A former high-ranking intelligence official expressed alarm over President Donald Trump's comments following his high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Sue Gordon, who resigned as deputy director of national intelligence during Trump's first term, told MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace she was concerned with the president's indifferent attitude to Chinese companies stealing American intellectual property.
“We do things, and they do things, and that’s the way it is,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity about protections for U.S. companies. “I’d like to see it taken care of. But they’ve been doing that for 50 years.”
Gordon, who stepped down Aug. 9, 2019, when she was passed over as national intelligence director, stated that the president was wrong, saying the U.S. imposed a "bright linebetween our government and ourprivate sector," but Wallace asked whether that was still true during Trump's second term.
"Well, I guess, it's agreat point – thanks fordepressing me even furthertoday," Gordon answered. "I'm just going to say that there is a difference, yes.On one level, spying is what, areally old profession, and ithas been one of the great toolsof strategic advantage fornations, nations worldwide forthe longest time since Gettysburg and before that. Butwe are a nation of laws, andI've lived in this world, and Ihaven't seen that those lawshave gone away, and they do."
"They do create boundaries, andalso just intellectually, wehave had a bright line between what I'm going to call civiliancasualties, even that toinclude economic casualty, andthere just is, you know, we wedon't go trooping into Chinesecompanies and steal their intellectual property," she added. "We just, that isn't for the samereason we don't go troopinginto our companies and stealintellectual property. So he'swrong about that."
Gordon argued that Chinese law was very different on intellectual property.
"There is a difference, andprobably the most concretedifference is that they havenational security laws thatinsist that every Chinesecitizen or company, when asked,must provide their informationthat they have of any data ofsomebody else's that goesthrough, and we don't – thatisn't our law, so it isn't thesame," Gordon said. "I reject the notionthat it's the same. Now, ifit's being done differently bysome people and it hasn't beendiscovered yet, but justintellectually, it's a differentthing."
"That'sexactly the impact with ourallies and partners," she added. "It's likewe've changed sides."
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Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon is sounding the alarm about America's standing in the world in the wake of the Trump-Xi summit and the quagmire in Iran.