President Trump is making good on his promise to snatch the security clearances of former Obama cabinet officials who no longer work for the government.
Brennan, the former head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), responded angrily to Trump pulling his security clearance. He accused the president of colluding with the Russians in an op-ed piece published in the New York Times on Thursday.
Brennan implied that Trump revoked his clearance because he is desperate and has something to hide.
“Trump clearly has become more desperate to protect himself and those close to him, which is why he made the politically motivated decision to revoke my security clearance in an attempt to scare into silence others who might dare to challenge him,” he wrote.
Trump admitted that he snatched Brennan’s clearance after Brennan openly criticized Trump’s administration in the news media.
“It’s something that had to be done,” said Trump, who referred to Robert Mueller’s investigation as a “sham” and “these people led it!”
Trump said he is reviewing the security clearances of other former Obama administration officials, including former FBI Director James Comey.
Revoking their security clearance means they can no longer hold certain government jobs or read classified documents.
But critics point out that Trump never revoked the security clearance of his former national security adviser Mike Flynn who was fired for lying to Vice President Mike Pence.
Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
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