Newly declassified documents reportedly show the FBI and US intelligence agencies received allegations involving former President Joe Biden and his family from at least 14 informants while a secret counterintelligence operation worked to identify parts of the broader Ukraine corruption narrative as potential Russian disinformation.
The documents, released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force, shed new light on an FBI operation known as “Round River,” which was launched during the 2020 election by analysts assigned to combat foreign influence.
According to Just the News, the operation scrutinized numerous people and organizations connected to allegations surrounding the Biden family’s dealings in Ukraine and the first impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
A newly released spreadsheet reportedly identified more than six dozen individuals and organizations as either potential “targets” or “conduits” of Russian disinformation.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were among those classified as “conduits,” along with Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Then-Reps. Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan were also included in the category while investigating allegations involving the Biden family, according to the report.
Democratic figures including Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State John Kerry and former President Barack Obama were instead listed as potential “targets” of Russian disinformation.
The documents indicate the designations were produced as part of Round River, an operation conducted through the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force.
The task force reportedly registered “no objection” to the assessments contained in the spreadsheet.
The revelations are drawing additional attention because the bureau and other agencies had simultaneously received a stream of allegations concerning the Bidens from confidential human sources.
At least 14 informants provided derogatory information involving the Biden family, according to an FBI letter released alongside the other documents.
Some reporting from confidential sources dated as far back as 2015 and concerned whether Ukrainian interests were attempting to gain influence through members of Biden’s family.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the Foreign Influence Task Force has since been terminated and its activities are now being investigated.
“While our internal review of the FITF is not yet complete, we are investigating whether the FITF used information learned from the Round River assessment to undermine or influence ongoing investigations by only focusing on the subset of CHS’s (Confidential Human Sources) involving the Bidens,” Patel wrote.
“We remain concerned that defensive briefings to Congress may have been overly focused on just Biden and Ukraine rather than the balanced picture of all foreign threats,” he added.
Patel said the FBI was committed to investigating potential abuses surrounding the operation and preventing counterintelligence tools from being used to advance political narratives.
Round River reportedly began around December 2019, as the Democratic-controlled House pursued Trump’s first impeachment over his dealings with Ukraine.
A declassified summary from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said analysts gathered derogatory reporting previously supplied by confidential human sources concerning Biden, his son Hunter Biden, Ukrainian energy company Burisma and other Ukraine-related matters.
The purpose included identifying reporting that could be flagged as Russian disinformation, according to the DNI document.
The documents describe three confidential sources whose earlier reporting was later characterized by the Round River team as Russian disinformation.
One source had reportedly worked with the government since 2012 and raised concerns beginning in 2015 about Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky’s relationship with Hunter Biden.
A second informant provided allegations concerning a broader Ukrainian corruption operation, while a third source reportedly had direct access to Hunter Biden and discussed his decision to work for Burisma, according to Just the News.
The intelligence cited in the documents consisted of informant allegations and was not necessarily independently corroborated. Indeed, the DNI summary said the Round River team “did not corroborate any of the allegations” making up what officials called the “Ukraine narrative.”
The newly released records are now fueling scrutiny over whether the FBI’s effort to counter legitimate Russian influence during the 2020 election also improperly sidelined allegations involving the Democratic presidential nominee and his family.
Patel said the bureau’s review remains ongoing as investigators seek to determine how Round River operated and whether information gathered through the program was used to interfere with other investigations.
