Former CIA Director John Brennan, an independent, had some pretty serious thoughts about why Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on another term as President and why Trump refuses to criticize the Russian leader. On MSNBC today Brennan was asked whether Trump is “somehow in debt to the President of Russia?” He replied:

“I think he is afraid of the President of Russia… One can speculate as to why, that the Russians may have something on him personally that they could always roll out to make his life more difficult. “

“The fact that he has had this fawning attitude toward Mr. Putin, has not said anything negative about him, I think continues to say to me that he does have something to fear and something very serious to fear.” 

The New York Times reports, “Mr. Brennan was the C.I.A. director when a salacious dossier surfaced in 2016 that claimed the Russians had compromising information on Mr. Trump. There has been no proof that such material exists, but Mr. Trump’s affection for the Russian leader has raised questions about the nature of their relationship.”

Watch the full segment with Brennan above.