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Trump Picking New Fight with US Intelligence Community

By Ken Bredemeier January 16, 2017

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is engaged in a new fight with the country's intelligence community four days ahead of his inauguration as America's 45th president.

Outgoing Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan said in an interview Sunday that Trump lacks a broad understanding of the threat Russia poses to the world and belittled his penchant for "talking and tweeting," saying it was not in U.S. interests.

Within hours, Trump fired back at Brennan with new Twitter comments, questioning whether the soon-to-be-replaced CIA chief leaked an unsubstantiated report to news media that accused Trump of engaging in tawdry sexual activity on a visit to Moscow.

"Was this the leaker of Fake News?" Trump asked in a tweet. US intelligence officials have denied leaking the dossier, which included claims that Trump's presidential campaign had regular contacts with Russian operatives.

Referring to Brennan's criticism of him, the billionaire real estate mogul said, "Oh really, couldn't do much worse -- just look at Syria (red line), Crimea, Ukraine and the build-up of Russian nukes. Not good!"

Brennan, likely to soon be replaced by Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo, Trump's pick as CIA director, said the national security issues Trump will face are not "about him."

"Now that he's going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting, he's going to have tremendous responsibility to make sure that U.S. and national security interests are protected," Brennan said on "Fox News Sunday." Brennan warned that the president-elect's impulsivity could be dangerous.

Trump has feuded with the U.S. intelligence community since it concluded that Russian meddled in the U.S. election in an effort to help him defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. He appears concerned that the finding will call into question the legitimacy of his unexpected victory over the former secretary of state.

Russia hacking

After weeks of disparaging the U.S. intelligence conclusion, Trump acknowledged last week that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the hacking of the computer of Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, but he insisted it did not affect the outcome of the election.

The file-sharing group WikiLeaks released thousands of Podesta's emails in the month before the November 8 election, many of them revealing embarrassing behind-the-scenes efforts by Democratic officials to help Clinton win the party's presidential nomination over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

At the same time Trump was briefed 10 days ago by U.S. intelligence officials about the email hacking, he was told about the unverified claims linking him to prostitutes in Moscow and his campaign's alleged contacts with Russian officials, all of which he has denounced as "fake." The report had been circulating for months among top U.S. media outlets, whose journalists have been unable to confirm any of the accusations.

Trump said Putin shouldn't have ordered the hacking of Podesta's emails, but has called for better relations with Russia. Moscow said last week that after Trump is inaugurated in Washington on Friday, it plans to arrange a meeting between the two leaders.

Legitimacy questioned

Trump is also engaging in a contentious exchange of comments with Congressman John Lewis, a U.S. civil rights hero who says he is boycotting Trump's swearing-in ceremony because he believes the Russian interference makes Trump's presidency not "legitimate." Lewis is one of at least 18 Democratic lawmakers who say they will skip the inauguration at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump assailed Lewis in a Twitter comment Saturday, saying he should spend more time working to improve life in his Atlanta, Georgia, congressional district, "which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

Lewis, a 15-term congressman, was beaten by police and jailed in the 1960's as he marched for racial equality. His congressional district embraces most of the city of Atlanta, headquarters to companies like Coca Cola and Delta Air Lines.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday called Lewis's comments questioning the legitimacy of Trump's election "deeply disappointing" and said he hopes Lewis will reconsider them and attend the inauguration.

MLK holiday

Trump on Monday called for Americans to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as the U.S. celebrated the annual holiday marking what would have been the civil rights leader's 88th birthday. He was assassinated in 1968 in the midst of racial turmoil over voting rights for African-Americans and the lack of job opportunities for minorities.

"Celebrate Martin Luther King Day and all of the many wonderful things that he stood for," Trump said. "Honor him for being the great man that he was!"

Trump scheduled a meeting Monday with one of King's sons, Martin Luther King III.