Brennan willing to take Trump to court
Ex-CIA director says he aims to prevent security clearance revocations
WASHINGTON — Former CIA director John Brennan said Sunday that he is willing to take President Donald Trump to court to prevent other current and former officials from having their security clearances revoked, escalating a battle over whether the president is misusing the power of his office to retaliate against opponents.
“I am going to do whatever I can personally to try to prevent these abuses in the future, and if it means going to court, I will do that,” Brennan said in an appearance on NBC News’ Meet the Press.
Brennan, who is among Trump’s most outspoken critics, had his security clearance abruptly revoked by the White House last week. Since then, Brennan said Sunday, a number of lawyers have gotten in touch with him and offered advice on pursuing a possible injunction to prevent Trump from taking similar actions in the future.
“If my clearances — and my reputation, as I’m being pulled through the mud now — if that’s the price we’re going to pay to prevent Donald Trump from doing this against other people, to me, it’s a small price to pay,” Brennan said.
He did not immediately elaborate on what such a legal move would look like.
Asked during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures about a possible lawsuit by Brennan, Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, described it as a welcome opportunity.
“I would volunteer to do that case for the president. I would love to have Brennan under oath,” Giuliani said. “We will find out about Brennan, and we will find out what a terrible job he did.”
On Friday, 14 former CIA directors and deputy directors from Republican and Democratic administrations, as well as a former director of national intelligence, called Trump’s revocation of Brennan’s clearance a blatant attempt to “stifle free speech” and send an “inappropriate and deeply regrettable” signal to other public servants.
As the furor over Trump’s move has intensified, the president has showed no signs of backing down. According to senior administration officials, the White House has drafted documents revoking the clearances of other current and former officials who Trump has demanded be punished for criticizing him or playing a role in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In the Meet the Press interview, Brennan also defended his previous statement denouncing Trump’s performance at a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month as “treasonous.” Some of Brennan’s detractors have argued that the remark pushed his criticism of Trump into overly partisan territory.
“I called his behavior ‘treasonous,’ which is to betray one’s trust and to aid and abet the enemy,” Brennan said. “I stand very much by that claim.”
Brennan received some support on Sunday from Mike Mullen, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said Trump’s threat to revoke the security clearances of those who have been critical of him is a sign that the president is “creating a list of political enemies.”
Mullen said that while Trump has the authority to pull the security clearances of former national intelligence and other officials, his doing so is “incredibly problematic.”