Chris Lange, FISM News
A key figure in the “Russian disinformation” campaign to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop scandal said he is proud to have influenced the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in a spat that played out on social media over the weekend.
CIA veteran John Sipher told former Trump intelligence director, Ric Grenell, he takes “special pride in personally swinging the election away from Trump.” Sipher later tried to walk the comment back by claiming that it was made in sarcasm, though some have cast doubt believing it to be a revelation of intent.
The feud follows The New York Times’ recent acknowledgment that a 2020 bombshell report by the New York Post about emails allegedly found on Hunter Biden’s laptop was credible, after having denied its veracity for over 17 months.
Sipher, a longtime defender of Christopher Steele’s discredited dossier, lent his signature to the now infamous letter, asserting that the Hunter laptop report was part of a “Russia information operation.” His stunning admission appears to confirm what Republican lawmakers and conservative pundits have been saying for over two years; namely, that President Biden’s political operatives, including the mainstream media and Big Tech companies, influenced the outcome of the 2020 presidential election by dismissing the story as “Russian disinformation” and suppressing its circulation.
The vituperative tiff began Friday with a tweet from Sipher in which he appeared to echo recent calls by the left for the resignation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over his wife’s alleged support for Trump amid the Jan. 6 capital riot.
“[F]ingers crossed that someone will show some unethical behavior,” Sipher wrote.
Grenell responded to the comment the following day, tweeting: “Didn’t John Sipher sign a letter 3 weeks before the 2020 elections saying don’t look at Hunter Biden’s laptop because it’s Russian disinformation? Now he’s lecturing people about ethical behavior?! These people have no shame.”
Didn’t @john_sipher sign a letter 3 weeks before the 2020 elections saying don’t look at Hunter Biden’s laptop because it’s Russian disinformation?
Now he’s lecturing people about ethical behavior?! These people have no shame…. pic.twitter.com/iJdDO06Vzt
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) March 26, 2022
Sipher fired back: “Oh, look who unblocked me so he could could [sic] spin his predictable fake lowbrow idiocy to his unfortunate followers… I guess you didn’t bother to read the letter… Look who’s trying to use a non-issue to be relevant.”
In response to another user who said Sipher was well aware of the influence the letter would have on the election, Sipher smugly tweeted: “I lost the election for Trump? Well then I [feel] pretty good about my influence.”
“John, you swung an election! I hope that goes on the resume, not easy to do my friend!” another user chimed in, to which Sipher replied, “It’s a special skill.”
Grenell responded to the rhetoric saying wrote that he hoped “the new Republican Congress” will investigate Sipher’s admission, to which the 28-year CIA veteran replied, “I take special pride in personally swinging the election away from Trump.”
I take special pride in personally swinging the election away from Trump. You’re welcome.
Maybe cowardly Dick forgot he blocked me for the last several years and only unblocked me to give me credit for swinging the election. https://t.co/x8Hweg7XhP
— John Sipher (@john_sipher) March 27, 2022
Sipher later appeared to try to walk back his remarks, noting “This is called sarcasm.”
When another user retweeted Sipher’s words about swinging the election, he tried to diminish his influence, writing “a retired guy signing a letter accurately pointing out that the Russians amplify political stupidity about a non-candidate hardly swings a National election.”
Former Attorney General William Barr argued this month that the Hunter Biden letter “probably affected the outcome” of the 2020 race, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
Sipher claimed last week, “We didn’t say the laptop was fake but that the Russians were spinning the story to create chaos.”
In the wake of the Times’ admission that Hunter’s laptop and emails are, in fact, authentic, Republican lawmakers have begun laying the groundwork for a probe into the suppression of the by issuing notices to intelligence officials and Big Tech companies, including Facebook and Twitter, to preserve related documents. The move signals the potential for a possible collusion investigation should the GOP retake the House in November’s midterm elections.