Donald Trump scandal is 'far worse than Watergate' - Former U.S. spy chief
The man in charge of America’s intelligence agencies for the past six years has warned that claims of Russian links engulfing the Donald Trump administration dwarfs the Watergate scandal.
On Thursday, James Comey, the ex-FBI director who was sacked by President Trump, is set to give evidence to Congress over Russia’s interference in last year’s election.
James Clapper was U.S. director of national intelligence from 2011 to January 2017.
‘I lived through Watergate. I was on active duty then in the Air Force, I was a young officer. It was a scary time,’ Mr Clapper told the National Press Club in Canberra.
‘I have to say though, I think if you compare the two Watergate pales, really, in my view, compared to what we’re confronting now.’
He added that he couldn’t understand why Mr Trump had not been more aggressive in his dealings with Mr Putin.
‘I’ve had a real hard time reconciling the threat the Russians pose to the United States and, by extension, Western democracies in general, with the inexplicably so solicitous stance the Trump administration, or others in it, has taken with respect to Russia,’ he said.
‘Social media trolls planted false information, orchestrated fake news — which many other news outlets picked up and amplified either wittingly or unwittingly — and a very sophisticated campaign by the regime-funded propaganda arm … against Hillary Clinton and for Donald Trump.’
‘Their first objective was to sow doubt, discontent and discord about our political system. They achieved, I’m sure, beyond their wildest expectations.
‘Given their success, they have only been emboldened to be even more aggressive in the future.’
Watergate was a major political scandal in 1972, where Richard Nixon’s cover-up of his administration’s involvement in a burglary of the Democratic National Committee offices was exposed.
Five men were caught as they attempted to enter the building and place bugs on phones there. It was later discovered that they had links to the White House.
The botched affair led to the impeachment of Nixon after the conspiracy he laid out to cover his tracks was discovered by journalists.
Mr Trump has wished Comey luck ahead of his upcoming congressional testimony after he was asked about his message for the former FBI director as he welcomed Republican congressional leaders to the White House.
Mr Comey is scheduled to testify on Thursday before the Senate intelligence committee, and will be his first public comments since Mr Trump abruptly sacked him last month.
The probe has hung over Trump’s presidency since he took office in January and threatens to overwhelm his policy priorities.
The Kremlin denies U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Moscow tried to tilt the election campaign in Trump’s favour, including by hacking into the emails of senior Democrats. Trump has denied any collusion.
Mr Trump has scheduled a speech addressing religious conservatives in the Faith and Freedom Coalition at around the same time as Mr Comey’s testimony.
