Brennan: I take comfort in knowing ‘rule of law’ is prevailing over Trump

Former CIA Director John Brennan on Thursday said he takes comfort in knowing that “the rule of law” is prevailing days after two of President Trump’s former confidants were found guilty or pleaded guilty in federal criminal probes.

“I take no delight in seeing the steady collapse of a U.S. Presidency,” Brennan said in a tweet, “but I do take strong comfort in knowing that the rule of law & our great government institutions are prevailing.” 

“Things ultimately will get better, and we will heal as a Nation,” Brennan added. 

I take no delight in seeing the steady collapse of a U.S. Presidency, but I do take strong comfort in knowing that the rule of law & our great government institutions are prevailing. Things ultimately will get better, and we will heal as a Nation.

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) August 23, 2018

The remarks made by the former CIA director, who is a frequent critic of the president, came just days after the president’s former longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws by arranging payments to two women in efforts to keep them quiet about alleged affairs. Cohen said he made the payments in coordination with Trump. 

Minutes after Cohen pleaded guilty, Trump’s former campaign chairman, Manafort, was convicted on eight counts of bank and tax fraud charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller.

{mosads}Trump said he felt “badly for both” Cohen and Manafort on Tuesday ahead of a campaign event in West Virginia and said his former campaign chairman’s conviction was a “disgrace” that had “nothing to do with Russian collusion.”

The White House also contended on Wednesday that Trump “did nothing wrong” in his dealings with Cohen and said there “are no charges against him.”

The former CIA director’s statements also arrive a week after the president revoked his security clearance, saying that his “lying and recent conduct characterized by increasingly frenzied commentary is wholly inconsistent with access to the nation’s most closely held secrets and facilities, the very aim of our adversaries, which is to sow division and chaos.”

Trump’s decision to pull his security clearance was widely regarded as an attempt to retaliate against a vocal critic of his administration and was met with considerable backlash from numerous former top intelligence officials.