John Brennan: ‘We Have Fallen So Far with Somebody Like Tulsi Gabbard’

Wallace: “This — this — there’s only one Sue Gordon. But to hear from someone who went through what Tulsi Gabbard is going through right now and has the humility and has the patriotism to still be in the arena, not just fighting for the country and respecting a president’s prerogative to set policy, but reaching out to someone whose qualifications were, I think, to put it most generously, controversial and debatable, to put it more frankly, obviously not on par with anyone who’d ever had that position, just says a lot about how different Trump 2.0 really is. That was the person who was in charge of intel last time. And I wonder, Director Brennan, your thoughts on what was Trump’s very public break with the U.S. intelligence community?”

BRENNAN: “Well, Sue Gordon is such an accomplished intelligence professional, and she fulfilled her obligations to that profession nobly during the first Trump Administration. And despite the fact that he has his own very unique style, she made sure that the intelligence voices, the intelligence assessments were being heard, just like she referenced Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence also at the time. And so, therefore, it just demonstrates the importance of intelligence. And unfortunately, we have fallen so far with somebody like Tulsi Gabbard, who didn’t have the background and experience and didn’t have the commitment to the profession of intelligence that I think is so necessary. And so, we’re at a very dangerous time right now in terms of what happens next in this saga with Iran and with Israel. And so, we need to have those voices heard in the National Security Council meetings in the White House Situation Room to make sure that there is an understanding, irrespective of whether or not Donald Trump wants to hear it. We need to make sure that those voices are heard. And again, Sue Gordon was the epitome of an intelligence professional who, despite the strong headwinds that were coming from the Trump Oval Office, she fulfilled her responsibilities with great valor and great professionalism.”