Outgoing CIA Director John Brennan on Sunday rebuked President-elect Donald Trump for comparing the intelligence community to Nazi Germany, saying those type of remarks impact national security.
“What I do find outrageous is equating the intelligence community with Nazi Germany,” Mr. Brennan said on “Fox New Sunday.”
“I do take great umbrage with that and there is no basis for Mr. Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was already available publicly,” he said.
Mr. Trump leveled the criticism last week after news organizations published a purported intelligence dossier that outlined his alleged involvement in Russian email hacking during the campaigns and Russian possessions of compromising information on him.
“I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. I think it’s a disgrace, and I say that is something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do,” Mr. Trump said at a press conference Wednesday in New York City.
The information from the dossier were presented to Mr. Trump during an intelligence briefing, but the dossier had been circulating among news organizations and lawmakers for weeks.
The authenticity of dossier and the credibility of the allegations have not been verified.
Mr. Brennan said that the next president should be more careful about how he responds on intelligence matters in the future.
“Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests and so therefore when he speaks or when he reacts, just make sure he understands that the implications and impact on the United States could be profound,” he said. “It’s more than just about Mr. Trump. It’s about the United States of America.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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