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” despite there being no evidence of Russian involvement. The list includes prominent figures such as former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., former CIA Directors Michael Hayden and John Brennan, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
The letter came after the New York Post reported on emails from Hunter Biden, suggesting he had coordinated a meeting between Joe Biden and an executive from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. This was linked to pressure on Ukrainian officials to remove a prosecutor investigating Burisma.
Additionally, the federal investigation, as reported earlier, found that the laptop was not manipulated and contained “reliable evidence.” This order was part of over 200 executive actions Trump signed on Inauguration Day, including steps such as withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and rescinding several Biden administration directives.
