Robert Wilkie joins to discuss the possible release of "Russiagate" documents.

Washington

Former Undersecretary of Defense and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie discussed the ongoing effects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation and the broader 'Russiagate' controversy. Wilkie argued that the politicization of intelligence under former officials, including CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey, has damaged public trust and the credibility of U.S. intelligence agencies.

Wilkie advocated for greater transparency, suggesting that releasing more documentation would help restore confidence and allow for necessary reforms. He also addressed the international perception of U.S. intelligence and emphasized the importance of legal safeguards to prevent future political interference. Wilkie stopped short of calling for criminal prosecutions but underscored the need for accountability and institutional reform.

CIA director teases release of more Russiagate files

Back with us, former Undersecretary of Defense and former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie. You served in the first Trump administration from the very beginning. Can you just talk to me about how this investigation, because at that point, I mean, Crossfire Hurricane that started in the FBI started in 2016. President Trump was inaugurated in 2017, so this Russia hoax narrative was already well on its way and well-percolating and well-developed by the time he first stepped into the Opal Office. Yeah. You know, what started off as a traditional campaign dirty trick, the kind of tricks we've been around since the beginning of the republic metastasized. Now, when I was a little fellow, my father was a very decorated combat officer and he used to tell me that the most talented people in government were at NASA and at the CIA. And the damage that Brennan and Comey and President Obama did to the CIA has a long-lasting impact on the actual national security of this country because they turned intelligence into a political weapon. I mean, it's not just there, but think about what happened in the run up to the election that President Trump's bid for reelection, where the soon to be Secretary of State, Mr. Blinken, got 58 former intelligence officials to lie on a piece of paper saying there's nothing to Hunter Biden's laptop when everyone with a brain knew what it was. So yes, this should be investigated, I think, without any in-depth knowledge, but just as a former intelligence person looking at what Brennan in particular did, there needs to be scrutiny because we can't allow this to happen again. What has this done to the intelligence, I don't want to say bureaucracy, but there's multiple arms, right? It's the FBI, CIA, DNI, ODNI. There's a lot of competing interests here. People used to have pride in their work and these used to be very respected positions, but I think the public trust in these institutions has rapidly declined, especially among the right and the conservatives who've been following the story since the very beginning. I've been an intelligence officer in uniform. The coin of the realm for anyone in the intelligence business is credibility. Do you have credibility in terms of your work product, but credibility in terms of your relationship with those who make the decisions? If those who make the decisions are turning intelligence, the basic facts of the game, into deceit, into political weapons, then that destroys the ability of those underneath who do all the work to do their work honestly and to have confidence that what they say will be used for the betterment of the entire country. That's the damage that the Obama people have done to all of Americans. We know that Tulsi Gabbard put forth an unclassified or declassified all of this documentation, put it out in the public. We know Radcliffe is also working with her, but how do you rebuild trust in these institutions? And more importantly, has the credibility of these institutions been undermined, let's say in Russia or with China or around the rest of the world who think that we're kind of a bit of a joke. You took a nugget of Russia interfering in an election and we have now spent the better part of a decade focusing on it. Well, you're absolutely right. I mean, Russia and China and North Korea and Iran will look at this and say, we probably may have an advantage here because the intelligence community is on its heels. What needs to be done, and this has been done in our history before when there have been crises like this, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Get it out and then force the United States Congress to work with this president and making sure it doesn't happen again. Put in roadblocks, put in legal reforms that send a message. If you get in politics at the intelligence level, you will be punished. And that is something that I think is going to take several years now. Should there be criminal prosecutions? During President Trump's first term, all of his rallies, the crowds were chatting, lock her up, lock her up in regards to Hillary Clinton, and that was over her email scandal as Secretary of State. But when the president entered office, he said, no, I think she's been through enough. We're not going to do that. Should prosecutions be carried out right now? Well, first of all, we have a tradition in this country. President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. President Trump said enough. There's certain things that the system couldn't handle. However, when you have a CIA director, and the issue is he lied under oath, when this is a man who is the repository of all of the nation's secrets to a level that no one else in the government, with the exception of the president, is, then you really have to take a close look at that. President Obama is immune, whatever he did. I think he was just playing politics. But the depths to which this went inside CIA and FBI, the public needs to know that because the public ultimately has to have confidence in its government. And that is the crisis that these people have created. All right. Robert Wilkie, thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it. Thank you for having me.

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