President Donald Trump’s decision this week to revoke the security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officers is an unprecedented move, with a number to please his supporters and punish perceived enemies. Legal experts say it highlights a willingness to break with decade-old norms.
“This is the most politically saturated security measure since the Oppenheimer case in the 1950s,” said Dan Meyer, a Washington-based attorney who specializes in security clearance cases.
Meyer was referring to Robert Oppenheimer, a physicist who oversaw a secret program to build the atomic bomb during World War II.
Previous administrations have been accused of revoking security clearances based on bias or political bias. For example, until 1995, homosexuals often had their security clearances removed. Officials had claimed they could be subject to blackmail. During the Vietnam War, employees or contractors who were perceived to be opponents of the war had their clearances canceled, said Meyer, a partner at the law firm Tully Rinke.
But a president has never walked directly through the clearance process on the scale that Trump did when he revoked the security clearances of 50 people in one step, Meyer and other legal experts said. Also, for former CIA directors, deputy directors, and other top-ranking intelligence chiefs, commanders who have chosen to publicly revoke their security clearances, many of whom worked for administrators from both parties. .
In an executive order issued hours after taking office on Monday, Trump stripped 49 former officials of their security clearances for signing a letter more than four years ago.
Former officials have repeatedly denied Trump’s claims. A 2020 open letter endorsed by former senior intelligence and national security officials alleges Russia played a role in spreading allegations about Biden’s son Hunter as part of a broader effort to influence the outcome of the election. He suggested that it might have worked.
Trump also removed the security clearance of his former national security adviser, John Bolton, accusing him of revealing classified information in his memoir. Bolton refused to reveal information that jeopardized national security.
Former intelligence officials say Trump’s mass dumping of clearances is an attempt to punish, intimidate and silence those who challenge his claims.
Trump is “trying to censor the public statements of former government officials,” said a former senior official who signed the letter and spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation. “None of us worked for the government at that time. We were private citizens.”
A White House spokesperson rejected the criticism and said the executive order restores credibility to the agency.
“By abusing their prior positions in government, these individuals helped sell a public relations scam to the American people,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in an email. I am. “They greatly undermined the credibility of the intelligence community by using their privilege to interfere in the presidential election. President Trump’s actions do nothing to restore credibility to our nation’s institutions. is.”
Trump’s order also raised the possibility of additional punitive actions related to the 2020 letter. The executive order requires the Director of National Intelligence to determine whether others who held security clearances who engaged in “inappropriate activities” related to the letter will submit a report on their findings within 90 days. I am requesting you to investigate.
Kevin Carroll, an attorney representing one of the letter’s signatories, said the former officials were simply using their rights as civilians to express their opinions. He said their public statements should not relate to their security clearances.
“Retired intelligence agents, like retired diplomats, military officers, prosecutors, or politicians in question, retain the right to publicly or falsely provide unclassified opinions on public matters. ” Carol said. “It would be wrong to revoke their clearance simply to do so.”
Carroll added that federal guidelines for granting access to classified information do not provide a basis for revoking a security clearance for publicly expressed opinions.
Former officials targeted by Trump’s executive order also said other retired officials or military officers often expressed pro-pro-life political views during recent campaigns but were not punished.
In the 2020 campaign, more than 200 retired military officers endorsed Trump in an open letter, saying they feared the Democratic Party’s alleged “socialists and Marxists” posed a threat to the country’s way of life. Ta. None of my security clearances were revoked.
Mark Zaid, an attorney representing several signatories of the letter, said he believes many of the former officials no longer have active security clearances. The action therefore amounted to a political move with little concrete effect, Zaid said.
“It was clearly intended to strengthen his ideological base and show that he was doing what they wanted,” Zeid said.
It remains unclear whether the 50 affected former officials will take legal action to challenge Trump’s executive order. When a security clearance decision or proceeding is appealed, the ruling tends to favor the executive branch.
Former CIA directors and deputy directors communicate their security clearances during retirement so their successors can consult them on issues that come up.
