WASHINGTON, Oct 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Former CIA director John Brennan raised
questions Sunday about the stability of the United States under President
Donald Trump, accusing him of corrupting the country’s laws and institutions.
Brennan, who served under former president Barack Obama and has been one of
Trump’s fiercest critics, warned in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press”
that “the democratic principles on which this country are founded are eroding
right now.”
Asked how the CIA might assess the stability of the United States, Brennan
said, “We would look at it as a very corrupt government that is under the
sway, right now, of this powerful individual who has been able to just
corrupt the institutions and the laws of that country.”
“I think it’s no longer, you know, a democracy if an autocrat is — has it
in his hands,” he said. Criticizing Republican lawmakers as “putty” to Trump,
Brennan said, “Given the polarization of the country, as well, there’s just
tremendous political instability here, and which is consuming the government
now.”
“So yes, I think there’s a real question about the stability,” he said.
Brennan’s comments come amid an intensifying impeachment investigation of
Trump for alleged abuse of power that has sharply divided the Congress.
Trump stripped Brennan of his security clearance last year after he emerged
as a vocal critic of the president for questioning the US intelligence
agencies’ conclusion that Russia mounted a covert effort to sway the 2016
election in the Republican’s favor.