Former acting CIA director Michael Morell promises in an opinion piece for The New York Times that he will vote for Hillary Clinton for the presidency and will do all he can to ensure she is elected, as he believes Donald Trump "may well pose a threat to our national security."
"I am neither a registered Democrat nor a registered Republican," Morell, who served six presidents from both parties over his 33-year career at the agency, writes in the Friday piece.
"In my 40 years of voting, I have pulled the lever for candidates of both parties. As a government official, I have always been silent about my preference for president. No longer. On Nov. 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton. Between now and then, I will do everything I can to ensure that she is elected as our 45th president.
Morell, who was acting director and deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013, points out that he was by President George W. Bush's side during the Sept. 11 attacks and as deputy CIA director, he was with President Barack Obama "when we killed Osama bin Laden in 2011."
He cited his observation of Clinton's early advocacy of the raid to kill bin Laden, despite opposition from some on the National Security Council, and said he never saw her bring in politics.
"When some wanted to delay the bin Laden raid by one day because the White House Correspondents Dinner might be disrupted, she said, 'Screw the White House Correspondents Dinner,'" he wrote.
Clinton is "highly qualified" for the presidency, Morell wrote, and he believes she will keep the nation safe. Meanwhile, he said, Trump is unqualified and dangerous.
Trump not only has "no experience on national security," in contrast to Clinton, but the character traits, such as his "obvious need for self aggrandizement" and his "overreaction to perceived slights," as well as his refusal to change his views and his "carelessness with the facts" are already damaging national security, said Morell.
He pointed to Trump's praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "great leader." Putin, said Morell, was a career intelligence officer who was trained to exploit vulnerablities, and Trump is responding as Putin has expected.
"In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation," Morell said.
Trump's call for a Muslim ban also plays into the hands of jihadists, he said.
"In fact, many Muslim Americans play critical roles in protecting our country, including the man, whom I cannot identify, who ran the C.I.A.'s Counterterrorism Center for nearly a decade and who I believe is most responsible for keeping America safe since the Sept. 11 attacks," Morell said.
The former director notes he spent four years working with Clinton while she was secretary of state and found her to be "prepared, detail-oriented, thoughtful, inquisitive and willing to change her mind if presented with a compelling argument."
He also said she advocated a more-aggressive approach to the Syrian civil war that could have prevented the Islamic State's dominance.
"My training as an intelligence officer taught me to call it as I see it," Morell concluded. "This is what I did for the C.I.A. This is what I am doing now. Our nation will be much safer with Hillary Clinton as president."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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