Docs: Intel operation labeled top GOP leaders Russian disinformation 'conduits'

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(The Center Square) – Newly declassified documents from the White House transparency task force reveal several top Republican and conservative figures were labeled “conduits” for Russian disinformation for their part in pushing for further investigations into allegations against the Bidens and ties to Ukraine.

The code name, Round River, which was an FBI counterintelligence operation as part of the bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force leading up to the 2020 elections, was described by a White House official as a “counterintelligence operation” to “neutralize certain narratives,” including the investigation into Hunter Biden’s laptop and the Biden family’s ties to Ukraine’s Burisma Holdings.

The recently declassified documents identified several Republicans, including high-ranking officials, such as former Attorney General Bill Barr, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and the late Lindsey Graham, as conduits for Russian misinformation.

In contrast, the operation warned that figures like George Soros, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and former Secretary of State John Kerry are “targets” for Russian disinformation.

Another document released from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence under former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in 2025 revealed that a team from Round River was tasked with identifying “confidential human source files” within the bureau and other intelligence agencies that had “derogatory information” on the Bidens, and would then “deem the information to be Russian disinformation.”

The ODNI concluded the FITF “did not go in and try to determine the merit of the allegations, or to examine if they were factually true, or consult with the agents working those informants. They simply designated them as foreign intelligence threats and designated their files as such,” according to a White House official.

In a letter to the White House transparency task force, FBI Director Kash Patel underscored that, under his leadership, he ended the FITF and its activities, and confirmed that the operation and its activities are currently under investigation by the FBI.

The White House official argues that “information learned from the Round River assessment was used to undermine or influence ongoing investigations by focusing only on a subset of confidential human sources that were reporting derogatory information on the Bidens.”

The Center Square inquired about the status and identities of those working within the FBI on the Round River operation. The White House official responded  that the “FBI is in the process of producing the documents” to answer those questions, including “who was involved” and “how high did it go?”