On Tuesday, in what it labeled an “exclusive,” CNN reported that initial intelligence assessments of the Iran bombing suggested Iran had been set back a couple of months in its quest for a nuclear weapon. The report’s lead reporter was Natasha Bertrand. In 2020, Bertrand played a lead role in attempting to discredit reports of Hunter Biden’s laptop. One cannot understand the new report without understanding that.

At Politico in 2020, Bertrand broke the news that “(m)ore than 50 former intelligence officials signed a letter casting doubt on the provenance of a New York Post story on the former vice president’s son.” It turned out, of course, that Hunter Biden’s laptop actually belonged to him, and there was no Russian disinformation, as Democrats claimed, which was helpfully amplified by Bertrand.

Now, in 2025, Bertrand rushed out this salacious report. Notably, the leak came after congressional committees on intelligence were briefed. Bertrand and then

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