Ex-CIA Chief Wonders What Russians Might Have on Trump

The firing of Andrew McCabe appears to have been the last straw for John Brennan. The normally tight-lipped former CIA director, who slammed President Trump's "political corruption" and "moral turpitude" in a tweet Saturday, suggested Wednesday that the Russians might have compromising information on the president, the New York Times reports. He told MSNBC that Trump's "fawning attitude toward Mr. Putin" is a sign he has "something to fear," saying "one could speculate" Russia "may have something on him personally." The Russians have "long experience" with Trump and "may have things that they could expose," he said.

Brennan said Trump's congratulatory phone call to Putin shows that he treats the Russian leader "so nicely," while he "treats American with such disdain"—unlike the six presidents Brennan worked for in his decades with the CIA. Brennan, who led the agency from 2013 to 2017 and was in charge when the infamous Russia dossier surfaced, later emphasized that he was only speculating about what Moscow might have on Trump. "I do not know if the Russians have something on Donald Trump that they could use as blackmail," he told the Times. "I have pointed out the perplexing submissiveness of Mr. Trump toward Mr. Putin—despite continued evidence of malign Russian activities," he said. "I do not know why he refuses to call out Russia; that is a question that can only be answered by Mr. Trump." (Days before Trump took office, Brennan warned him against reckless tweeting.)