Trump wants to revoke security clearances for former intelligence officials

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/rand-paul-says-hell-ask-trump-to-revoke-former-cia-director-john-brennans-security-clearance/2018/07/23/8eb11ccc-8e7c-11e8-b769-e3fff17f0689_story.html

Excerpt:

"President Trump plans to revoke the security clearances of a handful of former officials who have been critical of his rhetoric and actions toward Russia, the White House announced Monday, in a move that immediately prompted claims of political retaliation.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the officials being examined are former CIA director John Brennan; former FBI director James B. Comey; former CIA director Michael V. Hayden; former national security adviser Susan E. Rice; former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr.; and former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe."

[Yank2133]

Petty.

I hope the next Democratic president makes his post-president life a living hell.

[Banana Republican]

Too bad we can't revoke Michael Flynn's security clearance, because it has already been revoked.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Caveat: things may have changed since I left the DoD arena (25 years ago).  But back then, there was a difference between eligibility for a security clearance and actual access to classified material.  If you left a job that involved classified material, you lost your access, but retained eligibility for as long as your last background investigation was valid.  (Exception: if you left the job for a reason that could affect your clearance, such as a violation of security procedures, a criminal offense, etc.)  This was done so that access could be quickly restored for people who moved from one job to another, which was quite common among DoD contractors, or for former employees who might need to be brought back for short-term consulting jobs.  I suspect that these former officials still have their eligibility; this would make sense in case they were needed to be brought in to advise on issues in their fields of expertise.  But I strongly doubt that they still have access to classified material, unless they are still in a job that requires it.

[Yank2133]

Comey and McCabe don't have access. Comey opted out and McCabe lost his when he was fired.

Really, this is just Trump trying to change the narrative. The NFL protest, the Iran twits, and now this. Something big is about to drop and the President is sh**tting his pants.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Comey and McCabe don't have access. Comey opted out and McCabe lost his when he was fired.

Really, this is just Trump trying to change the narrative. The NFL protest, the Iran twits, and now this. Something big is about to drop and the President is sh**tting his pants.

Best typo of the week.

[Wrong about 2024 Ghost]

Title should be changed to: Suspected Russian patsy wants to revoke clearences for security professionals who don't swear loyalty to him.

[ProudModerate2]

Title should be changed to: Suspected Russian patsy wants to revoke clearences for security professionals who don't swear loyalty to him.

LOL.
OP, please change the title immediately.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Title should be changed to: Suspected Russian patsy wants to revoke clearences for security professionals who don't swear loyalty to him.

Title should be changed to: Suspected Russian patsy wants to revoke clearences for security professionals who don't swear loyalty to him.

LOL.
OP, please change the title immediately.

LOL, that's funny but no.

[All Along The Watchtower]

I mean, this is one of several things that I could see as being a good idea, but under this particular President...

[dead0man]

Caveat: things may have changed since I left the DoD arena (25 years ago).  But back then, there was a difference between eligibility for a security clearance and actual access to classified material.  If you left a job that involved classified material, you lost your access, but retained eligibility for as long as your last background investigation was valid.  (Exception: if you left the job for a reason that could affect your clearance, such as a violation of security procedures, a criminal offense, etc.)  This was done so that access could be quickly restored for people who moved from one job to another, which was quite common among DoD contractors, or for former employees who might need to be brought back for short-term consulting jobs.  I suspect that these former officials still have their eligibility; this would make sense in case they were needed to be brought in to advise on issues in their fields of expertise.  But I strongly doubt that they still have access to classified material, unless they are still in a job that requires it.

yes, it is still this way.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Those liberals and their opposition to the First Amendment! Oh wait!

[Badger]

Title should be changed to: Suspected Russian patsy wants to revoke clearences for security professionals who don't swear loyalty to him.

[Maxwell]

lol almost all of those guys are monsters in their own right, Brennan and Michael "4th amendment, what 4th amendment?" Hayden especially.

Still, I'm not going to pretend that Trump wouldn't just LOVE a deep state filled with psychos of his own creation and with loyalties entirely to him.

Mixed feelings.

[Very Legal & Very Cool]

More of a threat to the current intelligence staff, people like Coats who came out and contradicted what Trp said during his Helsinki slobbering.

[Wrong about 2024 Ghost]

Ryan: Trump Threat To Revoke Security Clearances Is 'Trolling People'

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[Santander]

Ryan: Trump Threat To Revoke Security Clearances Is 'Trolling People'

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The Speaker describes the President's actions as trolling. America is great again.

[#gravelgang #lessiglad]

lol almost all of those guys are monsters in their own right, Brennan and Michael "4th amendment, what 4th amendment?" Hayden especially.

Still, I'm not going to pretend that Trump wouldn't just LOVE a deep state filled with psychos of his own creation and with loyalties entirely to him.

Mixed feelings.

Sums up my feelings well. Couldn't happen to more deserving sociopaths, but the implication is chilling.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Ryan: Trump Threat To Revoke Security Clearances Is 'Trolling People'

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What kind of pathetic excuse is that!? Is "trolling people" a new part of the President's responsibilities and powers that we should tolerate? Will this be incorporated into Article II of the Constitution?

[Badger]

lol almost all of those guys are monsters in their own right, Brennan and Michael "4th amendment, what 4th amendment?" Hayden especially.

Still, I'm not going to pretend that Trump wouldn't just LOVE a deep state filled with psychos of his own creation and with loyalties entirely to him.

Mixed feelings.

Sums up my feelings well. Couldn't happen to more deserving sociopaths, but the implication is chilling.

Beyond Schilling. The naked and above all unprecedented partisanship of revoking National Security clearances under such conditions is jaw-dropping.

[Wrong about 2024 Ghost]

lol almost all of those guys are monsters in their own right, Brennan and Michael "4th amendment, what 4th amendment?" Hayden especially.

Still, I'm not going to pretend that Trump wouldn't just LOVE a deep state filled with psychos of his own creation and with loyalties entirely to him.

Mixed feelings.

Sums up my feelings well. Couldn't happen to more deserving sociopaths, but the implication is chilling.

Beyond Schilling. The naked and above all unprecedented partisanship of revoking National Security clearances under such conditions is jaw-dropping.

This is a perfect example of the creeping normalization of anti-democracy that is among the most damaging of Trump's threats to our nation. Imagine the reaction if Obama had threatened to revoke the security clearances of his critics.

This kind of thing is a terrifying iceberg tip of what Trump and his Republicans are willing to do. Combine it with Obama's own awful precedents (quote 'lawful' unquote summary execution of US citizens and unlimited domestic spying) and we're on a slide to a very dark dystopia.

[All Along The Watchtower]

lol almost all of those guys are monsters in their own right, Brennan and Michael "4th amendment, what 4th amendment?" Hayden especially.

Still, I'm not going to pretend that Trump wouldn't just LOVE a deep state filled with psychos of his own creation and with loyalties entirely to him.

Mixed feelings.

Same.

[ProudModerate2]

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[ProudModerate2]

https://twitter.com/JohnBrennan/status/1029830514230865920

[Wrong about 2024 Ghost]

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If Trump actually came up with that verbiage, I would eat my socks.

No one should treat this as anything more than a toddler swiping some blocks from a kid he doesn't like. That the Republicans have handed a person like Trump the power of the Presidency and then actively work to keep him in office utterly discredits them as a political party.