BACKTRACK time? John Brennan now not completely sure Trump's behavior is "nothing short of treasonous" [video]

Doug P. | 12:57 PM on August 18, 2018

After President Trump’s Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin, former CIA Director John Brennan tweeted the following:

Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) July 16, 2018

“Nothing short of treasonous”? It seems pretty clear-cut how Brennan felt there. However, on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show last night, Brennan, who is now without a security clearance, wasn’t quite as adamant:

Remember when John Brennan said Trump's behavior was "treasonous"? Turns out he didn't mean it: pic.twitter.com/PVm7mVkiJ5

— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) August 18, 2018

Treason, but not treason-treason?

"I didn't mean…" https://t.co/2BqBzglunN

— John Batchelor (@batchelorshow) August 18, 2018

LOL even Rachel Maddow's like, "but you said he committed treason"! https://t.co/EWDHByv2Gi

— NewsGuy (@newsguy2005) August 18, 2018

After Brennan said he didn’t literally mean the president committed treason, Maddow pressed him to return to the literal interpretation of the Resistance talking points:

MADDOW: But you didn’t mean that he committed treason, though?

BRENNAN: I said it was nothing short of treasonous. That was the term I used, yes.

MADDOW: That’s the – if we – if we diagram the sentence, nothing short of treasonous means it’s treason.

I mean, the reason – the reason I’m bringing this out is because when you say, I know what the Russians did and when you – knowing what the Russians did, observing the president’s behavior, you go to the word “treason” suggests that you think the president may be –

BRENNAN: The president –

MADDOW: – serving a foreign country rather than our own.

BRENNAN: Well, yes. I think he has crossed the line repeatedly in terms of his failure to fulfill the responsibility of the office. And to look Putin square in the eye and say, this should never, ever happen again.