That is totally what this reminds me of. They were knowingly and deliberately dishonest.
It was all an unconscionable lie. In the latest development, it turns out that several of the signers were active CIA contractors at the time they signed the letter. The lie was brought to us by the CIA. Steven Nelson reports in an excellent illustrated story for the Post in “‘Spies Who Lie’ leader, cosigners were CIA contractors when they falsely implied Hunter Biden laptop was Russian fake.” [emphasis added]
They lied. They are liars.