Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling on the CIA and FBI to meet with Trump and “educate him” about how the two agencies work, after Trump said intelligence officials are too “passive” when it comes to Iran.
In a letter to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Schumer said Trump’s remarks were “extraordinarily inappropriate” and will undermine confidence in U.S. intelligence agencies. Schumer said Coats, CIA Director Gina Haspel, and FBI Director Christoper Wray should meet with Trump immediately.
“[I]nsist on an immediate meeting with the President to educate him about the facts and raw intelligence underlying the Intelligence Community assessments, and to impress upon him how critically important it is for him to join you and the leadership of our intelligence community in speaking with a unified and accurate voice about national security threats,” Schumer said.
It’s past time for U.S. Intelligence Community leaders to stage an intervention with @realDonaldTrump.
My letter to Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence: pic.twitter.com/RVC2WvVcj7
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 31, 2019
On Wednesday, Trump said that the intelligence community was wrong in its assessment of the dangers of Iran, including its nuclear capabilities. He even suggested that top intelligence officials “go back to school.”
“The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong!” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!”
