White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Friday dismissed questions from the press about why President Trump revoked former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance, and blamed the media frenzy on people being “obsessed” with Trump.
“Why is everybody so obsessed with the president of the United States that they can’t even begin or finish a sentence without mentioning his name five times? It’s kind of weird,” Conway told reporters Friday. “And it’s infecting people on the news now who fancy themselves security experts.”
Kellyanne Conway: “Why is everybody so obsessed with the President of the United States that they can’t even begin or finish a sentence without mentioning his name five times. It’s kind of weird.” pic.twitter.com/S6aTURBiAu
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 17, 2018
Conway said she believed Brennan has “shown no interest in helping this administration” and that Brennan’s opinion opposed the interests of the Trump administration, “which are serving the interest of our national security.”
Conway said she agreed with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., who criticized Brennan on Thursday for stating as fact in a recent op-ed that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.
“If Director Brennan’s statement is based on intelligence he received while still leading the CIA, why didn’t he include it in the Intelligence Community Assessment released in 2017?” Burr said in a statement Thursday. “If his statement is based on intelligence he has seen since leaving office, it constitutes an intelligence breach.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced Wednesday that Trump yanked Brennan’s security clearance and cited Brennan’s “erratic behavior” as a reason to restrict his access to sensitive information.
Sanders said the White House was considering revoking the security clearances of other former top officials such as former FBI Director James Comey and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
