Former Bush Ethics Official Says Russian Spies Are “Running Around The West Wing”

As Donald Trump repeatedly spews the bogus “deep state” claim that Obama administration holdovers are secretly trying to bring down the new White House, one former ethics lawyer under George W. Bush is saying it’s the new administration that appears to be behind a covert operation to undermine the United States.

In an interview on CNN on Friday night, Bush ethics lawyer Richard Painter said the current situation in the White House is “complete chaos” and says he is worried that the White House has “KGB agents running around the West Wing.”

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Painter said:

It makes no sense to run a government this way and allow foreign agents into the government and have the president not even know – say you’re draining the swamp and yet you bring in people who have close ties to the Russians and other countries as well and on the payroll of the Turkish government … This is a completely chaotic situation, and then Gen. Flynn lied about his contacts with the Russians, lied to the vice president, and we’ve had the attorney general in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee say he did not contact the Russians when he had contacts with the Russians. People are not being honest about their foreign contacts, and talk about this ‘deep state theory’ as if there are somehow Obama moles in the government undermining the Trump administration … I’m more worried about KGB agents running around the West Wing or the National Security Council.

Painter’s comments come in the midst of continued investigations into Russia’s ties to the Trump administration and as recent reports say that Michael Flynn was a paid foreign agent working for a Turkish firm during the campaign.

Once again, Trump and his team deny having any knowledge of such work by Flynn, even though Flynn’s lawyers informed the transition team of his work before Trump was sworn in.

All of this raises another important question: Is there anything this White House actually does know or are they simply playing dumb to cover up a massive scandal?

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.