Ex-Chief of CIA Suggests Putin May Have Compromising Information on Trump

WASHINGTON — John O. Brennan, the former director of the CIA, said Wednesday that he thought Russia may have some kind of compromising information on President Donald Trump, setting off furious speculation about whether the former spy chief was basing that assertion on inside information.

In an appearance Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Brennan, who served as CIA director from 2013 to 2017, speculated that Russians “may have something on him personally” when he was asked if he thought Trump was afraid of President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

“The Russians, I think, have had long experience with Mr. Trump, and may have things that they could expose,” he added.

Brennan was running the CIA when a salacious dossier surfaced in 2016 that claimed the Russians had compromising information on Trump. If there were any current or former U.S. officials who might know if there was truth behind the allegations in the dossier, Brennan would most likely be one of them. And his comments came the day after a phone call Trump made to Putin congratulating him for winning an election raised new questions about the president’s relationship with Russia.

As CIA director, Brennan was never known as particularly chatty around the news media or in public. And since leaving office, Brennan has taken to starting conversations with journalists by telling them, “I’m not going to be an anonymous source for any stories.”

But last weekend, Brennan — in response to Trump’s praise for the firing of the former deputy director of the FBI, Andrew G. McCabe — issued a remarkable condemnation of the president. “When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history,” Brennan wrote on Twitter. Brennan’s pointed criticism of Trump on MSNBC and on Twitter was hardly unique. From the outset of the Trump presidency, a litany of retired intelligence officials — the kind of people who have traditionally shied away from criticizing presidents, even in retirement — have come forward to criticize Trump.

The former officials have included those like Brennan who served under Democrats and others who served under Republicans, such as Michael Hayden, who ran both the CIA and the National Security Agency under President George W. Bush. Nearly all insist they have no desire to wade into partisan politics, but say they are genuinely alarmed by what they see as Trump’s fundamental disregard for the rule of the law and his impetuous approach to nation’s security.

Brennan’s latest accusations on Wednesday quickly became fodder for news articles, social media conspiracy theories and hours of speculation on cable news channels. And his remarks seemed to go beyond what he had said publicly in January 2017, five days before he stepped down as CIA director, when he had said the dossier was “unsubstantiated” and his criticism of Trump was relatively mild.

“I don’t think he has a full appreciation of Russian capabilities, Russia’s intentions, and actions that they are undertaking in many parts of the world,” Brennan said then in an appearance on Fox News.

But later in the day Wednesday, Brennan explained that his comments were speculation based on Trump’s words and deeds, as well as how Putin’s government has operated at home and abroad — but not on any inside knowledge.

“I do not know if the Russians have something on Donald Trump that they could use as blackmail,” he said in a written response to questions from The New York Times.

“When asked the question, I have pointed out the perplexing submissiveness of Mr. Trump toward Mr. Putin — despite continued evidence of malign Russian activities,” Brennan added. “I do not know why he refuses to call out Russia; that is a question that can only be answered by Mr. Trump.” Along with Brennan, who is a paid contributor to NBC and MSNBC, other retired officials with contributor deals included James Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence; Steven L. Hall, the former director of Russia operations at the CIA; and Jeremy Bash, a former CIA and Pentagon official.

Hayden, in an interview, made the case for former intelligence officials becoming talking heads of a sort, saying he believed that it was important for Americans to understand what the country’s intelligence agencies did and did not do. He also said he tries to bring the skills he learned as an intelligence officer to his public appearances, providing analysis based on facts.

“Lord knows CNN has enough people just throwing opinions,” said Hayden, who is a paid contributor to the network. “I try not working backward from assumption but build forward from data.”

He added, “John has a right to say what he says — I also have trouble explaining events with regard to the president and Russia.”