Politics
11:14, 13-Nov-2017
'Naive, ignorant, or afraid': US ex-intel chiefs blast Trump on Russia
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US President Donald Trump’s labeling of three former senior intelligence chiefs as “political hacks” drew a swift and sharp response on Sunday, with two of the men accusing the president of being manipulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Former CIA Director John Brennan and ex-National Intelligence Director James Clapper, in a joint appearance on CNN, criticized Trump after the president said he believed Putin was sincere in denying Russian interference in the 2016 election.
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Clapper said Russia poses a “manifest and obvious” threat to the US, and Trump’s denial of Russian meddling in the 2016 election “poses a peril to the country.”
“I think Mr. Trump is, for whatever reason, either intimidated by Mr. Putin, afraid of what he could do, or what might come out as a result of these investigations... It’s either naiveté, ignorance or fear in terms of what Mr. Trump is doing vis-à-vis the Russians,” Brennan added.
‘Political hacks’
Trump, whose campaign is being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller over possible collusion with Russia, on Saturday questioned the findings of a US intelligence report that concluded that Russians sought to tilt the election in Trump’s favor and denounced Brennan, Clapper and former FBI Director James Comey as “political hacks.”
Comey, who is writing a memoir entitled “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership," responded with a tweet mulling the power of truth and lies.
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Twitter Screenshot
After meeting Putin on the sidelines of the APEC conference in Vietnam on Saturday, Trump told reporters that the Russian president had again denied interfering in the US election.
“I really believe that, when he tells me that, he means it,” Trump told reporters. “I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country.”
Trump said on Sunday that while he accepted Putin did not believe Russia interfered, he trusted the view of the US intelligence agencies “especially as currently constituted with the leadership.”
‘Badge of honor’
Brennan called Trump’s criticism of him a “badge of honor,” and suggested the president’s comments were an attempt to undermine the intelligence community report that found Russia did meddle in the election.
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Twitter Screenshot
"He was referring to us as political hacks because he was trying to delegitimize the intelligence community assessment," the former CIA director said.
Brennan avoided a direct answer when asked whether he knows of any intelligence to suggest that Moscow has compromising or damaging information on Trump. A dossier compiled by a former British spy contains unverified claims that Russia does have embarrassing information about the US president.
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