Former FBI deputy director questions Trump's admin picks

A former deputy director of the FBI has questioned some of US president-elect Donald Trump's picks for high-profile roles in his next administration due to their lack of experience and links with Russia.

Andrew McCabe said concerns about former democratic representative Tulsi Gabbard being nominated for the position of director of national intelligence (DNI) are "well founded".

He told RTÉ's States of Mind podcast that Ms Gabbard has made some "questionable decisions" including travelling to Syria to visit Bashar al-Assad and warned about her links with Russia and Vladimir Putin.

"For anyone in the intelligence community, [this] is the kind of thing that would actually provoke concern about that person's security clearance if they were already serving in the community," he said.

Mr McCabe said that the DNI has extraordinary access to top secret information.

"Technically the DNI is entitled to see everything. Anything they want, any intelligence that's necessary... To the most significant, serious deadly threats that we face... the DNI is essentially the president's intelligence provider," he said.

He said the director of national intelligence is a large, complicated position that is supposed to bring the intelligence community together.

"I think many of the statements that she's made in the past and the way she's conducted herself have really raised questions about whether or not she's capable of doing that," he said.

"And also whether or not she's inclined to support and protect and develop the intelligence community in the way that we need leaders to do that in light of the many national security threats that we face today," he added.

Mr McCabe was elevated to acting director of the FBI following the firing of James Comey.

He was also fired by Donald Trump, two days before he was due to retire.

Years later he settled a lawsuit with the Justice Department which allowed him officially retire and get his pension back.

On States of Mind, Andrew McCabe sounded the alarm over Trump loyalist Kash Patel becoming the new FBI boss.

According to reports, Mr Patel is the frontrunner for the FBI's top job and has no direct experience with the intelligence agency.

"It's a massive, massive scope of authority. Any chance of succeeding in that role was because I had my entire career in the FBI. If I hadn't had that experience and wasn't able to bring that to the role I would have been absolutely swamped," he said.

Listen to the latest episode of RTÉ's States of Mind here, or download from wherever you get your podcasts