The Trump administration has revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former U.S. government officials.
Director of National Intelligence publicly released a memo confirming the revocation and its rationale, indicating President Donald Trump’s directive for the action.
, the officials involved are “intelligence professionals who have abused the public trust by politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards.” Neither she nor the memo presented evidence for these claims.
The memo stated, “All personnel are reminded that holding a clearance is a privilege, not a right, and this privilege is contingent upon continued adherence to the principles and responsibilities of our profession.”
The officials, , will no longer have access to “classified systems, facilities, materials, and information.” Additionally, any “contracts or employment” between these individuals and the U.S. government have been terminated.
Some of the officials were involved in gathering information and making assessments on . Concurrently, others had signed a public letter during Trump’s first term, supporting calls for an into the President.
There has been considerable discussion regarding the removal of staffers perceived as disloyal to Trump.
Far-right political activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer recently established a “” encouraging her followers to contact her if they “know an Obama-Biden holdover inside the Trump Admin who needs to be exposed for their misdeeds.”
“Laura Loomer is a great patriot. She’s a very strong person,” in April, amidst questions about her potential influence after National Security Council staffers were fired following Loomer’s meeting with the President. “She makes recommendations on things and people, and sometimes I listen to those recommendations, like I do with everybody. I listen to everybody, and then I make a decision.”
Meanwhile, in an with Fox News on Tuesday, Gabbard asserted she had unclassified “hundreds of pages” of documents detailing the “creation of Russia-gate, this manufactured intelligence assessment that essentially had the intent of undermining the voices and votes of the American people who elected Donald Trump.”
, the National Security Agency’s chief responsible AI officer, was among those whose clearance was revoked. The NSA official previously served as the during investigations into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer who frequently represents former and current government intelligence officials, has publicly responded to the Gabbard memo.
“The vast majority of these individuals are not household names and are dedicated public servants who have worked across multiple presidential Administrations,” . “Pure politicization of security clearance process. These are unlawful decisions that deviate from decades of precedent.”
Gabbard stated in July that she was of an “Obama Administration conspiracy to subvert Trump’s 2016 victory and presidency” to the Department of Justice “for criminal referral.”
“Obama himself manufactured the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. Crooked Hillary [Clinton], Sleepy Joe [Biden], and numerous others participated in this, the crime of the century! Irrefutable evidence,” in the days after Gabbard’s announcement.
Attorney General Pam Bondi then instructed the Department of Justice on August 5 to investigate the origins of inquiries into Russian interference favoring Trump during both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
In March, Trump for former President Joe Biden, as well as members of the Biden family. Other high-profile Democrats, including former presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former National Security Advisor Jacob Sullivan, and former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, also had their privileges rescinded.
it was “no longer in the national interest” for these individuals to possess security clearances.
In his directive, he stated, “I hereby direct every executive department and agency head to take all additional action as necessary and consistent with existing law to revoke any active security clearances held by the aforementioned individuals and to immediately rescind their access to classified information.”