Former CIA Director John Brennan, who had his security clearance revoked by President Trump on Wednesday, said there is no doubt Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
“Mr. Trump’s claims of no collusion are, in a word, hogwash,” Brennan wrote in an opinion piece published Thursday for the New York Times.
“The only questions that remain are whether the collusion that took place constituted criminally liable conspiracy, whether obstruction of justice occurred to cover up any collusion or conspiracy, and how many members of ‘Trump Incorporated’ attempted to defraud the government by laundering and concealing the movement of money into their pockets,” the piece continued.
As an example of the alleged collusion, Brennan pointed to Trump publicly calling on Russia in July 2016 to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails. Around the same day Trump urged Russia to find the emails that had been deleted from Clinton’s personal accounts, Russian intelligence officers tried to hack email accounts associated with Clinton’s presidential campaign, an indictment from special counsel Robert Mueller’s office stated.
Trump has denied colluding with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election. He frequently refers to the Mueller investigation as a “witch hunt.”
Brennan said Trump’s statement encouraged Russia to gather intelligence against an American citizen and authorized his allies to work with a U.S. adversary against his political rival.
The opinion piece was published a day after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced that Trump was revoking the former CIA director’s security clearance over his “erratic behavior.” Brennan has been a vocal critic of Trump, often denouncing the president in television appearances.
Trump’s move shows he’s “become more desperate to protect himself and those close to him,” and thus is trying to “scare into silence others who might dare to challenge him,” Brennan wrote.
