Trump revokes security clearance of former Central Intelligence Agency director Brennan

President Trump revoked the security clearance of the former Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan yesterday over claims that he used access to classified information to “sow division and chaos”.

“It is a sham”, he told the Wall Street Journal.

The vocal critic of the president can no longer access sensitive information.

Some, like the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, interpreted this to mean that punishing Brennan – and threatening to revoke the clearance of other critical former officials – was really about “striking a political blow against” Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Straight away, Democrats jumped in to defend Brennan’s character and to blast Trump for pulling his clearance.

Former Vice President Joe Biden called Trump’s act “unbecoming of a President”, and warned that it would only embolden Brennan in his public crusade against Trump.

The Russia probe is being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. domestic intelligence service.

“Mr. Trump, then a presidential candidate, publicly called upon Russian Federation to find the missing emails of (Hillary) Clinton”, Brennan wrote.

The announcement was made by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday.

Brennan’s support for someone like Hall “was very attractive to [former President] Obama”, Levin said.

Paul told reporters this week that Russian officials refused to acknowledge interfering in the 2016 presidential campaign and he said the USA should stop expecting the country to confess.

“I call it the rigged witch hunt, [it] is a sham”.

What has the reaction been?

According to The New York Times, more than 4 million people have security clearance, and more than a million have top secret clearance. “I will not relent”, wrote Brennan. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), used the claims in a letter to prompt then-FBI Director James Comey to investigate the Trump campaign for alleged collusion with the Russian interference. His memoir, A Higher Loyalty, likened Mr Trump to a mob boss.

Trump revoked Brennan’s security clearance, the White House announced. But Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has been an outspoken advocate for yanking Brennan’s clearance.

“As the head of the executive branch and the commander in chief, I have a unique constitutional responsibility to protect the nation’s classified information, including by controlling access to it”, Trump said in the statement Sanders read.

Brennan’s commentary largely consists of attacks on Trump and his administration.

Former CIA Director John Brennan said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke his security clearance was “part of a broader effort.to suppress freedom of speech & punish critics”.

The timing is also noteworthy. What lost him his clearance is the same thing that earned Omarosa her White House job, nothing more or less than their respective willingness or unwillingness to flatter the president at length. He also expressed skepticism of Trump’s handling of negotiations with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.