MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski said President Donald Trump and his inept administration had left his presidency "teetering on the brink."
The "Morning Joe" co-host said Tuesday's testimony from FBI and intelligence officials offered a "moment of sanity" as the White House tries to evade responsibility for staffers who can't pass a background check and continues to do nothing about Russian election interference.
"I don't know how long this tension between our democratic institutions can hold when you have a presidency that seems to be teetering on the brink every day with one lie here and one misstep there and people who seemed completely ill-equipped for the job," Brzezinski said.
FBI director Chris Wray, CIA director Mike Pompeo, National Security Agency director Adm. Mike Rogers and director of national intelligence Dan Coats each told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the president had never asked them to address the likelihood that Russia would attempt to interfere in future U.S. elections.
"I think some people think everyone in the media is hyperventilating, (but) we're not on this point," said Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei. "I don't think people understand how easy, how susceptible our technology is to infiltration. If you look at how people vote, especially in some of the states that don't have a lot of scrutiny or resources, and you look at how easy it is for foreign actors to take advantage of Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, to plant false stories so you can affect elections in two areas. The Russians know it and they're doing it, and unless government comes together and tries to figure out ways to protect the system, it's going to actually happen. I think people think we're nuts, but it is going to happen and that's why you do need people who care about public service and care about governance beyond party to fix these things."
Not only has Trump done nothing to address or punish Russian meddling in the 2016 election, he would likely assist them in future attempts, according to a former Department of Justice official.
"If the Russians interfere in the midterms as the intelligence community has predicted they have, is there anyone who thinks that if emails about Democratic candidates show up on WikiLeaks that Donald Trump won't won't be tweeting and talking about them, using them to his advantage, despite the fact it's another threat to the United States?" said former Justice spokesman Matthew Miller. "Of course, he will. I don't think anyone doubts that."
