Prez in-security
In payback shocker, Don pulls clearance of ex-CIA boss critic
The White House is revoking the security clearance of former Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan, an Obama-era official who has been a vocal critic of President Trump.
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied Wednesday that the unusual retaliatory act was retribution against a political opponent or an infringement of Brennan's freespeech rights.
Sanders, who said Trump is considering taking the same action against other former national security officials and critics, cited Brennan's “erratic conduct and behavior” and accused him of “lying” and “wild outbursts.”
She also claims he's “leveraged his status” to make unfounded allegations about the President.
Brennan responded by saying the President is trying to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics.
“It should gravely worry all Americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out,” he tweeted. “My principles are worth far more than clearances. I will not relent.”
Former top national security officials generally maintain their security clearances in order to advise successors or others currently serving in the government.
Security experts called the move “unprecedented.”
“This simply has not happened before to someone of Brennan's level. It is unprecedented,” Evan Lesser, the president of ClearanceJobs.com, which helps the government find employees, told the Daily News.
Lesser pointed out that the maneuver certainly appears political.
“When someone who is retired has a security clearance, they don't have access to information at will,” he said. “It's all done on a need-to-know basis, so it's not really a big deal for him. It's not going to really effect Brennan. That's why it feels political.”
On Tuesday, Brennan told MSNBC that Trump “will never understand what it means to be President” and said he is “the most divisive President we have ever had in the Oval Office.”
The 62-year-old New Jersey native was one of the President's most vocal critics following Trump's meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin last month.
Brennan said that Trump's behavior was “treasonous” and accused him of being “wholly in the pocket of Putin” after he once again challenged the intelligence community's assessment that Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
The Fordham University alum spent three decades at the CIA before serving as director of the clandestine agency from 2013 to 2017. He now works as a senior national security analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and was named a distinguished fellow for global security at the Fordham University School of Law's Center on National Security.
He has repeatedly critiqued the President for rejecting or dismissing U.S. intelligence agencies' warnings about election meddling connected to the Kremlin.
Just before Trump took office, Brennan told Fox News he didn't think Trump had “a full appreciation of Russian capabilities.”
In a June op-ed in The Washington Post, Brennan compared Trump to “corrupt, incompetent and narcissistic foreign officials” and ripped him as someone who “grandstands like a snake-oil salesman.”
The White House threatened to last month to look into the clearances for other former officials who have been critical of the administration. Sanders repeated that point on Wednesday.
Trump is mulling pulling clearances from former officials including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, ex-FBI Director James Comey, ex-National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden, ex-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, ex-national security adviser Susan Rice and ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
However, not everyone on the list appears to have security clearance. A spokeswoman for McCabe said his clearance was deactivated when he was fired in March. “You would think the White House would check with the FBI before trying to throw shiny objects to the press corps,” Melissa Schwartz told The News. The same holds true for Comey, according to his friend Ben Wittes.