Ex-Fox News analyst who quit network ‘convinced’ Putin has ‘grip’ on Trump

Retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, a former Fox News analyst who left the network amid claims of pro-Trump bias, said late Wednesday that he believes President Trump is hesitant to take a hard stance against Russia because Russian President Vladimir Putin “has some grip” on the U.S. leader.

“When I first learned of the Steele dossier, it just rang true to me, because that’s how the Russians do things. And before he became a candidate or president, Donald Trump was the perfect target for Russian intelligence,” Peters said on CNN, referring to a dossier of salacious allegations about the president’s ties to Russia.

“Here is someone who has no self-control, a sense of sexual entitlement and intermittent financial crisis,” he continued. “I mean, that’s made-to-order for seduction by Russian intelligence.”

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Republicans and Trump have frequently targeted the so-called Steele dossier for its roots as an opposition research document that was funded partly by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Some of the claims contained in the dossier are still unproven.

Despite his suspicions, Peters said he hopes he’s wrong about Russia’s hold on Trump.

“I hope I am wrong. But when you look at Trump’s behavior patterns, his unwillingness ever to criticize Vladimir Putin, his slow-rolling sanctions, his unwillingness to create problems with Russia, even though as he attacks NATO, disrupts the relations with the EU, how can you not draw the conclusions that Donald Trump, the president of the United States, is frightened of Vladimir Putin and his grip,” Peters said.

Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters: Vladimir Putin has a grip on President Trump https://t.co/e4l4s2P7oX pic.twitter.com/0qfbdELjzr

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) June 7, 2018

The former Fox News analyst also took a swipe at his former network, saying it has become a “destructive propaganda machine” in the Trump era.

Peters has repeatedly criticized his former employer for the attacks of some of its hosts on the Justice Department and FBI. He argued that commentators making such claims are doing so “for ratings and profit.”

Fox News said at the time of Peters’s firing that he was using his opinion “as a weapon in order to gain attention.”

Peters was suspended from the network in 2015 for profanely criticizing then-President Obama.