Former CIA director Leon Panetta said that Russian President Vladimir Putin views former President Donald Trump as a “source” that he can use to his benefit.
Appearing on the One Decision podcast, Panetta discussed allegations in journalist Bob Woodward’s new book War that Trump and Putin had as many as seven private phone calls since early 2021, after Trump left office.
Panetta said that it would be “very unusual” for the Russian president to be engaged in communication with a former head of the United States.
He added that Putin “knows how to work a source, and he’s got a source that is very near the top in this country, he, himself is going to engage that source.”
“That really is what the bottom line is — is that Trump has turned into a source for Putin, and somebody who can help him manipulate what he wants to get done,” Panetta said.
Panetta, who was the director of the CIA between 2009 and 2011, said that it would be concerning if the pair remained in private communication.
“The mere fact that a former president of the United States is having regular conversation with our primary adversary raises real questions about where is his basic loyalty. Is it really to the United States of America? Or is it to Donald Trump?” he said.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
The revelations in the famed Watergate reporter’s new book sparked widespread media attention and renewed scrutiny about the two leaders’ relationship.
Trump has denied Woodward’s claims about private conversations between him and Putin.
Trump’s campaign communications director Steven Cheung told Newsweekthat the claims were “made-up stories” from a “truly demented and deranged man.”
In response to Newsweek’s query about Panetta’s comments, Cheung responded with a link to a campaign statement denying Woodward’s claims.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said that the reporting about the calls was “not true.”
Trump’s relationship with Putin has been under scrutiny since his 2016 presidential campaign, when he called on Russia to “find” thousands of Hillary Clinton‘s missing emails.
This scrutiny intensified amid concerns over possible Russian interference in the 2016 election, which sparked a special counsel investigation.
The report from special counsel Robert Mueller, who was appointed in May 2017 by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to investigate Russian election interference and possible coordination with the Trump campaign, concluded: “Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
Speaking on the podcast, Panetta described watching Trump publicly side with Russia over the FBI regarding election interference claims during a meeting with Putin in 2018.
Panetta said that in that moment Trump “basically said he trusted Russian intelligence more than he trusted United States intelligence.” He said this led him to believe that Trump was a “very dangerous person.”
Trump has continued to compliment the Russian president, publicly praising him as “smart,” even after the Russian leader’s invasion of Ukraine.
When Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in September, he again spoke about his “very good relationship” with Putin, prompting the Ukrainian leader to comment: “I hope we have more good relations with us.”
