"I did not mean that he was betraying, but it was a term I used," nothing less than treacherous, "Brennan said in the interview.
George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy advisor to US President Donald Trump, has pleaded guilty to lie to the FBI as part of Special Investigation of prosecutor Robert Mueller.
Photo: Twitter / George Papadopoulos
Trump defended his decision, announced on Wednesday, saying that it had elevated the former CIA chief instead of blocking his freedom of expression.
The president also told reporters that he would probably withdraw the statement from Bruce Ohr, a Ministry of Justice official linked to a file on the Trump and Russia campaign put together by former British spy Christopher Steele .
Ohr, a career officer who has worked on anti-drug and anti-gang initiatives in the department, has been the target of conservative conspiracy theorists who say he has helped with the investigation of Russian election interference.
Trump retired from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is conducting a study into possible collusion between his 2016 campaign and Moscow. Without evidence or evidence, Trump said that Mueller had conflicts of interest.
In the statement that was published late on Thursday, officials who served under Republican and Democratic officials said they did not necessarily agree with Brennan's harsh criticism of the president, but that security permissions must be based on national security, not on politics.
"We all agree that the action of the President regarding John Brennan and the threats of similar action against other former officials have nothing to do with who should and should not keep safety permits. has to do with an attempt to suppress freedom of speech, "said the former directors of the CIA, deputy directors and directors of national intelligence services.
"We have never seen the approval or removal of security clearances that were used as a political tool," she wrote.
Petraeus, one of the signatories, was once considered by Trump as a candidate for the secretary of the state.
The rising volume of criticism of Trump's behavior comes as the Mueller prosecutors disclosed that George Papadopoulos, a one-time foreign policy advisor to Trump's campaign, caused irreparable damage to the investigation because he has repeatedly lied during an interview in January 2017.
Those lies, they said, resulted in missing the opportunity for the FBI to ask a question to a professor with whom Papadopoulos had contact during the campaign, who told him that the Russians "dirty" owned by Hillary Clinton in the form of e-mails.
The submission is the first public recognition by the special consulting firm that the FBI professor Joseph Mifsud interviewed during the first part of the investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump employees. The submission does not cover the details of the interview, but refers to it as a missed opportunity caused by Papadopoulos.
Former Australian ambassador to Britain Alexander Downer first warned the American authorities of the allegations of Papadopoulos.
Like the signatories of the first letter, the 60 former CIA officers said that while they do not necessarily agree with Brennan's opinion: "It is our firm belief that the country will be weakened if there is a political litmus test. applied before experienced experts can share their opinions. "
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