Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, warned President Donald Trump on Tuesday not to fire Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats for contradicting him in a congressional hearing.
"If in fact Dan Coats is pushed out, which I deeply hope isn't the case because he's a great public servant, but if he is, the message is 'Don't give me the facts,'" King said in an interview on CNN.
Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said Monday that Trump could dismiss Coats, who contradicted Trump on ISIS, North Korea, and Iran in his testimony before Congress in January.
"I'm hearing from sources around the White House there's just general disappointment of the President with Director Coats. There's a feeling that maybe there needs to be a change of leadership in that position," Ruddy told CNN on Monday.
King described Coats as an "honest, upright, thoughtful guy."
"And he enunciated his obligation very clearly in that hearing. He said my job -- the job of the intelligence community -- is to seek the truth and speak the truth," the senator added.
"The message to the intelligence community is shade the data, cook it, slant it, don't tell the man what he doesn't want to hear. That's disastrous for the country," King said.