Schumer on Trump intel shakeup: ‘Disgrace,’ ‘closer to a banana republic’
“Emboldened by the refusal of Senate Republicans to hold him accountable in his impeachment trial, President Trump has been interfering with the Justice Department and retaliating against officials in his administration who dared to testify truthfully before Congress,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.
“With each of these actions — I hate to say it, but it is true — any objective person will know President Trump brings our nation closer and closer and closer to a banana republic, a government not of laws but of one man,” Schumer added.
“In the short week that we have spent in recess, the president has managed to plunge our country even deeper into chaos,” Schumer said.
Trump also set off alarm bells among Democrats and some national security professionals when he announced that Grenell will be his second acting director of national intelligence since Dan Coats, who was easily confirmed by the Senate, stepped down last year.
Joseph Maguire has served in the role since August but is required by law to leave the position by March 12.
Some Republicans have defended Grenell, but others — including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) — have been radio silent on his appointment, even while releasing statements praising Maguire.
Trump “replaced him with a political lackey, a yes man, as the head of DNI, where truth must be spoken probably more than in any other place in the government. He has no experience in the intelligence community and is simply known as an acolyte to President Trump,” Schumer said.
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