President Donald Trump is reportedly consolidating his hold over key U.S. government agencies by appointing staunch loyalists who will work to push out officials who give the president inconvenient information.
Former CIA operative Robert Baer on Friday told CNN's Kate Bolduan that Americans should be greatly concerned about Trump's efforts to push out career intelligence officials who aren't personally loyal to him, as he said it could fundamentally distort the information that Americans receive.
"I think we're seeing more and more the intelligence community is becoming a propaganda arm of the White House," he said. "And you have to put loyalists at the head of DNI simply to control the information."
Baer said that whomever Trump picks as his Director of National Intelligence will likely work to keep a lid on any reports about the Russian government working to help him win reelection later this year.
"The last thing you want is an assessment going to Congress in October, saying the Russians are deep into this election and they're supporting Trump," he said. "That will leak out and that will affect the election, so having a loyalist in that job is very, very key to this White House."
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