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'Cool' invasion of Venezuela
The memoir describes frustration by John Kelly, who served as Trump's chief of staff, over the president's push to revoke the security clearance of ex-CIA Director John Brennan in late 2018. At the time, the White House charged that Brennan, an anti-Trump political commentator, had been "leveraging" the clearance to make "wild outbursts" and claims against the Trump administration in the media.
Kelly told Bolton he had an "argument" with Trump, saying it was "not presidential" to publicly revoke Brennan's security clearance, according to Bolton. Kelly also told Bolton it was "Nixonian" behavior.
Bolton writes: "'Has there ever been a presidency like this?' Kelly asked me, and I assured him there had not. ... I thought there was a case against Brennan for politicizing the CIA, but Trump had obscured it by the blatantly political approach he took. It would only get worse if more clearances were lifted."
In an "emotional" moment, Bolton goes on, Kelly produced "a picture of his son, killed in Afghanistan in 2010."
"Trump had referred to him earlier that day, saying to Kelly, 'You suffered the worst,'" the manuscript reads. "Since Trump was disparaging the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq at the time, he had seemingly implied that Kelly's son had died needlessly. 'Trump doesn't care what happens to these guys,' Kelly said. He says it would be 'cool' to invade Venezuela.'"
Trump also reportedly claimed Venezuela was "really part of the United States."
Bolton describes the conversation as Kelly "venting his frustrations," and says he largely agreed with Kelly.
Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, publicly sparred with Trump earlier this year when he defended Alexander Vindman, a key impeachment witness.
"When I terminated John Kelly, which I couldn't do fast enough, he knew full well that he was way over his head. Being Chief of Staff just wasn't for him," Trump tweeted in response. "He came in with a bang, went out with a whimper, but like so many X's, he misses the action & just can't keep his mouth shut, which he actually has a military and legal obligation to do."
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Posted by Erin Burnett to Trang Ánh Nam at June 18, 2020 at 6:59 PM
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