Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said Thursday that Rudy Giuliani's comments that three American hostages might soon be freed by North Korea gave dictator Kim Jong Un's regime "more leverage on this issue than they would otherwise have."
"The mayor has created expectations that the North could now use before they give us ultimately what we're going to insist on," Hayden, who also directed the NSA, told Erin Burnett on CNN.
Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who is now on President Donald Trump's personal legal team, told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" the Americans could be released in the coming hours.
"We got Kim Jong Un impressed enough to be releasing three prisoners [Thursday]," Giuliani said.
The president also teased Wednesday via Twitter the possibility the hostages might be released soon:
However, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Thursday: "We can't confirm the validity of any of the reports on their release.
"We certainly would see this as a sign of goodwill if North Korea were to release the three Americans ahead of discussions between President Trump and Kim Jong Un."
The administration is also investigating reports the Americans were relocated from a labor camp to a hotel near Pyongyang.
Hayden, 73, a retired four-star Air Force general, told Burnett that he expected Kim to eventually release the Americans but was wary of both Trump and Giuliani "getting ahead of the policy process."
"There's a reason you have these processes in place," he said. "There's a reason you coordinate things.
"There's a reason you take great care with your language, especially when you attach it to the person of the president.
"And now, we've got this out here.
"People like me fear, what's the right word, the sloppiness? The chaos?" Hayden said.
"In the West Wing process, that actually sets in motion things that we probably don't want to see," he added. "I'm made uncomfortable when I see a tweet like that."
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