Republicans should be outraged over President Donald Trump's insistence that he believes Russian Vladimir Putin when he denies interfering in the 2016 election, while calling three U.S. intelligence professionals "political hacks," veteran NBC News correspondent Tom Brokaw tweeted Saturday.
Trump Saturday lashed out at former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former FBI Director James Comey, accusing them of being "political hacks" while speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, on the way to Hanoi, Vietnam, reports Newsweek.
"Comey is proven now to be a liar and he is proven now to be a leaker," Trump said.
Brokaw, a frequent critic of Trump's, posted his tweet after the president told reporters Saturday, that he'd asked Putin again about whether state agents had interfered in the election, and "he says he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times."
Trump continued that "every time" Putin sees him, he denies the accusations, and that when the Russian leader said that, he believes that "he means it."
He also complained that Putin is "insulted" by the accusation, before lashing out at "Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that he means it."
Trump also accused Democrats of focusing on the accusation of meddling in hopes of creating a barrier between Russia and the United States while they work on the dual crises in Ukraine and Syria.
Meanwhile, CIA Director Mike Pompeo continues to stand by the intelligence community's' report concluding Russia meddled in the 2016 election with an influence campaign launched to help President Donald Trump defeat Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton, an agency spokesperson said Saturday.
"The director stands by and has always stood by the January 2017 intelligence community assessment entitled: 'Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections,'" the spokesperson said in a statement, "The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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