



Close video Schumer: Trump 'being really dumb' to fight with intel agencies Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump’s antagonistic tweeting at U.S. intelligence agencies over evidence of Russian hacking. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump’s antagonistic tweeting at U.S. intelligence agencies over evidence of Russian hacking. share tweet email Embed



The comment came to mind reading the Washington Post’s Throughout much of the last year, before and after Election Day, Donald Trump took jaw-dropping shots at U.S. intelligence agencies, questioning their competence, judgment, and professionalism. At one point, the Republican even compared American intelligence professionals to Nazis For a president to launch these kinds of rhetorical attacks was outrageous on its face, and it creates a dangerous governing dynamic. But Trump’s tantrums were also at odds with his own self-interest. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told Rachel earlier this year, “You take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday of getting back at you. So even for a practical supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he’s being really dumb to do this.”The comment came to mind reading the Washington Post’s report on Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, and how the news was received by Comey’s former colleagues.

Within the Justice Department and the FBI, the firing of Comey has left raw anger, and some fear, according to multiple officials. Thomas O’Connor, the president of the FBI Agents Association, called Comey’s firing “a gut punch. We didn’t see it coming, and we don’t think Director Comey did anything that would lead to this.”



Many employees said they were furious about the firing, saying the circumstances of his dismissal did more damage to the FBI’s independence than anything Comey did in his three-plus years in the job.



One intelligence official who works on Russian espionage matters said they were more determined than ever to pursue such cases. Another said Comey’s firing and the subsequent comments from the White House are attacks that won’t soon be forgotten. Trump had “essentially declared war on a lot of people at the FBI,” one official said. “I think there will be a concerted effort to respond over time in kind.”