Newly disclosed documents from the White House Transparency Task Force reveal that the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force – Russia (FITF-R) labeled allegations of Biden family corruption in Ukraine as Russian disinformation without conducting an investigation into their veracity. The revelations have reignited debate over whether the FBI’s approach shielded prominent Democrats from scrutiny while focusing on Republicans as potential sources of foreign disinformation.
The documents include a declassified assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) under Tulsi Gabbard. They detail an operation called “Round River,” which began in December 2019 and continued through the 2020 presidential election. The operation divided public figures into two categories: “targets,” who were considered alleged victims of disinformation, and “conduits,” who were viewed as alleged spreaders of disinformation. Democrats such as Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton were listed as targets, while Republicans including Bill Barr, Mike Pompeo, Lindsey Graham, Ron Johnson, Chuck Grassley, and Jim Jordan were named as conduits.
Details of the Round River Operation
According to the ODNI report, the Round River team did not corroborate any of the allegations related to the so-called “Ukraine Narrative.” This narrative included claims about Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Burisma and possible corruption involving the State Department. An administration official stated that the FITF-R “did not even look into whether the Ukraine narrative was true, whether Hunter Biden was getting money from Burisma, or if there was corruption involving Burisma and the State Department.”
The operation relied on information from at least 53 Confidential Human Sources (CHS), 14 of whom reported derogatory information on Joe Biden. Some of these sources had been used by the FBI since the Bush administration, and several reports with damaging information about the Bidens dated back to the Obama administration. For example, one CHS report from February 2019 alleged that Joe and Hunter Biden had investments in Burisma funneled through a shell company in Latvia. Another report from December 2015 cited a Russian intelligence officer describing Mykola Zlochevsky’s relationship with Hunter Biden as a “long-term operation.”
Despite the volume of reporting, the administration official emphasized that the Round River team’s primary focus was not to verify the truth of these allegations. Instead, the team aimed to prevent the spread of what it considered disinformation or to use briefings to persuade individuals to stop discussing the narrative.
“They were simply interested in stopping its spread or using briefings to get people to stop talking about it.”
— Administration official
Political Figures and Media Outlets Named
The list of individuals and organizations labeled as conduits of Russian disinformation was extensive. It included Rudy Giuliani, Bill Barr, Mike Pompeo, Lindsey Graham, Ron Johnson, Chuck Grassley, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, Pete Sessions, Mick Mulvaney, Fox News, One America News Network, and its correspondent Chanel Rion. On the other side, targets included Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, George Soros, Hunter Biden, John Kerry, and others with connections to Ukraine or Burisma.
FBI Director Kash Patel, in a letter to the White House Transparency Task Force, wrote that the agency is investigating whether information from the Round River assessment was used to influence or undermine ongoing investigations, specifically by focusing only on sources involving the Bidens. Patel stated, “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.”
Lack of Investigation and Ongoing Review
The ODNI review found that the Round River team did not attempt to verify the truth of the Ukraine-related allegations, instead focusing on preventing their spread. The administration official noted that this approach mirrored the period when 51 intelligence experts signed a letter about the Biden laptop, despite the FBI already possessing and authenticating it.
Patel added that the FBI will provide the White House Transparency Task Force with source reporting from all 53 CHSs, calling this an “unprecedented step” to allow a full review of the facts. The internal review of the FITF is ongoing, and the agency is assessing whether its actions were appropriately balanced.
Democratic officials and those named as targets have not publicly addressed the new disclosures. The documents do not indicate that the FBI or ODNI attempted to corroborate the allegations before labeling them as disinformation. The ongoing review is expected to further examine whether the FITF-R’s actions were justified or if they reflected a selective approach to foreign influence investigations during a contentious election cycle.
