The top Democratic staffer on the Capitol riot select committee was among dozens of former intelligence officials who signed a letter in October 2020 claiming without evidence that the Hunter Biden laptop story was part of a Russian operation.

David Buckley, who was formerly the CIA inspector general, is the staff director for the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Despite offering no proof, President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, along with many in the media, dismissed the laptop story as being part of a Russian disinformation operation, including by pointing to the letter signed by Buckley.

Buckley is one of the signatories of the letter by former intelligence officials that was published and released by Politico in October 2020 following the New York Post revelations about emails on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Buckley is among the few signatories to have returned to government.

The letter allegedly signed by 51 former intelligence officials, including nine anonymous ones, claimed that the laptop story "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” The letter hedged a bit at various times, noting that “we do not have evidence of Russian involvement.” But it also said that “our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case.” The letter argued that “if we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election” and expressed “our view that the Russians are involved in the Hunter Biden email issue.”

Then-candidate Biden called the laptop story “garbage” and part of a “Russian plan” during a debate with then-President Donald Trump. He was referring to a Politico report about the letter in an article titled “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.” The title was misleading because the letter never directly called the laptop Russian “disinformation.”

Then Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said that month that there was "no intelligence" to support the claim the laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign. A federal law enforcement official said in October 2020 that the FBI and Justice Department agreed with Ratcliffe.