By Florida Bill Former CIA Director John Brennan is an old Obama favorite who shows up periodically on various forums attacking President Trump for alleged inefficiency and for having held hands with the Communist Russians who helped him become the nation's 45th president.
In one recent TV interview, Brennan blistered Trump for having said he was honored to have met Russian President Putin--to Brennan that was a "dishonorable thing to say." He indicated contempt for Putin and the Communist way of life, but his contentions might belie real feelings.
The 62-year-old Brennan is a controversial figure whose past appealed to President Obama, but to others he is seen as questionable in his fealty to Uncle Sam.
In 1976, Brennan, fresh out of college, endorsed and voted for Gus Hall, Communist candidate for President, over Democrat Jimmy Carter, and the incumbent Republican Gerald Ford. Four years later, in 1980, and despite his pumping for Hall and a radical new government for America, he applied for and was accepted for a position in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
He was a member of the spy circle in the CIA for 25-plus years. He worked in the Middle East, near east and in south Asia, and as an analyst and a station chief in Saudi Arabia. Also he served as director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center. He was an assistant to President Obama for Homeland Security from 2009 to January, 2013, when Obama selected him to be CIA chief.
In March of 2013, the Senate approved Brennan's appointment as CIA director, but his 1976 push for Communist Gus Hall was not known to senators or considered in weighing his credentials. There were other reasons for tough opposition to his appointment to the country's highest and most sensitive intelligence post. One called into question his position on the country's use of drones against terrorists abroad and inside the USA, and another involved criticism from a former FBI agent that he leaned too strongly in favor of the Muslim world and could not be trusted.
It was not until 2016 that Brennan's support in 1976 for a radical communist became widely known. Brennan himself made the unabashed revelation when he was speaking during a conference of the annual Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. He told of his political activism after college and his dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in America at that time, but that he was not a registered member of the communist party. Political activism, he pointed out proudly, should never disqualify a person from serving in the intelligence division of government, and he noted that he was living proof of that.
James Guandolo who was an FBI agent in the Middle East from 1996 to 2008 lobbied against Brennan's appointment as head of the CIA since he said he cannot be trusted. He said that Brennan who was fluent in the Arabic language, was a "closet" Muslim who had converted to Islam in 2008 and was continually lobbying President Obama to employ more Muslims in high government jobs.
Guandolo claimed that Brennan had been persuaded by the Saudi King to convert and he did, and he subsequently fulfilled his Islamic duty by making the pilgrimage to Mecca which is a requirement and a privilege to be exercised only by pious Muslims. Despite criticism of his appointment and challenge to his loyalty, and a filibuster, Brennan was approved by the Senate by a vote of 63-34.
Guandolo's assessment of Brennan lacked some strength since he had resigned from the FBI in 2008 under a cloud in the midst of charges that he had engaged in a sexual affair with a woman in the agency. After leaving, he formed a successful company designed to provide training for police and security officers in assisting them in recognizing and identifying terrorists, and he remained steadfast in his opposition and criticism of Brennan's trust worthiness.
Skepticism over the character and loyalty of Brennan inside the intelligence agency did not end with confirmation by the Senate. In fact, it intensified when he declined to be sworn into office by placing his hand on the Bible. Instead, Brennan insisted on using an 1787 version of the Constitution which did not contain the entire Bill of Rights on which to pledge his loyalty. The complete Constitution, used today, was approved in 1791, and replaced the 1787 draft.
The abbreviated version selected by Brennan did not contain Amendments 1,4,5 and 6 and in effect technically invalidated his obligation to "protect and defend" those civil rights guaranteed in the constitution. Those amendments guarantee to citizens rights of free speech, religion and press; and provide protections against government arrest and prosecution. Through the years there have been a small number of United States officials who have declined to be sworn into a high office with the Christian Bible. Included in those rare occasions were Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, and Judge Carolyn Walker Diallo of Brooklyn. In 2006 Ellison, and in 2015, Walker-Diallo pledged their loyalties to the United States with their palms on the Koran, the Islamic bible.
When CNN and NBC and CBS call, Brennan reports and feathers the media agenda to oppose and impeach President Trump. In the NFL controversy, Brennan praised the players who drop to one knee while the National Anthem is playing. He asserts that the athletes are actually respecting the flag, as they call attention to the mistreatment of their Black brothers. The President's travel bans are too "simplistic," he says, and are heavy against Islam and do nothing to protect the country against visiting terrorists. When the President praised fallen CIA officers, Brennan described his words as a "despicable display of self-aggrandizement."
No one knows the core values of Brennan, but they are suspect. An FBI agent and former Marine officer who worked closely with him in Saudi and in other parts of the Middle East says that he cannot be trusted. As Brennan continues his attack on the "America First" President, be aware of his buried past as he digs in.
XXX
