President Trump's strained relationship with American intelligence agencies faces its biggest test now that a CIA whistleblower has accused him of abusing his position to ask Ukraine to investigate his political rival Joe Biden.
The rift between Trump and the nation's spy agencies opened before he took office, when he compared CIA officers to Nazis.
Many retired CIA officers reacted with public scorn for Trump.
Since the whistleblower came forward with his complaint, centered on a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump has used the words "Treason" and "Coup" to describe efforts to impeach him, referred to anyone providing information to the CIA officer as a "Spy," and suggested they should be executed.
Kevin Carroll, a former CIA case officer, said, "It's a very troubled relationship. Trump got it off to a terrible start with comments during the transition, comparing the intelligence community to the Nazis, and then his buffoonery in front of the memorial wall the day after he was inaugurated."
On his first full day in office, Trump gave a speech at CIA headquarters.
It set the stage for a series of bitter public clashes, including an ongoing feud with President Barack Obama's CIA director, John Brennan, who, like Haspel, was a career CIA officer.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-relationship-with-cia-sinks-to-new-low-after-whistleblower-allegation
The rift between Trump and the nation's spy agencies opened before he took office, when he compared CIA officers to Nazis.
Many retired CIA officers reacted with public scorn for Trump.
Since the whistleblower came forward with his complaint, centered on a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump has used the words "Treason" and "Coup" to describe efforts to impeach him, referred to anyone providing information to the CIA officer as a "Spy," and suggested they should be executed.
Kevin Carroll, a former CIA case officer, said, "It's a very troubled relationship. Trump got it off to a terrible start with comments during the transition, comparing the intelligence community to the Nazis, and then his buffoonery in front of the memorial wall the day after he was inaugurated."
On his first full day in office, Trump gave a speech at CIA headquarters.
It set the stage for a series of bitter public clashes, including an ongoing feud with President Barack Obama's CIA director, John Brennan, who, like Haspel, was a career CIA officer.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-relationship-with-cia-sinks-to-new-low-after-whistleblower-allegation
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