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Former CIA Director Regrets How Intel Agencies Treated Trump
Daily Caller ^ | December 11, 2017 | Alex Pfeiffer

Posted on 12/11/2017 7:23:33 PM PST by Red Steel

Former Acting CIA Director Michael Morell thinks that intelligence agencies were too harsh to Trump during the campaign and presidential transition, according to an interview released Monday.

Morell, who left the CIA in 2013 after serving as its acting director twice, endorsed Hillary Clinton in an August 2016 New York Times op-ed.

Politico’s Susan Glassner asked Morell if getting involved was a mistake and the former CIA official said that it wasn’t, but that “there were downsides to it that I didn’t think about at the time.”

“I was concerned about what is the impact it would have on the agency, right? Very concerned about that, thought that through. But I don’t think I fully thought through the implications,” Morell said. “So, let’s put ourselves here in Donald Trump’s shoes. So, what does he see? Right? He sees a former director of CIA and a former director of NSA, Mike Hayden, who I have the greatest respect for, criticizing him and his policies. Right? And he could rightfully have said, ‘Huh, what’s going on with these intelligence guys?’ Right?”

WATCH U.S. INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS DISCUSS RUSSIAN MEDDLING IN THE ELECTION:

“And then he sees a former acting director and deputy director of CIA criticizing him and endorsing his opponent,” Morell continued. “And then he gets his first intelligence briefing, after becoming the Republican nominee, and within 24 to 48 hours, there are leaks out of that that are critical of him and his then-national security advisor, Mike Flynn.”

Morell is referring to an NBC report that said Flynn was repeatedly interrupting briefers during the session.

“And so, this stuff starts to build, right? And he must have said to himself, ‘What is it with these intelligence guys? Are they political?’ The current director at the time, John Brennan, during the campaign occasionally would push back on things that Donald Trump had said,” Morell told Politico.

The former CIA acting director continued to reference leaked reports during the interview.

“Then he becomes president, and he’s supposed to be getting a daily brief from the moment he becomes the president-elect. Right? And he doesn’t. And within a few days, there’s leaks about how he’s not taking his briefing. So, he must have thought—right?—that, ‘Who are these guys? Are these guys out to get me? Is this a political organization? Can I think about them as a political organization when I become president?'”

He concluded: “So, I think there was a significant downside to those of us who became political in that moment. So, if I could have thought of that, would I have ended up in a different place? I don’t know. But it’s something I didn’t think about.”


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: 2016election; cia; meddling; mediawingofthednc; michaelmorell; mikeflynn; mikemorell; morell; partisanmediashills; politico; susanglassner; trump; trumpintelligence
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To: Red Steel
"Morell, who left the CIA in 2013..."

Retard.

He should be working to put Brennen, Klown Klapper, Weasel Comey, and Weasel Mueller in irons.

21 posted on 12/11/2017 7:42:58 PM PST by Paladin2 (There is no credible evidence that 0sama is a NBC.)
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To: Electric Graffiti

Harsh my butt!!!

They are all from the Deep State in D.C.

We know for a fact they are all anti-Trump but Thank God we have a Street Fighter in President Trump.

22 posted on 12/11/2017 7:43:40 PM PST by TheConservativeTejano
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To: piasa

These folks are desperately hiding crimes worse than the ones we know about.


23 posted on 12/11/2017 7:44:31 PM PST by Williams (Stop tolerating the intolerant.)
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To: Red Steel

These men ALL thought Hillary Clinton should have been the president of the United States
They still do
This is what passes as the senior members of the United States Intel Community
Mike Flynn was Trumps only advisor who was wise to their game
Thats why they took him down
No wonder there was a report Trumo was building his own private channels of intelligence


24 posted on 12/11/2017 7:46:05 PM PST by silverleaf (A man who kneels for the national anthem doesn't stand for much of anything)
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To: Red Steel

A Wall, half a dozen skilled Marksmen and a long line of Seditionist Traitors.


25 posted on 12/11/2017 7:46:14 PM PST by Kickass Conservative ( THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
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To: Red Steel

Like everything the left touches, the CIA embodies the opposite of what it was intended to be.


26 posted on 12/11/2017 7:49:33 PM PST by reasonisfaith ("...because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thessalonians))
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To: Kickass Conservative

I am down with that


27 posted on 12/11/2017 7:49:53 PM PST by combat_boots (God bless Israel and all who protect and defend her! Merry Christmas! In God We Trust!)
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To: Electric Graffiti

Good point. Definitely sounds like illegal activity from the get go on the part of the CIA.


28 posted on 12/11/2017 7:50:06 PM PST by Karl Spooner
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To: marktwain

Yes it is.


