Versión Español
Hillary Clinton endorsed by CIA veteran Michael Morell (Flickr)
In a New York Times op-ed published this Friday August 5, former acting CIA Chief Michael Morrell could no longer keep his political affiliations hidden.
“No longer. On Nov. 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton,” he wrote. “Between now and then, I will do everything I can to ensure that she is elected as our 45th president.”
In the article, Morrell discussed important points regarding Trump’s relationship with Russia, his temperament and how it would affect the decision-making process a Commander in Chief must take.
The CIA veteran suggested Vladimir Putin has successfully spread Trump’s message by complementing him to get exactly what he wanted in return.
“In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation,” he said.
Morrell presented “two strongly held beliefs” that had led him to conclude that Clinton should be the next president of the United States. Firstly, Morell said he believes Clinton is “highly qualified” for the job and “will deliver on the most important duty of a president — keeping our nation safe.” He also noted Clinton’s work during her stint as Secretary of State and her role in the killing of Osama Bin Laden in 2011.
Trump is new to politics, he said, whereas Clinton has had over thirty years of experience.
“Donald J. Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security.”
Trump has no experience in handling national security and “even more importantly,” he went on, “the character traits he has exhibited during the primary season suggest he would be a poor, even dangerous, commander in chief.”
Morell pointed out Trump’s “obvious need for self-aggrandizement, his overreaction to perceived slights, his tendency to make decisions based on intuition, his refusal to change his views based on new information, his routine carelessness with the facts, his unwillingness to listen to others and his lack of respect for the rule of law.”
Morell went on to say “the dangers that flow from Mr. Tump’s character are not just risks that would emerge if he became president. It is already damaging our national security.”
- Read more: Putin’s Soviet Amibitions on the March in Latin America
- Read more: Trump’s Speech Holds Empty Promises for Minorities, Fact-Checkers reveal
Morell said Trump’s proposal to ban Muslim immigrants from the United States, which he said is just the US “playing into the hands of the jihadist narrative that our fight against terrorism is a war between religions.”
He concluded by saying that “our nation will be much safer with Hillary Clinton as president.”
Morell is not the only top official from within the agency to express his reservations. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden, for example, has also commented on Trump’s abilities leading the nation’s armed forces.
High-profile Republicans have also been vocal about their strong opinions toward Trump, some saying they will not support him and others defecting to support Clinton. Among them are Meg Whitman (CEO of Hewlett-Packard), New York Rep. Richard Hanna and National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft.
Former Director of the Office of Political Affairs under Ronald Reagan and Ambassador to Singapore under George W. Bush Frank Lavin has also endorsed Clinton, saying:
“Having served under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, I have seen what it takes to be Commander-in-Chief, and to make split second decisions under extreme pressure — Donald Trump doesn’t have that,” Lavin said. He called Trump “temperamentally unfit to be president of the United States,” and that “just the thought of him having access to nuclear codes is unnerving.”
Source: Politico
