A group of former senior US intelligence and national security officials, who support the Republican Party, has launched a campaign to thwart Donald Trump's second nomination for president.
The announcement ofintelligence Republican, published by "The Wall Street Journal" is signed by 73 members and supporters of the Republican Party, who have held high-level positions in intelligence and national security under Presidents Donald Trump, George W. Bush, George HW Bush and Ronald Reagan.
The list of signatories includes former Air Force Secretary Mike Donley, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Michael Leiter, former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte and former Director General of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ) Michael Hayden. William Webster, who has served as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the CIA, and Elizabeth Neumann, former assistant secretary of Homeland Security, also signed the announcement.
The text of the announcement accuses the US president of corruption and reproaches him for not having "the character and competence to lead this nation" in a time of crisis. He claims that Trump is "unfit to serve as president" because "he solicited foreign influence", "he disparaged the US military, secret services and diplomats" and "endangered American security." For this reason, the Republican group says, Trump has "proved to be dangerously unsuitable for another term".
Resentment from the controversial and sometimes even contradictory relationship that existed between the White House and parts of the US intelligence community during the Trump presidency.
Some analysts argue that the initiative of these former officials could be used by Trump's campaign as proof of his crusade against what his supporters call a "deep state".