Appearing Monday on CNN, former National Intelligence Director James Clapper said President Donald Trump’s desire to have administration officials who are on board with his policies reminds him of North Korea.
A partial transcript is as follows:
JIM SCIUTTO: For folks watching at home, does that make the country less safe in these roles?
JAMES CLAPPER: I think it certainly does. Obviously I’m biased about this because I believe that in many of these positions, such as the DNI, that people should have experience and expertise. In fact, that’s what the law stipulates. To some extent, this almost reminds me of North Korea where everybody has to wear a Kim family button to publicly display their loyalty and fealty to the great leader. Where — as you say in our case — loyalty and fealty to the administration and to the president personally takes higher precedence over competence, experience or expertise. And that’s not good, in my view — for the safety and security of the country — particularly when it’s applied to the intelligence community.
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