Michael Morell Quotes

I was in the CIA for nine years. I am intimately familiar with the information classification system. I used it every day on the job. Like every other one of my colleagues at the agency, I approached the handling of classified information with immense care because I understand the ramifications.

I have a lot of experience dealing with classified material, starting when I was on the Senate Armed Services Committee going into the four years as secretary of state.

Let's remember, the CIA's job is to go out and create wars.

The State Department desperately needs to be vigorously harnessed. It has too big a role to play in the formulation of foreign policy, and foreign policy is too important to be left up to foreign service officers.

…the CIA has never carried out any action of a political nature, given any support of any nature, to any persons, potentates or movements, political or otherwise, without appropriate approval at a high potential level in our government outside the CIA.

[Referring to the CIA:] We coexist. They work, and we work.

In Washington, the funds available to the several other agencies for their overseas operations exceed those available to the State Department; the White House has not always given the State Department the necessary support.

Prior to the present war [WWII], the United States had no foreign intelligence service. It never has had and does not have a coordinated intelligence service.

The CIA … concealed its failures abroad, lying to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy. It told those lies to preserve its standing in Washington.

CIA has more money: bigger houses than diplomats: bigger salaries: more weapons: more modern equipment

There is an increasing demand that the president and Secretary Hull get rid of the unteachable group in the State Department of men who have not learned, after ten years of experience, that appeasement has never worked anywhere, at any time.

One of the things that distinguishes the CIA from the State Department is that the CIA is both asked to, and authorized to, steal secrets. So if the question is whether the CIA steals secrets, the answer is yes.

It is very important that the director of the Central Intelligence Agency adhere to the same classification guidelines that all employees must adhere to because there are very good reason for those classification guidelines.

I joined the CIA in 1985 as an operations officer in the Clandestine Service.

If my son or your son handled classified information the way that Hillary Clinton did, they'd be court marshaled.

[Dan Fried] served six presidents over a 40-year career dating back to the [Jimmy] Carter administration.

I fully, fully concede that Secretary Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of State for four years, has more experience - hat is not arguable - in foreign affairs.

Libby was advised by the vice president of the United States that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA in the counterproliferation division. Libby understood that the vice president had learned this information from the CIA.

[Hillary Clinton] never misused [ information that the Central Intelligence Agency has]. She always protected it. I would trust her with the crown jewels of the United States government. And, more importantly, I would trust her with the future security of the country and the future security of my kids.

I was talking to a friend about Santorum. He said, 'For all my years in the State Department, I know one thing. Terrorists, what they fear most is a guy in a sweater vest.'

Seven-and-a-half years of the weak and feckless foreign policy of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has weakened America's place in the world and it has emboldened the enemies of our freedom.

Hillary Clinton was an outstanding secretary of state. She would never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy.

Hillary Clinton's exposed more of our top secret documents than any Secretary of State in history.

I'll tell you what, [Hillary Clinton] is not making America safer by her actions and because as it relates to Benghazi, as it relates the e-mail scandal, as to the number of lies and obfuscation that she has engaged in throughout the course of this investigation and lack of transparency. And specifically, she's making America weaker by telegraphing and telling our enemies that we won't even put troops or boots over there. You don't know what's going to happen down the road

In fact, during her [Hillary Clinton] tenure as Secretary of State, total arms exports from the United States in terms of the dollar value, doubled.