President-elect Donald Trump is “understandably very frustrated” with the nation’s intelligence community after the leak of unverified information that was published Tuesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday.
Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters Thursday Trump’s frustration with unverified intelligence leaks “is completely understandable … because it isn’t fair and all of it is unsubstantiated.”
Trump was criticized for making a comparison to the intelligence leaks as “something Nazi Germany would have done” during his press conference on Wednesday. The leaks include unproven claims that Trump engaged in lewd behavior in a Russian hotel room in 2013 and that members of his campaign staff met with Russian officials. The source of the leaks has not been determined.
Ryan said Trump’s Nazi remarks “are not words I would use,” but he essentially backed Trump, who he is working with very closely to develop the GOP agenda.
Ryan also praised the CIA, noting that because he is second in line for the presidency, he has spent “a lot of time” with the intelligence community, and he appreciates “the great work that they do.” He said Trump’s views of the U.S. intelligence community will likely improve once he takes office and begins working with them more closely.
“I do believe as he begins to see what the men and women in our intelligence community do, and I’m not talking about the political people at the top, I think he is going to learn to appreciate what they do,” Ryan said.