But Trump has distrusted the country’s intelligence and national security agencies dating back to his 2016 election campaign. At the time, the FBI launched a counterintelligence investigation into possible links between Trump campaign associates and the Russian government. And US spy agencies assessed that the Kremlin had secretly tried to tilt the election to Trump through information warfare.
Trump has accused intelligence agencies of plotting to undermine his first term, part of what he and his supporters call a “deep state” conspiracy. Throughout the 2024 election campaign, Trump vowed to overhaul the intelligence community and the Justice Department.
dispute letter
Titled “Holding Accountable for Election Interference and Improper Disclosure of Sensitive Government Information,” the president’s order in October 2020 states that 51 former senior intelligence and national security officials Refers to an open letter signed (two of the signatories are now deceased).
A letter sent to news outlets addressed the New York Post report. This cited an email that the paper said came from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden. The post said it had obtained a laptop hard drive from Trump lawyer and ally Rudy Giuliani and reported emails related to Hunter Biden’s consulting work in Ukraine.
The advent of email “has all the classic goals of Russian intelligence operations,” says the letter from the former official.
“We want to emphasize whether the emails provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani are authentic.” Just because of our experience, we deeply doubt that the Russian government played a significant role in this case. ”
“If we are correct, we strongly believe that this is Russia attempting to influence how Americans vote in this election and that Americans need to be aware of this,” the letter said. Said.
Carroll said the former official’s suspicions were reasonable given “documented Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”
But to Trump and his allies, the letter is an attempt by former officials to use their relationships with U.S. intelligence agencies to suppress damaging information about the Biden family in the weeks before the 2020 election. It was considered. They labeled the letter’s signatories, including many supporters of Biden’s candidacy, “Spies Lie.”
“The signatories have deliberately weaponized the gravity of the intelligence community to manipulate the political process and undermine democratic institutions,” Trump’s executive order states.
Materials found on the laptop’s hard drive were later verified and became evidence in Hunter Biden’s Justice Department criminal investigation. Prosecutors did not accuse Hunter Biden of corrupt dealings in Ukraine, but he was convicted on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty last year to tax evasion.
Career officials in intelligence agencies consider themselves nonpartisan experts dedicated to helping the president make decisions about the threats facing the nation. But Trump’s executive order shows how the bipartisan political landscape distrusts the president’s career intelligence officials who served in the administrations of both parties.
Trump “excluded core leadership from the old Republican and current Democratic circles of trust,” Meyer said. “It’s about information and controlling who’s having the conversation.”
Other presidents have chosen not to exercise authority over security clearances in such a public, partisan manner, one former official who signed the 2020 letter said. Trump’s actions demonstrate how he ignores the unwritten norms and rules that have largely governed the actions of his predecessors.
“At the end of the day, our democratic system relies on good intentions and people trying to do the right thing, with moral objections attached to not doing the right thing,” the former bishop said. Said. “And then it fell off.”
Bolton’s Memoirs
In an executive order, Trump said his decision to revoke the clearance of John Bolton, who served as national security adviser during his first term, was in response to Bolton’s memoir, “The Room Where It Happened.” said.
In the book, Bolton describes Trump as “stunningly uninformed” on foreign policy, writing:
But Trump’s executive order stated that “the memoir’s reckless handling of sensitive information undermines the ability of future presidents to request and receive candid advice on matters of national security from their staff.” Ta.
Bolton and former Justice Department officials have said there is no classified information in the book and that he handled the matter properly and lawfully. And the judge rejected allegations that Bolton pushed ahead with publication without completing a government review or removing possible classified information.
Trump also canceled Secret Service protection for Bolton this week. Security details on Bolton for an alleged assassination plot that was part of Tehran’s bid to retaliate against Trump for authorizing the 2020 US drone strike that killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani provided.
The Justice Department in 2022 charged members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in an alleged scheme to pay $300,000 to kill Bolton.
When asked about Tuesday’s decision, Trump told reporters:
