WASHINGTON ��The outgoing CIA director Sunday called Donald Trump's comments about the U.S. intelligence community "outrageous" and suggested that the president-elect's attitude toward Russia reflected an incomplete understanding of that country's intentions.
The comments by John Brennan on "Fox News Sunday" came as tensions rise between the president-elect and the intelligence community after a series of insults and allegations by Trump in recent weeks.
On Jan. 11 Trump accused the national security apparatus of being behind the leak by BuzzFeed of unverified and salacious reports connecting Trump to Russia. Trump, who is scheduled to be inaugurated Friday, asked in a Twitter post: "Are we living in Nazi Germany?"
"What I do find outrageous is equating intelligence community with Nazi Germany," said Brennan, who served in the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. "I do take great umbrage at that, and there is no basis for Mr. Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was already available publicly."
"There is no interest in undermining the president-elect."
The information released had circulated in the intelligence community and some news organizations for months and received occasional, scant treatment in the media, but it was published in full by BuzzFeed only on Jan. 10.
Outgoing White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that "the intelligence community is staffed by an unbelievable cadre of professionals who have dedicated their lives, and in many cases put their lives at risk, to get really critical, timely and important information to policymakers."
Brennan, who characterized the off-the-cuff style that's defined Trump's public pronouncements as "not something that protects national security interests," also suggested that Trump's openness to friendship with Russia could originate from a lack of knowledge.
"I don't think he has a full appreciation of Russian capabilities, Russians' intentions, and actions that they are undertaking in many part of the world," Brennan said. The intelligence community has accused Russia of hacking top-level Democrats during the election to help Trump �� a charge that led to insults by Trump.
Brennan admonished Trump, who's recently suggested he might lift sanctions on Russia, "to be mindful that he doesn't yet, I think, have a full appreciation/understanding of what the implications are of such a move" amid Russia's actions in Ukraine, Syria and online. He added that Trump "needs to be very, very careful."
"I very much hope our relationship improves in the coming administration," especially on counter-terrorism, but there is a fair amount of responsibility on Russia's part to change their behavior," Brennan said.
����
(Miles Weiss contributed to this report.)
