The CIA believes Russia hacked the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win. But his insult-laced dismissal of their reports is rattling a spy community already puzzled over how to gain the ear and trust of the incoming president. Some fear that Trump’s highly public rebukes of the U.S. intelligence apparatus will undermine morale in the spy agencies, politicize their work, and damage their standing in a world filled with adversaries. In other words, if the U.S. president doesn’t believe his own intelligence officials, why should anyone else? John Sipher is a former CIA officer with broad expertise on Russia. He told Politico, "There is nothing more sacred to intelligence officers than their professionalism, honesty and non-partisanship. Trump’s charges strike at the core of their integrity." As the world is keenly aware, Trump is a career businessman with no national security experience. He has long taken positions that have alarmed intelligence officials, such as supporting torture and killing the family members of terrorists.
Trump’s insults may weaken and demoralize U.S. intelligence apparatus