29 posted on 12/11/2017 7:50:49 PM PST by reasonisfaith ("...because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thessalonians))
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To: Red Steel
Former Acting CIA Director Michael Morell thinks that intelligence agencies were too harsh to Trump during the campaign and presidential transition, according to an interview released Monday.


It is not up to the CIA, FBI or any govt. intelligence agency to be easy, or hard on a Presidential candidate.

It is, however, up the the CIA, FBI or any govt. intelligence agency not to ILLEGALLY spy on, or leak information on American citizens.

If no one is prosecuted for the abuse we have just seen, we are at the beginning of a police state. It will only get worse.

30 posted on 12/11/2017 7:53:22 PM PST by The_Media_never_lie
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To: Red Steel

FBI, CIA, NSA even with the tightest control from elected officials, will be most political, biased, and corrupt agencies within Fed.gov

Its the nature of their business - there will always be a temptation to deep corruption given what they do.


31 posted on 12/11/2017 7:53:33 PM PST by PGR88
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To: Red Steel
He concluded: “So, I think there was a significant downside to those of us who became political in that moment. So, if I could have thought of that, would I have ended up in a different place? I don’t know. But it’s something I didn’t think about.”

The image this leaves of Morrell is that of a whiny little boy standing in the corner wringing his hands as he mutters "we sure underestimated this Trump fellow....."

32 posted on 12/11/2017 7:53:38 PM PST by hecticskeptic
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To: Red Steel

CIA: Communist Infiltration Agents.

Shut down the CIA, and bar any former CIA employee from ever working in any US government agency again.


33 posted on 12/11/2017 7:59:19 PM PST by factoryrat (We are the producers, the creators. Grow it, mine it, build it. MAGA!)
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To: Red Steel

I’m sure ‘intelligence services’ in Russia feel they’re smarter than the Russian people too.

All hellholes share some of the same stupid totalitarian ideas.

The solution? Cut these folks by about 90%. One look at the world before Trump was elected tells the story - they’re not worth crap.


34 posted on 12/11/2017 8:02:33 PM PST by GOPJ (Liberal elite women trading sex for pomotions is abuse of decent traditional women.)
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To: factoryrat

You got my vote for that!


35 posted on 12/11/2017 8:03:02 PM PST by crosdaddy
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To: The_Media_never_lie

I think we are already deep into the police state

When Cliven Bundy has to pull his own teeth in prison due to infection, and LaVoy Finicum is shot in the snow after being given clearance by a sheriff to go speak and then left to bleed out without any medical attention or even a touch of someone’s hand, we’re talking abuse of public trust in law


36 posted on 12/11/2017 8:03:26 PM PST by combat_boots (God bless Israel and all who protect and defend her! Merry Christmas! In God We Trust!)
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To: Williams

Bingo!


37 posted on 12/11/2017 8:03:31 PM PST by Hoosier-Daddy ("Washington, DC. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious")
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To: Red Steel

Sounds like Director Morrell knows the sh*t is about to hit the fan.


38 posted on 12/11/2017 8:06:26 PM PST by CaptainK (No collusion.No obstruction.He's a leaker.)
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To: rolling_stone

So, if I could have thought of that, would I have ended up in a different place? I don’t know. But it’s something I didn’t think about.”


He thought it through all the way up to a Clinton presidency. When that did not eventuate, he realized he screwed up. I don’t know if the CIA was politicized, but if it’s not, it is an exception.


39 posted on 12/11/2017 8:09:31 PM PST by sparklite2 (I hereby designate the ongoing kerfuffle Diddle-Gate.)
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To: Red Steel

This is just spin control. Morrell sees the Trump Train coming.

Team Trump is going to call out the DOJ and Intel Community for corruption and lawbreaking under Obama and before that.

The Russian collusion fire has gone out, the embers only living in the minds of those so hopelessly addled by liberalism that they are beyond the reach of the truth.

The Hail Mary before Team Trump drops the hammer is the “Sexual Predator” narrative. It didn’t work during the election, but now the mania of the witch hunt has seized the public, so why not?

When the President pushes that aside, look for “Trump is crazy and trying to become dictator” narrative. After all, a man who spends his time as CIC pounding oceans of diet sodas and watching TV all day has to be crazy, right?

That’s where the Morrell spin comes in. “We innocently and without malice opposed this crazy man, who has becompe paranoid and is trying to get revenge for our diligence by throwing us in jail and crowning himself Emporer.”

Eventually the Deep State diehards surrender or engage in violent rebellion.

Never thought I’d live to see an attempted coup in the US of A, but here we are.


40 posted on 12/11/2017 8:10:58 PM PST by M1911A1 (President Trump. Ahhhhhhhh.....)
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