(Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) pulled no punches on Friday in criticizing President Donald Trump for firing Gen. Timothy Haugh – the commander of the United States Cyber Command at the NSA.
Bacon told Fox News’s Chad Pergram, “The White House fired one of our best generals and the smartest on cyber operations, and with no explanation. Russia and China are laughing at us.”
Bacon, a retired Air Force general himself, later shared the Wall Street Journal report on Haugh’s firing and added, “General Tim Haugh is an outstanding leader and was doing a superb job at Cyber Command and National Security Agency. He was fired with no public explanation. This action sets back our Cyber and Signals Intelligence operations.”
Bacon, a moderate Republican from a key swing district, has been known to publicly disagree with the Trump administration on foreign policy, particularly on Ukraine and free trade.
Trump reportedly fired Haugh after a meeting with far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer in the Oval Office, in which she insisted heads should roll over Signalgate – the scandal involving top Trump officials discussing bombing Yemen on the messaging app Signal.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also spoke to Pergram about Haugh being fired by Trump. “General Timothy Haugh is a patriotic, principled, and highly-prepared Director of the National Security Agency. The decision by Donald Trump to fire General Haugh is outrageous and makes the American people less safe in an increasingly dangerous world,” Jeffries told Pergram, adding:
There are changes that need to be made in the Trump administration. To begin with, the most unqualified Defense Secretary in American history should be fired. At the same time, the other national security officials involved in SignalGate must be held accountable.
“Donald Trump and House Republicans are taking orders from far-right conspiracy theorists like Laura Loomer. Enough. This is not America,” Jeffries added.
