President Trump is considering revoking the security clearances of several former intelligence and national security officials who have been critical of his administration, the White House said Monday.
“Not only is the president looking to take away [Former CIA Director John] Brennan’s security clearance, he’s also looking into the clearances of Comey, Clapper, Hayden, Rice and McCabe,” press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters.
Sanders was referring to five officials who served under the Obama administration: former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden, former national security adviser Susan Rice, and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
The White House accused those individuals of having “politicized and monetized” their access to U.S. intelligence and national security secrets.
“As of write now, we are exploring the mechanism on those specific names,” Sanders said.
Sanders rejected the idea that Trump was considering the move as a way to punish his political enemies, and said the issue was how people with a security clearance were abusing that privilege.
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JUST IN: Trump looking to revoke security clearances of Comey, Brennan and Clapper https://t.co/HEjZYbtYxJ
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 23, 2018
Ex-CIA chief Michael Hayden: Trump taking away my security clearance "won't have any effect on what I say or write" https://t.co/L99ZLo1KjZ pic.twitter.com/vvxGYroTAQ
— The Hill (@thehill) July 23, 2018
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's security clearance was already deactivated when he was terminated, his spokesperson said on Twitter, despite President Trump reportedly considering doing just that https://t.co/aLnQS0H823 pic.twitter.com/FnVzxbfy4i
— CNN (@CNN) July 23, 2018
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says President Trump is considering revoking security clearances for some former intelligence chiefs including John Brennan, James Comey, James Clapper, Michael Hayden, Susan Rice and Andrew McCabe https://t.co/4VDjpDdxCF pic.twitter.com/vIKz6pw7i6
— CNN (@CNN) July 23, 2018
"I think that's a terrible precedent, and it's a very sad commentary, and it's an abuse of the system." Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper reacts to being named among those with their security clearance under review https://t.co/8njiobY3hi pic.twitter.com/6rDTzd0i36
— CNN (@CNN) July 23, 2018
By the way, former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe don’t even have their security clearances, so they cannot be revoked. https://t.co/np96MmZgRY pic.twitter.com/DQvSmFxsVE
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) July 23, 2018
No one, once they leave office, should still have security clearance. There is no reason for it and with all these people having clearance, there is too much risk sensitive information could fall into the wrong hands. If any of these people come back to government service, then they should reapply for clearance.
That all said — it’s rather petty to revoke clearances just because you don’t like what the owners of those clearances are saying about you. Trump is such a big baby.
Context for security clearances: All former CIA (and NSA / FBI / DNI) Directors hold a security clearance since they might need to be consulted on important matters and so they can review their former files
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) July 23, 2018
The advantage of allowing former officials to keep their security clearances is that the current admin can bring them into meetings and discussions on #nationalsecurity issues – esp useful in times of crisis https://t.co/gaUngKXwAv
— Gillian Turner (@GillianHTurner) July 23, 2018
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