Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonGOP brushes back charges of hypocrisy in Supreme Court fight Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight Sunday shows - Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death dominates MORE’s former CIA chief, James Woolsey, will act as an adviser to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE’s campaign.

Woolsey, who served as director of the CIA from 1993 to 1995 and describes himself as a life-long Democrat, praised Trump’s commitment to ending defense budget cuts from sequestration.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said he can’t support Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonJoe Biden looks to expand election battleground into Trump country Biden leads Trump by 12 points among Catholic voters: poll The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden goes on offense MORE because of the controversy surrounding her use of a private email server as secretary of State.

“She demonstrated a complete lack of understanding and an inability to lead the agency she headed in such a way as to maintain its mission and security," Woolsey said in a statement.

“Based on the emails thus far released we know that Secretary Clinton also lacks the ability to lead her senior managers while complying with and maintaining the basic protocols designed to protect our government’s sensitive and classified information. Mr. Trump understands the magnitude of the threats we face and is holding his cards close to the vest.”

Trump and Clinton spent the last week rolling out endorsements from military officials and national security experts as they sought to burnish their commander in chief credentials.

Trump has been bitten in the past by prominent former Republican military officials — most of whom come from the ranks of the two Bush administrations — who have thrown their support behind Clinton.