Trump Says He ‘Never Respected’ Former CIA Director John Brennan
Only two days after revoking his security clearance, President Trump is now saying that he “never respected” former CIA director John Brennan to begin with.
According to Politico, President Trump announced his lack of respect for Brennan to a group of reporters on the White House’s South Lawn Friday morning.
In response to the President’s decision to revoke Brennan’s security clearance, several former intelligence officials issued a letter on Thursday, calling Trump’s latest action politically motivated and claiming that it has “everything to do with an attempt to stifle free speech.” The letter is referring to Brennan’s criticism of Trump possibly being the only reason that his clearance was revoked.
On Friday, however, President Trump doubled down on his decision, saying, “There’s no silence. If anything, I’m giving him a bigger voice. Many people don’t know who [Brennan] was. And now, he has a bigger voice and that’s OK with me because I like taking on voices like that.”
In addition to Brennan, Trump also announced on Wednesday that he will be reviewing the security clearances of other former top intelligence officials, including Sally Yates, Susan Rice, Bruce Ohr, and James Comey, all of whom have been publicly critical of the President.
The letter, signed by a host of former intelligence officials, such as James Clapper and Michael Hayden, essentially warns President Trump’s decision to start reviewing and revoking security clearances is “inappropriate and deeply regrettable.”
“I’ve never respected him, I’ve never had a lot of respect,” Trump told reporters Friday.
President Trump then went on to say that special counsel Robert Mueller should be looking at “all of the people that got fired,” noting that Bruce Ohr and wife should also be investigated.
“I think Bruce Ohr is a disgrace with his wife, Nelly. For him to be in the Justice Department and to be doing what he did, that is a disgrace,” Trump said. Ohr, whose security clearance is currently being reviewed by the White House, was scrutinized for being in contact Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson and former UK spy Christopher Steele during the 2016 election. Steele is the spy who compiled the now infamous Steele dossier, which alleges that Trump and his presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government.
“John Brennan is a stain on the Country, we deserve better than this.” Former Secret Service Agent and author of new book, “Spygate, the Attempted Sabotage of Donald J. Trump,” Dan Bongino. Thank you Dan, and good luck with the book!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2018
After once again claiming that Mueller has a conflict of interest in the Russia investigation, the President said that he will allow the special counsel to continue with his probe anyway. “Let him write his report,” Trump said. “We did nothing. There is no collusion. If he was doing an honest report, he would write it on the other side because when you look at criminality and you look at problems, take a look at what they did, including colluding with the Russians, the other side.”
