When former CIA Director James Woolsey joined Donald Trump‘s transition team last September, he approved of the president-elect’s plans to expand the military.
“Mr. Trump understands the magnitude of the threats we face,” he said in a statement.
Now, the veteran of four presidential administrations has resigned this Thursday, apparently due to disagreements over Trump’s plans for the nation’s intelligence agencies and national security, according to The Washington Post.
“Effective immediately, Ambassador Woolsey is no longer a Senior Advisor to President-Elect Trump or the Transition. He wishes the President-Elect and his Administration great success in their time in office,” Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for Woolsey, said in a statement.
Speaking to CNN, Woolsey said that he doesn’t want to “fly under false colors” any longer.
“I’ve been an adviser and felt that I was making a contribution,” he said. “But I’m not really functioning as an adviser anymore. When I’m on the [television] screen, everybody announces that I’m a former CIA director and that I’m a Trump adviser and I’m really not anymore.”
From The Washington Post:
People close to Woolsey said that he had been excluded in recent weeks from discussions on intelligence matters with Trump and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the incoming White House national security adviser. They said that Woolsey had grown increasingly uncomfortable lending his name and credibility to the transition team without being consulted. Woolsey was taken aback by this week’s reports that Trump is considering revamping the country’s intelligence framework, said these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly.
“Jim is very uncomfortable being considered an adviser in an area where one might consider him an expert when he is not involved in the discussions,” a person close to Woolsey said. “To be called ‘senior adviser’ and your opinion is not sought is something he cannot handle.”
WaPo reports that sources say Woolsey was put off by Trump’s reckless Twitter rants.
“This is a guy [for whom] commas, periods, et cetera, all have special meaning,” the anonymous person said.
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