Former CIA director Leon Panetta rebuked President-elect Donald Trump late Friday for how the incoming Republican leader has degraded the intelligence community. Panetta said Trump’s actions are negatively affecting how others view America.
“I’ve been in public life and served about nine presidents. None of them ever engaged in this kind of behavior,” Panetta told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
“And I think when somebody like Donald Trump tweets as he does, and reflects his instant emotions and puts it out to the world, that in many ways the world looks at that and they’re asking themselves, ‘what the hell is this all about? What is he doing?'” Panetta said, referring to Trump’s Twitter takedown of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s performance on “Celebrity Apprentice.”
“I think he’s got to understand that when you’re president of the United States, words count. And what he’s been doing the last few weeks, I think in many ways, weakens this country rather than strengthens it,” Panetta said.
One of the problems that may be brewing as a result of Trump’s doubting the intelligence community is a change in morale among government employees, according to the former CIA director.
“When you criticize the intelligence community, it not only undermines their morale, it makes it very difficult to be able to get the sources we need in order to gather the vital intelligence that a president needs for the future,” Panetta said.
Trump should instead share his respect for intelligence officials and build his team to develop a good intelligence source for the work his administration wants to do rather than taking to Twitter with his “instant emotions.”
Panetta panned any remaining qualms Trump and his team may have regarding Russia’s being behind the hack of Democratic officials’ servers.
“There’s no room for questioning that they deliberately conducted this effort,” Panetta told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “This president has to acknowledge the role that they’ve played. And he’s got to make very clear to them that that kind of behavior will not be tolerated.”
Panetta, who served as Defense secretary following his CIA stint, said Trump’s recent tweets on the matter have been a “step in the better direction.” But Panetta stopped short of praising Trump, instead, pointing to where he continues to fall short in rebuking the Russian attack.
“I wish he had made clear that whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, we cannot stand for a country like Russia to conduct these kinds of operations to interfere in our election system,” Panetta said.
