-- and was inspired to do so by a call from current Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was then a top Biden campaign official.  

Mike Morell, who was at the time a former deputy director of the CIA, says he also coordinated with the Biden campaign on strategy for the letter's release. Word of his revelations comes via a press release jointly issued by the chairmen of the House judiciary and intelligence committees late Thursday, first reported by the New York Post.  

Before diving into the new information, let's briefly recap what was already known...

On Oct. 14, 2020, the New York Post reported that Hunter Biden exploited his father's position for personal gain -- with the apparent knowledge of his father. The story -- which drew on emails on a laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop -- undermined Joe Biden's denials that he'd communicated with Hunter about his international business schemes. 

Five days later, 51 former US intelligence officials issued a public statement assaulting the Post story, infamously declaring that it had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation," and solemnly declaring their conviction that "American citizens should determine the outcome of elections, not foreign governments."