By Lucretia Hughes Klucken
WASHINGTON — Newly declassified intelligence documents indicate that the FBI received derogatory information concerning Joe Biden and his family from at least 14 confidential sources before and during the 2020 presidential election, while a secret counterintelligence operation worked to label Biden-related reporting as potential Russian disinformation.
The operation, code-named “Round River,” was reportedly launched by analysts assigned to the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force around December 2019, as the first impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump were unfolding.
According to an operational summary prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the analysts searched FBI databases for allegations involving Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings and possible Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.
The stated purpose was not simply to investigate whether the allegations were true.
The declassified summary says the analysts gathered “any/all derogatory information” previously provided by confidential human sources concerning Biden and Ukraine so the reporting could be flagged as Russian disinformation.
The documents were released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force.
If those records are accurate, the FBI was not merely protecting an election from foreign interference. It was potentially placing a political label on information concerning a presidential candidate before fully determining whether the underlying allegations were true.
That should concern every American.
FBI Director Kash Patel said at least 14 confidential human sources had provided derogatory information involving Joe Biden. Round River identified 53 sources overall, according to Patel, although not every source was reporting about the Bidens.
The intelligence summary highlighted three longtime confidential sources whose reporting concerned Hunter Biden, Burisma and Ukrainian attempts to gain influence inside the United States.
Some of that reporting dated to 2015, when Joe Biden was vice president and Hunter Biden was serving on Burisma’s board.
One confidential source reported that a Russian intelligence officer described Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky’s relationship with Hunter Biden as an effort to gain closer access to Americans.
Another source alleged that Burisma used consulting agreements and corporate entities to move money through Ukraine and Latvia.
A third source reportedly had access to Hunter Biden and discussed efforts to obtain information about investigations involving Burisma.
Those statements were allegations supplied by confidential sources, not established findings of criminal guilt. An FBI informant’s report does not automatically become verified evidence simply because the bureau records it.
That distinction is critical.
But the FBI also does not have the right to bury, alter or politically discredit potentially relevant information without conducting an honest and complete investigation.
According to the ODNI summary, Round River analysts had administrative access to confidential-source files and created intelligence products that were later inserted into those files to reflect that the reporting had been deemed Russian disinformation.
The summary says three source files were amended after the reporting was received.
“The team of analysts had administrative accesses to all reporting and drafted intelligence products that were later added to each CHS file to show the reporting was deemed Russian disinformation,” the summary states.
The Round River team did not corroborate the allegations, according to the ODNI review. But failing to corroborate a claim is not the same as proving that the claim originated with Russia.
That is where this operation demands a full investigation.
Who decided the reporting should be labeled Russian disinformation? What evidence supported that conclusion? Did analysts examine the substance of each allegation, or did they begin with the desired political conclusion and work backward?
Patel said the FBI is investigating whether the Foreign Influence Task Force used Round River information to interfere with or undermine ongoing investigations by concentrating on confidential sources reporting about the Bidens.
“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,” Patel wrote.
Patel said he disbanded the Foreign Influence Task Force after becoming FBI director and pledged to provide the White House task force with reporting connected to all 53 sources identified by the operation.
The declassified records also reveal that federal analysts compiled a list of 76 people, organizations, media outlets and political figures potentially connected to Russian influence narratives.
The spreadsheet reportedly classified Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Kerry and George Soros as possible “targets” of Russian disinformation.
Republican lawmakers, Trump administration officials and conservative media organizations were listed as potential “conduits.”
Those categorized as conduits reportedly included then-Attorney General Bill Barr, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sens. Chuck Grassley, Ron Johnson and Lindsey Graham, and Reps. Jim Jordan and Devin Nunes.
Many of those lawmakers were investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign business relationships or the FBI’s handling of allegations involving the Biden family.
That creates the appearance of an intelligence agency treating congressional oversight as a potential national-security threat.
Grassley and Johnson previously accused the FBI of using a defensive briefing in 2020 to undermine their investigation into Hunter Biden and Burisma. They described the briefing as a possible “political trap” that could be leaked to portray their work as influenced by Russia.
Round River also emerged as the Hunter Biden laptop story was being dismissed publicly as Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 election.
The laptop was not Russian disinformation. Major news organizations later authenticated substantial portions of its contents, and federal prosecutors used information from the device during Hunter Biden’s criminal proceedings.
Hunter Biden was convicted of federal gun felonies and later pleaded guilty to federal tax charges before receiving a sweeping pardon from his father.
None of that proves every allegation reported by every confidential source was accurate.
One of the most prominent Biden-related FBI sources, Alexander Smirnov, later pleaded guilty to creating a false record concerning allegations that Joe and Hunter Biden received multimillion-dollar bribes from Burisma. His case demonstrates why confidential-source reporting must be independently verified.
But Smirnov’s false statements cannot automatically invalidate every report from every other source.
The government must evaluate evidence individually. It cannot use one dishonest informant as an excuse to disregard unrelated reporting from 13 others.
The new documents do not, by themselves, prove that Joe Biden committed a crime. They do raise serious questions about whether FBI officials used the language of counterintelligence to shield a presidential candidate from politically damaging scrutiny.
The FBI possesses extraordinary power. It can investigate Americans, recruit informants, conduct surveillance and influence how Congress understands national-security threats.
That power must never be used to protect one political party while targeting another.
Every official who authorized Round River should testify under oath. Congress should obtain the original source reports, the amendments placed in the files, the supporting intelligence and the names of those who approved the operation.
The American people deserve to know whether the FBI identified genuine Russian activity or manufactured a justification to discredit lawful reporting about the Biden family.
If agents deliberately buried credible evidence to influence the 2020 election, those responsible must be held accountable.
No badge, title or security clearance should place anyone above the law.
Lucretia Hughes Klucken is the host of Real News with Lucretia Hughes. Follow her reporting, broadcasts, books and mission at linktr.ee/lucretiahughes.
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