‘America Will Triumph Over You,’ Former CIA Chief Tells Donald Trump
In the wake of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ firing of deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe just two days before McCabe was set to retire, thus putting his pension in jeopardy, and Donald Trump’s tweet Saturday morning celebrating the firing and taking jabs at McCabe’s former boss James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan has responded with a tweet of his own, calling the president a “disgraced demagogue” and telling him that “America will triumph over you.”
According to CNN, Brennan was responding to a chain of events that began with McCabe’s firing and included not only Trump’s Saturday morning tweet, but also a statement made Saturday by Trump’s lawyer John Dowd, where he called on the Department of Justice and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to now put an end to Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether Donald Trump or anyone in his administration or campaign colluded with Russia to help sway the results of the 2016 presidential election. It also included whether Trump has been guilty of obstruction of justice in attempting to end the investigation or discredit it in some way.
“I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier.”
The Daily Beast first reported on the statement and Dowd at the time told them that he was, in fact, speaking on behalf of the president. Dowd later walked that back and told the Washington Post that he was merely speaking for himself and not the president at all.
According to Vox, Andrew McCabe has released a statement in response to his firing claiming that he was being “singled out” and “treated unfairly” for his role in attempting to corroborate the story told by former FBI director James Comey, after Comey was himself fired by Trump. McCabe is claiming that his firing was politically motivated and is in itself an attempt to discredit the Mueller investigation.
“This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this Administration’s ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel’s work.”
Vox is also reporting on Saturday that, just like James Comey, Andrew McCabe kept extensive memos of his interactions with President Trump and that all of those memos are now in the hands of Robert Mueller.
Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning that McCabe’s firing was a “great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI.”
Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI – A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018
Responding to that tweet, John Brennan, who was the CIA Director during the Barack Obama administration, tweeted himself that Donald Trump would be relegated to the “dustbin of history.”
When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018
James Comey also followed up with a tweet that could be viewed as sounding an ominous warning for President Trump and some of the people surrounding him who are seemingly being targeted by the Mueller investigation.
Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.
— James Comey (@Comey) March 17, 2018
