--- title: Donald Trump May Revoke Security Clearances of His Critics description: President Donald Trump is considering revoking the security clearances for a half-dozen former high-level officials who have criticized him. canonical: https://time.com/5346297/donald-trump-security-clearances/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-23T19:14:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T18:36:08.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Is Considering Revoking Security Clearances of His Critics og:description: Including James Comey. og:url: https://time.com/5346297/donald-trump-security-clearances/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40add80d048c0c43/6988f79722fb850a40e24513/president-trump-first-year-moved-them-most-photographers-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3040 og:image:height: 1710 og:image:alt: President Trump Moved Them Most og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Is Considering Revoking Security Clearances of His Critics twitter:description: Including James Comey. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40add80d048c0c43/6988f79722fb850a40e24513/president-trump-first-year-moved-them-most-photographers-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Is Considering Revoking Security Clearances of His Critics > Sponsored content. 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President Donald Trump is considering revoking the security clearances for a half-dozen former high-level intelligence and national security officials who have criticized him, the White House said Monday afternoon._  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:36 PM UTCPublished: Jul 23, 2018 7:14 PM UTC President Donald Trump is considering revoking the security clearances for a half-dozen former high-level intelligence and national security officials who have criticized him, the White House said Monday afternoon.  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:36 PM UTCPublished: Jul 23, 2018 7:14 PM UTC President Donald Trump is considering revoking the security clearances for a half-dozen former high-level intelligence and national security officials who have criticized him, the White House said Monday afternoon. Speaking at the regular press briefing, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Trump was considering revoking clearances for former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of the National Security Agency Michael Hayden, among others, over their remarks on the Russia investigation. “The President is exploring the mechanisms because they politicize and in some cases monetize their public service,” Sanders said, explaining why Trump is looking at what power he has to revoke the clearance of a former officials. Speaking to CNN after the press conference, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that the president has the authority to revoke the clearances, but that doing so because of his statements was “a very, very petty thing to do” and an “abuse of the system.” “It’s kind of a sad commentary where for political reasons this is kind of a petty way for retribution for spekaing out against the president, which on the part of all of us are borne out of genuine concerns about President Trump,” he said. **Read More:** [_Former Intelligence Chiefs Explain How Trump Sows Distrust to His Advantage_](http://time.com/5296645/james-clapper-michael-hayden-donald-trump-spies/) Hayden [tweeted](https://twitter.com/GenMhayden/status/1021470285307006976) that losing a security clearance would not affect him much. “I don’t go back for classified briefings,” he wrote. “Won’t have any effect on what I say or write.” The idea may have come from Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who criticized Brennan on Monday morning, arguing that he was “monetizing his security clearance” with attacks on Trump. > [](https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1021359930387902466) Paul confirmed in a tweet on Monday that he had met with Trump and had urged him to revoke these clearances. “Public officials should not use their security clearances to leverage speaking fees or network talking head fees,” he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1021471167205576705). Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University, believes Trump is considering the action to punish former officials who have been critical of him as well as silence officials currently serving in his administration who may consider being critical of him down the road. “It’s another example of punitive politics,” Zelizer said. Trump is likely sending a “general message” to officials that “he will push hard and not allow them to \[criticize him\] without retribution. Sanders argued that the security clearance held by former officials “provides inappropriate legitimacy to accusations with zero evidence,” adding that Trump believes it is “extremely inappropriate” for former officials to make “baseless accusations of improper contact with Russia or being influenced by Russia.” Clapper and Hayden, both former Republican appointees, have written books arguing that Trump is fueling distrust of U.S. intelligence agencies in order to consolidate his own power, hurting American democracy in the process. They have also been vocal on social media and in interviews about their views on Trump. > [](https://twitter.com/GenMhayden/status/1019304277976723457) Brennan, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, has also been outspoken in his criticism of Trump, arguing after the recent joint press conference with Vladimir Putin that Trump had met the constitutional threshold for impeachment. A spokesman for Brennan did not issue an immediate comment. > [](https://twitter.com/JohnBrennan/status/1018885971104985093) McCabe’s spokesperson Melissa Schwartz tweeted after the press briefing that his clearance had been terminated when he was fired in March, which they were told was FBI policy. You would think the White House would check with the FBI before trying to throw shiny objects to the press corps…” she tweeted. And Benjamin Wittes, editor in chief of the website lawfare and a friend of Comey’s, said he texted the former FBI Director after the briefing, who told him he too no longer had one due to longstanding policy – and had declined a temporary one earlier in the year to read the inspector general’s report on Hillary Clinton’s e-mail investigation. > [](https://twitter.com/benjaminwittes/status/1021485887383851008) > [](https://twitter.com/benjaminwittes/status/1021485890751873024) _With Alana Abramson_ ## Transcript The president is threatening to punish Brennan and Comey and Clapper for saying things about him that he doesn't like. Is that presidential? The president is exploring these mechanisms to remove security clearance because they've politicized and in some cases actually monetized Their public service and their security clearances and making baseless accusations of improper contact with Russia or being influenced by Russia against the President is extremely inappropriate. The President contends to the fact that people with security clearances are making these baseless charges provides inappropriate legitimacy to accusations with zero evidence. So, there- When we have futher updates, On that front, I'll certainly let you know. Free speech he doesn't like, and he wants to punish them for it. No, I think you are creating your own story there. The president doesn't like the fact that people are politicizing agencies and departments that are specifically Meant to not be political and not meant to be monetized off of security clearance. [ UNKNOWN ] [ UNKNOWN ] A separate question actually, but to follow up on that. Isn't the President doing exactly what you just said the President doesn't want all these people doing? Politizing matters of national security by going after his political enemies? No the president's not making baseless accusations of improper contact with a foreign government and accusing the president of the United States of treasonous activity. When you have the highest level of security clearance, when you're the person that holds the nation's deepest, most sacred secrets at your hands and you go out and you make false accusations against the president of the United States. He thinks that's a Something to be very concern with and we're exploring what those options are and what that looks like. [ CROSSTALK ] My question is not about the press but is the President brief to his National Security Advisor, his Secretary of State, the Director of National Intellegence, And the Defense Secretary on what exactly was said between him and President Putin? The President has met and spoken with all of those individuals since his meeting with President Putin. David. And when he briefs them, is he relying solely on his own memory to tell them what happened during that two- hour meeting? The president has met and consulted with all of his national security team. And we feel very confident in this process. It's on what he remembers that happened. It's not- Katelyn I'm not gonna go into the specific details on how the president interacts every single time with his national security team. Well this is a rarity though. But- It's a sit down with the Russian president for two hours one- on- one. It's actually not a rarity. It's a A normal practice for two world leaders to be able to have a conversation with one another. David, go ahead. What about President Obama and Vice President Biden and their security clearances, are they on the list as well? I'm not aware of any plans for that at this point. Thanks so much, guys, we'll see you on the South Lawn. Are we going to war with Iran? 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