'Revoke my security clearance'
In open letter to Trump, Adm. Bill McRaven shows solidarity with former CIA Director John Brennan.
When President Donald Trump called the news media “the enemy of the American people” last year, the then-chancellor of the University of Texas System, retired Adm. Bill McRaven, who majored in journalism at UT, took umbrage.
“This sentiment,” McRaven declared, “may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.”
Now, in an open letter to Trump, McRaven, the former Navy SEAL who planned the 2011 raid in which al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed, has taken his criticism of the president to the rhetorical equivalent of DEFCON 1.
Showing solidarity with former CIA Director John Brennan, whose security clearance has been revoked by Trump, McRaven said in the letter published online Thursday by The Washington Post: “I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.”
He added: “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. If you think for a moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken. The criticism will continue until you become the leader we prayed you would be.”
McRaven stepped down from the chancellorship at the end of May and is now a professor at UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. His letter to Trump is McRaven’s boldest foray into political commentary to date.
While serving as chancellor, he spoke out in defense of students brought illegally to the United States as children, calling on Congress to ensure that they can study, work and become citizens. Some observers had speculated that, had Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton prevailed over Trump in the 2016 election, she might have tapped McRaven for a highlevel post in the administration.
McRaven’s broadside came a day after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that Trump had revoked the security clearance of Brennan, who has been sharply critical of Trump. In a statement, the president cited “the risk posed by his erratic conduct and behavior.” Trump is reviewing clearances of several other former officials, including former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director Michael Hayden and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr.
McRaven, 62, who devoted 37 years of his life to military service, is by any measure a national hero.
In 2011, when the CIA figured out that bin Laden was holed up in Abbottabad, Pakistan, McRaven — then a three-star admiral in charge of the Joint Special Operations Command, the military’s covert strike force — was charged with coming up with a plan to get him. President Barack Obama gave the green light for Operation Neptune Spear, and McRaven oversaw the mission from Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
Earlier in his military career, McRaven saw combat as a SEAL task unit leader during the Persian Gulf War, according to a 2011 Time magazine article, but the particulars of his missions remain classified. In July 2001, he got smacked by another commando’s parachute during a drill near San Diego, and his own chute opened in a way that broke his back and pelvis. He recovered, but every stair-step was painful at first.
McRaven was still on the mend when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, took place. His commando days on hold, he was assigned to President George W. Bush’s National Security Council, where he helped draft the president’s strategy for combating terrorism.
His rise through the Navy ranks culminated with a fourstar appointment as commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, with 67,000 SEALs, Army Rangers and other special operations troops under his direction.
It’s unclear what immediate effect the revocation of McRaven’s security clearance could have. In addition to his LBJ School post, he is listed on the university’s website as an affiliate of UT’s Applied Research Laboratories in North Austin. The labs conduct a variety of research, some classified, including sonar-related work for the Navy.