Key Trump advisors talk unity; CIA chief voices his concerns
WASHINGTON — Five days before President-elect Donald Trump is to be sworn in, his key advisors on Sunday sought to craft a sense of national unity around the incoming president but faced lingering questions about Russian involvement in the election and contradictions between Trump and his prospective Cabinet members.
In separate television interviews, Vice Presidentelect Mike Pence and Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, offered different responses to the same question: Does Trump have confidence in FBI Director James B. Comey, who has been in and out of favor with the president-elect over the course of the campaign.
Comey last summer cleared Hillary Clinton of criminal culpability regarding her use of a private email server as secretary of State — angering Trump and his loyalists. Eleven days before the election, he briefly reopened the investigation. The latter action was blamed by some Democrats as contributing to her defeat.
“Yes, he has confidence in Director Comey,” Priebus said on ABC’s “This Week.” He said there was “no plan at this moment” to ask Comey to cut short his term in office, which extends to September 2023.
On Fox News’ Sunday broadcast, by contrast, Pence avoided answering, referring questions to Trump.
“You’d have to ask the president-elect,” Pence said. “They’ve had conversations, and that will be a good question for him after Jan. 20.”
Pence noted that Trump would make the final decisions, as well, on policy. Questions about the direction of the new administration were raised last week when several Cabinet designees differed with Trump on key issues, including policy toward Russia, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Iran nuclear deal and the use of torture.
“Well, the great thing about being around Donald Trump is you never have any confusion about who’s driving the bus, and where the buck stops and who will make the final decision,” Pence told CBS’ “Face the Nation” anchor John Dickerson.
Both Pence and Priebus attempted to brush aside questions about Russia’s hacking of Democrats and whether there was any communication between that country’s agents and the Trump campaign.
Those questions took on added intensity in recent days with statements by leading Democrats suggesting that Russian influence might have tipped the presidential election in Trump’s favor. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia said Friday that Trump was not a “legitimate” president because of it, and on Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California strongly suggested that Clinton would have won without Russian interference.
“It altered the outcome — that’s what I believe,” the Democrat told NBC’s “Meet the Press” anchor Chuck Todd.
Also Sunday, CIA Director John Brennan sharply criticized the incoming president for equating spy agencies to Nazi Germany and suggested that he needed to focus more seriously on security issues.
“What I think Mr. Trump has to understand is that this is more than being about him, and it’s about the United States and our national security,” Brennan said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“And he has to make sure that now he’s going to have the opportunity to do something for national security, as opposed to talking and tweeting; he’s going to have tremendous responsibility to make sure that U.S. national security interests are protected and are advanced.”
That is particularly the case when it comes to Russia, Brennan said.
On the Fox News show, Pence denied — after being asked three times — that any conversations between Russia and the Trump team had taken place.
Pence suggested that Friday would mark a turn from the tumultuous campaign to a tonally different administration.
“The American people know that we can have government in Washington, D.C., as good as our people. We can get this economy moving again. We can rebuild our military.”