Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan called Donald Trump ‘a real threat to national security’ a week after the President revoked his top-level security clearance.
During an interview with comedian Bill Maher on Friday, Brennan vented about his experience since retiring from the intelligence community and directed much of his ire towards the commander-in-chief, who took away his credentials on August 15.
Brennan, who called the President ‘treasonous’ following his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Finland last month, explained during the interview why he thought the description was accurate.
During an interview with comedian Bill Maher Friday, Brennan vented about his experience since retiring from the intelligence community
‘There are two principal reasons why I used that term,’ Brennan explained to Maher on the HBO talk show ‘Real Time.’
‘One, I think I exhausted all the other adjectives in the English language to describe Donald Trump’s failures to fulfill his responsibilities as president of the United States.
‘And two, I saw him on that stage in Helsinki failing to be able to say to the world and to Vladimir Putin that Russia tried to interfere in our election, that it never should have happened and it never should happen again, and if it does Russia is going to pay some very severe consequences as a result, but he didn’t do that.’
The 62-year-old spy chief has been a vocal critic of the President since allegations of collision between the Trump campaign and Moscow emerged
The 62-year-old spy chief has been a vocal critic of the President since allegations of collision between the Trump campaign and Moscow became the focal point of a special counsel investigation headed by former FBI director Robert Mueller.
The criticism has only escalated in the passing months as Trump continues to push for warmer ties with the Kremlin.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders explained to reporters that Brennan’s ‘frenzied commentary’ and ‘unfounded and outrageous allegations’ was the basis for the revocation.
At one point, Brennan explained how extraordinary it was for a former top-level intelligence officials to have his credentials revoked.
‘I didn’t ask to keep my security clearances—former directors don’t do that.’
‘We keep those clearances because sometimes, those in government want to avail themselves of our experience, our expertise, our knowledge about certain issues,’ Brennan said.
‘This is the first time in 38 years that I haven’t had a security clearance, and the basis for the revocation is bogus. Mr. Trump and the administration didn’t adhere even to the process that they reaffirmed last year, and the politicization of security clearances, either the granting or the revocation, is a real threat to our national security.’
Brennan, who called the President ‘treasonous’ following his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin last month in Finland, explained why he thought the description was accurate
Brennan slammed Kentucky Senator Rand Paul for being ‘the one that put this idea in Donald Trump’s head,’ even though, according to Brennan, ‘Rand Paul has never served on the intelligence committee. He knows not of what he speaks, but yet he has this impression that I’m ‘monetizing’ security clearances, so he continues to spout out on these issues.’
‘But again,’ he continued, ‘I believe very strongly in the principle that national security is one of the most sacred and solemn professions in this government, and every American citizen deserves to have national security professionals—intelligence professionals—who are not going to be politicized, and no president ever should take that capability away from them.’
Towards the end of the interview, Maher suggested that the Trump presidency was one of the greatest threats the country has ever faced, on par with the Revolutionary War and Civil War, a notion Brennan was quick to embrace.
‘And I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better, because don’t forget: Donald Trump has the authority of the president of the United States in his hands, in terms of what he can do domestically here and as well as what he can do internationally to try to distract attention, whether or not he’s going to try to pursue some type of foreign adventure, military or otherwise. But fundamentally though, what he’s doing to this country: he’s dividing us.’
Brennan also slammed Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (pictured foreground) for being ‘the one that put this idea in Donald Trump’s head’ to revoke his security clearance