Three weeks after we reported that Trump may revoke the security clearance for several former Obama officials over politicized statements, including John Brennan, James Clapper, Susan Rice, Peter Strzok, Michael Hayden and Bruce Ohr – White House White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders announced moments ago that Trump has decided to revoke former CIA Director John Brennan’s Security Clearance.
JUST IN: Sarah Sanders reads statement from Pres. Trump revoking former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance. https://t.co/dMeVjlPoyT pic.twitter.com/WkojZWBVgq
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) August 15, 2018
Of note, fired FBI Director James Comey and his deputy Andrew McCabe no longer have clearance.
In justifying the revocation, the White House asserted that Brennan – who has been highly critical of President Trump, including on Twitter and as an NBC News and MSNBC analyst – “has history that calls into question his objectivity and credibility.”
Commenting on the revocation, Sanders said that “such access is particularly inappropriate when former officials have transitioned into highly partisan positions and seek to use real or perceived access to sensitive information to validate political attacks.”
Sanders also said that the security clearance of Clapper, Yates and Comey remains under review.
Brennan’s “Stripping” took place just one day after the former CIA chief tweeted the following:
It’s astounding how often you fail to live up to minimum standards of decency, civility, & probity. Seems like you will never understand what it means to be president, nor what it takes to be a good, decent, & honest person. So disheartening, so dangerous for our Nation.
It’s astounding how often you fail to live up to minimum standards of decency, civility, & probity. Seems like you will never understand what it means to be president, nor what it takes to be a good, decent, & honest person. So disheartening, so dangerous for our Nation. https://t.co/eI9HaCec1m
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) August 14, 2018
Predictably there were immediate comments from both sides of the aisle, with CNN security reporter Jim Sciutto summarizing that there is one thing all those named above share: “they criticized the president.”
Trump is also reviewing the security clearances of former DNI Clapper, former FBI Director @Comey, former Acting AG Yates & others. Together they have decades of intelligence experience. All share one thing: they criticized the president. https://t.co/0IDnHK3wTm
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) August 15, 2018
Glenn Greenwald took a more sarcastic approach:
Is there a GoFundMe campaign yet for John Brennan? Seeing liberals electronically transfer money to a former CIA Director – someone who advocated torture and rendition durng Bush/Cheney and lied about drone killings for Obama – is the final #Resistance frontier.
Is there a GoFundMe campaign yet for John Brennan? Seeing liberals electronically transfer money to a former CIA Director – someone who advocated torture and rendition durng Bush/Cheney and lied about drone killings for Obama – is the final #Resistance frontier. https://t.co/qBHaAMdwe1
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 15, 2018
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