Ex-CIA director fears Trump will wreak havoc after election
W A S H I N G T O N — Former CIA Director John Brennan isn't worried about the Trump administration trying to prosecute him. Nor is he all that concerned a bout a peaceful t r a nsfer of power i f President Donald Trump l oses t he election – particularly i f it's a resounding defeat, as Brennan hopes.
Wh a t r e a l l y h a s t h e e x - CI A c h i e f o n e d g e ? The s oci a l a nd pol i t i c a l havoc Trump may unleash between Election Day and the possible inauguration of his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.
Trump c oul d pr ovoke civil unrest. He could try to declare martial law. He could pardon himself and a rogue's gallery of his supporters, Brennan said.
He's so nervous about some of the possibilities – g i v e n t he pr e s i dent' s powers – t hat he didn't even want to say them out loud.
“When I think about my time i n the White House (and) what a president can do, quite frankly, I don't want to give Donald Trump a ny more i deas t han he might already have,” he told USA TODAY in wide-ranging interview to promote his book, “Undaunted: My Fight Against America's E n e mie s , At Home a n d Abroad.”
Of c ourse, Brennan – who has clashed with the president bitterly and frequently for years and made him a major target of his book – is also worried about a Trump victory on Nov. 3.
“H e ' s j u s t g o i n g t o continue along t his t rajectory of incompetence, i n e p t i t u d e , c o r r u p t i o n , malfeasance, deceit, lying, and f ueling polarization at home,” Brennan said, a ddi ng a l i e nat i ng a l l i e s and cozying up to dictators to the list. “And that's just the start.”
T r u m p h a s f a l s e l y accused Brennan and other Obama- e r a i nt e l l i gence officials of spying on his 2 01 6 p r e s i d e nt i a l c a mpaign, and the president has suggested they should be criminally prosecuted.
“They used t he i ntel - l i g e n c e a g e n c i e s o f o u r country to spy on my campaign, and they have been caught,” Trump said during an Aug. 11 briefing at the White House. “This was an illegal act like no other illegal act. This was treason.”
B r e n n a n s a i d h e h a s “nothing to fear” in terms of l e g a l a c t i on. He s a i d he can't be sure Attorney G e n e r a l Wi l l i a m B a r r won't try to charge him, but called that a “desperate” effort by Trump to distract Americans.
“I have full confidence that what I did when I was director of CIA was entirely appropriate and consistent with my authorities,” he said.
I n “U n d a u n t e d , ” Br e n n a n wri t e s t h a t h e takes no pleasure in speaking out against Trump.
“B u t , a s l o n g a s Mr . Trump continues to trample the tenets of our democracy, lie to the American people, denigrate the office of the presidency, endanger our national security, and sully our reputation around the world, I will not relent in my criticism of him,” he writes.
Trump and Brennan have tussled from the start, but their animosity exploded after Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July of 2018. During a news conference after their one-on-one meeting, Trump questioned the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia i nterf er ed i n t he 2016 election and appeared to accept Putin's denials.
Trump's comments were “nothing short of treasonous,” Brennan tweeted at the time.
“I t g o t w o r s e f r o m t here, ” Brennan s a i d i n Friday's interview.
Brennan said he hopes T r u m p g e t s “s o u n d l y spanked by the American electorate” on Nov. 3 so he has no room to cry foul. He predicted that Trump w i l l mo u n t s o me k i n d of l egal challenge t o t he results if he loses, but he hopes those will crumble if enough Republican allies in Congress refuse to defend him.
The bigger concern, he said, is if Trump encoura g e s h i s s u p p o r t e r s t o protest the outcome, perhaps violently.
“Words matter, especially when they're coming from someone who occup i e s t h e O v a l O f f i c e , ” Brennan said.
Leading up t o Nov. 3, Brennan said he is less worried about a cyberattack on America's voting infrastructure than he is about the power of foreign actors – namely Russia but also China, Iran and other U.S. foes – to distort Americans' views of the two candidates and the issues at play.
B r e n n a n p o i n t e d t o Russia's sophisticated 2016 campaign to boost Trump's candidacy and said he i s certain that effort changed some voters' minds.
Now, he said, “I believe t hat Vladimir Putin has a real, vested i nterest i n seeing Trump reelected.”
If Biden wins, Brennan said the incoming administration can send a clear m e s s a g e t o M o s c o w r i ght out of t he gate by re- energizing America's international alliances and presenting a united front against Russia, as well as Chi n a a n d o t h e r g l o b a l competitors.
“A Biden administration is going to have its hands full,” he said, dealing with the urgent domestic chall enge of COVID- 1 9, t he economy, and social justice issues. But the former vice president will also “have to send clear signals to our partners and allies around the world that the United States is back.”
Brennan said the most i mmediate global t hreat f or the next president i s climate change, which he cal l ed “one of t he most i n s i d i o u s a n d s e r i o u s threats” facing the planet. It will unleash a cascade of other cri s es, he s ai d, from increased migration to diminished agriculture productivity.