Philip Mudd, the ex-deputy director of the CIA‘s Counterterrorist Center and the FBI‘s National Security Branch said on CNN this morning that he believes Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dan Coats will be fired by Donald Trump. The reason, Mudd said, is that Trump has a history of firing people who don’t agree with him.
And if this happens, Mudd said, it is possible that Trump will create a real national emergency, and possibly lead the country into another quagmire like Iraq.
“There ain’t no learning in the second kick of the mule here,†said Mudd, reminding viewers that the CIA was still struggling with accusations that the agency didn’t do enough to stop President George W. Bush when he made the decision to invade Iraq.
Then Mudd added:
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“So we’re going again into North Korea and say we’d prefer that the intel guys support the president regardless whether they agree with his position?â€
“I think the intel guys are supposed to get out there and talk about the facts. Do we want to relive Iraq all again? Speak the truth and let the truth fall where it may. That’s what intel folks are supposed to do, that’s what they did, and Dan Coats is gonna get fired for it.“
Fellow panelist and CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin agreed with Mudd, saying it was Coats’ failure to “follow the party line†that has now put his job in jeopardy.
“Coats didn’t follow the party line, and now it looks like he’s on his way out,” Toobin said.
Independent Senator Angus King of Maine also appeared on CNN and expressed concern about the president’s willingness to fire his advisers if they dare to contradict his own uninformed opinions.
King told CNN‘s New Day:
“The message to the intelligence community is shade the data, cook it, slant it, don’t tell the man what he doesn’t want to hear. That’s disastrous for the country.”
A longtime Trump confidant said he believes DNI Coats may be fired.
“The message to the intelligence community is shade the data, cook it, slant it, don’t tell the man what he doesn’t want to hear. That’s disastrous for the country,†@SenAngusKing says https://t.co/yz5YnzZH86 pic.twitter.com/bcSNUrRtnA
— CNN This Morning (@CNNThisMorning) February 19, 2019
The truth is that as Donald Trump‘s behavior becomes more erratic, and as his mental state continues to decline, the danger to the country — and to the entire world — increases. Without anyone left in the White House to give him good, independent advice based on facts Trump is left to his own impulses. And it is these dangerous impulses that have put at risk both world peace, and the well being of the United States.
CLICK HERE to watch the CNN interview with Phillip Mudd.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
