former top cia official attack donald trump friday danger national security say president vladimir putin make republican presidential candidate unwitting agent russia putin flat trump support position favorable russia michael morell longtime cia officer former deputy director agency say opinion piece new york time intelligence business would say mr. putin recruit mr. trump unwitting agent russian federation morell say article endorse trump rival nov. election democrat hillary clinton morell provide evidence assertion say putin use skills past intelligence officer identify exploit vulnerabilities individual exactly early primaries mr. putin play upon mr. trump vulnerabilities compliment respond mr. putin calculate morell write trump campaign dismiss morell criticism link ex-cia officer obama administration public response september 2012 attack benghazi libya count many reporters tweet today michael morell lie crookedhillary cover benghazi trump campaign say twitter message incident u.s. ambassador three americans kill occur clinton secretary state republicans long criticize handle attack aftermath critics say administration officials try play role islamist militants attack morell approve talk point incident u.s. officials say reference militants take part initially drop classification reason morell currently affiliate beacon global strategies consult firm tie senior democrats national security expertise include former defense secretary cia director leon panetta former top clinton aide philippe rein trump vice presidential run mate indiana governor mike pence friday dismiss morell comment say stand russian aggression go really different trump-pence administration people play politics pence say morell interview nbc today program morell article also say trump undermine u.s. security campaign proposal combat terrorism impose temporary ban muslims enter country add question raise national security experts new york businessman qualifications president thursday bipartisan group experts criticize trump lukewarm support nato alliance comment russia annexation crimea matter disgraceful trump also draw criticism praise putin strong leader particularly moscow come suspicion u.s. officials behind recent hack democratic party group moscow deny allegations senior ex-cia official putin make trump 'an unwitting agent russia