Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings joined Chris Hayes on MSNBC Thursday to discuss the controversy involving possible intelligence agency complicity in the string of leaks rocking Washington. Cummings says he considers the intelligence community to be the victims in this “war.”
“Is there a war being declared on the intelligence community?” Hayes asked.
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“Sadly, and I say it very sadly, I think there is,” Cummings answered, “I don’t like the leakage of information, particularly classified information, but you have to understand what’s happening here.”
Cummings then appeared to justify the behavior of intelligence officials involved in the leaks based on the idea they are unsure of the President’s loyalty. “We have a group of agents, some in the CIA, some in the FBI, they don’t know who the President is.”
The Congressman pointed to popular media boogiemen Chief White House Strategist Steve Bannon and Senior White House Policy Adviser Steven Miller as further evidence intelligence workers need not keep classified information involving the Administration under wraps. “They don’t know whether Bannon is making the rules, they don’t know whether this 31-year-old fellow named Miller is making the rules, and they don’t know whether President Trump is running the country. They don’t know.”
“A lot of them have lost faith, so what they’re doing now is going to the media and trying to get their stories out,” Cummings said.