Powell calls The Donald ‘national disgrace’

WASHINGTON — In a trove of newly leaked emails, former secretary of state Colin Powell calls Donald Trump a “national disgrace” and suggests his own Republican Party is “crashing and burning.”

The emails were posted on DCLeaks.com, a website alleged to be an outlet for hackers tied to Russian intelligence groups and appears to be the latest attempt to influence the presidential election.

The FBI is investigating how thousands of Democratic National Committee emails were hacked and released, an embarrassing breach that Hillary Clinton’s campaign maintains was committed by Russia to benefit Trump.

In the emails, Powell, 79, said he stayed relatively quiet during the rise of Trump, the Republican presidential nominee. “To go on and call him an idiot just emboldens him,” Powell said.

To a former aide he writes: “No need to debate it with you now, but Trump is a national disgrace and an international pariah.”

Powell, a Republican, also suggests frustration with the state of the nation’s politics.

“We all need to start voting for America and not our parties,” Powell writes. “Trump is taking on water. He doesn’t have a GOP philosophy or even a Conservative philosophy. We need a revolution and it will begin with the GOP crashing and burning up its current form.”

Powell’s leaked messages include his thoughts on Clinton’s lingering email woes. He criticized Clinton aides for tying him into the controversy over the Democratic nominee’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.