Ex-CIA Chief Says Trump Will 'Throw Anything At The Wall' To Hurt Mueller Probe

George W. Bush s CIA chief Michael Hayden dismissed Donald Trump s spygate narrative regarding the Russian collusion investigation Sunday, accusing the president of grasping at anything to undermine the probe.

The investigation activity described so far is stunningly normal, Hayden said on ABCs This Week. From everything I know, everyone has handled this just about the way it should have been handled, he added.

The president is simply trying to delegitimize the Mueller investigation and hes willing to throw almost anything against the wall to do that, Hayden said. He pointed out that a previous Trump claim against investigators that Trump Tower was wiretapped at Obamas request turned out to be absolutely untrue.

Trump has insisted that the FBI embedded a spy in his presidential campaign team at the behest of Barack Obama . In fact, in standard procedure, an informant contacted two members of Trumps campaign to investigate legitimate suspicions that members may have been compromised by Russian spies, The New York Times reported.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also said on This Week that he has seen no information suggesting anything problematic about actions by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies. What I have seen is evidence that they were investigating individuals with a history of links to Russia that were concerning, said Rubio.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Trumps strategy has been to spread a completely fallacious story and then call for an investigation. He said the broader issue is how do you counter a president who repeats falsehood after falsehood after falsehood and has the bully pulpit of the presidency to do it, and who has allies in Congress who are willing to support that? His answer? Throw the bums out.

It begins by seeding the ground with a falsehood: \"They spied on the Trump campaign.\" It's then promoted by the President, who echoes the falsehood. Then his allies call to investigate the falsehood.

This is how propaganda works. It is also how democracy dies, one lie at a time.

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It begins by seeding the ground with a falsehood: "They spied on the Trump campaign." It's then promoted by the President, who echoes the falsehood. Then his allies call to investigate the falsehood.

This is how propaganda works. It is also how democracy dies, one lie at a time.
Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) May 27, 2018

Hayden said he is convinced the Russians affected the presidential election. But how much they affected it, is not just unknown, it is also unknowable, he added.

Hayden also discussed his concerns about possible upcoming U.S. talks with North Korea , saying he was fearful that the president hasnt done his homework. Hayden said he knows that one of the men in the talks will be very, very prepared Kim Jong Un .

These folks are not going to get rid of all their nuclear weapons and if President Trumps brand and thats the right word here going into this meeting demands something like that, this is going to end up in a very bad place, Hayden said. The realistic expectation at such a summit is to begin to stabilize the Korean problem, not solve it, he added.

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Check out the rest of the interview above. Hayden talks about the Mueller investigation beginning at 6:11.