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| Brennan hits back at Trump and calls denials of Russian collusion 'hogwash' | Brennan hits back at Trump and calls denials of Russian collusion 'hogwash' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The war of words between John Brennan and Donald Trump escalated on Thursday, with the former CIA director calling the president’s repeated denials that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election “hogwash”. | The war of words between John Brennan and Donald Trump escalated on Thursday, with the former CIA director calling the president’s repeated denials that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election “hogwash”. |
| Brennan hit back after being stripped of his security clearance by the White House the previous day – an unprecedented presidential intervention that has prompted widespread criticism. A statement from Trump said he had taken the step due to Brennan’s “erratic conduct and behavior”. | Brennan hit back after being stripped of his security clearance by the White House the previous day – an unprecedented presidential intervention that has prompted widespread criticism. A statement from Trump said he had taken the step due to Brennan’s “erratic conduct and behavior”. |
| Writing in an article for the New York Times published on Thursday, Brennan described the decision to revoke his clearance as “politically motivated” and “an attempt to scare into silence others who might dare to challenge him”. He also wrote: “Mr Trump’s claims of no collusion [with Russia] are, in a word, hogwash.” | |
| Brennan, whose criticisms of Trump have escalated in recent months, wrote that the president was “desperate” to end the Russia investigation. | Brennan, whose criticisms of Trump have escalated in recent months, wrote that the president was “desperate” to end the Russia investigation. |
| On Wednesday night, Trump sharing a variety of quotes from Fox News pundits bashing Brennan and the Obama administration on his Twitter feed, including one describing the former CIA director as “a stain on the country”. | On Wednesday night, Trump sharing a variety of quotes from Fox News pundits bashing Brennan and the Obama administration on his Twitter feed, including one describing the former CIA director as “a stain on the country”. |
| Trump also admitted there was a link between stripping Brennan of his security clearance and the special counsel investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. | Trump also admitted there was a link between stripping Brennan of his security clearance and the special counsel investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. |
| In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump said: “I call it the rigged witch hunt. [It] is a sham. And these people led it. So I think it’s something that had to be done.” | In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump said: “I call it the rigged witch hunt. [It] is a sham. And these people led it. So I think it’s something that had to be done.” |
| Speaking from a prepared statement on Wednesday, the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, alleged that Brennan had “leveraged his status as a former high-ranking official with access to highly sensitive info to make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations, wild outbursts on Internet and television about this administration”. | |
| She added Brennan’s “lying and recent conduct, characterized by increasingly frenzied commentary, is wholly inconsistent with access to the nation’s most closely held secrets”. | |
| Sanders also listed nine other national security figures whose security clearances were under review. All but one no longer serve in the United States government and it includes several noteworthy Trump adversaries, including the former FBI director James Comey and former acting attorney general Sally Yates. | |
| In his article on Thursday, Brennan claimed that the question was not if collusion took place, but whether it “constituted criminally liable conspiracy, whether obstruction of justice occurred to cover up any collusion or conspiracy, and how many members of ‘Trump Incorporated’” had “attempted to defraud the government by laundering and concealing the movement of money into their pockets”. | |
| The former CIA director has long been a vocal critic of Trump. Recently, he suggested that Trump’s behavior in his joint press conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki rose to the level of an impeachable offense. | The former CIA director has long been a vocal critic of Trump. Recently, he suggested that Trump’s behavior in his joint press conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki rose to the level of an impeachable offense. |
| Brennan tweeted at the time: “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???” | |
| John Brennan | John Brennan |
| Donald Trump | Donald Trump |
| CIA | CIA |
| Trump administration | Trump administration |
| US politics | US politics |
| Trump-Russia investigation | Trump-Russia investigation |
| news | news |
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