Former CIA director splits with Trump transition team
Former CIA director James Woolsey is no longer a senior adviser to Donald Trump and his transition team.
On Thursday, Woolsey's spokesman said his resignation is "effective immediately," adding that the ex-CIA chief wishes Trump and his administration "great success in their time in office." Philip Rucker of The Washington Post reports that people close to Woolsey said he left because he was growing uneasy after being cut out of intelligence talks with Trump and his national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
In recent days, Woolsey has taken stances that appear to go against Trump — on Wednesday, after Trump tweeted about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's claim that Russia did not supply him with hacked DNC documents, Woolsey called Assange a "ne'er-do-well" and said there is no point in listening to him. On Tuesday, he said Trump could be "playing us" regarding what he knows about the hacking.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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