Yet another figure who has seen the VSG's machinations up close

The admiral takes great umbrage at what was done to his friend, and is gravely concerned for what it portends:

Retired four-star Admiral William McRaven, who orchestrated the SEAL raid that killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, staunchly defended acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire while warning that Donald Trump could be jeopardizing national security to satisfy his own “presidential ego.”

In an Washington Post op-ed, McRaven explained how his personal relationship with Maguire, a former SEAL, goes back for more than four decades and he praised his friend’s honor and integrity. Maguire was reportedly “berated” by Trumprecently, when he briefed the president as well as House Democrats that Russia, as it did in 2016, was already conducting clandestine interference in the 2020 election.

Maguire’s tenure as acting DNI has been complicated ever since he took over the agency last summer in the wake of the resignation of Dan Coats, who was effectively forced out by Trump for frequently contradicting the president’s narrative. Maguire, as acting intel chief, also testified during the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry last fall, where he refused to say if he had discussed the Ukraine whistleblower with Trump.

“Like most of these good men and women, he came in with the intent to do his very best, to follow the rules, to follow the law and to follow what was morally right,” McRaven wrote about Maguire. “Within a few weeks of taking the assignment, he found himself embroiled in the Ukraine whistleblower case. Joe told the White House that, if asked, he would testify, and he would tell the truth. He did. In short order, he earned the respect of the entire intelligence community.”

McRaven then turned to call out Trump.

“But, of course, in this administration, good men and women don’t last long,” he added in a not so subtle shot at the president. “Joe was dismissed for doing his job: overseeing the dissemination of intelligence to elected officials who needed that information to do their jobs.”

The retired admiral then unleashed the big guns.

“As Americans, we should be frightened — deeply afraid for the future of the nation,” McRaven warned. “When good men and women can’t speak the truth, when facts are inconvenient, when integrity and character no longer matter, when presidential ego and self-preservation are more important than national security — then there is nothing left to stop the triumph of evil.”

What do you want to bet the VSG has already tweeted about this? I cringe with hesitation about checking my Twitter feed?