Bob Woodward: Trump Is Right on ‘Garbage’ Russia Allegations
Washington Post editor slams BuzzFeed report, says the intel community ‘should apologize’
Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward slammed the “garbage document” BuzzFeed News circulated in full last week and said that President-Elect Donald Trump was “right to be upset about” how the intelligence community handled it during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
Woodward, famous for his reporting with Carl Bernstein on the Watergate scandal, lambasted the intelligence community for mishandling the so-called “Russian dossier.” The unverified dossier, which included salacious details, claimed that Trump colluded with Russia to sway the presidential election in his favor. President Obama was presented with the information in an intelligence briefing. After BuzzFeed published the document in full, Trump vehemently denied the allegations and slammed BuzzFeed for spreading “fake news.”
“That is a garbage document. It never should have been presented in — as part of an intelligence briefing.”
“That is a garbage document. It never should have been presented in — as part of an intelligence briefing,” Woodward told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace. “I think what’s underreported here is Trump’s point of view on it.”
Woodward noted that Obama’s White House counsel could have passed on the unsubstantiated document to Trump’s incoming White House counsel. Questioning the intelligence community’s handling of the dossier, Woodward said the officials “started it.”
“And you laid it out when those former CIA people said these things about Trump, that he was a recruited agent of the Russians — and a useful fool. I mean, they started this,” Woodward said. “And in Trump’s mind, he knows the old adage: ‘Once a CIA man always a CIA man.’ And no one came out and said those people shouldn’t be saying things.”
“So then, Act Two is the briefing when this dossier is put out,” Woodward continued. “I’ve lived in this world for 45 years where you get things and people make allegations. That is a garbage document.”
Woodward believes the president-elect is justified in his outrage and suggested the intelligence officials involved apologize.
“And I think if you look at the real chronology and the nature of the battle here, those intelligence chiefs who were the best we’ve had, who were terrific and have done great work, made a mistake here,” Woodward said. “And when people make mistakes they should apologize.”
