Former Mueller Deputy Says Government Will Kill Trump

Federal employees concerned about President Trump’s controversial policies and rhetoric are beginning to refuse to cooperate with the White House, a former deputy FBI director suggested Thursday.

The ex-official, CNN terrorism expert Phil Mudd, told network host Jake Tapper that many intelligence, military and diplomatic personnel have opposed Trump on multiple fronts. “Let me give you one bottom line as a former government official,” he said. “Government is going to kill this guy. He defends Vladimir Putin. There are State Department and CIA officers coming home, and at Langley and Foggy Bottom, CIA and State, they’re saying, ‘This is how you defend us?’” The Hill noted that the interview was not the first time Mudd had lashed out the president. He has been an outspoken critic of the administration.

Mudd also ripped Trump for declaring recently that the armed services would no longer accept transgender troops. Military leaders have declined to obey the presidential order, heightening tensions between the Pentagon and the White House. “What is the military saying to him on transgender?” Mudd asked. "‘Show us the policy.’ You know what that means inside government? ‘Ain’t going to happen.'”

The former FBI official, whose boss was former bureau chief Robert Mueller, cited a recent report that FBI agents raided the home of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort last month. “What did the Department of Justice say on Paul Manafort? ‘You can say what you want; a judge told us we had cause to search his home early in the morning because we don’t trust the guy who was your campaign manager.’ The government is going to kill this guy because he doesn’t support them,” Mudd said.

Mueller is the special counsel the Justice Department appointed to lead the federal investigation of the allegation that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election. Mueller’s legal team also is looking into the president’s finances, and determining whether he obstructed justice by firing FBI Director James Comey in an attempt to squelch the bureau’s probe of Russian election meddling.

Much of the leaked information that has rocked the administration since early this year apparently came from government employees. Even Democrats were alarmed last week, when transcripts of the president’s phone conversations with other heads of state were released. The leaked material, which The Washington Post published, sparked concerns about national security.

“This is beyond the pale and will have a chilling effect going forward on the ability of the commander-in-chief to have candid discussions with his counterparts,” Ned Price, an official at the National Security Council in the Obama administration, warned. He told The Hill: “Granted, the White House contributed to this atmosphere by welcoming the free-for-all environment, where anonymous leaks are commonplace. But we must draw the line somewhere.”

Trump, as well as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has vowed to crack down on government whistleblowers and other federal employees who hand over sensitive or classified information to the news media. The president has threatened to take legal action against the leakers.

Source: The Hill
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