Here's Why Donald Trump Is Criticizing Former CIA Director John Brennan
President Donald Trump harshly criticized former CIA director John Brennan in a series of tweets quoting a guest on “Fox & Friends” just hours before he swore in the agency’s new director.
Over the course of three tweets Monday, Trump quoted a lengthy criticism of Brennan from Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and congressional candidate, that aired on Fox News that morning.
“John Brennan is panicking. He has disgraced himself, he has disgraced the Country, he has disgraced the entire Intelligence Community. He is the one man who is largely responsible for the destruction of American’s faith in the Intelligence Community and in some people at the....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
....top of the FBI. Brennan started this entire debacle about President Trump. We now know that Brennan had detailed knowledge of the (phony) Dossier...he knows about the Dossier, he denies knowledge of the Dossier, he briefs the Gang of 8 on the Hill about the Dossier, which....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
...they then used to start an investigation about Trump. It is that simple. This guy is the genesis of this whole Debacle. This was a Political hit job, this was not an Intelligence Investigation. Brennan has disgraced himself, he’s worried about staying out of Jail.” Dan Bongino
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
While he was at the CIA, Brennan largely avoided the spotlight, but in recent months he’s become an outspoken critic of Trump, often lambasting his decisions and character on Twitter. In response to news that Trump had referred to Haiti, El Salvador and African countries “shitholes,” Brennan argued the president “continues to demonstrate daily that he is a deeply flawed person.”
Lady Liberty, our founding fathers, and generations of right-thinking Americans are all weeping tonight over the atrocious comments attributed to Donald Trump, who continues to demonstrate daily that he is a deeply flawed person. https://t.co/v2JAfqLRKU
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) January 11, 2018
In interviews (Brennan is an MSNBC commentator) he has suggested that Trump has made glowing statements about President Vladimir Putin because the Russian government “may have something on [Trump] personally.” He has also said that he thinks Trump is “dishonest. He lacks integrity. He has very questionable ethics and morality.”
And on Sunday, after Trump demanded that the Department of Justice investigate “whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes,” Brennan again weighed in on Twitter:
Senator McConnell & Speaker Ryan: If Mr. Trump continues along this disastrous path, you will bear major responsibility for the harm done to our democracy. You do a great disservice to our Nation & the Republican Party if you continue to enable Mr. Trump’s self-serving actions. https://t.co/uAhgL6wfIC
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) May 20, 2018
Trump’s tweets came just hours before Trump attended the swearing-in ceremony for Gina Haspel, the first woman to lead the CIA.