A retired military intelligence expert who specialized in the Soviet Union has quit his job as a Fox News contributor over the shame he feels being associated with the network.

Lt. Col. Ralph Peters (US Army, ret.) denounced Fox News in an email to colleagues, which was obtained by Buzzfeed.

“Four decades ago, I took an oath as a newly commissioned officer. I swore to ‘support and defend the Constitution,’ and that oath did not expire when I took off my uniform,” he reminded. “Today, I feel that Fox News is assaulting our constitutional order and the rule of law, while fostering corrosive and unjustified paranoia among viewers.”

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“Over my decade with Fox, I long was proud of the association,” Peters noted. “Now I am ashamed.”

“In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration,” he continued. “When prime-time hosts–who have never served our country in any capacity–dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the FBI, the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community (in which I served) and, not least, a model public servant and genuine war hero such as Robert Mueller–all the while scaremongering with lurid warnings of ‘deep-state’ machinations– I cannot be part of the same organization, even at a remove.”

“To me, Fox News is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit,” he concluded.

The former Foreign Area Officer also referenced his specialization in the former Soviet Union.

“As an intelligence professional, I can tell you that the Steele dossier rings true–that’s how the Russians do things,” he noted. “The result is that we have an American president who is terrified of his counterpart in Moscow.”

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Fox News responded in a statement: “Ralph Peters is entitled to his opinion despite the fact that he’s choosing to use it as a weapon in order to gain attention. We are extremely proud of our top-rated primetime hosts and all of our opinion programing.”