US spooks in disarray

– The critical relationship between President Donald Trump and the US intelligence community is irreparably broken with high risks for the country in a crisis, former senior Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers have said.

One week after Trump blasted his spy chiefs as “naive” and told them to “go back to school” for challenging his views on Iran and North Korea, they said the rift between the two sides had become extremely dangerous.

“When you have open warfare, it can affect [intelligence and policy] judgments,” said George Beebe, former director of Russia analysis at the CIA. “If the intelligence community warns, but its audience for that warning won’t hear it ... the result is no different than if there were no warning at all.”

Beebe and other officers were speaking at a Washington think tank, following the newest rupture. –