(Newswire.net — January 7, 2017) — Former CIA director, R. James Woolsey Jr., a veteran of four presidential administrations and one of the nation’s leading intelligence experts, resigned from President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.
Woolsey’s representative, Jonathan Franks, said that the Leading Intelligence Expert decided to quit because of a disagreement with Trump regarding national security plans.
“Effective immediately, Ambassador Woolsey is no longer a Senior Advisor to President-Elect Trump or the Transition. He wishes the President-Elect and his Administration great success in their time in office,” Franks said in a statement.
The resignation comes as a deep frustration amid Trump’s public comments, which according to Woolsey, undermine the intelligence community. It is also a result of Woolsey being only informally an adviser without giving any actual advice to Trump.
In a few interviews on Thursday evening, Woolsey said he did not want to “fly under false colors” any longer. “I’ve been an adviser and felt that I was making a contribution….. But I’m not really functioning as an adviser anymore. When I’m on the [television] screen, everybody announces that I’m a former CIA director and that I’m a Trump adviser and I’m really not anymore,” Woolsey told the CNN.
According to people close to Woolsey, he was frustrated because he was excluded from national security meetings that Trump had with Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the incoming White House national security adviser. Being marginalized in such a way, Woolsey felt extremely uncomfortable appearing in public as Trump’s adviser on national security.
“Jim is very uncomfortable being considered an adviser in an area where one might consider him an expert when he is not involved in the discussions,” The Washington Post cited a source allegedly close to Woolsey. “To be called ‘senior adviser’ and your opinion is not sought is something he cannot handle,” the source allegedly told the newspaper.
Trump transition officials have not yet reacted to Woolsey’s resignation.
Former CIA director (1993-1995), Woolsey, is known as one of the leading experts on national security, and adviser of four US presidents, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Woolsey joined Trump’s campaign last September, after commending Trump’s plans to grow and modernize the military.
“Mr. Trump understands the magnitude of the threats we face,” Woolsey said in a statement after joining Trump’s transition team.