{"id":91805,"date":"2017-12-25T18:46:41","date_gmt":"2017-12-25T22:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=91805"},"modified":"2017-12-25T18:46:41","modified_gmt":"2017-12-25T22:46:41","slug":"ex-cia-dir-brennan-continues-to-lead-the-coup-against-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=91805","title":{"rendered":"Ex-CIA Dir. Brennan continues to lead the coup against Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Ex-CIA Chief Brennan Joins Former Intel Officials to Defend Besieged FBI Leaders<\/h2>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_91806\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GetFile-9.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91806\" class=\"size-full wp-image-91806\" src=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GetFile-9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GetFile-9.jpg 600w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GetFile-9-300x250.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-91806\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">CIA Director John Brennan testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russian Intelligence Activities on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017. (AP Photo\/Cliff Owen)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>By Cathy Burke<br \/>\nNEWSMAX<\/p>\n<p>Former intelligence officials are defending FBI leaders under attack for alleged political bias \u2014 including former CIA director John Brennan, who argues President Donald Trump &#8220;fears&#8221; them.<\/p>\n<p>The defense comes as James Baker,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/fbis-top-lawyer-said-to-be-reassigned\/2017\/12\/21\/2ac76640-e6b5-11e7-833f-155031558ff4_story.html?utm_term=.97de6e19242b\"><strong>the FBI&#8217;s top lawyer,<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>was reassigned<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>and deputy director Andrew McCabe faces fire from Trump for contributions to his wife&#8217;s 2015 state Senate campaign.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/12\/23\/politics\/trump-fbi-mccabe-baker-tweets\/index.html\"><strong>Trump targeted<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0both leaders on Twitter over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>But on Sunday, Brennan tweeted his own response to the online attacks.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Andy McCabe &amp; Jim Baker epitomize integrity, competence, and respect for rule of law. Not surprised <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@realDonaldTrump<\/a> fears them, along with the rest of FBI. I just donated to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FBIAgentsAssoc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FBIAgentsAssoc<\/a> as a small way of saying <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/thanksFBI?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#thanksFBI<\/a>. Here\u2019s how you can too: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eSCrfJxxwx\">https:\/\/t.co\/eSCrfJxxwx<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QIzsn6EGYY\">https:\/\/t.co\/QIzsn6EGYY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnBrennan\/status\/944751221373587456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 24, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Brennan added that he had donated to the FBI Agents Association, and encouraged others to do the same.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/fbi-general-counsel-james-baker-reassigned-amid-trump-russia-firestorm-2017-12?utm_source=feedly&amp;utm_medium=webfeeds\"><strong>Business Insider<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0noted the timing of Baker&#8217;s reassignment \u2014 and a controversial Politico piece posted last Friday \u2014 has led some former Justice Department and FBI officials to wonder whether it was, at least partially, a political decision made under mounting pressure from Trump and his allies.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have no problem with the idea that (FBI Director Christopher) Wray should pick his own team over time, including his own general counsel,&#8221; Benjamin Wittes, an expert in national security law and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has known Baker for years, told BI.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The idea that Jim should stay in place indefinitely is not what I would argue,&#8221; Wittes said. &#8220;But, if I were Wray and I meant to replace my general counsel, the antics of the last two weeks would have convinced me not to do it under fire to make sure no one thinks I am giving the administration a scalp.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Frank Montoya, Jr., a former senior FBI official who worked closely with McCabe before retiring in 2016, said on Saturday \u2014 before news broke that\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsmax.com\/newsfront\/mccabe-fbi-retire\/2017\/12\/23\/id\/833478\/\"><strong>McCabe planned to leave<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0the bureau \u2014 that he suspected McCabe would retire as soon as he was eligible.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Most guys are leaving right when they are eligible,&#8221; Montoya said, Business Insider reported. &#8220;That&#8217;s been the case for years. But if he goes, it will be of his own accord, not because he was pushed out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>David Kris, a former Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice&#8217;s National Security Division, also defended Baker.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have known Jim Baker for many years, in and out of government,&#8221; Kris said on Saturday, BI reported. &#8220;And I know him to be a person, and public servant, of the highest moral character and integrity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/GenMhayden\/status\/944596343632400385\"><strong>Gen. Michael Hayden<\/strong><\/a>, the former head of both the CIA and the National Security Agency, tweeted on Friday that &#8220;Jim was\/is a wonderful PUBLIC servant.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsmax.com\/newsfront\/john-brennan-president-donald-trump-james-baker-christopher-wray\/2017\/12\/24\/id\/833551\/\">http:\/\/www.newsmax.com\/newsfront\/john-brennan-president-donald-trump-james-baker-christopher-wray\/2017\/12\/24\/id\/833551\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ex-CIA Chief Brennan Joins Former Intel Officials to Defend Besieged FBI Leaders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}