The Sentinel-Record

Former security leaders blast Trump for yanking clearance

- JILL COLVIN CATHERINE LUCEY

TASK FORCE: CIA Director John Brennan testifies on May 23, 2017, before the House Intelligen­ce Committee Russia Investigat­ion Task Force on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Donald Trump is revoking the security clearance of former Obama administra­tion CIA director Brennan.

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. security officials issued scathing rebukes to President Donald Trump on Thursday, admonishin­g him for yanking a top former spy chief’s security clearance in what they cast as an act of political vengeance. Trump said he’d had to do “something” about the “rigged” federal probe of Russian election interferen­ce.

Trump’s admission that his extraordin­ary act of retributio­n against a former high-ranking official was tied to his frustratio­n about the Russia probe underscore­d his willingnes­s to use his executive power to fight back against an investigat­ion he sees as a threat to his presidency. Legal experts said the dispute may add to the evidence being reviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller.

In an opinion piece in The New York Times, former CIA Director John Brennan said Trump’s decision, announced Wednesday, to deny him access to classified informatio­n was a desperate attempt to end Mueller’s investigat­ion. Brennan, who served under President Barack Obama and has become a vocal Trump critic, called Trump’s claims that he did not collude with Russia “hogwash.”

The only question remaining is whether the collusion amounts to a “constitute­d criminally liable conspiracy,” Brennan wrote.

Later Thursday, the retired Navy admiral who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden called Trump’s moves “McCarthy-era tactics.” Writing in The Washington Post, William H. McRaven said he would “consider it an honor” if Trump would revoke his clearance, as well.

“Through your actions, you have embarrasse­d us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation,” McRaven wrote.

Trump on Wednesday openly tied

his decision to strip Brennan of his clearance — and threaten nearly a dozen other former and current officials — to the ongoing investigat­ion into Russian election meddling and possible collusion with his campaign. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump again called the probe a “rigged witch hunt” and said “these people led it!”

“So I think it’s something that had to be done,” he said.

The president’s comments were a swift departure from the official explanatio­n given by the White House earlier Wednesday that cited the “the risks” posed by Brennan’s alleged “erratic conduct and behavior.” It marked the latest example of the president contradict­ing a story his aides had put forward to explain his motivation­s.

Attorneys said the revocation appeared to be within the president’s authority. But they noted the power play also could be used to reinforce a case alleging obstructio­n of justice, following the president’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey and his repeated tweets calling for the investigat­ion to end.

Patrick Cotter, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York and a longtime white-collar defense attorney, said that while a prosecutor could argue that Trump’s targeting of clearances was intended as a warning that “if you contribute to, participat­e in, support the Russia probe and I find out about it, I’m going to punish you,” it is likely not obstructio­n in itself.

But, he said the move would be a “powerful piece of evidence” for prosecutor­s as part of a pattern to demonstrat­e an intent to use presidenti­al power in connection with the probe.

Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor agreed.

“What it shows is that the president is fixated on the Russia investigat­ion, he’s angry about it, and he wants to do everything he can to discourage or slow down the investigat­ion,” he said.

Special Counsel Mueller and his team have been looking at Trump’s public statements and tweets as they investigat­e whether the president could be guilty of obstructio­n.

“I don’t think it advances the criminal obstructio­n case, but I think it’s factually relevant,” said Mark Zaid, a national security attorney. “I think it shows the state of mind and intent to interfere or impede any unfavorabl­e discussion of his potential connection to Russia.”

Former CIA directors and other top national security officials are typically allowed to keep their clearances, at least for some period. But Trump said Wednesday he is reviewing the clearances of several other former top intelligen­ce and law enforcemen­t officials, including former FBI Director Comey and current senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr. All are critics of the president or are people who Trump appears to believe are against him.

The initial White House statement about Brennan’s clearance made no reference to the Russia investigat­ion. Instead, the president said he was fulfilling his “constituti­onal responsibi­lity to protect the nation’s classified informatio­n,” even though he made no suggestion that Brennan was improperly exposing the nation’s secrets.

“Mr. Brennan’s lying and recent conduct characteri­zed by increasing­ly frenzied commentary is wholly inconsiste­nt with access to the nations’ most closely held secrets,” Trump said.

Just hours later, his explanatio­n had changed.

“You look at any of them and you see the things they’ve done,” Trump told the Journal. “In some cases, they’ve lied before Congress. The Hillary Clinton whole investigat­ion was a total sham.”

“I don’t trust many of those people on that list,” he said. “I think that they’re very duplicitou­s. I think they’re not good people.”

The episode was reminiscen­t of Trump’s shifting explanatio­ns for firing Comey and the evolving descriptio­ns of the Trump Tower meeting between top campaign aides and a Kremlin-connected lawyer — both topics of interest to Mueller.

And it underscore­s why the president’s lawyers are fearful of allowing Trump to sit down for an interview with Mueller’s team, as Trump has repeatedly said he is interested in doing.

In announcing Comey’s firing, the White House initially cited the former FBI director’s handling of the probe into Democratic rival Clinton’s emails, seizing on the FBI director’s decision to divulge details of the probe to the public during her campaign against Trump.

But a few days after Comey was dismissed, Trump told NBC’s Lester Holt in an interview that he was really thinking of “this Russia thing” when he fired Comey.

Trump later changed again, tweeting that he “never fired James Comey because of Russia!”

Early this month, he admitted in a tweet that the Trump Tower meeting, which was arranged by his son, Donald Trump Jr., “was a meeting to get informatio­n on an opponent.”

That directly contradict­ed a July 2017 statement from Trump Jr. — written with the consultati­on of the White House — that claimed the meeting had been primarily about adoption.

 ?? The Associated Press ??
The Associated Press
 ?? The Associated Press ?? REVIEWING CLEARANCES: These file photos, top row from left, are former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former FBI Director James Comey, former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe and former national security adviser Susan Rice. Bottom row from left are former FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former National Intelligen­ce Director James Clapper. President Donald Trump acted Wednesday on a threat and revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, citing a constituti­onal responsibi­lity to protect classified informatio­n. Trump says he is reviewing security clearances for nine other individual­s, including the eight pictured.
The Associated Press REVIEWING CLEARANCES: These file photos, top row from left, are former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former FBI Director James Comey, former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe and former national security adviser Susan Rice. Bottom row from left are former FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former National Intelligen­ce Director James Clapper. President Donald Trump acted Wednesday on a threat and revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, citing a constituti­onal responsibi­lity to protect classified informatio­n. Trump says he is reviewing security clearances for nine other individual­s, including the eight pictured.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States