President Trump has revoked several current law enforcement figures and security clearances for former national security authorities, White House officials confirmed Sunday.
In an interview with the New York Post published Saturday, Trump announced clearances for former Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and other secretaries of state who served as top positions under former President Joseph R. Biden. He said he would withdraw it.
The president also said he would strip the clearance of New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg. James also leads a group of 19 lawyer generals in a lawsuit that will stop Trump’s administration from allowing Elon Musk’s cost-cutting initiative to gain access to Treasury payments and data systems. .
The new list of targets is the latest round of retaliation in which Trump opposed his perceived political rivals and others who participated in a well-known legal case against him. For many of the identified people, it would primarily be symbolic behavior, but it could prevent authorities from entering federal buildings and obtaining confidential materials.
Blinken, the highest ranking official, did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump did not provide details about what he tried to limit from officials. Trump called former Secretary of State Blinken the “bad guy” and said he “want to take the pass.” Among others, Trump said his intention was to “deprive them of all the rights they have.”
In a question from a reporter to Air Force 1 on Sunday, Trump confirmed his decision and denied it was a form of retaliation.
“If there are people we don’t respect, if there are people who thought it was breaking the law or they thought it was very close the previous year, we do that,” he said. said he stripped of his clearance. “And we did that with some people, we did that with Biden himself.”
Trump’s remarks came shortly after a social media post Friday announced that he had cancelled Biden’s security clearance as a recall for Biden, who did the same four years ago. Biden refused to accept the outcome of the 2020 election and caused a riot at the U.S. Capitol to overturn the outcome, and then grounded Trump’s “unsteady behavior” as the basis for his decision. I’ve quoted it. On Friday, Trump cited a special advisor report that denounced the former president of setting a precedent in 2021 and questioned Biden’s mental vision.
“Joe, you’ve been fired,” he wrote on social media.
Among other officials identified in a post-interview in New York, Trump coordinated the Department of Justice investigation into Trump’s role on January 6 with former national security adviser Jake Sullivan. There was former deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco. , 2021 attacks on the Capitol. Trump has also targeted lawyers Andrew Weissman, Mark Zaid and Norm Eisen, who are outspoken critics of Trump.
Some of the people on the latest list have expressed little concern that Trump’s actions will affect them or their duties.
In a statement, James’s office dispelled the move as “a different attempt to divert the Attorney General from the real work he is doing to defend the rights of New Yorkers and all Americans.” Ta.
The “What is the security clearance?” statement has been deleted.
Zaid said in a statement on Saturday that under existing law he is entitled to a legitimate process, including being informed of why he was targeted after being trusted in information classified for more than 25 years. He said there was.
“I am honored to President Trump for giving me the red badge of courage, but he and his partisan henchmen would dissuade me from taking responsibility for the rule of law. If you think so, they’re sadly wrong,” he said.
“This highly politicized action has been much worse for the Trump administration than I do,” he added.
Michael Crowley contributed to the report.
