McCabe: Trump said ‘I don’t care, I believe Putin’ when confronted with US intel on North Korea
Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said that President Trump dismissed intelligence on North Korea given to him by U.S. officials, telling them, “I don’t care, I believe Putin.”
Trump told officials in a meeting that he did not believe North Korean missiles could strike the U.S. mainland because Russian President Vladimir Putin told him those missiles did not exist, according to McCabe.
{mosads}”Intelligence officials in the briefing responded that that was not consistent with any of the intelligence our government possesses to which the president replied, ‘I don’t care. I believe Putin,'” McCabe told host Scott Pelley in an interview with “60 Minutes” released Sunday.
McCabe said it was “astounding” that Trump would lean on Putin’s information about an issue U.S. intelligence officials were briefing him on.
“To spend the time and effort and energy that we all do in the intelligence community to produce products that will help decisionmakers and the ultimate decisionmaker, the president of the United States, make policy decisions, and to be confronted with an absolute disbelief in those efforts and a unwillingness to learn the true state of affairs that he has to deal with every day was just shocking,” he said.
“I don’t care. I believe Putin,” Pres Trump allegedly said, rejecting U.S. intelligence regarding North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile capability. McCabe says he heard this from an FBI official who was at the meeting with POTUS. https://t.co/9zmoxrYNjm pic.twitter.com/lo0g9VOMAG
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) February 18, 2019
Excerpts from McCabe’s interview with Palley shared earlier this week drew criticism from Trump.
Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a “poor little Angel” when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax – a puppet for Leakin’ James Comey. I.G. report on McCabe was devastating. Part of “insurance policy” in case I won….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2019
….Many of the top FBI brass were fired, forced to leave, or left. McCabe’s wife received BIG DOLLARS from Clinton people for her campaign – he gave Hillary a pass. McCabe is a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2019
McCabe was fired by the FBI in March after an investigation found he made an unauthorized leak to the media and “lacked candor” on multiple occasions, including under oath.
McCabe’s appearance on CBS is part of his promotion of his new book, “The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
