Trump’s warning on security clearances

Revoking Brennan’s recalls fascist regimes

In John Brennan’s last address to employees as CIA director, he told us he planned to slip quietly into civilian life. He also repeated two things that were always key points of all his talks with employees: that the work CIA employees do is critical to protecting the country, and that officers have a responsibility to speak the truth.

Far from slipping into a quiet life, Brennan took his own advice to speak the truth and became one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics. He has repeatedly called him unfit and dangerous to national security in his characteristic no-nonsense style.

Trump responded to Brennan’s criticism Wednesday by revoking his security clearance. The move recalled authoritarian regimes in developing countries looking to consolidate power and silence dissent — regimes I watched as an intelligence analyst. It was an unprecedented step for a U.S. president, and there is not even a thin veil of policy rationale covering this decision. It is an attempt to punish critics and a warning to others, plain and simple, rather than the result of a thoughtful assessment of national security.

As this administration has acknowledged, the White House is not in the business of granting or removing security clearances because it is a job for the government’s national security architecture. Yet Dan Coats, the Trump-appointed director of national intelligence, was not consulted on the decision, according to CNN. The White House’s statement on the matter blamed its interference on “Brennan's lying and recent conduct, characterized by increasingly frenzied commentary,” and claimed his behavior was “wholly inconsistent with access to the nation’s most closely held secrets.”

If Brennan had not been cited, I would have thought the statement was referring to Trump’s own dubious security practices, such as using his unsecure personal cellphone to conduct business despite warnings from security officials that it has probably been compromised by foreign intelligence services. The irony continued when the statement also cited Trump’s constitutional responsibility to “protect the nation’s classified information.”

The White House also said Brennan had sought to use his access to classified information to bolster his partisan “political attacks,” but provided no evidence against him. Perhaps the White House could have found a way to spin this decision into something other than retaliation against critics if the statement had not also included a list of other potential targets. It includes only those who have been publicly critical of the Trump administration, such as former national intelligence Director James Clapper, former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former FBI Director James Comey, former national security adviser Susan Rice, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and Justice Department official Bruce Ohr.

Former senior national security officers historically have retained their clearances after leaving their agencies so that they can advise current officials, especially during times of crisis. While I was at the CIA, Brennan consulted former directors on his efforts to modernize the agency. Brennan was a vocal supporter of Trump nominee Gina Haspel to lead the CIA. Given that they are both career CIA, it is likely that Haspel has consulted with Brennan.

The clearance process is a lengthy and complicated one, and retaining clearances allows former officers to jump back into security positions as needed. Vaughn Bishop, for example, retired and later was brought back to serve as the CIA ombudsman for analytic objectivity. Trump recently named him deputy director of the agency.

Trump’s retaliation against Brennan is sadly not unexpected. It is more important than ever that national security professionals speak truth to power, as Brennan has long advocated.

However, Trump’s politicizing and weaponizing of something as important as security clearances could discourage those currently serving from doing so. And that is exactly what the president wants.