Michael Hayden, the former head of the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency under President George W. Bush, panned Donald Trump's comments on Wednesday encouraging Russian intelligence to find Hillary Clinton's emails.
"Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said during a press conference. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
"Either he wanted Russian security services to capture the related State Department emails, which is problematic," Hayden told BuzzFeed News. "Or he wanted the Russian government to capture the private emails of a person protected by the Fourth Amendment to the US constitution, which is equally problematic. So I just find it to be an incredibly stunning commentary.”
Hayden said he did not question if Russia was behind the hack.
“I have no reason to question what the technical experts have said with regard to official responsibility," Hayden said. "I don’t have any special knowledge. Instinctively, what they’re saying sounds about right.”
He also criticized Trump's recent comments he might not defend NATO allies if they were attacked.
"It’s based on mutual strategic interest," he said. "And to create doubt in the minds of a potential adversary that you wouldn’t respond to an attack is a very dangerous thing.”