The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website July 23, 2018:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on July 23 that President Trump is “exploring the mechanisms to remove security clearance” for six former intelligence officials. (Reuters)
Now we know why President Trump complained about former intelligence officials being paid as cable analysts. On Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump was looking into whether to revoke the security clearances of some of his chief intelligence and law enforcement critics for, among other things, “politicizing” and “monetizing” their past positions.
Here are the people Sanders listed:
- Former CIA director John Brennan
- Former FBI director James B. Comey
- Former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr.
- Former CIA and National Security Agency director Michael Hayden
- Former White House national security adviser Susan E. Rice
- Former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe
The potential move appears mostly symbolic. Brennan and Hayden quickly noted that they don’t use their clearance anymore. And McCabe has already lost his clearance, given that he was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The fact that McCabe was included on the list suggests this wasn’t exactly a well-researched trial balloon — if it even was researched.