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‘Donald Trump is not a patriot,’ says former acting CIA chief Michael Morell
Former acting CIA director and Hillary Clinton supporter Michael Morell said Thursday that he does not believe that Donald Trump is acting with the best interest of the country in mind.
"He cares more about himself than anything else, including his nation," Morell said on a conference call with reporters about Trump's ties to Russia. "The definition of a patriot is someone who puts his nation above everything else in his life. In that regard, Donald Trump is not a patriot."
The comments come as the Clinton campaign seeks to keep talk of Trump's unknown business ties to Russia and his praise for Vladimir Putin in the news.
"The positions that he has taken … are positions that are 100 percent in line with his business interests," Morell said. "The American people have a right to know what these businesses are and whether or not his policies are influenced by those business interests."
In a statement, Trump's senior advisor, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, condemned Morell's comments.
"These outlandish and slanderous attacks are signs of desperation from Hillary Clinton’s flailing campaign," Flynn said. "She can't hide from her disastrous record as Secretary of State, where she put the State Department up for sale to Clinton Foundation donors while she subjected America to Obama’s weak foreign policy around the globe."
"It’s hard to find a part of the world that isn’t less stable than when Hillary took office. The tens of millions of dollars in foreign contributions to the Clinton Foundation present a dangerous conflict of interest that undermines her ability to serve," he added.
Also speaking on the call to raise the alarm about Trump's business stakes was former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who called Trump a "gift to Putin."
"I am worried that Donald Trump, were he to win, would be the first president to have personal interests that could interfere with our country’s interest," Albright said. "Putin could not have dreamed up a better candidate than Donald Trump."
According to Albright, Trump's affinity for Russia helps explain why he denies that Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and also why he did not meet with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko this week during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. Clinton met with Poroshenko on Monday.
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