But those 51 former IC officials didn't say that the laptop is Russian disinformation. The letter they signed said that it could be a Russian disinfo op and also directly stated that they had zero evidence that it is. They did this purposely as a blatant CYA move.
They were able to do this because they knew their lapdogs in the media would do their "job" and write headlines stating that the laptop is Russian disinformation, end of story, purposely misleading the public. Election interference.
The story with the lying headline is still up on Politico to this very day.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276